Pandemic: Picking up the Pieces

by Halira

Rating: mature
Tags: Princess Luna, Original Character, Bat Pony, Profanity, Violence, Human, Drama, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Sad
Length: 353234

After a quarter of the United States population is transformed into ponies it is now time for humans and ponies to start rebuilding their lives, but that's not something with a standard blueprint on how to do.

Part of The Pandemic Universe

In the aftermath of the ETS epidemic lives have been uprooted and changed forever. For the new citizens of Riverview, they are most often not even as the same species they were only a month before. Thousands of freshly transformed ponies and their human relatives must now start from scratch here and try to build new lives.

Every pony and human living in Riverview has their own personal struggles; from the human mother dealing with children who are now pony foals, a young earth pony thrust into a position where many humans and ponies depend on her, a scarred pony trying to make right on past mistakes, and many others. They must all now pick up the pieces of their lives and try to put them together

Story notes:

Chapters marked with ** are key Dreamwarden chapters for Pandemic readers trying to get information on Dreamwardens but don't want to read full story.

Art by Mr. Tech

Thanks to Pre-Readers past and present:

Cander
Shadows of Deity
Sandstorm94
Rhys
AATC Fanboy

Pandemic: What You are Meant to Be is a prequel that shares most of the same characters. It follows a character who only has two chapters from their perspective in this story though and is not required reading. For additional background on some characters you can read it, but most things from it you can pick up through context clues in this one.

The original story Pandemic by ASGeek2012 is highly recommended reading before reading this, but this can be understood without reading it.

Trigger warnings: a rape is mentioned but never shown, there is a few scenes near the end that can get violent, profanity is used at times, some LGBT characters, mind altering, PTSD, sex is sometimes heavily alluded to but never shown, non-sexual torture happens in some scenes. I try not too go into too many details with most of these things. There is a lot of arcs that tie to other stories that aren't resolved here as well, be aware that they exist in a larger framework of stories.

Special thanks to ASGeek2012 creating this subuniverse and for looking over selective sections for approval that have impact on the Pandemic universe and for exchanging some notes as we both work on our respective stories.

Published 2018-08-03 13:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-01-09 01:08:56 UTC

Chapter 2

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 4

Devon was in her classroom, everyone was finishing their art projects for the day. A simple self portrait. These were elementary school students so there wasn't high expectations for them to be masterpieces, but you could learn a lot about a student by seeing how they depicted themselves in their drawings. It was always one of the best projects to start the year with and get to know what she was dealing with in terms of students.

"Okay class, it doesn't matter if you're finished yet, it's time to wrap it up for the day. Leave your pictures in a neat stack on my desk and I will look over them. Make sure all your supplies are properly put away, and any trash around your desks is picked up. We don't want to leave any extra work for the cleaning staff. It's Friday and they want to go home too," Devon called out to her class.

The class complied with her instructions and in short order the room was back in order and a stack of drawings sat on her desk. The class left for the day and she had took a few minutes just to walk around the room and make sure any last scraps weren't left behind.

She sat down at her desk and pulled the drawings over to her, ready to see the work of each of her students.

She looked at the top picture and rolled her eyes. The student had drawn a pony, it was a nice enough drawing, if crudely drawn, but it wasn't what she had instructed. She noted the student's name and flipped to the next which turned out to also be a pony.

She frowned at the drawing and set it aside to go to the next and was greeted yet again with another pony.

"What in the world is going on?" She asked out loud.

She flipped to the next, and then the next, and the next after that. Every single drawing was of a pony. Was the class playing some sort of practical joke on her? It was certainly a weird one if they were.

Something played at her thoughts, but she couldn't place what it was. Something about ponies.

Devon shook her head and put the drawings back in order. She'd have a talk with the class next week about this when they returned, but there wasn't anything to do about it right now.

She walked out of the classroom to go home. As she walked through the halls she paused as she noticed all the students and teachers all seemed to have a rainbow of hair colors that couldn't be natural. Was there some sort of event going on that she hadn't heard about? She was usually right on top of keeping track of those kinds of things.

Devon walked up to the principle, Mr. Alexander, who was sporting pink hair.

"Hi, Mr. Alexander, this probably makes me look stupid, but why has everyone dyed their hair, including the children?" Devon asked.

"What do you mean? Nopony has dyed their hair. Why is your hair like that though?" Mr. Alexander asked in turn with a critical eye on her hair.

"My hair is just the way it normally is," she answered as she brought a hand up to her hair.

"That's really unprofessional Miss Middleton. We're going to have a talk about that on Monday when you return. I need to attend to the foals right now. I will see you in my office first thing Monday," the principal said with a scowl as he walked away.

Was everyone in on this practical joke? It was starting to feel a little cruel.

She left the school building and came to a stop as she looked at the people outside. They too had all the strange hair, but they also had pony ears and tails. A few stopped and stared at her.

"Ma'am are you alright? Do we need to call a doctor?" A man with a deeply concerned expression asked her.

"What? No, why do I need a doctor? Why are you all wearing those fake ears and tails? Why is everyone's hair dyed?" She asked in return.

"Ma'am, I think you need a doctor. Something is wrong with your ears. You must have had some sort of injury and are delirious. Just sit down and we'll get help to you," the man said calmly as he motioned for her to sit.

Devon shook her head as her heart started pounding. This couldn't be some practical joke, it was on too large a scale. She started to panic and ran for her car.

"Ma'am! Ma'am! Come back! You aren't well! Somepony stop her before she hurts herself!" The man yelled.

Devon jumped into her car and quickly put the key into the ignition. She needed to get home. She slammed her foot onto the gas pedal as she put the car into reverse and put it quickly back into drive as she took off down the street going at least sixty.

It took her only about a minute to get home. She didn't even bother taking the key out of the ignition, she just put the car into park and rushed inside. Her family had to be okay.

Paul came out from around the corner of the kitchen and she gave a sigh of relief as she saw he was perfectly normal. Then she started to worry as she noticed he was scowling at her.

"It's your fault. Robert and Jessica are ponies and it's all because of you," Paul accused as he pointed a finger at her.

"Paul what're you talking about?" Devon asked in confusion. She started to cry; why was he saying this?

"Momma? What's wrong, Momma?" Came Robby's voice from down the hall.

Devon looked down the hall and had to squint to make out the outline of something in the dark. She could see yellow hair, but the body was a pitch black that blended into the darkness.

"If you hadn't screwed up with your pregnancy. If you had just done everything right, none of this would have happened. But you couldn't manage that could you? See what happened because of you?" Paul accused as he pointed into the darkness.

"Please, Momma, you're scaring me. Please wake up!" Robby's voice came from the darkness.

"I couldn't help it. It just happened. I didn't mean for it to happen," Devon cried.

"You could have done something different. I can't stand the sight of you. You've destroyed this family. You didn't even have the decency to turn into a pony yourself so you could take care of them. I'm leaving, leaving you with your worthless beasts," Paul snarled as he walked past her, shoving her out of his way as he went and knocking her to the floor.

"Paul, please, I need you. They need you. I can't do this by myself," Devon begged.

"Momma! Wake up!" Robby's voice screamed

Devon opened her eyes with a shock. She had to stop to catch her breath, she was breathing so hard and so fast. She had to sit there reminding herself that was just a dream.

She glanced up for a moment and nearly jumped as she saw Amanda. It took her another second to re-catch her breath, as the she remembered where she was and that Amanda was supposed to be there.

"Momma?" Robby's worried voice said from beside her.

Devon looked down at her son who was looking back up at her with concerned yellow eyes.

"I'm okay, Robby, just a little nightmare," she said as she forced a smile to try to reassure him.

"I know, I felt it. I don't want you to have nightmares, nightmares are bad," Robby said with a surprising amount of firmness for a five year old.

Devon frowned. Something was off about that statement, and with how Robby said it.

"What do you mean you felt it?" She asked as she zeroed in on the odd part of the statement.

"I just did. It was like there was a bad shadow in you. It was upsetting you. Nightmares are bad," Robby said with an angry snort and the same disconcerting firmness.

"I'm okay, you're just having your own bad dream," Devon tried to soothe him.

"Um, Devon, he wasn't asleep," Amanda said from across the room, giving Ribby a quizzical look as she spoke.

"Alright," Devon said as she took a breath. She must have been showing signs of distress in her sleep. "I was having a nightmare, but those are going to happen, Robby. Don't let them upset you too much."

"But Momma, the white mare said it's my job to chase nightmares away. Ponies and humans shouldn't have to have nightmares," Robby insisted as he spread his wings.

"White mare? Who are you talking about? Did someone come by? How long have I been sleeping?" Devon asked in confusion.

"Devon," Amanda said as she held up a hoof and kept her eyes on Robby. "I think he was talking about the mare in the vision. You know about the vision, right?"

"No...what vision?" Devon said slowly, growing more concerned.

"All of us that transformed had a vision," Amanda explained as she pointed a hoof back towards herself. "It wasn't the same for everypony, but the general message was the same. It's basically welcome to being a pony, please watch this orientation dream and answer the quiz at the end. Has he never mentioned this to you? He must have gotten it too."

"No, he hasn't," Devon said, feeling alarmed. She looked down at Robby. "Robby, did you get this vision she's talking about?"

"Yeah, right before I first woke up as a pony. I kind of forgot about it until tonight," Robby said with mild embarassment.

"And what was in your vision? Please tell me, you aren't in trouble," Devon asked as calmly as she could.

"I don't remember everything right, just what the white mare said I'm supposed to do," he said as he looked down in shame.

"And what was that? What're you supposed to do according to her?" Devon struggled not to let an edge slip into her voice, but the idea that her son had some sort of shared vision with all the other ponies was disconcerting and scared her. Even more upsetting was the idea some pony was trying to influence how her son thought without her knowledge.

"I'm supposed to keep everypony safe, and I'm suppose to chase the nightmares away. Monsters are bad and nightmares are bad," Robby explained, his voice firming up again on the last statement about monsters and nightmares being bad. It took Devon aback how much steel was in her little five year old son's voice as he said that.

"Was your vision that kind of message too?" Devon asked Amanda, wondering if she should be concerned about how this white mare might have also influenced Amanda.

Amanda shook her head, and Devon frowned deeper. She was kind of counting on Amanda to give her some guide to this.

"I'm pretty sure my vision was tailored to me being an earth pony," Amanda explained apologetically. "Mine was about using my strength to help other ponies, and helping things grow; you know, very stereotypical earth pony like stuff. I protested that I was a teacher not a farmer, and the white mare said I could help young minds grow too. This was a vision tailored for me though, but Robby's a night pony. Night ponies aren't going to be the same as me, and I really don't know much about night ponies. Robby is the first one I have actually seen up close. All I knew is they're nocturnal, nothing else. What Robby just said is as new to me is as it is to you."

"I guess I need to talk to a night pony then," Devon said with a sigh. Amanda's explanation of her vision at least gave some insights in how Jessie might start thinking as she aged. She looked out the tent entrance. "How long was I asleep? I didn't mean to fall asleep while you were out."

"It's alright, I knew you were tired. I'm not sure what time it is exactly, but it is getting close to night. I watched Jessie for you. She and Jackie started playing together, and it was cute to watch. Robby woke on his own just a few minutes before you woke up," Amanda said as she seemed to loosen up again. Both the little fillies were curled up sleeping close to their respective mother's at the moment.

"I wanted to give you that contact information about the school though so you could look into that," Devon said, disappointed with herself for failing in that small task.

"Don't worry about it, you needed your sleep. I don't think one day will make too much difference," Amanda assured her. "Just give me time tomorrow morning to take care of a few things and I'll be back by afternoon to watch over Robby for you."

"Thank you, you don't know how helpful that is," Devon said gratefully.

"I'm just sleeping then, Momma. I don't need to be watched," Robby said with an annoyed flick of his tail.

"I don't want you by yourself, even if you're sleeping. You're too young to be left alone. I'm going to see about possibly getting you a regular sitter at night," Devon explained with motherly firmness to her son.

"I don't need a foalsitter," Robby pouted as his ears lowered.

"Yes you do need a foalsitter, it's not up for discussion," Devon said in a no-nonsense voice as she rose to her feet. She didn't trip over saying the term foalsitter. Hearing pony terms so often she'd probably be using them exclusively in no time too. "For right now you, me, and your little sister are going to go out and take care of some things together. We're going to go talk to some night ponies and we're going to see about what we need to do to get our own house. Plus we need to get some dinner in us."

"We're going to go see other night ponies?" Robby asked excitedly, bouncing in place and flapping his wings.

"Yes, I was told to talk to a pony named Tattered Wing, and we're also going to try to find that nice pony that walked us to the bus this morning," Devon said as a smile formed on her lips at her son's excitement.

Devon then looked down at her daughter who was still laying down where she had been, not waking up through any of the commotion.

"Okay, going to have to carry you around with me it seems," Devon said as she grabbed Jessie's blanket and then crouched down to gather the small pony up in it. "You just keep sleeping, baby girl. I don't mind carrying you."

"I'd offer to watch her for you, but I'm going to need to go eat before I go to sleep, and will be already dealing with one overtired filly as it is," Amanda said with a small frown.

"You've done plenty already. I've got her, and hopefully she'll just sleep through everything," Devon said then gave her daughter a light kiss on the forehead.

"Alrighty then. Well, I hope you have a good night. I'll probably be asleep when you get back. I'll see you in the morning," Amanda replied with renewed cheerfulness.

"See you then," Devon said in response before starting to walk towards the door. She then glanced down at her son. "Come on, and keep close to me. I don't want you wandering off. If you do I'll carry both you and your sister around."

"I'll stay close," Robby answered as he trotted up next to her legs.

"Good, now come on. We have a lot of walking to do," Devon said as she led him out the door.

As soon as they were out into the early evening air she realized they needed to probably detour to the outhouse area to let Robby go to the bathroom. She needed to go as well, but she wasn't pulling her pants down where she was exposed to the world.

She took Robby down to the outhouse and waited patiently with her back turned for him to do his business. After a minute he came trotting back out to her.

"Did you poop?" She asked him as she looked towards his backend.

"Yes," he answered.

She pointed back to the outhouse. "Go wash your butt off. You can't really wipe, but you can do that. We are going to keep ourselves as clean as possible."

"Okay," he said as he turned and trotted back into the outhouse.

A moment later she heard the shower start running. The sound of the running water made her bladder feel even worse. It was a long walk to the human shelter, and she wasn't sure she could hold it. Doing this frequently could lead to health problems. She gave the outlook a mournful look and shook her head in defeat as Robby trotted back out.

"Robby, I need to go use the bathroom too. Can you stand right here and keep your back turned?" Devon asked as she pointed down to where Robby was standing.

"I can do that, Momma," Robby answered with a bow of his head. She nodded back to him as she walked by him.

The outhouse was vacant of ponies at the moment so she rushed over to a spot that was the farthest back from the entrance started opening up her pants. She carefully lowered them just far enough that she could use the toilet, which took extra work with Jessie still in her arms, and sat down. As she started peeing a unicorn stallion walked in and took up a seat directly across from her, causing her to go rigid.

"Hello, I didn't know they had any humans out at the tents," the stallion said in a friendly voice as she heard the drizzle of him starting to piss as well.

Devon let off a squeak as she stood up in a hurry and tried to pull her pants back up, she nearly dropped Jessie as she did it, but managed to get them up even though they were unzipped still. She rushed out of the outhouse without saying a word or responding to the stallion's shouts of confusion. Robby had to rush after her as she put distance between herself and the outhouse.

"Momma, what's wrong?" Robby called up to her, keeping pace with her easily despite his much shorter legs.

"I don't think I can explain it in a way you can understand. I'm okay, don't worry, baby," Devon said as finally came to a stop.

"Did that pony do something to you?" Robby asked with a low growl as he looked back the way they came.

"No honey, he didn't do anything to me. It's okay, you don't have to go rushing to defend me," Devon said while trying to contain a small laugh. She couldn't help herself, he seemed so serious and determined. He was actually bristling up and spreading his wings trying to make himself look bigger; her mighty little defender.

Robby seemed to calm down a bit at the sound of her mirth. He looked up at the sky and gave off a happy gasp.

"Momma, look! Night ponies!" Robby said excitedly as he pointed up in the air with one of his hooves.

She looked up at the sky to where he was pointing. There were indeed four night ponies flying overhead. They weren't in sight long, as they moved quickly through the air. She wondered how something so completely unaerodynamic as a pony managed to fly so fast. The answer was probably magic, but it was still impressive to watch.

"We'll find a few night ponies to talk to soon enough, honey. Let's hurry on to meet Miss Tattered Wing and get what we need done, hopefully whoever's serving food serves it late," Devon said to him.

"Okay, Momma. Is Miss Tattered Wing a night pony too?" Robby asked, still sounding excited.

"Yes, she is. I'm told she might look a little scary, but hopefully she's going to help us, so don't be scared of her. Okay?" Devon instructed.

"Why does she look scary?" Robby asked with a tilt of his head.

"I was told she is really badly beat up. So don't be rude if she looks a little different, okay?" Devon said.

"Okay, Momma," Robby answered obediently with a nod.

Walking to the town hall took a while, nearly forty minutes. Thankfully the streets weren't nearly as packed now as they were earlier in the day, as most of the ponies were now settling in to where they would be sleeping that evening. There were still a lot about, but it wasn't like trying to walk through Times Square on New Year's Eve anymore.

When they walked into city hall there was a tired looking pony, a pegasus mare with blue fur so dark it almost appeared black, sitting at a table marked as the information desk. Devon walked over to this pony and wasn't noticed until she was standing right at the desk. At least Devon hoped she wasn't noticed, but felt she was instead being ignored. The dark furred pegasus mare gave a yawn before acknowledging her.

"What can I do for you? The human shelters should be able to answer any of your needs better than me, human," the mare said sleepily with a bored expression on her face.

"I'm looking for a pony named Tattered Wing. I was told she was the one I needed to talk to for my problems," Devon explained patiently. This particular pony didn't seem as likable the last two ponies at such desks, but she wasn't going to be rude. As little sense as it made, having a pony that wasn't super friendly was mildly refreshing.

"Tattered Wing? You have something you need to be protected from or something? Some sort of domestic dispute that you want her to sic the Enclave on?" The mare asked with a tilt of her head.

"I don't have any problem like that. I don't even know what the Enclave is. I was just told by the pony at the shelter that Tattered Wing was the one I needed to talk to. Is she here?" Devon asked, wondering if she was dealing with some sort of law enforcement officer.

"Um, yeah. She just wandered in a few minutes ago. She's temporarily set up an office in the third room on the right down that hall," the pony said as she pointed a wing to a hallway on the left. "She ain't busy with anything right now. Just go knock on the door and let yourself in."

Devon mouthed a quick thanks and then briskly walked down the hall with Robby following close by. When she reached the appropriate door she gave it a knock and then let herself in as the pegasus had instructed.

The pony that was inside was probably the ugliest pony Devon had ever seen, but that was mainly due to her very obvious injuries. She had dull brown fur and a black mane which made her look more plain if it weren't for the rest. There were scars everywhere on her body, many that looked like they were still healing, and the pony's wings were wrapped in bandages. The pony was sitting at a desk working on a computer with a pencil in her mouth that she seemed to be using for typing and a hoof on a mouse. This pony, like the one outside, didn't pay Devon any attention as she entered and Devon decided to take a seat opposite the pony as she waited to be acknowledged.

"What can I do for you?" Tattered Wing asked with disinterest as she spoke around the pencil without turning her attention from what she was doing.

"I'm Devon Middleton and these are my children Robert and Jessica...," Devon began.

"Foals. Get your terms right, human," Tattered Wing corrected without looking away from the computer.

"Okay, foals then. I was told that you were the pony responsible for assigning where we'd stay because Robby here's a night pony and you make all final decisions regarding night ponies," Devon said with a hint of annoyance at the pony's seeming disinterest. The novelty of not-so-friendly ponies hadn't taken much time to wear off.

"That's correct. I made that decision," Tattered Wing said, still staring at the computer. Devon was actually impressed that the pony spoke clearly with a pencil gripped in her teeth, but was still annoyed she was being half ignored.

"I was wondering why you placed us in the tents instead of with the humans and mixed families in the shelter," Devon explained, letting a little edge slip into her voice.

"Your colt needs to sleep during at least the afternoons if not part of the morning too. Those shelters are bound to get loud and offer no where he can escape to for privacy. I had him placed in a tent as a result," Tattered Wing replied in the same tone as she had with all the other replies as she continued to not look at them.

"That's very considerate of you on his behalf, but it puts me in a rough place. The amenities out by the tents aren't really set up for humans," Devon said diplomatically.

Tattered Wing finally turned her yellow eyes to Devon and stopped paying attention to the computer. She carefully set the pencil down and turned to fully face Devon. She gave Devon a smile that looked like one a store clerk might give a dumb and obnoxious customer.

"And what, may I ask, is not to your liking, human?" Tattered Wing asked with a raised brow as she set her hooves down on the desk pressed against one another, giving an impression of clasped hands.

"The primary problem for me personally is privacy in the bathroom. I understand that you ponies don't seem to care about the fact that you're naked all the time, but I can't take down my pants or strip naked where anyone can see me," Devon answered firmly.

Tattered Wing's mouth twitched, as did her ear. Devon was pretty sure that she could hear the flick of Tattered Wing's tail.

"I can only give you one answer to that, human. Get over it. I'm not saying that to be cruel either. You're trying to raise two pony foals; young foals can't be expected to adapt to your human standards and expectations, but adult humans are pretty adaptable if need be. If you want to shower, and don't feel like walking to the human shelter, then you'll shower just like the ponies at the tents," Tattered Wing said firmly.

"But someone could see me naked," Devon protested, then winced as she realized that made her sound childish.

"Ponies don't give a crap about seeing others naked, and the fact humans do is just really just stupid when you think about it. Get over it. It's unlikely any human will see you out there anyway, as they've little reason to go out to the tents. I'm not here to baby counterproductive tendencies in humans, and I won't. I'm here to protect, and when I say get over it I'm telling you that because I want you to be an effective mother to pony foals, specifically your night pony son. What's more important to you; getting some privacy, or being close at hoof to take care of them?" Tattered Wing lectured in a low voice as she pointed a hoof at Robby then back to Jessie.

"Taking care of them," Devon answered in her own low voice, not able to meet the pony's eyes.

"Good. Is there anything else I can help you with?" Tattered Wing asked in a satisfied tone as she brought her hooves together on the desk again.

Well, at least she could try to get some answers out of this pony about night ponies and salvage some of her dignity.

"What does it mean to be a night pony? Other than just being nocturnal," Devon asked, trying to sound like she hadn't just been treated like a stupid child.

"Good question. I'm assuming you're trying to understand your colt," Tattered Wing said with an actual smile. "Being a night pony means being a protector. That's what our instincts drive us to be. Whether it be physical danger, nightmares, or some other danger we're here to meet those things and protect ponies, and humans for that matter, from them."

"Is the sun bad for night ponies?" Devon asked, trying to think of each pertinent question.

"We don't like how bright it is since our eyes are designed for dimmer light, and it makes us sleepy, but I don't believe it will actually hurt him. I know plenty of night ponies that function late into the daylight hours without complaint, myself included," Tattered said as she pointed to herself. "I'm not an expect on pony health, mind you. If you want a more informed answer go to the town clinic. I do know the Equestrian night ponies can function on a daytime schedule just fine if need be, but we seem to be more bound to our nocturnal one. Our instincts aren't the same."

"Can night ponies tell when someone is having a nightmare?" Devon asked.

"Yes, we can. I know of many night ponies that dispel nightmares and at least one that can actually enter into another pony's nightmares. I'm hoping that one teaches me that skill as well to tell the truth," Tattered Wing said, still smiling proudly about the greatness of night ponies.

"I told you, Momma," Robby said from her side in a petulant tone.

"I know, Robby, you did, and you definitely are very protective too," Devon said with a sigh. The entering into dreams part sounded like something magical and well beyond her understanding as a human, but at least she had some insight into night pony instincts. Robby really was her little defender. Looking at the pony across the table from her that looked like it could be a dangerous job though.

"I'm sorry if I'm asking something personal or inappropriate, but what happened to you that you got injured like that?" Devon asked as she looked at Tattered Wing's many injuries.

Tattered Wing leaned over the desk a bit to put herself more on display. And began pointing at injuries.

"These sections with the black on the fur, that was a human burning me with an aerosol can and a lighter. A lot of the rest of these were knife cuts. This section here? That one was a baseball bat. I'm not exactly sure what happened with this part here," the injured night pony sat back down correctly after she finished going through her injuries and had a grim face.

She continued as she twitched her wings slightly. "My wings were much worse before the Equestrian doctors got to them, but this damage you see was from human slicing my wings into unusable shreds, and all these injuries happened in the course of a few minutes. I was the lucky one out of my friends. We were just trying to do our jobs by protecting, but we weren't up to the task at the time."

Devon felt like vomiting. Robby was going to instinctively throw himself into these kinds of situations eventually? Screw flying, this was far more terrifying for him. This could kill him.

"I do promise you. I'm going to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen to any night ponies here. Almost every adult night pony, and all the teens, we have here are now trained so they don't end up like me. When your son gets older we'll train him too. I'm not having any more dead night ponies on my watch," Tattered Wing said in a voice filled with conviction.

"I don't want my son involved with doing this kind of thing," Devon replied back with a glare.

"It's not a matter of what you want. It isn't even really a matter of him choosing to do this. He's a night pony, he'll rush to the defense of others if there's trouble. It's what he is, it's his nature. It's better that he's prepared if it happens so he doesn't end up like me, or worse, dead," Tattered Wing said with her own matching glare.

This was unfair. Robby shouldn't put himself in such danger. If this is what he was compelled to do by instinct, and early signs seemed to confirm that, there might be nothing she could do to stop it.

"When? When will you want to start training him?" Devon asked in a defeated tone.

"After he starts flying," Tattered Wing said with an appraising look at Robby. "Also, please note that he doesn't have to do this as some sort of career. We just want him prepared if something happens. Consider it self defense classes if that makes you feel better."

"No, it doesn't really. I don't want him hurt though," Devon said with a downcast look.

Tattered Wing softened her expression to one that almost looked like sympathy. "I know you don't, and I don't want that either. I know I can be a little standoffish with humans, and I apologize for anything that I said or did that was rude. You're clearly trying to do right by your son and I respect that. If you need any help with that in the future all you need to do is ask."

The door behind them opened without a knock and a blue unicorn mare, with an abacus as a cutie mark, hurried in quickly. She ran over to Tattered Wing and whispered something in the night pony's ear. As the whispering was going on Tattered Wing's face lit up with shock and then contorted to anger.

"Speaking of ponies that should have been taught how to properly defend themselves; I've seemed to have jinxed things by saying almost all night pony adults. I've got something that needs to be attended to immediately as a result," Tattered Wing said as she got up and hurried to the door. "Number Crunch here will attend to whatever other needs you might have."

And with no further discussion Tattered Wing took off out the door at a full run.

Author's Note

Next week we will have very little focus on Devon and more of Tattered Wing with a few others.

Chapter 5

This was probably the worst night Tattered Wing had since she was nearly murdered weeks before. What made it worse was the fact she had been warned about this creep of a pony well ahead of time and did nothing in response. As a result she was now taking into custody what was perhaps the first ever pony rapist on Earth.

She just wanted to go somewhere and drown herself in a bottle. She was such a screw up.

A few national guard members that the government had lent the community now held Swift Strike in the same van that had transported her here. She had no idea where she was going to have him held. All the legalities of her doing anything were fuzzy at best. The government was playing dumb about whether they had authority to enact justice in this case. She saw this for what it was, them not wanting to get involved with pony on pony violence. Let the ponies kill each other off, it did them a favor.

It did her no damn favors though. What was the most immediate problem was the red unicorn mare with the purple and yellow mane in front of her, demanding blood as they stood hidden by the high grass outside the house.

"Sunset, I understand how you feel, but rape is not a crime that earns execution, at least not here in the United States. I'm no executioner, nor will I ever be. I'm going to imprison him until we can figure out some sort of trial and then we'll do this the proper way," Tattered said evenly and calmly to the enraged unicorn.

"Your little Enclave killed a rapist before. Why are you hesitating now? He deserves to die, and die painfully," Sunset Blessing growled through gritted teeth as she gestured in the direction of the van.

"What happened then was a regrettable accident. They intended to maim that person, not kill. They were running high on emotion, just like you are right now. Cooler heads will prevail this time," Tattered explained in the same even voice.

"Phobia is a night pony and you claim you have conviction to keep night ponies safe. Where's that conviction now?" Sunset demanded as she stomped a hoof.

"We have Swift Strike in custody and he won't be doing this again. He'll be punished, and I'll do everything I can to see him punished harshly, but we're not killers," Tattered insisted as she met the unicorn's glare.

"You owe me, Broken One. I made sure to provide shelter for you and your brother. You're going to see my daughter gets justice for what was done to her," Sunset whispered harshly.

"And Phobia will get justice, actual justice, not blood-lust. I consider her a friend and she had warned me about Swift Strike before this happened to her. For that I owe her more than I owe you for my failure to stop this before it happened," Tattered said, still using an even tone, and still meeting the unicorn's fiery orange eyes. "If you make me do murder, then I'll tell all the suits about how you're keeping all those billions of dollars that you questionably gained stashed away for a rainy day. I'm sure they'll love to hear about how you aren't as leashed as they think you are and that you're stockpiling resources in case they turn on you--or in case you decide to turn on them."

Sunset narrowed her eyes and glared hatred at Tattered. Tattered held her gaze. She refused to be intimidated by this Christian fanatic turned pony that acted like she knew the will of her god. Tattered had already made up her mind that if she had any faith in anything otherworldly it was Princess Luna. Princess Luna may not be a god but she had at least done a miracle for her, God hadn't answered any cries for help as she and her friends were massacred in the street.

She resolved right then and there to find something to wear in honor of Princess Luna, but also just to spite Sunset. The thought made her smile.

Sunset noticed the smile, and even though she couldn't know what Tattered was thinking she sneered back in response.

"Fine then, lock him up and see your proper justice done. But watch yourself, Broken One, your position in this community could become very uncomfortable if I choose make it that way," Sunset spat.

"Take a look at me, I think I can deal with discomfort. You want me to dispense justice in Riverview? You're getting justice. If that means getting spit on by you I can handle that," Tattered said with a smile. She then dropped her smile before continuing in a more sympathetic tone. "I'll take care of Swift Strike, Sunset. You go see to Phobia. Even though you might not be the pony I'd personally want for a mother, I do give you credit for actually giving a damn about your daughter. That's more than my mother gives me. Go take care of her."

Sunset gave Tattered a stiff nod and retreated back into the house that Phobia Remedy and Rosetta Stone had claimed for their own. It was a decent sized place, and Tattered was mildly envious when comparing it to her own simple place that was really only a small narrow two-story shop that had been converted into a house. They didn't even have to rely on Sunset for getting it for them. It must be nice to have a rich pony like Wild Growth as a close family member.

Tattered Wing walked back out from the privacy of high grass of the lawn and looked towards the dark military van. They were going to be asking her where to take him and she really didn't know what to tell them. As far as she knew this town didn't have a proper jail of any sort, and she technically had no authority to use it even if there was. She only had the authority Sunset allowed her to have at the moment, and Sunset only had authority instead of the already existing town council because she had authority over the fifteen thousand residents that they had just brought to this town. The government really needed to speed up giving her official law enforcement authority soon if Tattered was supposed to do this job. Ponies and humans would soon start complaining about her and the Enclave being vigilantes again if there without that authority. That wasn't a fight she wanted to have.

She gave Luna a silent prayer that Sunset wouldn't try using Alex's well being as leverage against her. Sunset put on a pleasant face for just about everypony, and the humans most of the time too, but the mare was completely unscrupulous when anypony pissed her off. Lavender Mist had told Tattered about what Sunset had done with the Equestrians, and she had seen Number Crunch limping about after Sunset lost her temper with the accountant for some reason. Sunset Blessing wasn't above playing dirty to get what she wanted. As far as Tattered was concerned Sunset Blessing was the biggest criminal in town.

A criminal that Tattered was sadly beholden to. Just the way to start her law enforcement career, being put in place by a criminal and answerable to them.

She walked over to the van and did a quick knock on the door. A moment later the door opened. Sitting inside were four Enclave night ponies, two national guard humans, and Swift Strike. She carefully climbed into the van with them, and the door was shut behind her.

"Where to?" The guardsmen driving asked her.

"City hall, we'll hold him there overnight until I can figure out what else to do with him," Tattered instructed with a wave of a hoof to start driving, having made the decision that very second. It would have to do for now.

"You should just let me go. That pony had it coming to her, and I've done everything for you," Swift Strike with raspy voice, accented with pain. He hadn't gone unharmed, Sunset had squeezed him pretty tightly with her magic and hurled him extremely hard into a wall. It was a suprise Sunset hadn't tried to kill him herself; damn mare didn't want to get her own hooves dirty.

"Shut your muzzle. I don't want to hear it. Rape is a serious crime, and even though I won't be punishing you in the way Sunset wants me to that doesn't mean you aren't getting off gently," Tattered snapped.

"You wouldn't even be in your position of authority without me. All of you and your friends would still be nobodies still confined in a hospital. You owe me," Swift Strike replied with a grunt.

Tattered Wing was getting really tired of ponies telling her how much she owed them. Worse, the fact that she did owe Swift Strike for helping her bring the Enclave of Night into existence had probably been the biggest factor in why she hadn't acted before he did something like this. She had been warned about his violent behavior toward mares, and she had made excuses not to take action due to his assistance in starting the Enclave.

Hell, the Enclave had been founded on the principle that they needed to be more violent than what their natural instincts as ponies normally allowed. In that light it was unsurprising that Swift Strike had decided to seek his own twisted version of justice for perceived wrongs against him. In a sense the Enclave had nurtured this pony into being a monster.

Something had to be done to make sure these kinds of things didn't happen again from Enclave members. She would need to sit and consult with Dan and Melissa, the other surviving Broken Ones, about what might be done. Seeing them was always a painful reminder of her past mistakes though, and she didn't want any more of those tonight.

For now violence would continue to serve as an answer.

"If he speaks again I want somepony to buck him in the snout. If he continues to try to speak continue to do so. I don't want to hear his voice again until some sort of trial is arranged. Does everypony understand?" Tattered instructed the four Enclave ponies.

"Yes, Broken One," the other Enclave members said in unison.

There wasn't another peep heard from Swift Strike after that.

"There, that looks like everything is in order. Let's go over the terms and conditions one more time and then you can sign and find yourselves dinner. I apologize if this gets wordy, but I have to make sure you understand the terms and conditions for legal reasons," Number Crunch said as she pointed to the document.

"Yes, ma'am," Devon said, with suppressed excitement. She couldn't believe this was going to get this accomplished so quickly. The ponies certainly seemed eager to get them housed.

"Alright, going over the pertinent points again. You are granted a loan for the total of one-hundred and twenty thousand US dollars. This loan is for the purpose of purchasing and doing repairs if needed on a house, though you are free to spend it as you wish. You are required to provide receipt of purchase of every non-perishable item purchased or service rendered with aid of this loan. Do you understand this part clearly?" Number Crunch asked as she went over the first part.

"I understand, ma'am," Devon answered as she held Jessie tight. Robby lay in a corner looking bored.

"Next part, repayment of this loan is at a three-point-five percent yearly interest rate over the course of thirty years accrued monthly. You are not obligated to make your first payment for three years, with interest beginning to accumulate at two years, though you may make payments towards your principal before then. If unable to meet your payment obligations you may file a hardship request form for temporary delay of payments. There is no promise that your hardship request will be accepted, but it shall be reviewed. If you continue to be unable to make payments any property you purchased with this loan that exceeds five hundred dollars in value is subject to confiscation by your creditor to be resold to try to cover the debt. If the value of your loan is not able to be repaid by this confiscation any future pay from your work, money in bank accounts, social security benefits, and any tax refunds you may otherwise receive will be garnished at a rate of thirty percent until such time as when the debt is repaid with appropriate interest. Are these details clear to you?" Number Crunch asked.

"Yes, ma'am. They sound like pretty close to a normal mortgage, though with a very good interest rate," Devon answered.

"That they are," Number Crunch agreed. "Final batch of details I need to go over. This contract is not able to be changed without your consent. Your creditor is officially the United States government acting through this agency dubbed The First Pony Bank. The US government holds the right to transfer or sell rights to your debt to other agencies. You have the right to be informed of such a transaction if it so occurs. Your contract shall again not be changed if a new crediting agency takes control without express consent by you. These are your rights given to you concerning your debt. Do you understand this last part?"

"I understand, ma'am," Devon said with a nod.

"Good, then just sign my copy where I have marked on each page. You are welcome to re-read any section you wish before signing. Once you sign this will be finalized," Number Crunch instructed as she floated the stack of documents over to her.

Devon carefully sat Jessie and her blanket down on the desk then picked a pen and got to work, re-skimming through a few sections as she went. Everything seemed to be exactly as they said, with no hidden clauses that she could see. They weren't even going to run a credit check on her. Number Crunch insisted that they just desperately wanted to get the humans housed as soon as possible as making sure humans were successful was top priority to Sunset Blessing, the area's pony leader.

She finished signing and passed the documents back to Number Crunch. The blue unicorn took the documents up in her blue magical aura and quickly double checked to make sure everything was in order then she floated the pen up and made a few signatures of her own on several lines.

"Congratulations, Miss Middleton. All you need to do is a little house hunting now and you'll have a proper roof over your head before the week is out. Be quick about it, There are plenty of vacant houses, but plenty of humans that have already gotten these loans," Number Crunch said with a smile. "I've done the math on how many humans have gotten these loans. Tell me... what exactly is math to you?"

"Um, a very important subject to learn in school?" Devon answered in confusion.

"Mental-abuse-to-humans," Number laughed. "Sorry, mathematician joke, math is kind of my thing."

"I kind of guessed that. I can't thank you enough though. I didn't expect so much help with this," Devon said gratefully as she folded up her copy and then picked her sleeping filly back up.

"I'm happy to help. It feels good being able to do good for someone else and today has been a long day of helping dreams come true. This is definitely my favorite aspect of my job," Number Crunch said happily as she made a move to stand as well.

A knock came to the door then and opened to show an orange furred pegasus mare with a purple mane walked in with a dejected look. Number Crunch sat back down with a frown as the mare walked in.

"Number, I know it's late and you want to go to home to your husband soon, but Sunset has something she needs us to take care of," the pegasus said in a low voice.

"What kind of something?" Number Crunch responded with a raised brow. "Surely anything else financial can wait till morning."

"It's something else than that," the pegasus said in the same sad voice. She looked at Devon and her children then back to Number Crunch. "Are you about done here? I need to discuss this with you in private."

"We're done," Devon said hurriedly as she stood up. "Come on Robby, let's go find some dinner and then go find Miss Phobia."

"You're going to look for Phobia? Why?" The pegasus asked in an odd tone of voice.

"She had volunteered to help with watching my son sometimes overnight and I was going to see what kinds of times were convenient for her," Devon explained.

"Tonight might not be the best night to be bothering her. Her head is likely in a very bad place right now. She's had a very bad night tonight, so I'd recommend waiting a few days at least," the pegasus said with a sad shake of her head.

"I know the circumstances and concur with Tonya. Tonight is definitely not the night to be knocking on Phobia's door," Number Crunch said in a grim tone. "Maybe in a few weeks she'll be more up to things, perhaps Tonya can let her know you were trying to follow up."

"Yeah, I'll do that for you. She'll need some distractions," Tonya said with lowered ears.

"Is she okay? Did something happen? She was very nice to me and my foals," Devon asked with worry.

"We don't know yet. She's definitely hurt, physically and mentally. I'm not giving out the details, but hopefully she'll recover soon. I'll let her know you were concerned about her. What's your name?" Tonya asked.

"Devon, Devon Middleton," Devon answered. She didn't feel any better from the mare's answers. Phobia was a night pony, and Devon had a terrible vision of her getting hurt like Tattered Wing was hurt.

Tonya suddenly stiffened up and started examining Devon closely. "Did you say Devon Middleton? As in wife to Paul Middleton?"

"Yeah, that's me," Devon said with a confused look at the pegasus. "Do I know you?"

"It's complicated," Tonya said with an aggravated shake of her head. "Where's Paul?"

"He...didn't come. He drove us to the convention center yesterday and left us," Devon said in a pained voice.

"He did what!!" Tonya yelled. The fury in her voice made Devon step back. Robby bristled up and stood between them.

"I don't want to be discussing this in front of my son," Devon said in a harsh whisper as she tried to coax Robby into stepping back.

Tonya gave Robby a considering look as she defluffed her own feathers a bit then nodded to Devon. "We'll talk in a day or two. I can't believe he would...actually I believe it. Fuck my brother."

"Brother?" Devon said in confusion as she realized exactly who this pony must be. Paul's younger brother, Thomas Middleton. She didn't really know much about him other than there was a lot of family drama that no one wanted to talk about. "You're..."

She didn't get to finish as Tonya cut her off with a hiss and a raised wing. "Don't say that name! Yes, I'm who you think I am, Tonya Middleton. We'll talk soon. For now I have important business to deal with, and I'm not in the mood to deal with more family crap this second, especially family that disowned me. My best friend is in bad shape right now and I can't have this discussion right now."

"Alright...if you say so," Devon said hesitantly. If Thomas had gone to being Tonya before the transformation that might explain the family drama, her parents-in-law didn't seem like they were the type to just accept that. Still, Tonya represented actual family in town. That's something that she didn't know she had until now, and made her feel a little less alone.

It clicked in Devon's mind then that Tattered Wing had likely rushed off to attend to whatever had happened to Phobia, and that Tonya and Phobia were close friends. Tattered Wing had said that almost all the adult night ponies knew how to defend herself, and that she had jinxed it by saying that. If Tonya had been disowned by the family this was like having family hurt. Devon couldn't fault Tonya for being short with her right now if that was the case.

"And I think that is all the talk we need for tonight. I'm going to be handling a lot of the house and land purchases in town so I'll see you again soon. Take care of yourself," Number Crunch said to her with a forced smile as if the entire conversation between Devon and Tonya had not just happened.

Devon made her way out the door. As she was exiting the door she heard the Tonya start speaking to Number Crunch again.

"You need to sit down and make yourself comfortable. You're going to want to get a beer and a cigarette for this talk. I might need that too," Tonya said in a neutral tone. Devon didn't hear anymore as the door slammed shut behind her.

Number Crunch really wanted to put her past behind her. To this point she thought Tonya wanted to help her with that, what Tonya was asking her to do on Sunset's behalf tonight made her question the pegasus's sincerity.

"Sunset can go screw herself. If she really wants Swift Strike dead she can kill him herself and bloody her own hooves. I'm not going to do it," Number said in the firmest tone she could manage.

"She can't, it would be too obvious if she did it," Tonya replied with a downcast stare at the floor.

Number brought her head low to the desk as she answered in a harsh whisper, "Well then, I guess he's going to live or she's going to have to find another pony to be her hitmare. I've never actually killed anypony myself and I'm not about to start."

"You've arranged killings in the past. You're the only pony she trusts to deal with something like this," Tonya answered in a low voice.

"That was me as a human, that was Annette Crowfield. I'm not that person anymore, I'm Number Crunch now, and I'm going to be a good pony that does the right things. I'm starting over with a clean ledger," Number said firmly once again.

Tonya raised an eyebrow at her. "You're the pony that threatened to plant Phobia into the ground if I'm not mistaken. It seems to me that you've got a fairly bloodthirsty side to you still."

Number Crunch lowered her head in shame and turned away from the orange pegasus. Why'd she have to bring that up? Tonya knew that she had already accepted her punishment for that, and that wasn't what she wanted to be.

"I did my time for that. You know I submitted myself for punishment on that because I knew I was wrong. Why are you rubbing that in my face now," Number said in a hurt whisper.

"Perhaps you should explain to me why it happened at all if that isn't your nature?" Tonya suggested.

"I really don't know what got into me that day. She started talking and I just started getting so angry, it was like she was pulling the worst parts of me to the surface. That shouldn't have happened," Number said after a long moment of silence.

Tonya stared at her for a long moment with an unreadable expression before continuing. "It was like she was getting into your head? Pulling all the parts of you that you fear to the surface, is that it?"

Number nodded sadly. She hated to admit that those parts of her were still there, but Phobia had pulled them all to the surface with just a few short sentences. Was she such a vile pony that it was easy to set her off? Was she really still just as much a monster as she was when she was a human--or worse?

"Phobia and I are going to need to have a talk about responsibly talking to ponies," Tonya muttered to herself then shook her head and sighed. Number raised a confused eyebrow at that strange comment, but before she could ask about it Tonya reached over the desk and put a hoof on Number's foreleg. "I know you want to do what's right. I know you want to do good. Swift Strike is a monster that will hurt ponies in the future if he isn't put down. You don't want him to hurt anypony else."

Number shook her head to clear it, it felt foggy for some reason. She then looked back at Tonya. "No, I don't want him to hurt anypony else, but I don't want to be a murderer."

"You want to do what's right. Ask yourself, is it right to let him have an opportunity to do this again to some other mare? Is it murder to put down a monster? You want to do the right thing for the sake of other ponies. Isn't this the right thing?" Tonya asked slowly, enunciating each word with perfect clarity.

"What if he could change? I changed, maybe he can too," Number said as her head swam. She felt like she making up excuses to stop what must be done. It felt so clear that he deserved death as she considered Tonya's words.

Tonya sighed as she lowered her ears. "That's a fair point. I'll go with you then, and I'll find out if he can be redeemed or not. I don't want any pony that doesn't need to die be killed either. That way we can both be sure that the right thing is being done. You can watch me question him and if something has to be done you can have your conscious assured you did the right thing."

"Where's he being held? And how do we keep anypony from knowing what we're doing?" Number asked, as she gave in. She still didn't feel right about this at all, but she'd have the chance to find out if he was really as irredeemable as Tonya implied.

Tonya pointed a hoof to the wall. "He's on the far end of the other hallway right now. The room looks exactly like this one, only with no computer. We're going to let him escape and then follow him."

"Let him escape!" Number whispered in shock as her ears flattened. "Are you crazy! What if he gets away from us? How are we supposed to get him apprehended again? How do we even get him out?"

"There's a vent just like the one in here that exits straight to the outside. A night pony wouldn't be able to open it on their own normally, but you can use your magic to open it up to where he can crawl through. Since the room looks like this one you should be able to picture it perfectly to be able to do it without line of sight," Tonya explained as she gestured to this room's vent.

"And what do we do once he gets out? I assume you'll be standing by to track him, but how are we supposed to bring him back?" Number asked as she examined this room's vent.

"If he doesn't show he can redeemed we won't need to worry about that part. If he does show he can be redeemed you can pin him down with your magic and I can fetch the Enclave ponies to come recapture him. We'll be doing our civic duty recapturing a dangerous criminal," Tonya said as she grimaced down to the floor with her forelegs folded in front of her.

"I still don't feel right about this," Number said.

Tonya took a deep breath before answering. "Let's put this in a different perspective; if humans hear about pony rapists it will become another reason to demonize us. I know that there are plenty of human rapists, but the one thing we have going for us with humans is we come off as passive and harmless as a species. We can't let them start thinking we're dangerous."

"And killing a pony ourselves is going to be better how?!" Number demanded as she stood up in her chair, almost forgetting to keep her voice down.

"They don't have to find out we did it. If they find a body it can be blamed on wild animals or violent humans. There's no reason for them to suspect a pony," Tonya asserted as she looked Number in the eye.

"Maybe, but it still feels wrong," Number grumbled as she settled back in her seat.

"You want the best possible future for ponies, you want your fellow ponies safe from monsters like Swift Strike, and should be willing to go to any lengths to get what you want," Tonya said, again using that slow and deliberate tone.

Number shook her head again as she considered what she wanted. She didn't want to be a murderer but she didn't want Swift Strike to have the opportunity to do this again.

Tonya was right, Swift Strike's actions could not be allowed to be repeated. She didn't want to kill a pony, but if it came to it that was for the greater good. This wasn't murder, this was justice. She'd possibly be less of a good pony if she didn't take action. This was a pony that deserved death, and it took commitment to the well being of her fellow ponies to do what needed to be done.

She might feel really uncomfortable doing this, but she knew in the end it was the right thing to do.

Chapter 6

Amanda tended to wake up early as a human and that hadn't changed when she had become a pony. When she awoke the sun had not yet risen and it was dark outside still. Hopefully that meant most ponies were still asleep and she could do a few things quickly without having to deal with crowds.

She looked over to the quiet sleeping form of her daughter and smiled. Jackie was a hooffull, but she still felt a certain joy at looking down at the little life that had come from her.

It was amazing how much Jackie looked just like her, and she wondered if that was because she had been born a pony rather than a human. Technically Jackie was a transformed human too, since she had been human in Amanda's womb till that last month. Jackie had never experienced a day of her life as a human though. Being a pony was all Jackie had ever known; even Devon's foal Jessica had a few miserable days as a human.

Amanda shook her head. Jessica's misery was a special case, being human hadn't been so bad. She certainly missed her hands, most ponies she talked to didn't think lack of hands was anything to be concerned about, but most ponies she met weren't earth ponies trying to deal with a hyperactive pegasus foal. She sighed as she yet again wished she could have turned out as any other type of pony but earth pony.

She turned and looked at her own flank. No greater purpose had come to her yet, no sense of who she was supposed to be. There was no mark on her flank yet, and it seemed every day that the number of ponies with cutie marks increased, and those blank flanked like her were slowly moving to becoming a minority, at least among grown adults. Maybe she would be more content if her mark would just appear, or if she were a unicorn or pegasus instead so she could better take care of her daughter. She wanted to be content, but another part of her wanted to be anything else so she could deal with tasks easier. She felt guilty for feeling that though, like she was being ungrateful or something. She didn't feel like a human in a pony body, but she didn't really feel any contentment being an earth pony either.

That wasn't something she could concern herself with at this moment. Right now it was time to get up and get something to eat. Devon wasn't back yet, but considering she slept most of the afternoon yesterday and had a nocturnal son that wasn't a big surprise. Late night was probably a good time for her human friend to get things done. Amanda would go eat while Jackie was still asleep, and hopefully Devon would return by the time Amanda got back to the tent. Then she could leave Jackie with Devon long enough to try to get some things done herself.

She carefully used her mouth to pick up her filly by the scruff of her neck and deposited the sleeping filly on her back. Jackie thankfully didn't wake up through this and quickly resettled herself on Amanda's back. The filly was still leashed to her so if she woke up she couldn't get away, which meant there was no need to apply the even more uncomfortable straps to keep Jackie in place.

With Jackie snuggled on her back, Amanda trotted out of the tent into the early morning air. She took a moment to take a deep breath and look up at the first rays of sun in the sky. This time of day was always her favorite time of day; it was calm, peaceful, and beautiful. It was a time of day where everything was good and the rest of the day showed nothing but promise, a time of serenity and optimism, a time of day she could temporarily set aside her worries.

She quietly made her way through the aisles of tents towards the back of the area. She could hear a few noisy sleepers among various tents she passed. There were a small number of other early risers just starting to emerge from the tents as well who seemed to have similar feelings about the morning. There was even one stallion going through a series of stretches that made her think that he was planning on going on an early morning run. She might enjoy a run herself, especially since she hadn't gotten to try pushing herself. She enjoyed running as a human and she kind of wanted to see how fast she could go since becoming quadruped, but that wasn't happening with Jackie on her back.

She arrived quickly at the community haystacks and looked at them with disappointment. Hay was probably the dullest food possible, but it was food. There was also a pair of water fountains set up for drinking that were operated by stepping on a pedal. Long hoses ran from them to some unknown place in the distance, and similar hoses could be seen among the tents running to the outhouses. They were pretty easy to see and avoid stepping on, but she hoped no pony accidentally tripped or disconnected any of them by accident. It seemed like it would be a pain for everypony if they had to be traced back to their source for reconnecting.

Amanda took a moment to look down at the ground. It was grassy, but a lot of the grass had been trampled flat by the constant stream of hundreds of hooves over the course of the last day. She bent down and considered it. To this point she really hadn't attempted to help anything grow. She'd been too concerned with dealing with Jackie to spend time finding out about her own earth pony abilities. Grass wasn't anything special, but it seemed like it might be something simple to practice with. She had a few minutes, so why not take a shot at it? Maybe it would make her feel better about being an earth pony.

The rose pink mare focused on the ground just below one forehoof. She really had no idea what she was supposed to be doing, just imitating what she had seen other earth ponies do. Hopefully her pony instincts would just take hold and guide her. Her strength was obvious, but it didn't feel like something magical. She wanted to be able to do something magical, and this was supposed to be her magic.

Did she feel anything? There was the grass beneath her hoof, it was cool, and damp with morning dew. She focused on the sensation of the grass and started to feel something else. She could feel the water and nutrients moving through the grass, she could follow that sensation down into the soil, beyond the touch of her hoof.

Amanda let off a excited gasp as she realized she was feeling something she shouldn't be able to without some sort of magical aid. Her magic was there and she was using it. It was exciting to feel, because it was one thing to know it should be there and a whole other thing to feel it at work for the first time.

Calming herself, she kept her focus on the sensation of what was going on in the soil, and her perception reached out further than the roots into the surrounding soil. She could feel other life down there. There were worms and bugs moving through the soil just below the surface. She wasn't particularly interested in any of these, but it was still amazing to know they were there. If she had a shovel--and hands--she could easily dig right down to the exact spot each one was moving with pinpoint accuracy. She allowed herself to feel just a small sense of pride now; this was the earth beneath her feet and she was an earth pony, they were in tune with one another, and it it held no secrets from her.

Her senses reached further and she found grass seed as well as the seeds of other things. She could recognize the grass seed as grass seed since it had a harmony with the grass, a sense of sameness. She couldn't really tell what the others seeds were, some of them held that sense of sameness for one another, but not with anything growing. Without having a plant to connect them with they were a mystery to her.

The fact she didn't know what the seeds were bothered her for some reason. She just didn't like not knowing.

Determination welled up in her to know and she turned her full focus to them. They weren't growing right now, simply dormant in the soil. To find out what they were she needed them to grow, and she needed to help them do that.

She felt along the seeds, feeling out their shape and how they operated. There was no way of putting into words what she was doing other than that, it was like explaining color to blind pony. It was something that would be completely alien to others to understand and completely natural to her.

Using that sensation she felt the nutrients in the soil around the seeds. There was food and water here to help whatever plant they were survive. They just needed to grow. She focused on that thought and gave it as a command to the seeds.

There was another sensation, magic that followed her stream of awareness and went down from her into the soil. It came in contact with the seeds and immediately the seeds responded.

She pulled her hoof back up. A few small leaves slowly pushed out of the grass. They were instantly recognible as some sort of wild lettuce. She wanted to clap her hooves together in joy for making it grow, but didn't for fear of dislodging Jackie. A silent cheer in her head would have to do.

She bent down and bit into the freshly grown lettuce leaves. They were nice and fresh, and tasted really good; far better than hay. Unfortunately they were not enough to make a meal of though. Still it gave her a sense of accomplishment that she had done it, and it was a nice victory snack.

Amanda turned her head to look at her flank again, and felt mild relief that it was still as blank as it had been just minutes before. She might be able to use her magic, and that felt good, but this magic wasn't her purpose. That was still a mystery for another time. She already knew she had no desire to be a farmer, and might have cried with despair if she had actually gotten a cutie mark for growing a little bit of lettuce. Still, it was nice knowing she had the capability to use magic and to have actually done it, so she felt a little better about her circumstances.

She looked back to the haystack and sighed as she looked at it. Her small victory snack had just been a snack, not a meal. Her breakfast was still going to be bland as hay...hay. She needed to hurry and eat her breakfast and then get back to the tent before Devon got back.

After taking a few minutes to eat and drink Amanda turned to head to the closest outhouse. Jackie was stirring on her back by this point, but if the filly was awake she still seemed perfectly content for the moment to just lay in place on Amanda's back as Amanda walked around.

All and all this was a good start on the day overall. Hopefully soon she would be finding out about work, permanent shelter, and getting her life together. Things looked a little less bleak than they had before. She could get used to mornings like this one.

Tonya wandered back to the house she shared with Sunset. She had been up all night and wanted to collapse from exhaustion. Her mind was twisting and turning though, and so was her stomach. She felt dirty for what had gone on over the night, like she was permanently stained.

She made her way to the kitchen first and flew up onto the kitchen counter overlooking the sink. She then drank from it like she would a water fountain or hose, just to wet her throat after sobbing herself hoarse, and splashed a little bit of water on her face just to wipe away the crying before she turned the sink back off. She flicked her wings free of water, and with a sigh she hopped back down to the floor and turned to head up the stairs to her shared bedroom with Sunset.

After coming through the bedroom door she looked over to see if Sunset was awake or not. The mare was laying down on their nest of blankets that they had gathered together until they got a proper bed. Sunset didn't stir as the door opened, but Tonya could tell by the sound of her breathing that Sunset was awake. The pegasus made her way over to the blankets and cuddled close to her lover.

"It's done," Tonya said she stared forward at the wall.

Sunset turned and faced her with a considering look. "Number Crunch agreed to do it? I didn't think she would."

Tonya's felt sick as she made herself answer. "I had to...persuade her, just like I have to persuade the humans sometimes to trust you or when I need to help you focus."

Sunset sat up and looked down at Tonya with sympathy. Tonya didn't want to be looked at, she felt like an abomination, she didn't deserve to be looked at by anypony.

"You didn't need to do that," Sunset said in a low pained voice, heavily laced with sympathy. "I could have found some other way to put that bastard down. I was already considering finding a human to do it. I didn't want you having to carry that kind of guilt."

"I do a lot of things by my own choice, Sunset. You aren't the only one that wanted Swift Strike dead. I'm just as guilty as you are; more so since I made Number kill him. He hurt Phobia, who was the only pony that was always nice to me growing up, who is like a sister to me, and I wanted him to pay for what he did," Tonya said as she started crying.

Sunset leaned over her and gripped her with her forelegs, holding her tight. Tonya turned and buried her face into Sunset's fur as she just let herself sob, and the unicorn mare softly laid her head down on top of Tonya's. They sat like this for several minutes while Tonya's chest heaved with her sobbing.

Eventually she cried herself out, but just continued to lay with her face pressed up against Sunset's fur, taking in the musky scent of her. Her lover then started to just brush her mane with a hoof in a soothing fashion. After a few more minutes of this she felt ready to speak again.

"I'm such a monster," Tonya finally said with a sniffle. "Number wouldn't have done that without me invading her emotions. It isn't right for a pony to have a power like mine, it's not natural."

"But you do have it, and it isn't going to go away," Sunset said as she continued to brush Tonya's mane. "You don't need to use that all the time though. You've been getting very loose with using it. God's showing you that you need to have more care about using your abilities so you don't misuse them."

Tonya sighed before answering. "You know how I feel about God, but I get what you're saying. This was a wakeup call about how dangerous I can be if I get too used to using my power to get ponies to do what I want."

"Your power isn't a bad thing in itself. You can use it to help ponies like you help me focus on goals, but things like this are probably an abuse of it. There's a difference in helping a pony focus on what's important to them and what happened last night. You can see that now, and you're a better pony for it," Sunset said as she turned her head to kiss Tonya on the forehead, seemingly ready to blow off Tonya's ill doings.

"Never again, I'm never doing something like that again. It was just evil," Tonya agreed as she brought her head up to nuzzle Sunset's neck, enjoying the physical companionship of her lover and the feel of her love. It always made her feel better, more reassured.

"You're a monster only if you don't care that you did wrong. You can repent if you feel the burden of guilt," Sunset said with a hint of her preacher tone entering voice.

Tonya rolled her eyes just slightly. "You're bound and determined to make a good Christian out of me, aren't you."

"You know what I want well enough since you're the one who helps me with understanding my wants. You have a good Christian heart, even if you lack belief. I have faith one day you'll come around on the belief too," Sunset said with a smile that could be heard.

"Stranger things have happened, but you might have to just be satisfied with my good Christian heart. I don't see myself changing on that anytime soon," Tonya said dismissively.

"If it works out that way I know God will forgive your lack of belief, so I can live with it. I'm still confident you'll come around eventually though," Sunset replied with a sigh.

"There's something slightly off topic I need to talk to you about," Tonya said as she thought back to her conversation with Number Crunch, trying to focus on something other than her guilt. There was Devon to think about too, but this was more of an immediate concern.

"What? I'd figure you'd be wanting to get to sleep rather than spend the morning talking with me--not that I mind," Sunset asked.

"I'm pretty sure Phobia is like me in more ways than I originally thought," Tonya said as she sat back up and looked at Sunset.

"More ways how?" Sunset asked with a raised brow.

"I think she can get into ponies' heads too. Not in the same way exactly, but still getting into their heads," Tonya answered as she sat considering how to better explain what she suspected. It was ironic that she had magic powers that required talking, but her ability to explain things was rather poor.

"What makes you think that? She's never said anything to me about that," Sunset asked with growing concern in her voice.

"I think she got into Number's head the other day when Number said...what she said to Phobia," Tonya said carefully, worried that she might rouse Sunset's temper with a reminder of the event.

"So, when Number Crunch said she didn't know what came over her you think it was my daughter doing something to her head," Sunset said in an even tone. Tonya definitely needed to tread carefully with this.

"I don't think Phobia has the same fine control as me, not that I even have fine control myself, and I think her ability is linked with her obsession about fear. I think she pulled all the things Number was afraid of about herself to the surface and Number lashed out as a result," Tonya explained slowly, hoping she wasn't screwing up this explanation.

"So you're saying that my daughter can fuck with ponies heads in ways that can possibly bring the worst out of them," Sunset said in a grim tone.

Tonya nodded as she pressed on to why she needed to talk to Sunset about this to begin with. "Yeah, that's what I'm saying, and that's really important to know right now because she is not in the best state of mind herself after what happened last night. She could start doing things to those around her without meaning to. Something needs to be done before she does something we'll all regret."

Sunset sat quietly for a minute as Tonya waited for a response. There was no way Sunset was taking this news well. There was nothing the unicorn was more protective of than Phobia.

Sunset finally let off a long breath and looked Tonya in the eyes. "I know I promised never to ask you to use your abilities for me, and I just gave you a talk about laying off using them, but do you think you can use them to help her?"

"I can try, and would have even if you didn't ask me. I want her to get better too. I need a chance to get back to doing good after last night," Tonya said as she gently brought a hoof up to touch her lover's fave..

Sunset raised a hoof up to touch Tonya's face in turn while smiling, then leaned forward and gave Tonya a kiss on the lips. As she withdrew her head she spoke. "Thank you, Tonya. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You don't have to worry about finding out. I'm never going to leave; though right now I really need to get some sleep," Tonya said with a yawn.

"Get some rest then, I expect I'll be busy soon. Tattered Wing will almost certainly be sending some pony to alert me about Swift Strike any time now. I'm surprised she hasn't sent anypony yet," Sunset said as she looked at the door.

"Probably trying to figure out how to break the news of his escape without having you try to set her on fire," Tonya said with a smirk.

"Probably," Sunset agreed with a small chuckle. "Anyway, get some sleep and I'll see you this afternoon."

"I'll try," Tonya replied with a sigh. "What are you going to be up to while you wait for the messenger?"

Sunset's ears dropped before she answered. "For right now I need some time to myself to think about what needs to be done for my daughter before Tattered Wing sends for me."

Tonya's ears lowered as well as she thought about what Sunset must be feeling. Tonya cared deeply for Phobia as well, like a sister, but her feelings couldn't begin to compare to what Sunset must be feeling right now.

"Are you sure you don't want me to help?" Tonya offered, not wanting to see Sunset suffer.

"Not this time, at least not right now," Sunset replied. Tonya saw her lover's eyes start to water. "You get your sleep. We'll be there for one another later today. Both of us need time to ourselves to cry before we spend more time crying together."

"Okay," Tonya said, as she tried unsuccessfully to get comfortable in the blankets.

After Sunset finally left Tonya pulled the blankets close to herself, making a large cushion of them between her forelegs. She then buried her face into them and cried as she thought again of the evil she had done last night and the evil that had incited her to do it.

The hints that said Tattered was in over her head as a law enforcement official kept on coming. She was starting to wonder if she should just give up on this job before she screwed too much up.

Sometime over the course of the night Swift Strike had escaped the room that he had been held in. She had the night ponies out looking for him in force, but there seemed to be no sign of him. She had managed to let the first pony she had taken into custody escape not even a whole eight hours after having him put under guard. This did nothing to help her confidence. or demonstrate to anypony that she was competent. Sunset Blessing was going to rip her a new one, and Tattered didn't even want to think of how she was going to explain herself to Phobia or Rosetta.

She looked at the method of escape and questioned how he had done it. There was a large air conditioning vent in the room. She had recognized it as a potential escape means before she had even locked him in, and had triple checked and had other night ponies check if there was any way a night pony was going to be able to get it open without a tool. It had seemed an impossibility after those checks, but here she was staring at the open grate of the vent and the screws of it laying out on the floor. She had no idea how he had been able to unscrew them with just his hooves and wings, hooves and wings shouldn't have been able to manipulate something as small as those screws, but he had somehow done so. Now he was on the loose again.

Sunset Blessing would need to be contacted soon. It was after sunrise now and her night ponies had been searching for nearly two hours with no success. Pegasus teams would soon need to be brought in to help, and that meant getting Tonya, and by extension Sunset, involved. She would have had to be informed regardless, but this wasn't a talk that Tattered was looking forward to.

One of her night pony patrol stallions, Shadow Step, walked into the room beside her. She raised a questioning eyebrow to him as she waited for his report, hoping for good news.

"We've found no sign of Swift Strike still, Broken One," Shadow Step said apologetically.

She sighed and nodded. The title Broken One was starting to feel like some cruel joke playing on the fact she was a broken part of the system. Things needed to improve drastically and soon or she should just resign.

"Go ahead and go find Sunset Blessing. She tends to sleep late so you may need to wake her. Tell her that I need to see her urgently about Swift Strike. I'll be waiting in my office for her," Tattered said in a subdued tone.

"Yes, Broken One," the stallion said before quickly exiting again.

She probably should contact Pale Oak as well. He wasn't technically involved, but he was part of the pseudo-pony council they had going and was in charge of the earth ponies. This wasn't really earth pony business, but he had a right to know there was a rapist at large. She'd send word to him soon. Yet another pony she could be an embarrassment in front of, hooray.

The ragged night pony walked back to her office and sat down at the desk. She pulled up her messenger service and sent a quick message to her brother that she would be home late and to make sure he went out by the tents to eat some hay for breakfast. She wasn't sure when they would get proper groceries, or something to store them in for that matter, but would figure that out when she could. She hoped that she wasn't going to have to worry about Sunset deciding she needed to be evicted in retribution for her failings. Tattered could deal with being out without shelter herself, but she really didn't want Alex to have to deal with that. He was used to a fairly comfortable life, and though what she was providing was already a massive downgrade from what he was used to, she didn't want him to have to go through any further drops in his standard of living.

As she waited for Sunset's arrival she did a few quick searches for things like police procedures and legal codes. Honestly she should be going to some sort of academy or something for this, but things were going to have to be done by self education for now. She found several sites that were useful and bookmarked them for reading later. She made a mental note to find time to consult with the town sheriff about things as well. He was mainly just there for show, and had been a figurehead for years from what she understood, but perhaps he had some information that could be of use to her. She really wanted to be doing this right, she was tired of being a disappointment, and determined to show she could handle this position and give the Enclave legitimacy.

After several minutes searching and reading information Sunset Blessing entered into the room without knocking. The unicorn mare looked exhausted and her orange eyes were bloodshot. She had obviously been crying, and Tattered's opinion on her softened a little. She still despised the unicorn on principle, but there was no denying she was a mother that cared for her foal. It was hard to feel animosity to a pony in this kind of situation.

"So what happened? You wouldn't have had me rush over here if everything was fine. Out with it, Broken One, tell me the bad news," Sunset said flippantly as she climbed wearily into the seat opposite Tattered.

"You know, you could call me by name other than title," Tattered responded as she leveled a flat look at the red furred unicorn.

"Oh, I know. Out with it, Broken One," Sunset answered in the same aggravating tone.

"Okay, Preacher," Tattered said with heavy emphasis on the title. Sunset didn't actually have a title as far as Tattered knew, but that was close enough if Sunset wanted to play this game. The alternative title was cultist, but she wasn't going to press her luck--especially considering what she had to tell the unicorn. "I regret to inform you that Swift Strike has escaped custody. I have every available member of the Enclave out hunting for him now. I would appreciate you telling Tonya to give me some additional air support from the pegasi so we can find him again quickly."

"What the hell, you couldn't even keep him contained for a full day? How are you supposed to protect ponies if you can't keep one rapist locked up for a full night? How is my daughter going to be avenged?" Sunset demanded with fury.

"Believe me, when I find him again he won't be able to pull that again. He won't be going anywhere even if I have to bind every one of his limbs and muzzle his mouth shut," Tattered answered grimly.

"This wouldn't have happened if you had done as you were told to begin with," Sunset growled.

"I'm sorry. I was under the false assumption you wanted us to be seen as trustworthy, happy, friendly ponies to the humans and to the government above them. I was also under the impression ponies were supposed to be above killing, that we're suppose to represent something better," Tattered said in a lecturing tone. "Killing somepony for rape might make you feel like you got your vengeance, but it flies in the face of what we're supposed to be representing. You want to act like something worse than humans go right ahead. Let's see how long we maintain legitimacy and are trusted after doing that."

Sunset Blessing looked like she was ready to explode on Tattered, and the night pony awaited the outburst. Instead the unicorn took a visible breath and glared at the top of the desk.

"Fine, you're right. You'll have those pegasi to back up your search party. If that bastard does anything else to my daughter it's on your head and I'll make sure to make your life a living hell," Sunset said as she hopped down from her chair. "I'm going to go make arrangements now. You'd better stop being a disappointment, Broken One."

With that last declaration made Sunset Blessing stormed out of the office, slamming the door shut behind her.

All and all, that meeting had gone better than Tattered expected in would. She still had her job. The crazy unicorn bitch hadn't tried to beat the crap out of her. Additional air support was going to be provided. Overall that could be counted as a fair list of positives.

Another night pony stallion, one who had a much darker shade of red fur than the mare who had just exited, Brick Pounder, came in after Sunset departed.

"We still are finding no trace of him, Broken One. What are your orders?" Brick asked her.

"We're getting additional air searchers. I want us to pull down to the ground and search for him on hoof. I want the surrounding woods combed as well as every abandoned building in town. Find me at least a trace of him. Come back at eleven, I won't have you all exhausting yourselves carrying this on until afternoon," Tattered instructed.

After the stallion left she pulled her messenger back up. There was a line message acknowledging that Alex had seen the earlier message. Taking a pen up in her teeth she quickly typed out another telling him she wouldn't be back until afternoon and that she still expected him back at the house by six that evening if he choose to go out and to please wake her around six so she could be at work on time again. A moment later she got another message saying that he had read the most recent one she sent.

She reconsidered her instruction for a moment and then sent yet another message telling him eight instead of six. She had a doctor's appointment later that would push to getting home extremely late. She'd just have to make arrangements to come in later tonight.

She gave a frustrated sigh as she closed the messenger service. She was off to a great start taking care of her brother too. Just neglect him completely for days on end so she could focus on work, work she wasn't even paid for. Big sister of the year, that's what I am, she thought sarcastically to herself. At least he was fifteen and not younger, he didn't actually need her watching over him all the time. Still it stung that she wasn't doing better at seeing to his needs.

There was nothing else to do at the moment. There was no way she could really go out searching for Swift Strike herself, and somepony had to be here to receive reports of what was going on. All she could do for the moment was just start reading about legal and police procedures and hope that she understood everything well enough to start applying things to her own work. This was not the start to her job that she wanted, but she could either give up or find ways of getting better, and she wasn't a quitter.

Chapter 7

Amanda waved a hoof at Devon as she wandered back into the tent. She had eaten her fill, gotten a shower in, gotten Jackie to use the potty and then cleaned her up. Add that to the fact she finally did some earth pony magic and that resulted in her mood being upbeat as she saw her tent-mate.

"Did you have a good evening? You weren't back when I got up," Amanda said as she carefully deposited Jackie back down on her sleeping mat. The filly was awake and alert, but not particularly active yet.

"For the most part yes, I got a loan for a new house and did some walking around to see what was on the market," Devon said with a smile as the human sat breastfeeding Jessie. Robby was beside her flipping through what appeared to be a battered comic book. The fact he was trying to turn the flimsy pages of a comic with hooves was probably why it was battered.

"You're getting a house already? That sure was fast. I was expecting to share this tent with you for a few weeks," Amanda asked in disbelief. In truth she was actually saddened to hear that, even if she was being selfish feeling that. She'd hoped that she and Devon would be able to mutually help each other with their respective foals. There wasn't anything saying they couldn't still, but it felt less certain if Devon was moving out.

"I've still got to settle on a house but I need to move fast. There are only so many houses that are in good repair and if I wait too long I'll be left waiting for renovations to be completed or to have one built. I'd rather not wait for either of those things, or to spend the extra money on renovations. I hoping to have money left over for furniture and appliances," Devon explained.

"Did you find out more about night ponies?" Amanda asked as she laid down to feed Jackie.

"I should have asked more questions, since I thought of several others after leaving, but did find out some things. The basic rundown is they’re exceedingly protective of others when it comes to perceived threats, and will pretty much throw themselves into danger if they think they're protecting someone. Our police system here looks like it's going to be night pony dominated," Devon explained as she glanced down at Robby with a small frown.

"So, night ponies are the guards at night then?" Amanda asked as she looked over at Robby. She caught a glimpse of what comic book he was looking at; Batman.

"That's about right," Devon said as she ran a hand gently over her son's mane.

"Okay, that makes sense. I knew earth ponies were the producers, the unicorns were to run a bunch of utility jobs, and the pegasi were supposed to control the weather. I never really knew where night ponies and crystal ponies fit in. I guess I know where the night ponies fit in too now," Amanda said as Jackie began suckling her breakfast.

"Crystal ponies don't do similar jobs to earth ponies?" Devon asked in confusion. "I thought they were essentially just sparkly earth ponies."

"They don't seem to. Nopony really knows what crystal ponies are supposed to do. The only thing they ever did was act as conduits for that big spell that wiped out ETS. Other than that, they're just kind of there with no obvious purpose," Amanda explained. Then dropped her voice to a lower tone even though there shouldn't be anypony nearby to hear. "And just to tell you, there are a lot of ponies that don't seem to like them. Not only do they not seem to fit in, but the fact they were involved with stopping ETS kind of rubs a lot of ponies the wrong way. I even heard one pony muttering once about how crystal ponies were traitors to their species for that."

"Really? I didn't think ponies had any kind of prejudices. That was one of the big things that ponies like to brag about. And that sounds like they wanted this to spread to all the humans," Devon said with a raised brow.

"Oh, prejudice hasn't gone away, it just shifted to different things, don't let anypony try to fool you about that. There are some ponies that really look down on humans, others that look down on crystal ponies, and many that look down on both. They don't get so worked up about things like sexual orientation, religion, nationality, or color anymore, but they still have prejudice for anything that doesn't fit into their perceived idea of how things are supposed to fit together. Humans and crystal ponies aren't part of their view of the big picture," Amanda explained with a sad shake of her head. "And yes, there are definitely a lot of ponies that wanted every human to be a pony and were angry about the end of ETS."

Her ears dropped as she remembered how she learned for the first time about that. She'd expressed some interest in being human again and there had been a few ponies that had been surprisingly nasty towards her for it. She hadn't even been insistent she wanted to be human, only complained she wished she had hands.

And if she had to admit it to herself she was probably guilty of looking down on crystal ponies too, if for different reasons. Being an earth pony she had access to magic for growing things, the crystal ponies didn't seem to have even that. They were at a disadvantage in every conceivable way. There seemed no way to want to be a crystal pony from her perspective.

"I noticed a lot of ponies just refer to me as human, but I hadn't put much thought into why. I guess that would explain it. It's hard to believe though, all of you were humans until recently. It's hard to imagine you think of yourselves that differently so quickly after changing. Do ponies really think they're that superior?" Devon asked with concern.

"Well, some do, a lot actually. I don't feel that way though," Amanda said with a frown. She decided to take a risk about talking about a forbidden subject and dropped her voice into a whisper again. "Don't tell anypony, but I'd thought about whether it would be better to go back to being human if they found a way to reverse transformations like they said they were trying to do. Some ponies get really upset if you suggest that kind of thing."

"You want to be human again?" Devon asked in a surprised whisper.

"Maybe? I don't really know. I feel helpless sometimes being an earth pony. It feels like if I was almost any other type of pony then things would be better, or if I was human still," Amanda explained with a frustrated shake of her head. She looked at her hooves and then continued. "I did magic for the first time today, and that made me feel better. I'm sure I'll feel better when Jackie stops surging too, and I'm better able to manage her. I just feel like I struggle trying to accomplish certain tasks that would have been simple as a human or if I was a unicorn."

"But do you think you'd be happier as a pegasus or unicorn? If you were one of those would you long to be human again?" Devon asked curiously.

Amanda sat and thought for a long moment. What did she want? That was a hard thing to say. She felt like a pony, not a human in a pony body. What she wanted was ease of doing tasks more than anything else.

"I don't think I'd want to be human if I were one of those. I would be able to manipulate objects as well or better than I did as a human if I was a unicorn. If I was a pegasus I could fly after Jackie when she takes off, and I could share the skies with her when she gets older and starts flying regularly--and the wings could be used for extra grip on things too. Right now, I'm ground bound and having to try to fumble tasks with hooves and my mouth. I don't care about the extra strength I have as I don't actually typically need to do much heavy lifting except for on rare occasions." She stretched out and grabbed the towel with a hoof, hooking her fetlock into it before pulling it back towards her. "You can see I'm getting much better at using my hooves to do what I would with hands, but it's still extremely awkward to near impossible sometimes, especially with trying to grab anything tiny."

Devon sat thinking over on her mat. Amanda wondered what was going on in her friend's head. Did Devon think she was crazy? Did Devon agree with her? This subject was something Amanda didn't feel comfortable talking about with just anypony, not after her past experiences trying, but she hoped that a human might be more understanding.

"I can kind of see what you’re saying, but I can't help wishing I had gotten ETS, too. I kind of see things from the other side of the spectrum," Devon finally said.

"You wish you were a pony?" Amanda asked with a raised brow. She had thought before that Devon might feel like she was better off as a pony if she was raising pony foals, but wasn't entirely sure.

"There are things I just won't ever understand or experience as a human that are going to be considered normal for my foals. I can't do magic at all. I don't have pony instincts so my thought processes will be different. I'm a human in a town which is dominated by ponies, and it will be developed with ponies in mind. My children will look at me and see something that isn't even the same species as them," Devon listed off in a shamed tone.

Amanda could see where Devon was coming from and she wanted to reassure her friend again that these simply weren't as big a deal as Devon made them out to be. She tried to imagine herself in her friend's position. Would she be freaking out about the fact Jackie would look at her and see she wasn't a pony if she was human again? That was actually a troubling thought, a downright scary thought. One that made her seriously reconsider whether being a human would actually be better than an earth pony.

She considered her answer for a long moment, thinking of the positives of being human and Devon's circumstances, before replying, "But there are some things that would be tough for you, too, if you were a pony; things other than what I deal with. Right now, you can adjust your sleep schedule to accommodate either of your foals. You wouldn't be able to rightfully do that as a pony. Unless you were a night pony Robby would get neglected, and if you were a night pony Jessie would get neglected."

"I suppose that's true, but it's hard enough giving them both time as things stand. I'm still stuck dealing with one or the other most of the time," Devon said as she let out a breath.

Robby's ears were perked up, which meant he was listening, but his eyes were focused on his comic. What was the little colt thinking as he heard his mother saying these kinds of things?

"And if you had gotten ETS, and it made you an earth pony like me, you wouldn't be having the bank sitting there trying to fast track you into getting a new house," Amanda said as she grasped for reasons that being a pony wasn't so great.

Devon was going to get herself depressed if she kept thinking like this. Amanda wanted to bring up that if Devon was a pony she might not have any chance of reconciling with her husband. Amanda knew that if her own husband was alive, and still human, that would be a deciding factor to want to be human again. Best not to think too much about that or she'd get herself depressed.

"If I was an earth pony like you at least I would be able to fully relate to at least one of my foals," Devon said in a bitter tone.

There wasn't any real warning to it, Robby just got up and broke off at a full run out of the tent before either of the adults knew what was going on.

"Robby!" Devon yelled out after him as she stood up, causing her to drop Jessie down on the floor. The little filly started crying at being so unceremoniously dumped on the ground.

"I'm sorry, baby girl, I didn't mean it," Devon said as she shuffled from foot to foot anxiously, torn briefly by the urge to comfort her crying daughter. There was no time for that right now though. Devon then looked over to Amanda. "I'm sorry, I know I'm supposed to be watching the foals for you to go take care of what you need to do, but can you watch her a moment? I have to find Robby."

"Why are you even taking time to ask me that? Get going before he gets too far," Amanda said with worry.

Devon took off at a full run out of the tent, leaving Amanda to deal with the fillies, one of whom was bawling her eyes out.

The earth pony mare carefully got up which led to Jackie getting upset that her feeding was interrupted and she then had two crying fillies on her hooves.

She sighed as she gathered Jackie up onto her back, and then made her way over to the crying earth pony filly. All the while she wondered what had gotten into that little colt's head. Hopefully Devon would be able to track him down quickly, but there was no way she was going to keep up with a pony's run speed.

As Amanda tried to soothe the foals she couldn't help feeling that maybe Devon was right. Perhaps it was time to make her full peace with being an earth pony, because if Devon was any indicator being human again wasn't going to make things any easier. Devon had also instilled a small fear in her about Jackie rejecting her if she wasn't a pony.

Having a magic horn or wings would still be nice though.

Devon looked in all directions as she tried to spot where Robby went. There was no sign of him, but there were so many tents blocking her line of sight that he could be hiding anywhere.

She looked around and saw a few Earth ponies standing around outside their tents nearby.

"Did any of you see a night pony colt come running through? Do you know where he went? It's my son, I need to find him," she asked.

They pointed with their hooves towards the back of the tented area. She yelled a quick, “Thanks!” and took off in the indicated direction.

She had to keep pausing to ask ponies passing by if they had seen Robby run through. Not every pony had, so it sometimes took an extra moment or two to find one that could direct her. The answer was always the same though, leading further and further towards the back of the tent encampment.

She finally reached the back and spotted Robby taking a drink of water from a water fountain set up by some haystack.
"Robby!" She yelled with a mix of fear, worry, and relief.

Robby turned to look at her and let off a squeak. He took off yet again at full run straight into the woods that bordered the encampment.

"Robby! Get back here!" She yelled before taking off after him.

Before she could reach the forest two night pony stallions came down in front of her, blocking her path.

"Why are you chasing that foal, human? We won't tolerate humans terrorizing ponies, much less foals," one of the stallions growled at her.

"That foal is my son and I'm not terrorizing him. He just took off and I'm trying to get him back," Devon snapped. "Help me catch him or get out of my way. He's five years old, he shouldn't be running off like this."

The two stallions looked at one another and then back at the woods. One shrugged to the other at if passing the choice of what to do to his companion.

"Alright, we'll help you find him. We're going to want to question him about why he ran off to begin with, though, to find out if he had a reason to run from you," the same stallion said.

"Are you accusing me of abusing my child?!" she demanded in outrage and disbelief.

"We're just double checking after the colt's welfare," the stallion replied with an even tone.

"Of all the...," Devon began, barely containing her temper at what was being implied. She drew her temper in. She hadn’t done anything and Robby would confirm that. She was only letting Robby potentially get lost on his own if she sat here and argued. "Fine, whatever you want. Just help me find my little boy."

The stallion who was silent looked like he was making ready to correct her about the term. She didn't give him the opportunity. Without any more talk she ran between the two into the treeline and tried to pick up on Robby's trail. A moment later the two stallions followed her on foot into the woods.

The dirt was not so hard packed back here and despite not being any sort of tracker she could still spot the occasional hoof print that told her which direction to keep going. The two stallions moved through the trees a few feet away on either side of her.

It wasn't long before the entrance into the woods was far behind them and on glances back the end of the woods wasn't visible anymore. Even so, Robby's tracks continued on deeper into the woods with no sign of her son.

"Brick! There are stallion tracks out here, few hours old, heading in the same direction. Think it might be Swift?" The talkative stallion yelled out to the other while still moving.

"It's possible, but let's not jump to conclusions. Keep an eye out though," the silent stallion, Brick yelled in answer.

Devon didn't know who Swift was and didn't care. Finding Robby was all that mattered. Why was he even doing this? Had she done something wrong? Was it a foal thing? A night pony thing? A night pony foal thing specifically? It didn't make sense.

They kept going for at least half an hour. Devon had never been in woods that went this deep. Back home there were plenty of woods, but you couldn't go half a mile most the time without clearing them or at least without running into some sign of civilization. Here it was just endless trees, and a canopy above that shut out the daylight.

Finally, the sound of crying reached her ears and she zeroed in on it. The ponies heard it as well and sped ahead of her towards the source. As a result they reached Robby before she did.

Robby was deep in the brush, and there was no visible clearing anywhere near him. One night pony stallion lay near him quietly questioning and the other seemed on high alert. It had taken her a full minute and a half to reach them after the stallions had already made it to Robby.

"It seems you have a bit of a misunderstanding on your hands with your son. I think he needs a long talk to clear his head of some misconceptions," Brick said as Devon bent down to reach for Robby.

"Misconceptions?" Devon asked as she pulled her crying son into her arms.

"He'll tell you. Just talk to him," Brick said as he rose up to his hooves. His snout crinkled in disgust after that. "What is that awful stench here?"

Devon became self-aware that she was still wearing clothes that Jessie had pissed on and hadn't been changed in days.

"I apologize, there hasn't been an opportunity or way to do laundry," Devon explained.

The stallion seemed to ignore her and went off exploring the brush, sniffing the air. She then looked at Robby and brushed back his yellow mane as she held him.

"I'm sorry, Momma," Robby pitifully cried as Devon started pulling twigs out of his black fur.

"What was wrong? Why did you run off like that? You scared me half to death," Devon asked, trying not to yell at him.

"You said you couldn't take care of both me and Jessie. I figured you didn't want me anymore because I'm up all night, and you spend all your time with her now. You talked about becoming an earth pony so you could be with her," Robby said through tears.

"Robby..." Devon paused in her answer as tried to think of how to best address his fears.

She didn't want to upset him further. This seemed the type of thing only a five-year-old could interpret in such a manner, but he definitely had convinced himself of it.

She took a deep breath before trying to explain as she resumed running her hand over his mane soothingly.

"Robby, you are both important to me. I'm not getting rid of either of you, and me thinking it might be better to be a pony makes no difference at this point since that isn't happening. Jessie gets more attention from me right now because she is just a little baby, she can't do anything for herself. You’re bigger than her so you’re more capable. I know I've been neglecting you, and I'm sorry if that made you feel unloved. I do love you very much, just as much as your sister. You're both my babies. Do you understand?" Devon asked.

"But you've talked about how you can't get enough sleep because of me. That means I'm hurting you," Robby said with full seriousness.

"I can't deny I've been running low on sleep. I want to say I'm fine, but because I love you I'm not going to lie. It would hurt me more not to have you around anymore. I'm going to figure out how to get enough time with both you and Jessie. I just haven't figured out how yet. I will though, just try to be patient with me," Devon said mournfully as she hugged him a little tighter to her.

She hated the fact she had no clue as of yet what to do, but lying to her son right now wasn't fair to him.

"I don't want you hurting at all. I'm supposed to protect you," Robby protested as he pushed back against her and gave a sullen stare at the ground.

Devon tried not to frown. Those night pony instincts were really strong for him. Maybe because he was a foal he was more driven by instinct? She decided to play on those if that was what got through to him.

"And if you run off how're you going to protect your little sister? How will you protect us if a bad guy comes to get me or her? Your sister needs her big brother to protect her. You can't do that if you've run away, now can you?" Devon asked with as serious a tone as she could muster.

Robby seemed deep in thought about this, with an almost comical amount of seriousness. She wanted to laugh, just like the other times he had gotten protective. She scolded herself in her head for that though. This was very serious business in Robby's view of the world. He was a night pony and that protective nature was part of him, and she needed to take that as seriously as she took his nocturnal habits.

"I guess I wouldn't be able to, and that would be bad," Robby said after much consideration. He then looked distressed as he seemed to realize something else. He then tried to wrap his little legs and wings around her in embrace. "I'm sorry I was bad, Momma, I'll be better."

"It's okay, Robby," she soothed as she hugged him tight and gave him a kiss on his the bridge of his snout. "Everyone gets scared and confused sometimes, and we do silly things when that happens. You were just scared and confused today, and that's okay."

Robby paused in his sobbing for a minute and seemed to be thinking again. She let him do this uninterrupted as she waited for him to answer.

"Mama? What if I became human again? Like the Miss Amanda talked about maybe wanting to do. Would that make everything better?" Robby asked timidly.

Devon wanted to say yes. She had to restrain herself from saying yes. What was best for Robby's welfare and hers was for him to change back to human so she could better care for him. There was one major element that overrode what she thought was best though.

"Robby, do you actually want to be human?" She asked in a serious tone, hoping that he said yes, and feeling hypocritical about having just expressed she wanted to be a pony a few minutes before in earshot of him. "I don't want you to think about pleasing me or what would make things easier for me. I don't want you to think about what you think you are supposed to answer. I want you to tell me what you really want; to be a pony or be a human."

"I want to be a pony, but...," Robby started to answer and she put a finger over his mouth to cut him off.

"If you want to be a pony you're going to remain a pony, and I'll make sure no one ever tells you that you're wrong for it. If your feelings ever change I'll back those too, but right now all I need to know is you want to be a pony. Don't change that for me or anyone...or anypony else's sake. That would hurt me knowing you did that and didn't really want to," Devon explained calmly. She wanted to cry but she meant every word of it. She would not take this away from him if it was what he actually wanted. This was his choice, not hers, not anyone else's. Plus if he was going to grow up here being a pony might be for the best anyway.

Brick returned just then, interrupting Robby's chance to answer. The stallion had a grim look on his face, he kept glancing back the direction he had just been.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I have to ask your son something important," Brick said.

Devon nodded, wondering what the stallion wanted now. They'd already established that she wasn't abusing Robby. The stallion bent down to look Robby in the eyes.

"Robby is it?" The stallion asked. Robby nodded in response before the stallion continued. "Robby, this is really important. Did you see anypony, or human for that matter, out in these woods other than your mom, me, and my friend?"

"No, nopony," Robby answered with a shake of his head.

"And you didn't go to the spot that smell is coming from?" Brick asked.

"No, it smelled really wrong. I didn't like it," Robby said with a look of fear.

Devon felt a cold chill. She sniffed the air herself but couldn't smell anything other than just the general smell of the forest. Ponies had better senses of smell than humans, so it wasn't shocking that they could smell something that she couldn't, but Brick seemed extremely concerned about whatever this was.

"Is there something dangerous out here? Some sort of bio-hazard?" Devon asked the stallion.

"No, no bio-hazard. I'm going to escort you and your son back into town while my partner looks around here some more. Then I'm going to get my boss out here. Keep out of these woods in the future," Brick said in a grave tone.

"I wasn't planning on coming in here, but why?" Devon asked.

"It isn't something we can discuss with you. Please just follow me out and let's get you and your foal out of here," the stallion said as he motioned for them to follow. He glanced back at her then added, "And I heard your conversation with your son. You're a good mother and he's lucky to have you."

"Um, thank you. I'm just trying to do right by him," Devon answered, unsure how to feel about being easedropped on. The stallion just nodded back in answer.

Devon looked deeper into the forest for a moment, wondering what the problem was, before she and Robby started following the night pony back out of the woods.

Wild Growth didn't know what she should be doing at the moment. Right now most of the family seemed to be focused on helping Rosetta and Phobia out following the break-in and rape that had happened. Wild felt guilty that she wasn't over there too, but it seemed like there were already too many over there trying to give comfort. Phobia was not in a state that she could really deal with so many ponies and humans together, and it had to be stressing Rosetta out as well while Rosetta was trying to comfort her fiancée herself.

So instead Wild was the only pony back at her human family's house. She wasn't the only one there, Abuelita was somewhere in the house upstairs, but Wild was essentially alone.

She really wasn't in the mood to be unpacking at the moment, though it might help give her something to focus on. Instead she was just wandering around the house, checking locks on doors and windows. There was no real reason to expect the same to happen here, but the incident at her sister's house had made her a bit more safety conscious overall.

It still didn't sit right with her at all-not that a break-in and rape should ever sit right with anyone. It just doubly didn't sit right with her because ponies weren't supposed to do things like that. Ponies were supposed to be kinder, gentler, and more considerate than humans by their very nature. She had heard about the Enclave from her sister, but they were a special case brought on by special circumstances; circumstances that most ponies could sympathize with. What had happened last night wasn't some special circumstance, it had been just plain evil.

It made her feel disgusted with herself for ever thinking her sister should marry John. She'd been a naive little filly that had ignored the clear signs of abuse that went on while the two had been together as humans. Her parents' clear animosity to John was now completely understandable to Wild. Last night had been a wakeup call to her about a lot of things.

Welcome to adulthood, where you need to pay attention to everything going on around your loved ones, because if you don't somepony is possibly going to get hurt. She thought bitterly to herself.

And she had a lot of responsibilities to her family. Her sister and future sister-in-law would need to have a security system installed since Swift Strike had escaped custody. Phobia's father was going to stay there with them, but they needed more. Wild would be paying the bill for that, and gladly. She'd probably do the same for her parents' house and her own house, after it was built anyway. There was no telling if Swift Strike would go after them in some sort of warped vengeance. She needed to see to it that her family was protected.

Phobia would need medical and psychological care as well, and it would fall on Wild's shoulders to make sure that Phobia got that. Phobia was her sister's fiancée and that made Phobia family, and by extension that made her part of Wild's responsibilities. As the pony with the resources to care for them all, and it fell to her to do just that.

She just wished that throwing money at it was all she needed to do to make it better, but that wouldn't undo the hurts that had already been done.

With a frustrated glance around at all the half-unpacked boxes in the living room she decided she needed some air. She'd take a walk, clear her head, and hopefully come back home with a clearer picture of what to do next.

Wild called out in Spanish. Her grandmother knew perfect English but would pretend like she had no idea what you were saying if you didn't speak to her in Spanish.

Her ears were perked to hear any response, but no answer came. That answered that question; Abuelita must be sleeping.

"Crap," Wild cursed to herself. She'd have to leave without letting anypony know where she was at. She'd prefer to let somepony know given the general anxiety everypony was feeling, but there was no help for it though. She was a grown mare and she could go for a walk without letting anypony know.

Wild left the house and set off at a brisk walk towards the center of town. After a minute or two of walking she decided to really stretch her legs and go at a full run. It would feel good to just let loose and run, it was a way of blowing off steam after how upsetting the night had been.

This was her first time really pushing herself into a run since becoming a pony and she was surprised at exactly how fast she actually was. She'd never have been able to go half this speed as a human or been able to do it without exhausting herself in seconds. She wasn't sure but she thought she could easily keep pace with an athletic human sprinter. An excited whinny escaped her lips as she pushed her muscles hard. She loved being an earth pony.

"Slow down, you'll run somepony over!" A crystal pony that she ran close by yelled at her. She snorted annoyance at this and got a little angry. She just wanted to unwind with a run, was that too much to ask?

She had to pause to mentally draw her emotions back into check. She didn't want to accidentally cause trees and who knew what else to start sprouting up as she ran. That ability she still didn't have fine control of, and she did it while angry. Best not to take risks. She lowered her ears as she slowed her pace back to a walk as she neared main street.

A lot had changed over the course of one day. More than half the vacant shops had signs up declaring businesses that were going to be opening soon. One that caught her eye made her laugh and shake her head sadly, it was a video game shop, her little brothers were going to love that.

As Wild reached the previously existing businesses she saw signs marking them all closed until able to restock. They promised to open again as soon as they were able with expanded merchandise, or in the case of the two restaurants expanded vegetarian menus.

One area that looked like it was active and open was the storefront that had been set up as the First Pony Bank. Her current account was held by Wells Fargo, but it seemed unlikely they would be opening a branch here in town anytime soon. Perhaps she should make arrangements for her money to be deposited in this bank going forward. She'd rather deal with somepony local that try to deal with a bank by phone or internet. Setting that up was something productive to be doing with her time so she made her way into the bank.

Inside the bank there were three tellers set up and then four more agents set up at tables helping an almost even amount of humans and ponies. That was a little surprising considering how much ponies outnumbered humans in town. Maybe humans were just more eager than ponies to get financial things settled?

"Um, excuse me?" She asked, interrupting a human working at one of the desks with a human couple. "Where do I go to see about transferring large amounts of money from another bank to this one?"

"I've got this one Kelly. Wild Growth is a very important pony that I want to be the one to assist personally," a familiar voice that meant trouble could be heard.

She turned to face the source of that voice, a blue unicorn mare with red mane and tail, and a cutie mark that was an abacus, Number Crunch.

"It's great to see you here, Wild Growth. I was hoping that you would choose to take your business to us," Number Crunch said with a smile and light sway of her tail.

"Rosetta said that I shouldn't be around you. She was very adamant about that. I should have realized you work here. I'll be going," Wild said with her ears laid back as she turned towards the door.

Number Crunch's ears flattened, and eyes widened as she rushed to block Wild's exit.

"What went on between me and Phobia was a bit of a misunderstanding. I said some things I shouldn't have while under a lot of stress. I'm still a bit confused about how those words even escaped my mouth. Please, don't hold that against me. If you're looking for financial services you'll find no better pony than me for the job," Number Crunch said in a placating tone as she held one leg up in a stopping gesture.

"I don't even know what went on between you and Phobia, but I've never seen my sister so insistent that I stay away from somepony. I'm leaving, right now," Wild said as she flattened her ears and tried to step around the unicorn.

"It was a little misunderstanding, that's all. If you come into my office I can explain myself and I then I can help you with whatever you need," Number Crunch insisted as she continued to try to block Wild's exit

Wild growled in Spanish as she lowered her head into a fighting posture.

Number Crunch responded firmly back in Spanish as she took a few steps backward.

That caught Wild of guard. She used Spanish sometimes when saying something insulting or trying to throw others off in a conversation. She wasn't used to those outside the family or of Hispanic heritage being fluent. Of course, it was much harder now to tell who had Hispanic heritage as ponies.

"Fine, we'll talk in your office," Wild gave in and backed up. She was at least curious about what the mare had to say for herself.

Number Crunch sighed with visible relief. Then gestured for Wild to follow her to a door off to the side. Wild did as indicated and the two quickly entered the office and shut the door behind them.

Wild Growth took a seat facing Number Crunch's desk as the unicorn made her way around to her seat.

The office was extremely plain; having just the desk, a trash can, a computer, a filing cabinet, a small refrigerator, and a cup with a few pens in it. A window on the wall gave an excellent view of the red bricks of the next building over, and much of the plaster on the walls was chipped away revealing their own red bricks beneath. The chairs were old puke green plastic with metal legs, and very uncomfortable. It was a place that could use a few potted plants to add some life to the room. Maybe a small potted tree or two.

"Please, excuse the spartan surroundings, I haven't really gotten to do much other than get the bare essentials in here. The entire bank is a work in progress, but we needed it up and running right away," Number Crunch explained as she took her seat behind her desk.

"You were going to explain to me how you're poor and misunderstood," Wild replied flatly as she tried to adjust how she was sitting to be more comfortable, it was a lost cause though.

"Well, certainly not poor. I'm probably the one pony in town richer than you," Number Crunch laughed. "All the employees of this bank are paid from my own personal accounts. I plan on opening new branches soon and will be financing the payroll for those as well. At least until we start making profits."

"Which is why you're so eager to get me to have your bank handle my money," Wild observed.

"Guilty as charged on that. We must have money in the bank to make loans of our own rather than these government loans. I want to make this a credible financial institution, but that takes attracting ponies like you to use it," Number Crunch said as she stretched out her forelegs in gesture at her surroundings.

"Well, first you're going to have to explain to me what happened between you and Phobia," Wild said as she met Number Crunch's eyes.

Number Crunch broke eye contact and turned to stare out the view-less window for a moment considering her reply.

"I'll be completely honest with you. I don't know what came over me when she was talking to me. She brought out a side of me I hate. I shouldn't have said the things I did, and they were inexcusable," Number Crunch said sadly as she turned back to Wild.

"That's not really a good enough answer. What was said?" Wild pressed as she leaned forward in her seat.

"This is between you and me. I do a lot of things for Sunset Blessing; things I can't talk about. You have to realize she's in deep with the government and many other things, and I can't disclose what those things are to you or anypony. Phobia was digging and pressing me for answers, and she was bringing up aspects of my past that I'm ashamed of. I lost my temper and told her in so many words that I was going to plant her deep in the ground if she uttered a word of any of that to anypony," Number Crunch said in a shamed voice as she looked down at the desk rather than at Wild.

"You threatened to kill my sister-in-law?" Wild asked in shock as she pulled back in her seat.

"Oh, I threatened her, and indirectly threatened all the rest of you too. I can only ask your forgiveness on that. I was not in my right mind at the time," Number Crunch said as she returned to looking at Wild with a pleading gaze.

"So, it's all supposed to just be fine now? Ponies aren't supposed to do that. We're supposed to be peaceful and caring. We don't just randomly start making threats on ponies' lives," Wild said harshly, almost spitting.

She started making a move to just leave. She hadn't heard anything that would make her give Number Crunch a chance. In fact, what she had heard only lowered her opinion of the unicorn.

"I didn't have to tell you about that. I can also tell you that after what happened with Phobia I was punished severely. Has your sister told you what happened to me?" Number Crunch asked in an urgent tone as she leaned forward over her desk and reached out towards Wild with one hoof.

Wild sat back down in her seat.

"No, I don't know. What happened to you?" Wild asked with an exasperated sigh.

"I went and told Sunset Blessing on my own what had happened. I was ashamed of myself for what I had done, and she responded by hurling me around her office into one wall after another while I did nothing to resist," Number Crunch answered with her eyes and ears downcast.

"Sunset Blessing, as in Phobia's mother, did that?" Wild asked in disbelief, ears flattening. "She never mentioned anything like that. And she still has you working for her?"

"I was punished, and I took my punishment. I'm still useful, and still committed to doing right by this community. I don't know what came over me that day, but I'm not going to be a bad pony," Number Crunch insisted firmly.

"Not going to be a bad pony? Were you a bad human?" Wild asked with a raised brow. The phrasing seemed odd to her for some reason.

Number Crunch pressed her lips tightly together and seemed to be considering her answer again. The fact that she had to consider it pretty much declared to Wild that the answer was a resounding yes. Again, there seemed no reason to give this mare a chance.

"Phobia confronted me about that, and it was the thing that set me off...I'm not going to go off on you for asking though," Number Crunch said slowly.

The unicorn raised a hoof to her muzzle and looked down, as if considering what to say again. She clearly didn't want to talk about this, but the fact she was trying to be honest kept Wild listening--if only out of morbid curiosity.

"I was a horrible human. I'm not going to go into details, but I wasn't a person you would want to be associated with at all," Number Crunch said after her long pause. She took another deep breath before continuing. "I'm determined to try to leave my past behind me. I'm not perfect, and I still do things from time to time that leave me questioning myself. I've got to believe that I'm doing things with purer intentions and that I'm doing good."

"You're going through a lot of effort to try to get me to do business with your bank," Wild said in a dry tone.

"You know what? Don't do business with me. Let that be my sign that I'm not just telling you this to get some financial gain out of you. Maybe when I brought you back here that was a case, but I think I realized talking to you I want something else," Number Crunch said sadly.

"And what's that?" Wild asked skeptically. What did this unicorn want to gain if there wasn't money involved?

"I want somepony that has a low opinion of me to give me a chance to show I'm not a horrible pony. Sunset and Tonya give me that, but I'm just a tool to Sunset, and Tonya and I have some issues between us after last night. I had a very bad experience of my own last night, one that is leaving me questioning again who I am, and I want to know I'm good," Number Crunch said as she stared off at nothing.

"What happened last night? You did something like threaten a pony again? Did you threaten Tonya?" Wild asked with a hard gaze.

"I can't tell you. I wish I could, but I can't. It seemed like the right thing to do, but I feel guilty for it. I didn't do anything bad to Tonya, if anything she did something to me--or failed to anyway. It's really messing with my head and I'm feeling betrayed right now," Number Crunch said as she went back to staring at the floor.

"So you are going to me because I'm a pony convenient to talk to?" Wild asked with a confused shake if her head. Her mane got in her eyes again and she had to brush it out of the way before continuing. "Aren't you married? I'm pretty sure somepony told me that you're married. Why don't you just go to your husband and talk to him if you really just need somepony to talk to?"

Number Crunch started laughing like Wild had just told the final punchline of an extremely funny joke.

"My husband? No, I'd never go to my husband for anything. I'm still shocked as hell that he even followed me to this place instead of filing for divorce and trying to take me for half of what I own. We were a marriage of convenience that filled financial purposes. There's no love between us. The man, and I mean man since he's still human, is gay," Number Crunch said as she wiped a tear from her eye as she stopped laughing.

"Why would you even get married to somepo...someone you didn't love? Someone who wasn't even capable of loving you?" Wild asked eyes widening in still further disbelief.

"Because I was a greedy human and he is a greedy man. We mutually benefited one another by being married," Number Crunch said with a shrug.

"But he followed you to Riverview, despite having no real affection for you and still being human. Why?" Wild asked with a baffled expression upon her face.

"He's probably seeing economic opportunity here. Rest of the country is almost certainly going to go to shit for a while. Might as well go where there is a chance at profit. He's greedy, and he's pragmatic," Number Crunch explained with a snort and a flick of her tail that could be heard even though not seen. "The fact that I'm a pony doesn't change much in terms of our relationship. He wasn't attracted to me as a middle-aged human woman, and he's no more or less attracted to me as a blue furred unicorn."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Marriage shouldn't be that way," Wild said with legitimate sympathy. She couldn't imagine living in a loveless marriage.

"Bah," Number Crunch said as she waved a hoof dismissively. "Marriage is overrated as an institution. Humans have this fairy tale notion of marrying and never thinking about wanting someone else or ever losing interest in who they're with. Marry for the sake of something not tied to love, that's more likely to last."

The unicorn then lit up her horn as she opened up the refrigerator in the corner. Out of the refrigerator floated two cans of beer in her blue aura. She popped the tops of each with her magic and took a long drink from one, setting the other down in front of Wild.

"Um, I'm seventeen years old. I can't be given a beer," Wild said with an uncomfortable look at the offered can.

"Dear, all you or I would get around here is a fine for me giving you alcohol. Do you know what a fine means? It means legal to the rich," Number Crunch said as she sipped from her floating can. After she finished sipping she added. "It can actually be seen as doing a public service if we do get fined. That's money for the town coffers that they didn't have before."

"I'm still not sure I should, my parents would be disappointed in me," Wild said as she continued to stare at the drink.

"Your parents have no say on what you do. You're the one paying their bills, you're the one providing for their needs. What you do in your free time is your business. You can't live your life just trying to always please others with no consideration for your own needs," Number Crunch paused briefly to take another sip of her beer before continuing. "I know that there has been a great deal of stress in the last day in your household. I'm not the only one here that needs to take time to sit back and decompress away from our normal company."

Wild considered that, and it seemed to actually be completely true on all accounts. She wasn't doing anypony any good at home with her just getting stressed out herself, and they depended on her for most things. She needed to be able to get away from it from time to time and spend time with a friend away from family.

She looked at the blue furred unicorn mare sitting across from her. Number Crunch admitted to being not the best pony, but she also said she wanted to do right and be better. The unicorn was clearly trying to reach out to her to be a friend. The mantra that ponies forgive ran through Wild's head as she considered what to do. Was Number Crunch the ideal choice for a first real friend in this town? Probably not, but they were both ponies in need of a friend to help them cope with their stresses.

She reached out a leg and grabbed the forbidden drink in one fetlock, then brought it up to her mouth for a small sip. That small sip almost made her gag, and her mouth twisted in disgust, it tasted awful. How did anypony stand this stuff?

"It takes some time to get used to beer, just like it does with coffee," Number Crunch said with an amused glint in her eyes as she watched Wild's reaction.

Wild just nodded and took another hesitant sip of the disgusting beverage, giving an involuntary shake as she swallowed the stuff without choking on it. She then set the can down for the moment.

"So Number, what kind of hobbies do you have?" Wild asked as she gave a slightly forced smile to her new friend.

Author's Note

I know this chapter is longer than average, but it was the best way of connecting these different sections up while covering what I wanted to get to this week. Expect most chapters to be 5000-6000 words maybe a little over or under.

Chapter 8

Since waking up yesterday Tattered had dealt with an ongoing series of events that made her wish that she had never gotten up yesterday evening. Now she was facing yet another.

"Director Baker, how in the hell am I supposed to enforce the law in this town if I'm covering up the biggest crime it's likely seen in decades?" Tattered asked the government suit sitting across from her in her office.

The human man's posture was slumped, he had heavy lids under his eyes, and his normally confident voice was nowhere to be found when he answered. "I'm not asking you to cover up the murder. I'm asking you to order all details be kept quiet while you maintain an ongoing investigation, be clear there is an ongoing investigation. Once you actually have a full case to bring against someone then you can charge them and bring them to trial."

"Only letting ponies and humans know there has been an incident, not even mentioning it was a murder or who, that certainly sounds like covering it up. And speaking of me bringing formal charges against somepony; at the moment I'm still a vigilante by all rights, when do I get the authority to do that?" Tattered asked as she leveled a hard look at the human that had talked her into trying to have the Enclave become a legitimate police force.

"The governor will be sending papers by the end of the week for you to sign that will give you law enforcement authority answerable to the state. As well as detailing a salary, and identification marking you as a legitimate law enforcement officer. You will be given authority to hire on whoever you choose as an officer of the state under you, though you'll have to work with the town to develop a payroll for those. The state is only paying you," Baker explained. "Be thankful, they were very hesitant to grant any pony law enforcement authority, and most see this as a PR stunt."

Well, that was a mild relief. She was actually going to have some authority. Fuck anyone who considered her position a PR stunt; she was going to be a legitimate officer of the law, and she wouldn't be answerable to Sunset Blessing.

That was particularly good because suspect numero uno in this murder was Sunset Blessing herself. The unicorn spent the night at Phobia's house, and she had her husband, daughter, and future daughter-in-law all as alibi for that. That just meant she had some pony or a human do it for her. Tattered needed to find out who, and get firm evidence linking them to the murder. Then she could hopefully try to get them to rat Sunset Blessing out as the pony that put them up to it.

Unfortunately she had to wait for that paperwork to come down to make her official. Anything she or any of her Enclave did before then could potentially be dismissed. In the meantime Swift Strike's body was just decomposing in the woods with orders to keep ponies and humans out, and the evidence was not being gathered. By the time she had authority to order an autopsy done the evidence might have already been eaten by bugs.

She also had to worry about what would happen in the afternoons when her night ponies weren't there to guard it. They were unquestionably loyal to her, but any other pony could potentially do things on Sunset's behalf. She needed ponies outside the night ponies in her Enclave; earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns, crystal ponies, and even humans that she could trust. If the Enclave was going to operate as the police force of Riverview she couldn't leave Riverview unpoliced for several hours a day while night ponies slept, or policed by those loyal to somepony like Sunset Blessing. She was hopefully going to get some of the glitter bombs mascarading as ponies tomorrow, and they'd be helpful with restraining arrested flyers and unicorns if what she was told about them was true, but she needed more than just them.

"I also am required to stress, we need Sunset Blessing. I know how things look right now, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't also think she's involved somehow, but the United States needs her here," Baker said in a slow monotone.

Tattered almost fell out of her chair in shock. "What?! You expect me to just let her walk free if I can connect the murder to her? Without getting into how much that flies in the face of what's right, why?"

"She performs a variety of services that far outweigh the life of one pony rapist. If she is involved we do not condone that, but for the greater good we'll turn a blind eye," Baker' tone suggested he didn't like it either. Tattered guessed that order came from well above him.

"So I have to let that fanatic get away with murder," Tattered growled.

"If this happens again the powers that be won't be so willing to overlook things. If her connection to this comes out by accident we can fabricate some explanation about how it was self defense or something. However, as things stand now we need this community and the benefits it provides the United States. That means we need to show strong support and trust in its leadership," Baker explained, returning to his tired voice.

Tattered slammed a hoof onto her desk. "I'm not even official yet and you're already making me into a crooked cop!"

"We aren't saying don't find the killer and see that they're held accountable for murder, just don't go connecting them to Sunset Blessing. As I said, we need her--for now--and we'll be on the lookout to make sure this doesn't become a trend," Baker said apologetically. He still hadn't sat up straight. At least he had the good grace to look ashamed.

"When is it a trend? After she's done this twice? Three times? A dozen? This shouldn't be allowed to happen at all. I wanted Swift Strike prosecuted to the full extent of the law, but this isn't anything resembling justice," Tattered said with fury. Her black mane fell into her face as she bobbed her head in anger forcing her to brush it out of the way.

"For a pony that operated with vigilante justice, that involved shattering the bones of common thieves, you seem suprisingly adamant about this. Especially since by all rights you and your Enclave should be facing trial yourselves," Baker observed dryly.

Tattered stared the director in the eyes as she spoke, "And you shouldn't be surprised by that. You're the one who sold me on the idea that we could be something legitimate, and that we needed to bring our tactics back in line with the law so humans wouldn't fear us. That we could make night ponies be seen as trustworthy protectors of the innocent, for pony and human alike. That we should come to this place so we didn't have to worry so much about a criminal pulling a gun on us. I bought that, and my Enclave bought that. We want what we were promised; to be real protectors enforcing the law."

"All of that could be lost if members of the leadership of this community are shown to be involved with serious crimes and put on trial. It would be a public relations nightmare. I know you don't like it, and you have every reason not to like it. I don't like it either, but it's a sacrifice we'll have to make for the sake of your future," Baker said in a firm voice.

Tattered wanted to fire off another angry retort, but knew it would do no good. What kind of future would they have if news broke that not only had Sunset arranged murder, but the ponies responsible for enforcing the law had ignored it knowing that she was responsible? She couldn't help feeling that if Swift Strike had been human this conversation would be going very different. If a human had been killed hell would be raised and Sunset Blessing would be in hot water right now.

It seemed to Tattered that the government was setting it up so they could discredit them all in an instant if it chose to turn on ponies. There was nothing she could do for the moment. She'd write up a report about this meeting and what was said as soon as Baker left and while it was fresh in her mind. It might not accomplish much, but leaving a paper trail documenting her dealings with the government, Sunset Blessing, and others might be useful if things went badly. If things went bad she'd whistleblow this loudly.

The brown night pony leaned back in her chair before speaking again. "Very well, changing subject since my hooves are tied on this matter. Do you have any idea what my salary will look like? I have myself and a brother to support. I'd rather not be dependant on Sunset for all our needs. It leads to some serious conflicts of interest if she does more reprehensible things in the future."

"I only know it's a definite living wage. How much more than that I haven't a clue. Not my business to know those kinds of details, but I'd expect they aren't going to pay you as much as they would a human," Baker said with a shrug.

"If it's a living wage that's good enough. Worst comes to worse I can tell Alex in a year or two he needs to find a job," Tattered said as she crossed her forelegs in front of her.

"I read the reports about you and your family. You have my condolences that they're treating you like that. It's sadly not uncommon. That's part of the reason we need this community to succeed. We need to show ponies are capable of maintaining perfectly functional and respectable society so we can change people's perceptions," Baker said with sympathy.

She wasn't having his sympathy, not with him pressuring her into doing what she knew was wrong. "Yeah, well, I'd feel a little more proud of myself if I wasn't being told to keep my mouth shut. I'm going to be watching Sunset. I'm not having this place be built on the bodies of those that cross her. I don't buy the sunshine and rainbows, I've seen too much nastiness to believe in that, but I want to help build a secure future. I don't want this kind of thing to be the foundation of that future."

"That's the burden of maintaining stability, doing things you don't always like or agree with. Welcome to working for the government," Baker said mirthlessly.

"Yeah, but am I working for the government or being worked by the government?" Tattered asked with a sneer.

Baker stood up and leaned over the desk to whisper to her. "Tattered, I'm not your enemy. I want you all to be able to live here with as little interference as possible. There are things going on right now that could put that all in jeapordy if this place gets too much bad press. They're already drafting measures in Washington to clamp down on the ponies out west. There'll be lesser legislation passed for the communities in the south restricting pony activity as well. I'm on your side and I want you all to keep as many freedoms as you can."

"What's going to happen out west?" Tattered asked as her brow furrowed.

"From what I hear it's restricting where ponies can live, what magic they're allowed to use, military surveillance, and more. There are rumblings that Equestrians are getting close to a rehumanization spell and there's a lot of powerful people wanting that to be used on all of you if the Equestrians do produce one. Do you want them trying to force you to change against your will again or to make you second class citizens if they can't?" Baker whispered in a harsh tone.

Tattered's heart started beating rapidly. "The Equestrians won't let that happen. They promised that we wouldn't be forced to do anything else against our wills, that they'd protect us."

"You ever hear of conversion therapy clinics? Places some people like to send their kids to convince their kids not to be gay? Think of that on a wide scale, only directed at ponies," Baker replied with a hiss.

"I've never heard of that. Surely that can't be taken seriously, you can't convince a gay person they aren't gay, and you can't convince a pony that wants to be a pony that they want to be human," Tattered said in disbelief.

"No, but you can convince them to feel ashamed for feeling the way they do and agree to try to conform or bury how they feel. Those clinics were banned by several states as forms of abuse, as suicide rates from those that went to them were astronomically high and flat out physical and emotional abuse of the patients was common. Now people are really considering them for persuading ponies to rehumanize, even in those states that banned them before," Baker continued to whisper.

"That's just evil," Tattered said as she laid her ears back.

"That's why we've got to make sure these communities in the south show they're upstanding and productive so things don't come down as hard here. In all honesty it's probably in your best interest to just sweep this murder under the carpet so nothing is ever heard about it," Baker said as he sat back down in his chair. "You and I are alike, we want to protect people. I still consider all of you who are now ponies to be people. Help me do what needs to be done to protect them."

"I'll...I'll consider what you told me," Tattered said in a low voice as she sat back in her seat.

She had experienced cruelty by humans early on as a pony, but she had hoped that was something isolated. The humans here weren't like that. She couldn't be mad at Baker either, he really was trying to help them. This was all so wrong though.

Baker got up and started walking to the door. "I'll see you again tomorrow morning at the meeting with the crystal ponies. Please, think hard about things in the meantime."

Baker left to probably go attend some other private meeting with Sunset Blessing about the military presence here. He and the national guard had a command center of a few vehicles just outside town for the time being. Supposedly a full army garrison was going to be built nearby sometime in the future. Tattered didn't like the idea of an army garrison being there, but had no say in the matter.

She looked at the time on the computer and realized she had nearly two hours to go till her doctors appointment. Baker's talk of rehumanization appaled her, but there were two ponies she knew at the clinic that it might be best for. One of the big benefits of the transformation was it healed the seemingly unhealable. Maybe it would work again with rehumanization. That conversation was likely to be tense, Dan resented humans for his injuries and even seeing Melissa was painful.

After typing up her account of the meeting she stepped outside her office and let Joy know that she was going to be taking a short nap and to wake her in an hour and a half. She also let her know that she'd be late in to work tonight as she was going to bed late today.

As she walked back into her office and curled up in the chair she couldn't help being glad this day was almost done.

Number's house was much like the one that Wild had bought her parents, fairly large, and like most houses in town it was old. Most of Number's belongings were still in boxes and plastic crates spread out across the house. Her friend had explained that she hadn't really had time till today to really get to unpacking.

Wild was going to help, and that was her intent when coming over, but instead she was regulated to laying on Number's couch as the unicorn worked to unpack boxes. She didn't think that it was really necessary, she had only tripped once on the trot over here, and she was sure that the unicorn was overreacting to that. Number insisted that she just lay down though.

Wild squinted her eyes as she tried to focus her vision on the lone decoration already on the wall. After a moment of staring at it curiosity loosened up her tongue.

"Why do you own an ugly painting of a parrot, and why did you bother to hang it up before you got anything else up?" Wild asked the older mare.

"It's not mine, it's William's. His sister painted it shortly before she died, so it has high sentimental value to him," Number Crunch explained as she looked at the painting. "I don't really like the painting myself, but I understand his desire to have it up."

"What happened to her?" Wild asked as her ears lowered.

"She died back when he was in college, colon cancer. I met William after she already died, and despite him insisting on displaying that thing he and his side of the family never really talk about her to me. It's just a painful subject to them that I don't try to dig up," Number said as she started looking through another box.

"That's so sad," Wild said as tears started selling up in her eyes.

"Hey, watch it with the strong emotions," Number scolded as she looked up from her task. "Neither of us wants you sprouting trees up in my living room."

Wild twisted her mouth into a grimace. "That's not going to happen, I'm not angry."

"You don't need to be angry to do that, you just need strong emotion. On top of that you're drunk, and who knows what that does to how magic behaves," Number said with a sigh.

"I'm not drunk, I only had like two, not even a full two, more like one and three quarters. And that was spaced out over an hour and a half. I'm sure my sister drank more than that in one sitting before," Wild said defensively.

"I'm guessing that your sister did that as a human. Humans are bigger than us; we are smaller and weigh less, that means our blood alcohol level rises much faster per drink. Take it from some pony who's been drunk many times in her life; you're showing classic signs of being intoxicated" Number explained calmly. Then her ears dropped. "I'm sorry for not having thought about how much easier it is to get drunk at our size before letting you have that much, I should have done the math on that. That's my screw up and I shouldn't have let it happen."

"I don't feel drunk. I'm talking fine," Wild insisted. Then went to demonstrate. "Peter picked a peck of pickled peppers. Peter picked a peck of pickled peppers. See? No trouble talking."

"And yet you stumbled somehow despite using four legs, you couldn't walk in a straight line, and you're clearly having some issues with your vision from what I can tell. You might be talking fine, but one more beer and you'd be slurring your speech right now or already be passed out," Number continued in a firm voice. "Please trust me about this, you need to just relax and let it filter through your system. I want to make sure you'll be okay."

Wild laid her head down between her forelegs. She was tired despite it being too early for bed. That might be another sign Number was right. If this was what it was like to be drunk it wasn't what she'd expected, she'd expected something worse; this wasn't really that bad.

Still, if she was drunk her parents were definitely going to be disappointed in her. That made her want to cry.

"I'm such a stupid filly. I don't know why I let you give me beer," Wild muttered as her ears slumped down low.

"I was going to just give you one; you're the one who insisted on more. You probably would have been okay at one," Number reminded her. "Again, I do take blame for not thinking about how much more it likely effects us. I shouldn't have acquiesced."

That was true, Wild had been the one asking for more. She had wanted to prove she could handle it. So much for that.

"Let's look at this from the positives," Number said in a more perky tone. "We learned about pony limits with alcohol. I only had most of one and got a nice little buzz from it, which is where we want to be at. In the future if we sit down and have a drink together we know one is all we need."

"My parents are going to kill me," Wild muttered.

"You're parents aren't going to find out. We're going to have you sober up, and then take a shower before you return home. No one is going to be paying you much attention anyway with everything that's going on with your future sister-in-law," Number replied in that same perky voice.

Guilt flooded Wild as she heard that. She turned to Number in shame. "I can't believe how selfish I am. My family is trying to help Phobia and my sister cope with what happened and here I am, getting drunk."

"And pray tell, what exactly is the appropriate response to that kind of situation? Smother your sister and her fiancée with attention so they feel overwhelmed? Mope around the house and get yourself increasingly frustrated?" Number asked with a inquisitive brow raised. "You went out and tried to relieve some stress, and there's nothing wrong with that if it isn't hurting anypony. Plus, I'm pretty sure you aren't going to make a habit of getting drunk; you're too much of a goody-goody for that. Don't beat yourself up over it."

Was that true? Wild had already determined that she wasn't doing anypony any good by doing the other things Number said, and up till now she had been feeling less stressed. Maybe she was being too hard on herself. And was that how others saw her? As a goody-goody who did no wrong? That felt like additional pressure that she didn't want.

"How long do I need to wait?" Wild asked.

Number put a hoof up to her chin and seemed to consider before she answered. "Let's see, you haven't had anything in the last hour, and it is just after noon. I figure by the time four or five rolls around all the effects will have largely passed, except for maybe a headache."

"Don't you have work back at the bank? You don't have to foalsit me," Wild asked. A mild headache actually was starting; she didn't know if that was stress or alcohol induced.

The blue unicorn waved a hoof dismissively. "I hired on plenty of agents with excellent qualifications. I can take some time off to unwind. Don't consider it foalsitting either, I'm just looking out for you. If our positions were reversed I would hope you'd do the same."

"I might try, but I don't really know anything about being drunk. I'd be a little lost on what to do," Wild said as she scrunched up her snout.

"Well, you have some first hoof experience with being drunk now. I told you this was a learning experience," Number said as she started shifting through her belongings again. "Now, where did those movers put my laptop?"

"Maybe your husband knows," Wild suggested. "Where is he at?"

"Probably scouting real estate," Number replied with a roll of her eyes. "He had plenty of time to do that before the move but didn't seem to want to put any effort into it. I think he's intending on mass producing saddlebags and other pony garments and accessories. He found a mare who has a lot of ideas about pony fashion and he sees money in it. I suppose that could be profitable, provided most ponies are earning some sort of living. If things work out as planned they will be."

"What kinds of clothes would ponies be wearing? Why would we even bother?" Wild asked in confusion.

"I haven't seen the designs yet so I can't say what they look like. As for why; the saddlebags are extremely utilitarian, and as for the rest I suppose it presents a sense of style. Ponies will want to look good or professional in certain situations and there is only so much we can do with our fur, manes, and tails. There are also businesses that will want to have uniforms for pony employees," Number explained as she continued her search through the boxes.

"Oh, I suppose that makes sense," Wild said as she considered the bigger picture.

"Yeah, I'm actually considering having some sort of garment made for myself, just to have those visiting the bank to recognize me as the pony clearly in charge," Number said as she levitated a few books from a box onto a nearby bookshelf. "You might look into some business attire for yourself too. You're an important pony and you should display that, mainly for the sake of humans viewing you with respect. A well dressed human commands more respect than one who is shabbily dressed, and it's likely they'll respect a well dressed pony more than a naked one. Plus it might make them believe you think more like a human and take you more seriously by extension."

"But I'm rich and can grow forests in seconds. Shouldn't that be enough to command respect on its own? Clothes feel so unnecessary," Wild asked as she watched the unicorn unpack.

"It should in a perfect world, but you'd be surprised how petty humans can be. If you want respect from them you have to look like somepony who should be respected," Number said as she pulled an old business suit out of a box and frowned at It. She then levitated the human clothing over to a trash can and stuffed it in.

Wild blinked as she considered that, though her headache was getting worse. She'd heard this kind of thing growing up on and off, but somehow those kinds of lessons just went out of her head now that she was a pony. Was she so far removed from her old self that she'd forgotten much of what she'd grown up learning? How much else was there that she should know that just didn't occur to her anymore?

Thinking about all this with a growing headache was hard. She laid her head back down and closed her eyes, listening to Number unpack until she drifted off to sleep.

Devon sat and watched with a smile on her face as Jessie and Jackie played with one another. They'd bat at each other's tails, gallop around each other a bit, then go into a detailed search of one another's fur. Jessie would let off a giggle every time Jackie flapped her wings, and the pegasus filly would do it just to get a reaction.

Jackie on and off would try to go suddenly airborne, but she was firmly leashed to Devon. Jackie's attempts to fly ended with spectacular crashes and angry glares at the leash. Jessie would look concerned for her fellow filly and come to investigate each time, which distracted Jackie from her glares at the leash. The two would quickly go back to playing again after that. Despite having extremely short attention spans, how active and aware the two were, despite not being a full month old, was amazing.

Jessie decided at that moment to re-notice the snoring form of her brother and started creeping towards him, with Jackie following close behind.

Devon stretched a leg out to block their progress. "Oh no you don't, baby girl, you're brother needs his sleep. Don't go bothering him."

The yellow earth pony filly stared at the leg, following it along with her eyes back to Devon, then tracing it back down again to Devon's foot. While Jessie examined the leg Jackie decided to start playing with Jessie's tail, though Jessie seemed too focused to take notice of what the rose colored pegasus was doing. Devon smiled to herself as she watched Jessie try to figure out how to get around the barrier.

Her daughter then stretched one of her own forelegs out and held it out in front of herself, examining it; Devon's smile died as she pictured what was going on in Jessie's head. The little filly, while still balancing on three legs, turned her gaze back and forth between her foreleg and Devon's outstretched leg. Devon held her breath as she was being examined.

The filly then looked at Devon's arms and gave a slow blink of her eyes before looking back at her own foreleg again. Devon extended her hand towards her daughter so Jessie could look at it. The yellow furred pony looked at the fingers and frowned as she turned back to the frog of her hoof. She was clearly noticing the differences and Devon couldn't help feel as if her worst fears were playing out right now.

Jackie at this point must have had enough of being ignored by her playmate since she chose that moment to bite onto Jessie's tail and give a good yank. Jessie was unable to hold her balance on three hooves with her tail being pulled, and fell to the ground. The earth pony filly then turned to her pegasus playmate and pounced back on her. Within seconds they were back to prancing about with one another, examination forgotten.

Devon breathed a sigh of relief that Jessie's examination of her had been brought to an end. She couldn't help feeling a sense of dread that Jessie would reject her if the filly understood they weren't the same species. Hopefully her daughter would be old enough to have a simple conversation by the time this fully sunk in. Why did foals have to be this intelligent and aware? Jessie was just coming up on a month old, she shouldn't be able to process these kinds of things yet.

Devon gave a startled jump as Jackie let off a pained cry. She looked over to see that Jessie had yanked the harness and now it was out of place and pinching one of Jackie's wings.

"Baby girl, you need to be more careful when playing," Devon scolded Jessie, who still had the harnass in her mouth, before quickly going to Jackie's rescue.

She pulled the harness from Jessie's mouth and lightly pushed her backwards to give her space, and then got to work trying to straighten Jackie's harness. The upset cries coming from Jackie were no different than those that would come from a human baby, with the exception of an occassional whinny that escaped. The little filly struggled against both Devon's efforts to adjust the harness and the harness itself.

Eventually she got it back into proper position, but the crying persisted. The filly could crash full speed against a solid surface and just shake it off in a second, but having where her wing joined her body pinched was grounds for a temper tantrum. That must be a very sensitive area.

Devon gathered the pegasus up in her arms and tried to soothe her with some patting and a light rocking. She brought the filly back to her mat and sat down again while still rocking her.

Jessie sat watching this with curious blue eyes for a long moment before coming over to join them. Then to Devon's shock her daughter started trying to climb up into her arms as well.

"Are you jealous? You never want to be held, but the second someone else is getting held you want to be held too," Devon said with an amused smirk at Jessie.

Jessie continued her efforts to be picked up and Devon let off a small chuckle.

"Okay, baby girl, I'll pick you up too. Give me a moment to adjust how I'm holding your buddy," she said as she tried to shift Jackie to just one arm with the filly propped up on one shoulder.

Once she got Jackie in place she grabbed Jessie up in her other arm and positioned her so she was draped over her other shoulder. It was really awkward holding both fillies like this, but both of them seemed content for the moment.

"If I had a camera I'd take a picture of that," came a giggle that was unmistakably Amanda from the tent entrance.

Devon looked up at her friend and gave her a smile. Amanda looked like she was in good spirits.

"Was Jackie any problem while I was gone?" Amanda asked as she walked in and set her bag back down next to her mat.

The filly in question stirred as she realized her mother was home and struggled to get free from Devon. Devon set her down on the ground and Jackie tried to rush over to her mother, only to be brought back to a crash on the ground as she ran out of leash. She quickly pulled herself back to her hooves and bit into the leash and started yanking it with rage. While this was going on Devon set Jessie back down on the ground to free up her other hand, and her daughter quickly cuddled close to her.

"She was largely no trouble, she did get her wing pinched in the harness for a moment and that upset her a lot. I was actually trying to comfort her after that, poor little girl," Devon said as she gestured to Amanda to come take the leash from her.

"Aww, my poor little filly!" Amanda cried out in concern as she walked first to Jackie. The foal stopped her assault against the leash as she realized her mother was in range and quickly started rubbing against Amanda. Amanda laid down and kissed her filly and wrapped her forelegs around her in a hug.

"She was still trying to take off flying while you were gone, no sign of the surges ending yet," Devon said as Amanda finished nuzzling Jackie.

Amanda let out a sigh as she got up and walked over to Devon to have the leash transferred back. "I hope not too much longer. I found the Equestrians that are in town when I was out, a unicorn and a night pony. I was shocked that the night pony was awake but she said that the night ponies in Equestria only prefer being up at night, they aren't as strictly bound by sleep patterns as night ponies here."

Devon blinked at the news in confusion, causing her to pause in trying to get the leash ready for transfer. "There are Equestrians here? I hadn't heard that. What're they doing here?"

"They're here treating the wounds of some badly injured night ponies and helping train a few ponies in how to treat pony illnesses and injuries. I was directed to them after I expressed frustration about Jackie's surges," Amanda said as she outstretched a foreleg to have the leash attached to.

Devon got back to work transferring the leash. "What kind of advice did they give?"

"They told me that Jackie should be done surging in another day or so based on how long it has been going on. They said that they determined crystal ponies can temporarily bring a surges under control for at least a few hours by siphoning off the wild magic from a foal. That would have been nice to know earlier, but thankfully won't be important soon if this is near its end," Amanda replied while smiling.

Devon finished transfering the leash and gave it a yank or two to assure it was secure before settling back on her mat.

"Did you find a phone? I really want to make that call as soon as I can about that teaching position," Devon asked.

"Town hall has a few phones set up for public use.There's a time limit on using the phones though. You only get ten minutes," Amanda explained as she started walking back to her own mat with Jackie following close beside her. "I called the number and had somepony tell me an interview time and place in a few days."

"I'll have to go back by there later to make that call too. I really need a nap for just a few hours though," Devon said with a yawn.

"I'm here now and will keep an eye on your foals. Get some sleep, I know you have to be exhausted after being up all night and morning," Amanda said as she settled into place.

"Thank you," Devon said as she laid down. She was so tired that didn't even know if Amanda had responded before she fell asleep.

Author's Note

If anyone missed my blog. The current release schedule for chapters is every Thursday and Friday.

Chapter 10

The town clinic was a simple building. Nearly identical on the outside to most of the other buildings throughout town. The only way you didn't mistake it for a shop was that there were no windows looking into the lobby. There was no proper hospital here, at least not yet. This clinic for the time being served all the town's medical needs.

Tattered sighed as she pushed open the door and walked in. It was getting into the early afternoon and she wouldn't get much sleep today. On top of that she hated coming here, once she was healed she wished she'd never have to visit a hospital or clinic again as long as she lived. Unfortunately it wasn't just her that brought her here. Her friends all but lived here.

A cream colored crystal pony stallion with yellow mane that had that sparkly look to it sat at the desk in the lobby. She had seen him several times before, but hadn't bothered to learn his name, or the names of the other two crystal ponies that worked here. She hated nurses and doctors, and wanted as little to do with them as possible. The names of the Equestrians and her fellow Enclave member, Rudra Patel, were enough.

She walked over to the desk as the stallion looked at her expectantly.

"Miss Wing, you're running a little late for your appointment," the stallion said in a concerned tone.

"Are Lavender Mist and Rudra still here then?" Tattered asked, hoping she would not have to deal exclusively with that damn Equestrian unicorn and these crystal ponies.

"They're both still in, they're treating the other Broken Ones right now. I'll just call them and let...," the stallion began as he started reaching for the com button before she cut him off.

"No need for that. I know the way. I'll let myself in," Tattered said in a testy tone, as she started walking to the door leading to the back rooms.

"But...," the stallion started to protest, before Tattered walked through the aforementioned door and let it slam behind her.

She walked to the end of the hall, past more than a dozen empty rooms. It was good that they were all empty, that meant nopony was getting hurt. They had just dumped fifteen thousand residents into this small town and nopony, or human for that matter, was in need of care that confined them in the clinic. That was a miracle in itself. Too bad the room at the end of the hall wouldn't be empty as well.

The bandaged night pony walked straight through the door at the end of the hall without bothering to knock.

"Tattered Wing!" Lavender Mist shouted in anger as she walked in. "You know better than to walk in unannounced like that. We could have been in the middle of a delicate procedure and could have screwed it up because you barged in unannounced."

"Give it a rest Lavender. We all know you aren't going to be performing any more surgeries any time soon," Tattered said as she looked at the dark purple Equestrian night pony.

"It's the principle of the matter," Lavender huffed.

Tattered sighed, realizing she was being unnecessarily difficult. "Okay, I'll try to be more considerate in the future."

"How is everything going with the Enclave?" She heard Daniel call out from his bed.

She looked over at the two beds her friends spent their lives in. Both Daniel and Melissa seemed up and alert, though pained as always. Rudra was busy taking vitals from Melissa as she sat wincing in pain, but Daniel was watching her. She walked over between the two beds and tried not to look too long at Melissa's charred form.

"We've had a small bit of trouble," Tattered said with a shake of her head and flick of her tail. "Actually make that a big bit of trouble, but I can't talk about it right now."

Daniel glanced at Lavender Mist and back to Tattered before giving her a nod. Lavender for her part acted like she hadn't heard anything and started silently filling out some paperwork, knowing that her presence was suddenly unwanted, but refusing to leave all the same.

"I did learn something today that isn't really Enclave business that I wanted to talk to the two of you about," Tattered said as she scrapped a hoof nervously on the floor and tried to build up the nerve to actually discuss this subject.

"What's that?" Melissa asked as she bit back a gasp of pain. Tattered winced at the sound of the pained gasp. Melissa really shouldn't be talking much.

Tattered looked at Melissa long and hard as she gathered her resolve. Melissa had one of her wings completely amputated, so there was no flying any more in the future for her no matter what. She had far worse burns on her body than Tattered did, making her look like one large black charred mass rather than her natural grey. She was in constant excruciating pain, and even the magic the Equestrians had could only do so much to heal her wounds and alleviate the pain.

She looked then over to Daniel. He had both wings intact, minus some scarring, and he was far less severely burned. Both his right legs were amputated at the knee though. The Equestrians said they could make prosthetics that would allow him to walk again, but it would be a great deal of effort for him to walk more than a short distance. He was likely wheelchair bound for the rest if his life unless he just flew everywhere. He could probably be taken out of the hospital at this point and put in a more comfortable bed somewhere. What healing that could be done for him until the prosthetics arrived had already been done.

Seeing their injuries gave her the resolve she needed as she took a deep breath and spoke.

"I'm not sure how much our Equestrian friends or the three glitter bombs have shared with you, but word is that a rehumanization spell should be ready within a week or two. I was thinking that you two should volunteer for it," Tattered said as she hung her head in shame at suggesting such a thing.

"WHAT?!" The two other Broken Ones shouted in unison. This was quickly followed by Melissa gasping in pain and Rudra glaring at Tattered for upsetting his patient.

"If the spell is something similar to what changed us to ponies to begin with it could heal your wounds and make you whole," Tattered said as she looked back and forth between their faces. Melissa's face displayed mainly shock and Daniel's anger.

"We don't care if it can heal us," Daniel said angrily. "Humans did this to us. Why would we ever want to go back to being human? Why would I want to give up my wings? It's absolutely out of the question."

Tattered figured he would be the most resistant of the two to the idea. If he wanted to go through life as a cripple that was his choice. He could at least be a functioning cripple as long as he kept to the air. She turned her eyes to Melissa without addressing Daniel's insistence on staying a pony. Melissa was the one in far worse shape.

Melissa sat silently looking at the stump that had once been her wing. Daniel quieted himself as he turned his attention to the most broken living member of their dwindling group of friends. Melissa let off a pained whimper here and there as she looked at the wing stump and then to her horribly burned side. The doctors said that even if the charring dissipated she'd never regrow her fur there, and it would be extremely painful when she moved about without a lot of regular medication. Skin and fur grafting was a possibility, but they didn't have a lot of confidence in their voices when they spoke of it.

Melissa turned her attention back to Tattered, wincing as she bit back another cry of pain. "I'll th-think about it."

"Mel, you can't be serious," Daniel protested in shock.

"I didn't say y-yes. I said I'll think about it," Melissa said as she fixed a pained glared on her roommate.

"How could you even consider such a thing after what the humans did to us?" Daniel continued to protest.

"I don't want to live... m-my-my life... like this, Dan. I want to be functional, I want to be able to get through a minute without---wanting to cry out in pain. I'll never..fl-fl-fly again anyway so what do I have to lose other than a potential lifetime of pain?" Melissa said, briefly halting her self-destructive rant as tears built up, but before Dan could say anyrhing she continued. "I lived the first twenty-four... ye-ye-years of my life as a human, I can... li-li-live the rest of them that way too if it means not being in... pa-pa-pa-pain all the damn time. I want to live d-d-damn it, this isn't living! This is being d-d-dead, and D-D-D-Death is not having the decency of letting my body stop hurting..."

No longer able to contain her emotions, she finally broke down in a mix of anger, sobs, and whimpers that made her whole frame shake with anguish.

Tattered leveled a hard look at Daniel, partly because she couldn't stand to look at Melissa's pained expression anymore. "It's her call if she decides to do it Dan. I'm not even sure it works that way, only guessing. For all I know it won't help, but I have to put the option on the table for her. I don't want her living in non-stop pain if there's a possibility to do something."

"Th-th-thank you, Mandy," she heard Melissa say through tears.

"Don't thank me yet. We don't know for sure if it will work," Tattered said as she looked back at Melissa.

"Which is why I said I'll th-think about it. I'll want w-w-one of their mages to tell me that it will fix me for certain before I say yes. I'm not trading being a bra-bra-broken pony for being a broken human," Melissa said in a low voice.

"Being human is inherently broken," Dan mumbled.

Tattered whipped her head back around at him. "You need to stop it with that talk. We are night ponies, we defend humans just as much as we defend ponies. The whole reason the Enclave exists is that night ponies are not suited for the task we are supposed to do. So in a sense we are all broken too."

"The Enclave exists because humans are monsters. Humans are the cause of our misery, don't forget that. If there were no humans we wouldn't need an Enclave and we would be up to task on our own," Dan said as he glared back.

"The cause of our misery is me being stupid and leading us into a fight we couldn't win!" Tattered screamed at him. She stared at him for a long moment after that before breaking down into a sob. "I relive that night every single time I go to sleep. I get to keep watching you all get punished for my foolishness over and over and over again. I'm the cause of this."

"Mandy, you n-n-need to stop this," Melissa said quietly. "I was as eager to do it as y-you were, Dan and Derrick were too. Only...Gail saw it for the danger it was, and we all owe her an apology for not listening to her once we pass over to the other side. You aren't...responsible for my actions, or Dan's, or Derrick's, or even ga-ga-Gail's for that matter. Stop punishing yourself for our choices and let yourself heal."

"That's what this rehumanization crap is isn't it? You want to put a band-aid over your conscious. Mel's right, get over yourself," Dan said with a dismissive snort.

"It's not crap if it heals me," Melissa snapped at him before turning back to Tattered with a sympathetic gaze. "But you need to stop treating yourself like you're re-responsible for our condition. I have enough pain, don't put your p-p-pain on me too."

"If Mel wants to be human again to get out of this misery I guess I can't blame her. Even being human must be better than what she's going through right now. I won't fight her about it, discourage her, or reject her. But don't you dare make this about you, Tattered," Dan said forcefully as he stared daggers at her.

"But...," Tattered started to protest before Rudra cut her off.

"Tattered Wing, I must ask that you desist for right now and leave. You are upsetting my patients and that may aggravate their injuries," Rudra said in his heavily accented English. He then muttered something in Hindi that sounded like it might be cursing.

"I must agree with him, Tattered. You aren't doing yourself or anypony else any good getting all three of you worked up," Lavender Mist added in firmly. "Come with me over to one of the other examination rooms so I can take a look at how you are healing and leave these two be."

Tattered looked at all of them and let her ears sag as she put her tail between her legs. She didn't want to do more harm than she already had by upsetting anypony. After giving a silent nod to them all she turned to follow as Lavander walked by her and out the door.

They walked down the hall to one of the rooms midway down the hall. The room was far enough from both the lobby and the room they had just left that they wouldn't be heard if they kept their voices down.

After Lavender closed the door behind them she turned to Tattered and gave her a difficult to read look.

"I need to applaud you for what you were trying to do. I know how most of you transformed feel about the prospect of being turned back into humans and I know that had to be difficult to discuss with your friends. Have you considered rehumanization for yourself as well?" Lavender asked her as she moved to start looking at Tattered's bandages.

"You tell me that I'll recover with just severe scarring and some reduced speed and endurance. I can live my life with that. They aren't so lucky," Tattered said as she let Lavender work without interference.

"It is mainly an academic question. From what I did hear it seems that those of you with cutie marks really can't be transformed back. You aren't going to be eligible in that case," Lavender said with a sigh.

"What have you heard about it?" Tattered asked as the examination continued.

"I shouldn't be counted as being an authority on this, so I might be telling you something wrong, but I heard that the patient must want to have the spell cast on them or it will fail. It also has to be an unmarked transformed, rather than a pony with a cutie mark. There may be other restrictions, but I don't know. I don't know if it will heal their injuries or not in the process--I'm not sure how much actual testing has been done with that," Lavender explained as she worked at unrolling some bindings from Tattered's wings.

"Did I hear you make a distinction between those of us with cutie marks and those of us without?" Tattered asked with a raised brow.

"Up until you have your cutie marks I consider every pony on Earth to be a transformed human that can be potentially changed back. Once you have your marks there is definitely no going back to human, so I have to consider you a full pony and not a transformed human anymore," Lavender explained as she started running a wing over Tattered's wings, feeling how the blood was flowing.

"I guess that is one way of looking at it. So I'm a pony and not a transformed human as far as you're concerned?" Tattered asked. She wasn't sure how she felt about how the Equestrian's opinion that unmarked ponies weren't actually ponies, especially since she was treating two such ponies.

"You're a pony, and a frustrating one to deal with at that. Those two in there are humans in pony bodies and I hope they go back to being human," Lavender stated in a clinical tone then tapped Tattered's left wing. "Lift this wing up and outstretch it for me."

Tattered did as she was instructed. "Do we bother you?"

Lavender ran a hoof along the wing checking it over before answering. "Yes, you aren't supposed to be ponies and this wasn't done by choice. On top of that your minds have been messed with and your instincts are all out of whack. Look at you and your friends, no night pony back home would have done anything so stupid as what you five did, your messed up instincts lead you to self destruction. You're not mentally well."

"I don't appreciate being called crazy, Equestrian," Tattered growled as she jerked her wing away from the other night pony.

"You asked for an answer and I gave it. You yourself know that your instincts are not right; that was the whole reason you and your friends formed your little club. Don't get mad at me just because I agree," Lavender said sternly, then tapped the wing again. "Now listen to the pony taking care of your physical injuries and lift your wing back up; I wasn't done examining it."

Tattered raised her wing back up with a grumble. Lavender started muttering something that must have been in whatever her native Equestrian language was, if it weren't for the tone it would actually sound kind of pretty as it had kind of a Gaelic feel to it, at least what she imagined Gaelic to sound like.

After several minutes of quiet examination, with Lavender switching between wings the Equestrian stepped back and actually smiled at her.

"Alright, I want you to raise and lower your wings over and over again slowly," Lavender said as with an eye on the wings.

As Tattered did as instructed Lavender kept her eyes moving between the two wings and Tattered's eyes.

"How stiff are they?" Lavender asked as she watched.

"Pretty stiff, I haven't moved them this much in a while," Tattered replied, feeling silly moving her wings like this without flying.

"Are they hurting at all?"

"No, not really," Tattered answered. How long was Lavender going to have her keep doing this?

Lavender looked at her crossly. "I don't deal with not-reallys. Does it hurt or does it not? It's important that I know."

"It doesn't hurt, it's just stiff. How long do I have keep doing this?" Tattered asked with a sigh.

"You can stop for right now," Lavender said with a gesture at the wings. As Tattered folded them back up Lavender continued. "I want you to do that for a few minutes a day several times a day. Once they stop being stiff we can see about getting you back into the air. Make sure it is a minute or two of time each time you do this, but if they start hurting stop immediately and get in contact with me. I don't want you accidentally hurting yourself and setting yourself back."

Tattered froze as she heard this and stared wide-eyed at the nurse.

"Wait, you mean I'm healed? My wings will actually get me into the air?" Tattered asked, trying to hold back her excitement.

"There's a mirror over there, go take a look at your wings," Lavender said smiling again as she gestured with her own wing to the back of the room.

She rushed over to the mirror, almost tripping over her own feet as she went. As she reached the mirror she didn't look at it right away, staring down at her hooves instead. She took a deep breath and lifted her wings back up and then lifted her head as well.

Her wings weren't pretty, and she didn't care. They were more or less whole and that was more than she had thought they would ever be just a few weeks ago. Overall the webbing of her wings was now completely joined together again, with just a few frayed edges. She could live with frayed edges, that wouldn't interfere with her being able to fly. The flesh was not just the plain brown flesh she had before; running across her wings were strips of pink and purple flesh that looked like cracks in her wings in all the spots that had been jagged rips before. She could live with this, she could live with this happily.

"You aren't flying anywhere yet," Lavender said from behind her, restating her warnings. "You need to get those wings back into shape. They've been in disuse for weeks and constrained. Make sure to work them each day as I told you. In a few days we'll see about working you back into some light flying. Don't try to fly before I've approved it, you might hurt them."

"I can deal with another few days if it means I have my ability to fly again back," Tattered said, tearing up with happiness as she looked at her wings. "I know I can be an insufferable bitch. Thank you for all your help though."

"You're a pain to deal with, but you aren't that bad. It took a lot of bravery to say what you did to Melissa. You deserve to be able to fly again," Lavender said as she touched a wing to Tattered's back.

With one last look in the mirror Tattered lowered her wings back down and turned to start walking to the door. "I need to get home and check on my brother and then get to sleep. I'll be back in two days, hopefully feeling less stiff."

"I'll see you then and hope you are up to flying too," Lavender said as Tattered departed.

As unparalleled master of all things involving the dreamscape Luna had extreme freedom in moving around dreams and searching out the minds of others. There was just one major shortcoming to her power; the ponies she wanted to go into the dreams of had to be asleep.

At the moment Luna sat waiting in the endless expanse of stars trying to feel around for the mind of Swift Strike or those connected to him. A few sleeping night ponies had some small connections with him, but their dreams had all ended in dead ends. The continued lack of Swift Strike's dreams only made her all the more certain he was actually dead.

The primary dream she waited for right now was the dream of Rosetta Stone. Rosetta Stone most likely had the most informed information about what had happened to Phobia Remedy. In addition she was likely needed to penetrate her lover's mind so Luna could start trying to sooth the hurts that had been done.

Luna looked up Phobia Remedy's dream and scowled at it again. The nightmare that swirled around it was humiliating for Luna. Phobia's mind magic intensified the strength of the nightmare tendrils and made it nigh impenetrable without doing something that could damage Phobia Remedy's mind. She needed the presence of a pony that had a much stronger bond of trust and love than Luna possessed with her student to get through without hurting Phobia. She needed Rosetta Stone--if the damned mare could be bothered to fall asleep.

She really had other things that needed attending to than this. The situation on Earth was still a chaotic one that needed constant attention. In addition, Phobia was but one of six personal students, Luna had five other students spread out across this world already that needed attending to and training as well. Those students would not only help ponies on this world, and be the trainers of other dreamwalkers. They would also give her insights she could not gain in the waking world. She needed them because there were simply too many dreams here to attend to by herself. She trusted these six to become the wardens of dreamwalking here on Earth much as she was in Equestria in order to make sure abuses in dreamwalking did not happen, and her additional eyes and ears among the ponies of Earth as well.

However, she had always been highly protective of those under her instruction, and the fact that one of her students was now suffering in such a way enraged her. She kept far fewer students than her sister kept in that school of hers, and for each she had a certain protective motherly instinct. If one was in need of aid the more pressing matters involving this world, her own world, and the continued training of the others would have to wait for the moment.

Another dream that had connection to Phobia Remedy flickered into existence. She frowned as she saw this was not Rosetta Stone either. This one did share a fairly strong connection, stronger than even Wild Growth or Tattered Wing's connection, though not as strong as the one she sought at the moment. It could very well be yet another useless dead end.

She concentrated on the dream for a moment, seeing what other connections it might have to those asleep, or if it had the feel of Swift Strike that she had gained from Tattered Wing. A moment later she caught the sensation of the dream involving Swift Strike in some way. Perhaps it wasn't such a dead end after all. It wasn't the assailant himself, but definitely somepony having a dream involving him.

It was understandable that somepony close to Phobia would be dreaming about Swift Strike at the moment. Trauma was a shared experience with friends and family after all. This was worth investigating as she awaited Rosetta Stone falling asleep.

She went into the dream and found herself in some untended woods. It took her only a moment to locate the dreamer, an orange pegasus mare perched in a tree, watching the forest below her intently. Luna quickly hid her presence so she could watch this dream unfold without interfering with it. If this was a dream involving Swift Strike she wanted to see it uncensored.

The stallion in question suddenly tripped and fell into the clearing the pegasus watched over, with his muzzle digging a small trench through the ground as he skidded along it. Luna saw that he had been tripped by a blue magical aura, though she spotted no unicorn.

"You really should be more careful when running in the woods. There are all kinds of branches, roots, and vines to trip you up," the pegasus called down to him.

Swift Strike jumped to his hooves as quickly, looking ready to fight. He stared up at the pegasus mare with a look of recognition.

"Why don't you come down here and show me how you intended to deal with me featherhead," Swift Strike growled at the pegasus, muscles tense.

"Aww, is that any way to talk to the pony that arranged it so you could escape," the pegasus said with a very fake smile. Luna's eyes widened at this declaration. This pegasus was responsible for Tattered Wing's failure?

"Horseshit, why would you do that?" Swift Strike continued to growl. Luna was eager to hear the response herself.

"I wanted to catch you away from prying ears so I could find out what goes on in your head. What possesses a pony to do the things that you did?" The mare asked with as she glared down at Swift Strike.

"I don't need to explain myself to you," he barked back.

"Really? That's too bad. It seems you have some things you need to put behind you. That's what I'm good at you see, helping ponies move on from their pasts. What did you want to gain by hurting Phobia like that? You want to justify yourself and I want to know," the pegasus pressed for answers.

Luna felt magic in the words of the mare, magic that was familiar to her. After a moment her head whipped around to stare at the pegasus as she realized exactly the type of magic that was at work, and in denial that a pegasus was welding it with such power.

Swift Strike seemed to sway under the mind magic being directed at him. This pony was clearly not well trained in it's use and used it like a blunt instrument. Of course it would make ponies feel dazed.

"I needed her to know she couldn't take what should have been mine. I needed her to regret the day she took Rosetta and my foal away from me," he shouted back as he shook his head to clear it.

"She took nothing from you. You forfeited those things yourself when you beat Rosetta. Why did you do that to yourself? Why would you throw away what's important to you with such violence. You wanted to be a father, why would a pony like you want that?" The pegasus continued. The word want seemed to be the focus of the magic.

"Because it was always denied me. My mother divorced my father over one incident. Just one time he hit her. She had no right to deny me my father. No right! Now Rosetta was going to deny my foal it's father because of Phobia whispering in her ear? No, it could not stand! Phobia had to be punished!" Swift Strike yelled back.

"So you think you're the victim here? Seriously?" The pegasus asked with a tilt of her head and seeming confusion.

"How could I not be?" Swift Strike demanded back.

The pegasus gave a sad shake of her head as she frowned down at the stallion. Luna could only echo the gesture. Swift Strike's answers were clearly unacceptable.

"You poor sad little colt, you truly are warped in the head. I can't say I even regret what is about to happen," the pegasus said in a sad voice as she seemed to pass judgement. It seemed a bit hasty in Luna's opinion, more questioning should be done, but she could not completely fault the mare.

Swift Strike looked ready to protest but was suddenly grabbed up in the same blue unicorn aura that had tripped him before. This pegasus clearly had an accomplice somewhere nearby.

Luna stepped forward as she tried to get a better view of who the other pony might have been. A branch snapped beneath her foot as she did so. She hissed at herself for being sloppy and letting herself be able to interact with the dream surroundings.

The entire dream just froze at that moment and it took a moment for Luna to realize what was going on. She looked over at the pegasus and saw the mare staring right at her with narrowed eyes.

"Princess Luna I presume?" the mare said in a low voice.

Luna's eyes widened, it was rare that anypony was able to catch her in a dream if she was not making herself known. It wasn't completely unheard of, but it was exceedingly rare, and this was the first time one of the transformed on Earth had done it. She drew herself up before addressing the pegasus. "That is correct, and your name is?"

"Tonya," the pegasus said in a neutral tone.

The dream faded around them, leaving the two of them standing together in a void created by Tonya. Again this was very impressive. This took a very strong mind to do for most ponies. She would expect a night pony might be able to occasionally do this with no training, but not an untrained pegasus. She was already a bit wary of this pegasus using mind magic, as well as her readiness to pass final judgement, and this only made her more wary of what this pegasus might be capable of doing. Luna might be the master of dreams in general, but a lucid dreamer within their own dream could be troublesome; not a threat by any means, but troublesome. The addition of powerful mind magic would make her more formidable within the bounds of her own dream.

"I'm here for a simple reason, Tonya. I just want to know what happened to the pony that assaulted one of my students," Luna said calmly as she met the pegasus in the eye.

"That's none of your concern," Tonya said in a calm tone. The flick of her tail and laying back of ears clashed with the tone though.

"As Phobia Remedy's teacher and friend it is very much my concern," Luna said as her eyes narrowed.

Tonya seemed uncertain what to do for a moment as she looked around the void as if looking for an escape. The action of a guilty conscious, but the fact there was guilt at least was a positive sign about her current intents. The pegasus then leveled her gaze back on Luna with a stronger hint of resolve after finding no ready escape.

"I'm not going to discuss that with you. He won't be bothering Phobia any more and that is all you need to know. Now get out of my dream," Tonya said in a much harsher tone with her ears laid back completely.

That reconfirmed that Swift Strike was likely dead, likely to whoever this mare's unseen companion was. They had enacted brutal justice themselves. While she was sickened by the manner of justice it didn't seem out of place with the actions the humans had taken with Sunset Shimmer and might not be uncommon here. This was a seemingly much harsher world than her own, and she couldn't judge it by her own standards at this time.

"If he is...," Luna began but didn't get to finish.

"I SAID GET OUT!" Tonya screamed.

A moment later Luna found herself outside of Tonya's dream again. The light of the dream put up a projection of a door and then slammed it shut. The sound of a door locking could be heard right after before the image faded away.

Luna stared in shock for a moment. Did this pegasus just toss her out of a dream and then lock her out? The pegasus did not cease to impress. If this were a night pony who had the power to dreamwalk she might be worthwhile to have as a Dreamwarden as well. They would have to be equally harsh when certain abuses happened. It was a shame such power would be wasted.

She sat and considered the dream for a moment, trying to decide what to do. It was well within her power to force herself back into the dream and prevent Tonya from doing that indignity to her again now that she could anticipate it. This would only descend into a conflict of wills though. One that Tonya would eventually win by simply waking up. Luna had no ability to force Tonya to stay asleep even if she could force herself in and take control of the dream.

She continued to stare at the light. There was no outright malice in the mind that she could detect. A mix of sorrow and anger, but nothing evil. The biggest concern was the mind magic that she had detected in use within the dream. Powerful mind magic was uncommon even among night ponies, seeing it used by a pegasus made her wonder how common it was among ponies on this world. Probably not very common or she would have encountered it more in her observations thus far. This was the first pony outside a hooffull of night ponies that seemed to have the ability, and Luna had observed thousands of dreams.

Luna sighed as she decided there were no further answers to be gleaned at the moment. She would contact Lavender Mist and order her to conduct a few tests on this pegasus. If the pegasus became a problem with abuse of such power Luna's students would eventually have to take drastic measures. When it came to abuse of mind magic no mercy could be allowed. It could do great good with careful use, but it was among the most vile of things when misused. Hopefully the Dreamwardens once trained would not be forced to take such measures often.

The light of Rosetta's dream appeared within the dreamscape as she finished making her decision on what to do with Tonya. She turned away from the strange pegasus's dream and went into Rosetta's.

Author's Note

Will have further chapter updates tomorrow and Sunday this week only.

Chapter 11

Wild came trotting up the road towards her sister's house and it was nearly in sight. The trot and open air had done wonders for her headache and now she was feeling much better overall. She just needed to tell Rosetta to go to bed like Luna wanted and she was free to spend her time as she pleased.

"You know, I'm feeling perfectly fine now, Number. You don't have to keep with me still. I don't want Rosetta getting mad at you, or any of the rest of the family for that matter," she said to the unicorn following close by her.

The blue unicorn mare shook her head which somehow barely disturbed her red mane. "I decided I want to try to clear the air with your family and say I'm sorry for what happened before. I'd like to do that today before I lose my nerve."

Wild raised an eyebrow at this. "Phobia is almost certainly going to be asleep, and if she isn't she is in no state to be having that kind of conversation. Rosetta might be awake still, but you know she is pissed right now, and I'm supposed to be trying to get her to go to bed. Today is probably the worst day you could pick to be trying to make up with them."

"I figured I'd start with your human family before trying to talk to Phobia and Rosetta; start with the ones who don't exactly know what I did to earn Rosetta wanting to beat me bloody," Number answered as she hung her head.

"You are really hung up on this guilt and punishment thing. That can't be healthy," Wild responded as she looked over at the miserable sounding older mare.

"I have a lot to atone for, there is no time like the present to start making amends," Number said with a tight frown as she kicked a small rock out of her way as she walked.

Wild shook her head briefly to clear her eyes of her lavender mane dripping back down into them again, distracting her. She really needed a mane cut; Number's mane looked like it was styled and was behaving itself. She must either know how to do it or know somepony who did. That was a question for another time though. Right now she had other more important concerns.

"It might not go as well with them. I'm a pony, that makes me a bit more naturally forgiving. Humans aren't going to be as easy to get to forgive you. I love my family more than I love growing trees, but they aren't going to be like me when it comes to this," Wild said with concern.

Number looked at her with a baffled look. "I'm a little surprised right now. I didn't expect you to be on board with pony superiority."

"I'm not saying ponies are superior, I'm saying ponies are different. Recognizing differences is not saying one thing is better than another. Turning that around they might argue that I'm too forgiving as a pony and that makes being a pony inferior. I don't think one is necessarily better than the other," Wild explained, wondering how Number got that idea. She had to remind herself that Number was a Shimmerist and saw things through different lenses.

Number let off a sad laugh in response. "Your family is an odd one, where the humans are more inclined to believe in pony superiority than the ponies."

Wild stopped in her tracks and Number walked a little past her before stopping and looking back at her quizzically. She glared at the blue unicorn and flicked her tail.

"What do you mean by that?" Wild asked.

Number frowned, and looked a little hurt by Wild's tone. For a pony that scared Phobia so much Number definitely spent a lot of time looking like a hurt puppy whenever Wild got cross with her. It was hard to picture her as dangerous as a result.

"You're parents didn't tell you about their talk with Sunset Blessing?" Number asked as she walked back over to Wild.

"No, what talk are you talking about," Wild asked, trying to soften her expression so Number wouldn't look so timid.

It seemed to work, as Number's demeanor seemed to improve noticeably. "You're parents went to Sunset Blessing and told her that they support her fully in trying to find a way to convert humans into ponies still, and they would be very interested if she ever found a way."

"They said what?!" Wild said as her mouth dropped in shock. "Rosetta and I talked to them about how they didn't need to be ponies. This was supposed to be a closed subject. They didn't need to be ponies just because Rosetta and I are ponies and the boys really want to be ponies. We told them we were being unfair thinking they should have gotten ETS too."

"Well, you could be being unfair still, they might not have done that just because you and your sister are ponies. You're father, who is a botanist, sat there and watched you grow a forest more than once. They also see that your sister is able to fly through the air as naturally as she walked as a human. Do you really think they're immune to a little bit of envy and don't want those kinds of things for themselves in addition to being more like you?" Number questioned with just one ear laid low.

"They shouldn't be feeling that way," Wild asserted as she looked Number in the eyes.

"Why not? Do you think you should be a human still or have any desire to be?" Number asked as she held Wild's gaze.

"No, but that's different," Wild said as she glanced back towards the path they had been walking.

"Different how? The fact you became a pony without a choice involved and they instead are making an active choice to want to be ponies?" Number said with a smirk, knowing she had Wild.

Wild snorted with frustration. There had to be a better way of saying why this shouldn't work that way, but she wasn't a good debater. It just felt wrong to her for some reason. Maybe she was the one wrong if she couldn't justify what she felt. None of this discussion really mattered anyway so she shouldn't get upset about it.

"It's a moot point anyway, ETS is gone and won't be coming back. So there is no reason for me to get myself worked up about what my parents or brothers might be thinking involving it." Wild said as she dismissed the conversation and started walking again.

"That's a fair way of viewing it I suppose," she heard Number say from behind her as the unicorn hurried to catch back up.

They reached the Remedy-Stone residence. It was much like her parent's house only it was closer to the outskirts of town and its front yard looked much like her parent's backyard, completely overgrown. She advanced down the walkway with Number following cautiously behind. When she reached the front door she paused and looked back at her friend.

"Last chance to back out. I'm not responsible if Rosetta gives you a bloody snout," Wild cautioned her friend.

"I'll take my chances," Number said stoically as she stepped onto the front porch behind her.

"Alright, your funeral," Wild said with a shrug as she turned and gave a light knock on the door, or at least not a knock with the force of earth pony strength anyway. It likely came off as hard to those listening.

A moment later the door was encased in a blue aura that she recognized as Phobia's dad Tom's. The door lock undid itself and the door opened, revealing the middle aged unicorn stallion himself.

"Here to check on you're family?" Tom asked as he started to step aside, then paused as he looked at Number Crunch. "Who's this?"

"I'm on an errand involving my sister actually," Wild said before glancing back at Number. "This is Number Crunch. She's here because she wants to give you all an apology."

"Apology for what?" Tom asked in confusion.

"Um, I'll let her explain that since you haven't heard anything about it apparently. It mainly involves Phobia," Wild said with uncertainty on how to discuss that.

"That person is not welcome here, Rosetta made that abundantly clear," Jean said as she advanced to the door quickly with a scowl.

"She wants to make amends, Mama. I think you should at least give her a chance to explain herself and say she's sorry," Wild said as she looked up at her mama.

"Dear, even though you paid for this house you did give it to them, and their wishes will be enforced here," Jean said in a lecturing tone as she looked down at Wild. "Rosetta was pretty clear she didn't want any of us near this pony. Why is she with you?"

"I ran into her at the bank and we started talking. I want to give her a chance. From what I can tell this is really bothering her," Wild explained then straightened out her posture before adding, "Plus, Rosetta doesn't get to dictate who I spend time with. I'll consider her opinions, but it's ultimately my decision."

"That's an argument you and your sister can have that I won't take sides in," Jean said as she glanced between Wild and Number.

"Well, Number can talk to you from out here," Wild offered in concession then asked, "Is Rosetta still awake? I had Princess Luna coming into my dreams looking for her and telling me to make sure Rosetta went to bed soon so they could talk about Phobia. I really don't like having angry alien royalty showing up in my dreams because they couldn't find Rosetta."

"Are you sure you weren't just having a nightmare?" Jean said with a skeptical look.

Wild snorted. "I was having a nightmare and then she showed up and interrupted it. So I need to tell Rosetta to go to bed."

"She just fell asleep just a few minutes ago," Jean said then narrowed her eyes as she looked at Wild. "And where were you sleeping if you had time to go get Number Crunch?"

Wild got a deer in the headlights look to her face and didn't know what to say that wouldn't earn her mama's anger and disappointment.

"She came by my place to help me unpack, but wasn't feeling well so she took a nap on my couch. She woke up insisting that she needed to go see her sister about Luna a few minutes back. I said I'd walk her back since I wasn't sure if she was in shape to walk if she had just felt sick," Number answered for her, bending the truth just enough not to be lying.

"You're sick?" Jean asked worriedly as she bent down to lay a hand on Wild's head. "Maybe we should take you to the clinic, just to be safe. We don't know much about pony illnesses. None of the ponies I've seen or talked to have complained of being sick since their transformation."

Wild stepped back to pull away from her mama's hand. "I don't think it's that serious, Mama. I feel fine now. It only lasted a few hours. I don't want to go to a doctor over that."

"She might be right, Wild," Number interjected, which caused Wild to glare at her. Number continued unfazed though. "Remember how we were talking earlier about how we don't know how a lot of things will effect us and we're still learning? The clinic has Equestrian doctors who actually know these things. It might be worth it to just check it out."

"Who's side are you on, Number?" Wild pouted as her ears wilted. She really didn't like clinics or hospitals, and Number knew exactly why she had felt sick.

"On your side," Number replied with a smile. "I promised I would look out for you and that includes telling you what I think is worthwhile. You don't have to listen or agree with me. I wouldn't be much of a friend though if I didn't tell you I think the clinic might be a good idea."

"Fine," Wild said with a deep groan. She then looked at her mama. "I still want you and Papa to take a minute to let Number talk to you. I wouldn't be much of a friend if I didn't try to insist."

"So...is this going on outside or inside or am I just going to keep holding the door open?" Tom asked with annoyance.

"Roger! Can you come over here please?" Jean called back into the house.

Wild heard the footsteps of her papa's shoes going across the hardwood floor inside. A moment later he appeared at the door.

"Keep your voice down, Jean. You'll wake you're daughter and future daughter-in-law up," Roger whispered harshly.

"I've made far more noise around them when they're sleeping and they've slept like rocks. Once they're out they're out until evening," Jean said, still lowering her voice all the same. She then gestured to Wild and Number. "You're other daughter wants us to hear Number Crunch give us an apology and hopefully an explanation about what went on between her and Phobia. After that I need you to drive Wild to the clinic."

"I can walk just fine, Mama," Wild testily insisted as she flicked her tail with annoyance.

"Why am I taking her to the clinic? She seems fine to me," Roger asked.

"Thank you, Papa," Wild interjected with a satisfied smile.

Jean gave Wild a raised eyebrow then looked back at Roger. "She was sick earlier and it is just a precaution. Even Number Crunch agrees it's a good idea. Speaking of whom, we have an explanation we're owed."

Number lowered her ears with shame again as she stepped forward with her tail dragging across the porch. She looked up to the two humans and began speaking.

"I said some things to Phobia that were beyond inappropriate and were threatening. I can only say that I was not in my right mind at the time. I keep saying that and I know it's true, but I also feel extremely guilty about it. I informed Sunset about my wrong doing and she punished me. I'm coming to you on my own to say that I'm very sorry," Number said as she met their eyes.

"Threatening how?" Roger asked as he looked down at the unicorn.

Number looked down at the ground before answering. "I believe my exact words or something close to them was if she spoke about my past with anypony I would see how well she flew buried six feet underground."

"And your past? Is it really that bad?" Roger asked with a hard gaze.

Number didn't answer. She just gave an affirmative nod.

"Why are you hanging around my daughter when I know you were expressly forbidden by Sunset to come around us anymore? And why is my daughter suddenly getting sick after meeting with you?" Roger asked as he continued to glare down at Number.

Wild watched Number try to search for a good explanation and knew she couldn't leave her friend hanging. She had to come to her rescue. There would be consequences to this, but she didn't care.

"Because I was stupid and asked for beer from her and she complied. We didn't realize how easy it was for a pony to get drunk. After she realized I was drunk she made sure I was going to be okay and made me sleep it off," Wild spoke up, earning the shocked wide eyed gazes of both her parents.

The moment of stunned silence was broken by Tom shaking his head and giving a very horse like snort. "Alright, guess you're all going to keep standing around in the doorway. I'm going back upstairs to make sure the twins aren't up to mischief and check on my daughter. Please close the door when you're done."

And with that Tom walked off.

With the silence broken others seemed to gain their ability to process again. The first to break the silence was Number Crunch who turned to Wild with a look of mixed gratitude and disappointment.

"Wild, you don't need to throw yourself under the bus for my sake," Number said calmly.

Jean then started glaring at Number again. "You gave my daughter alcohol?! She's only seventeen, she shouldn't be drinking. She'd never do something like that on her own."

"Catherine, what got into you?" Roger asked Wild in disappointment.

"I'm the one that asked Number for it, Mama. Don't blame her," Wild said to her mama. It was true at least for the second beer that had actually gotten her drunk.

"She should've known better that to agree to do so in the first place!" Jean declared as she pointed at Number. The unicorn just slumped her posture further.

came a new voice in Spanish from behind Wild.

They all turned to look at Abuelita slowly walking down the concrete path up to the house, a quizzical look on her face.

Jean answered back in Spanish, gesturing angrily to the two ponies.

Abuelita asked in bemusement as she looked down at the ponies.

Wild said, head lowered in shame.

Number explained head also lowered in shame. Wild still couldn't get the image of a kicked puppy out of her head every time she looked at Number Crunch showing shame.

Abuelita asked Number with a surprised expression.

Number explained actually straightening up her posture with pride.

Abuelita looked at Number for a moment then started to chuckle. All present stared at her in confusion as the chuckles advanced into outright laughter. It took her almost a minute to bring herself back under control.

Abuelita said with a mischievous glint to her eye. She then looked up at the two other humans and continued.

With that declaration the old woman casually walked by the ponies and then the humans into the house.

"Did I just get endorsed by your grandmother? And endorsed specifically because she thinks I'm a bad influence?" Number asked in confusion.

"I have no idea what just happened," Wild said, shaking her head in equal confusion.

Tonya woke up groggily from her nap, absentmindedly wiping a bit of drool from her lips. All and all that had been one of the worst naps she had ever had.

As she sat up in the chair that she had fallen asleep in and found that somepony had draped a blanket over her at some point. She gave a brief smile as she thought of Sunset Blessing, as she dislodged herself from the covering. Her lover was definitely caring towards her.

She frowned as she considered the implications of what had happened while she was sleeping. The thought briefly crossed her mind that the alicorn was just a figment of her imagination, brought on by stress. This was lying to herself though. She knew that Princess Luna had been there in her dream, and that meant the Equestrian knew at least some of her secret crime.

The next question was whether this even mattered. Was Luna going to come hunting her down for her involvement in Swift Strike's death? It was hard to say anything about what an alien from another universe might do or think. For all she knew Luna might have approved of the murder. Luna might be a pony too, but she was not like ponies here. Luna was something ancient and unknowable, with completely unknown cultural standards and values.

There was one way of trying to get insight into what Luna might do or think. Lavender Mist claimed to be a servant of the dream alicorn. That pony might have some insights into her character. Tonya could definitely find an excuse to go by the clinic, whether that be checking in on Phobia's treatment or just having a regular check up for herself. If Luna had alerted Lavender about Tonya the night pony's behavior might be informative in itself.

That could wait though. Right now Tonya had other things she wanted to take care of. She had actual family in town. There was no telling if Devon would embrace her with open arms, but Tonya let herself hope for the best. She'd even learned the names of her nephew and niece in her research earlier, Robert and Jessica.

She hopped down from the chair and hurried out of the office and out to the lobby. Sitting at the information desk was the ever so ironically named Joy. The dark furred pegasus gave her a quizzical look as she walked into the lobby.

"Have you been here the whole time? I didn't see you come in," Joy asked.

"I fell asleep in Sunset's office. I had a very late night last night and needed to catch up on some sleep. Any pegasus news that I should know about?" Tonya asked. She was still the lead pegasus in town and liked to keep up with what was going on with them. She had considered delegating somepony else for the job, but they all were used to looking to her and she hadn't found a pony she liked for the position yet.

"Sunset took some pegasi and let Tattered Wing use them for something or other, but she said you approved it. Tattered Wing has a request to you for some pegasi that you would suggest helping out with the Enclave on a more permanent basis. A few ponies were wanting plans on weather teams," Joy listed off.

Tonya let her ears sag a bit. She really didn't want to be in charge of all this indefinitely. Finding a new pegasus leader was definitely a top priority. She'd done her time and wanted to go back to being a bit more carefree until she was put on duty as chief of security of the research center. Amber might work out in the position as she was effectively Tonya's primary fill in. She'd have to talk to Amber about it.

"Alright, we'll see what we can do. You wouldn't happen to be interested in joining the Enclave would you?" Please say yes, please say yes. Tonya thought in her head. Joy definitely needed to hurry up and get a pony name. Joy was just so...joyless. Further, Joy had a much harsher Shimmerist philosophy than Tonya did that rubbed Tonya the wrong way. All and all she really disliked Joy.

"You serious? Letting me go join the ponies that beat misbehaving humans up? Sure I would. Especially if it gets me out from behind this desk," Joy said with a dry laugh. If Joy thought Tattered was going to let her get away with ruthless violence on humans then she was sadly mistaken. Joy would get a wake-up call on that soon enough.

"Talk to Tattered when she comes in then," Tonya said. The pegasus's more aggressive nature likely would fit in better among the Enclave, and Tonya wanted to jump for joy that she was going to have Joy be somepony else's grump.

It was time to go search out Devon now, and before bed she'd track Amber down and see if the more aptly named mare was interested in a promotion. It was time to put less happy things behind her for the moment and focus on moving forward.

Almost immediately upon exiting town hall Tonya took to the air. She would never get tired of flying, and if she managed to convince Amber to take the reigns of pegasi leadership she would be glad she would have more time for it.

The buildings, ponies, and humans below moved quickly by underneath her. Other pegasi traveled in the air all around her, all seeming to be enjoying themselves as much as she was. Those that remained human were to be pitied rather than hated, because they didn't get to enjoy this or other pony magic. Someday the rest of humanity would get to enjoy Sunset Shimmer's gift though, even if the deceased unicorn had completely botched some things up that ended up delaying that happy day for the time being.

Tonya found the correct set of tents and quickly counted the rows and spots with her eyes to find the right one. She then glided down just past in front of the entrance and then walked up to it.

"Hello? Can I help you?" A rosy-pink earth pony who was feeding a foal asked as Tonya came into the tent.

Tonya quickly spotted Devon asleep and smiled before turning back to the earth pony. She was pretty sure her name was Amanda Wilson according to the file, and it hadn't mentioned the earth pony taking a pony name as of yet. That wasn't surprising since the pony was still a blank flank. Tonya wasn't one to complain about needing pony names anyway since she was keeping her human one herself. Not unless their human names were something completely inappropriate anyway.

"Hello, my name is Tonya. I actually came to see Devon. Any idea when she will be waking up?" Tonya asked and introduced herself cheerfully.

"I really don't know, her sleep schedule is all over the place due to her foals," Amanda said with a sad smile at the human. She then turned back to Tonya. "Did you want to come back later and I could let her know you came by?"

Tonya glanced around and took note of the sleeping form of the night pony colt she assumed to be Robert and the little earth pony filly who was playing with Amanda's tail that she assumed to be Jessica. It made her smile seeing blood family that were ponies too, even if they were foals.

"I think I'll just wait around for at least a little while. I'm really eager to talk to her, and I don't have anything pressing to attend to for the second," Tonya said as she entered in and sat down across from the earth pony. It was true that most of her tasks could wait, even if the ones wanting plans for weather teams might mutter. If she convinced Amber to take charge it wouldn't be her concern anyway.

"Oh, okay then. Well, I suppose you aren't disrupting anything," Amanda said with a quizzical look. "You're one of the town leaders, aren't you? I think I've seen you before. I'm Amanda by the way."

"Yeah, for the moment I'm the lead pegasus, though hopefully I'll be pawning that job off soon. Has everything been going smoothly for you so far with this migration?" Tonya asked.

"It's been alright. Devon and I help each other out with our foals and I have an interview lined up with the school in a few days for a teaching position. Keeping Jackie here under control keeps me pretty confined a lot of the time though so I haven't gotten to really meet or talk with many ponies other than Devon," Amanda said with a gesture at the sleeping human.

"You and she get along well?" Tonya asked. She was curious how her sister-in-law seemed to get along with ponies in general.

"Yes, we have a lot in common all around. We're very good friends, and we talk together about everything. I don't really know anypony else at the moment, but even if I did I think I would consider Devon my best friend," Amanda explained. She playfully teased Jessica with her tail while she spoke.

"Well, that's good to hear. Those of us running things like to know that ponies and humans are bonding well," Tonya said as she watched her niece play.

"If you don't mind my asking; what do you need with Devon? Are you planning on moving her away from the tents?" Amanda asked with a small concerned frown.

"If the two of you are getting along well there's no need for that, so don't worry," Tonya said, earning a visible sigh of relief from Amanda. "The truth is she's my sister-in-law and I wanted to have a chance to bond with family again. We've been estranged for years and it feels like a good time to reconnect."

"So you're her husband's sister?" Amanda asked in a strangely hopeful tone. "Do you think there's any hope of him getting back together with her? She told me about what happened with him and I was hoping that with Jessie having gotten over her surges that he might be convinced to come back."

Tonya frowned before answering. She really didn't know for sure, but she doubted there would be any reconciliation with Paul. Her brother had been perfectly willing to turn his back on her for good, it seemed likely he'd be willing to do the same with pony foals. She didn't want to crush this mare's hopes though. "I couldn't say. We can only hope I guess."

"Oh," Amanda said with a downcast look.

They sat talking about nothing in particular for a little while after that as Tonya waited for Devon to awake. Amanda was a nice enough mare, though she seemed to have some general discontent with being a pony from what little Tonya could pick up. That wasn't a big deal really, because as time went by Amanda would almost certainly get more comfortable with her circumstances--especially once she finally got her cutie mark. Some ponies just needed more time than others to adjust to their new lives, and that was okay.

After a long while the night pony colt unfurled his wings and took a big stretch as he woke from his sleep. He sniffed the air and turned to Tonya and gave her a confused look at first. He then stood up and turned towards her wild a more hostile look as he stepped between her and Devon.

"You're the pony who yelled at Momma and made her upset yesterday," Robert said as he fluffed his mane and spread his wings wide. It made Tonya want to giggle, she knew it was suppose to be threatening, but at his size it was just adorable.

"I'm sorry for that. I was just really shocked at the time. I got pretty upset about something myself, and it came out wrong towards her, but I want to be friends with you and your mom," Tonya explained with a smile, hoping to coax him down.

"Um, I guess that is okay then," Robert said as he blinked and lowered his wings back down. "What's your name? Can you teach me to fly?"

"I think you might be a little young for flying just yet," Tonya explained sympathetically.

Robert gestured with a wing towards the filly suckling away at Amanda and whined. "Jackie can fly and she's much younger than me."

Tonya looked over at Amanda and her filly with a raised eyebrow.

"She's having magic surges, they make her able to fly when she wouldn't normally be able to. It's a newborn thing and it has almost run its course," Amanda explained.

"I see, I learned something new today. I wonder if Phobia and Rosetta know that," Tonya said as she looked down at the pegasus filly.

"Phobia? I heard Devon mention her a few times. She was the one that told us about surges to begin with," Amanda said with her ears perking up.

"I guess she knows then," Tonya said with a small laugh, before turning back to Robert. "She won't be flying for long and then she will have to wait until she's older to fly again too. Maybe you'll be able to teach her to fly when she gets to that age. When you get a little older I would be happy to teach you though. I'm your Aunt Tonya."

"You're my aunt? I never knew I had an aunt," Robert said in confusion.

Tonya considered how to answer. "I've been...away for a a while. But I'm here now and ready to spend time with you, your sister, and your mom."

Robert started shaking Devon's shoulder to wake her. Tonya briefly considered stopping him, but Devon was already stirring from her sleep. Tonya sat and waited patiently for Devon to fully wake up.

"Momma, Aunt Tonya is here," Robert said as Devon started opening her eyes.

"Aunt Tonya? What're you talking about Robby?" Devon said sleepily as she turned over and started pushing herself upright.

"Aunt Tonya, the pegasus from last night that yelled at you," Robert, or Robby, explained to her.

Devon looked up at Tonya and Tonya smiled while giving a hesitant wave of a wing in response. She really wanted Devon to be accepting of her and this was kind of a moment of truth.

"Hello, Tonya," Devon said as she sleepily pulled herself into a sitting position with a yawn. "I wasn't expecting to see you so soon."

"I can always find time for family. I was wondering if you wanted to come with me on a few errands I have to run and we could talk quietly along the way about...things," Tonya said, not wanting to have a conversation forbidden in front of Robby.

"I had a few things I needed to take care of myself. I don't mind the company if we can fit them in as well," Devon said as she looked over at Tonya. "Is there anyone else in the family here?"

"Just me as far as I know. I really don't keep up with family at all since I was kicked out years ago," Tonya said with a touch of bitterness.

"I'm sorry about that, I really didn't know what that was all about at the time. Paul never really spoke about it after whatever went down, and it seemed a touchy subject that just didn't come up later on. Looking at you now I can kind of guess what the issue was with them back then. Don't worry, at this point I'm just happy to see someone else in the family. I think people changing species, my foals included, is a bit more to take in than people switching sexes," Devon said with a sad laugh.

"Well, I'm glad you're happy to see me...but just a little reminder for the future. People like me don't like our sex assigned at birth being told to those that didn't know," Tonya said with a frown, before turning to Amanda. "No offense to you, of course. You're a nice enough mare, but it's just private information."

"I won't discuss it, but it's pretty public information to anypony that looks at your cutie mark," Amanda said with a wave of her hoof at Tonya's cutie mark, a mix of the male and female gender symbols done up in blue and pink. "Devon's right, I can't imagine that being an issue with anypony anymore."

Yeah, her cutie mark did kind of put her past on display for all to see. Kind of a dramatic irony considering she wanted to help ponies move on from their pasts.

"Let me feed Jessie real fast and then we can be on our way," Devon said as the little earth pony filly hurried over to her.

Tonya smiled. It seemed she would get acceptance from Devon. That almost made her stop fretting about the rest of the things that were bothering her.

Almost.

Author's Note

This will be put in the author's notes of the first chapter for quick reference.

I have no idea how to link deviant art images. It just always tells me invalid image.

Anyway. Here are some offsite links to images of several of the characters for general reference. Just click the name.

Phobia Remedy

Number Crunch

Amber Flowers (This is her human name it just sounds like a pony name)

Tonya Middleton

Wild Growth

Rosetta Stone

Tattered Wing

Sunset Blessing

Swift Strike

One more chapter getting posted this weekend tomorrow, then back to regular schedule.

Chapter 12**

Chapter 12**

After the third time trying to penetrate her fianceé's dream Rosetta was about ready to throw in the towel. Luna was crazy to think she could do this where the alicorn couldn't.

"Excellent progress, you almost had it this time. I was not wrong in thinking you were the pony for this job," Luna declared.

Luna could go fuck herself.

Luna walked in front of Rosetta's limp form and Rosetta scowled up at Luna's smiling face. It was just the two of them and an endless expanse of stars going in all directions, including down.

"Now that we have established that you are capable of getting into Phobia's dreams...," Luna continued.

Rosetta was pretty sure that was very far from established.

"...I think it is time to start giving you some exposure to the nightmares of others before you actually attempt to start helping your loved one," Luna finished.

Great, more opportunities to want to puke and not be able to. Rosetta thought to herself.

"I have a pony that has frequent nightmares that I exposed Phobia to early on. I think that she'll be an excellent starting place for you. Your training will be a bit abbreviated, as your primary focus is getting my student back to sound mind," Luna said as she walked past Rosetta.

Rosetta calmed herself as much as she could and repeated in her head a few times that this was for Phobia. That Luna was an expert on these kinds of things and wouldn't be doing this if Rosetta couldn't do it.

It still was an terrible experience though. Trying to go into Phobia's dream was like trying to go face first into some twisting black hurricane, and if there was some eye of calm in the center it was far too deep for her to reach. Luna insisted that she couldn't even get into the swirling mass of darkness like Rosetta could, at least not without hurting Phobia in the process. Getting into that mass didn't seem to mean much if she couldn't penetrate through it though.

"Come with me, I have other tasks I must attend to yet, and I need to have your lessons for today finished promptly," Luna said as she beckoned Rosetta to follow her.

Well, maybe this wouldn't be too bad this time around. Phobia had never mentioned anything like these black twisting masses of...whatever they were. So maybe that meant whoever this pony was she wouldn't be dealing with that at least.

She got up and followed Luna. It was hard to express what following entailed. From her perspective she was walking, but she knew she had no actual physical form here. It was just something her mind projected. Luna, or even Phobia, could probably explain why her mind gave her this projection of herself, but frankly she could care less about the details at the moment.

They approached another light that had a shadow over it, though nothing compared to Phobia's darkness.

"As expected she's having a nightmare. She is asleep fairly late in the day so she must be staying up late to avoid sleeping again. She'll do for tonight," Luna said as she looked at the dream.

"And who exactly is this pony?" Rosetta grumbled as she sat down beside Luna.

"A former protege of Sunset Shimmer that is still having a lot of struggles coping with the association she had with her," Luna explained.

"Some sort of guilt dream then?" Rosetta asked as she looked at the dream in question. You had to feel at least a little guilty if you were involved with Sunset Shimmer, unless you were a die hard Shimmerist of course.

"Perhaps, there are many twisted emotions in her concerning Sunset Shimmer," Luna said. Without any warning that she was about to do it Luna moved the two of them into the dream.

They were in some woods and a young pegasus mare, who couldn't be any older than Rosetta's own sister, sat crying as the sounds of gunfire could be heard in the distance. She looked absolutely miserable, and Rosetta couldn't help but let some of her frustration with her abrupt dream walking training go as she looked at the mare, feeling nothing but compassion.

"It seems you guessed well," Luna said with a hint of satisfaction. "This is definitely a dream born of guilt."

The gunfire just kept going. It wasn't continuous, it was like a line of guns being fired at once. Every few seconds the sound of the guns went off again and each time the pegasus flinched like she had been struck.

"This dream is not severe. Since it's my intention to have you trained only as a basic dreamwalker I'll have you step in and start trying to help her on your own. I'll watch and see what your strengths and weaknesses are in this regard. The experience will help you when we finally penetrate Phobia Remedy's dreams," Luna said in a casual tone.

Rosetta turned and gaped at Luna. "Wait. I get no explanation on what to do? I don't even get to watch you in action first as an example, and you're just going to let me loose in some other pony's mind without so much as a hint about how not to screw it up? Are you crazy? I know this isn't how you've been training Phobia."

"I don't mean to be harsh in saying this, but it's Phobia I'm focused on properly training and she will have far more ability and freedom than you when her training is complete and she becomes one of my Dreamwardens. You on the other hoof are a means to an end that only needs to know enough to accomplish one task and will continue on as a plain dreamwalker of little consequence," Luna said as she stared down at Rosetta with a flat look. "Don't fear, I won't allow you to do any damage to this pony's mind, though it is unlikely you could without intent. I need to see what you do on your own though before I know how you can be utilized best."

Alright, so she just had to fumble her way through this and hope Luna stopped her if she was about to do something really bad. How much worse could this be than everything else so far? All she could do was wreck some pony's mind by accident; nothing to worry about at all.

She sighed as she looked over at the pegasus. Rosetta had never been a lucid dreamer who could control her own dreams, and being in somepony else's dream didn't give her any new insights into that. Her first instinct would be to turn the sound of that repeating gunfire off, but she had no clue how to do that.

Instead she did the only thing she could think to do. She walked straight over to the pegasus and sat down, startling the pegasus out of her crying, and flapped her wings so she hovered in the air. Apparently that stopped the mare from dreaming about the gunfire, because it abruptly ended.

"Who are you?" The pegasus asked with suspicion.

"Rosetta Stone is my name, who are you?" Rosetta countered.

"You don't know who I am?" The pegasus said in confusion. "I thought every pony around here knew my name at this point. Though I guess I've never seen you around before. I'm Laura Tanner."

"Never heard of you, but I think I live a long way away from here," Rosetta said as she looked at the mountains in the distance. "We aren't really here though. This is a dream."

"I kind of guessed that after the first few rounds of gunfire," Laura said as she hung her head and sighed. "So now I'm having conversations with made up ponies in my dreams."

"Oh, I'm not part of your dream," Rosetta said, causing Laura to look up at her with narrowed eyes."This is night pony magic, dreamwalking to be precise. I'm here to help you with whatever is bothering you."

"Night ponies can do that? I have heard of them banishing nightmares, and Josie does that for me sometimes, but not going right into a dream," Laura asked in fascination.

"I'm getting kind of a crash course," Rosetta said with a grimace. "Anyway, what's on your mind? What's up with the gunfire?"

"You've really never heard of me and know nothing about me?" Laura asked with a hint of disbelief.

"Nope, not a clue. Probably will never meet you in the waking world either," Rosetta said with a sad laugh at this ridiculous situation.

"So why are you in my dream then?" Laura asked, still sounding suspicious.

"Because I was taken to this one and told to just do my best without a clue what to do or much background information. I don't even know how to leave either, so I'm left just trying to do my best," Rosetta said with a flick of her tail. Then gestured around her. "So talk to me about all this. Was somepony shot?"

"I don't want to have this conversation," Laura said as her expression hardened.

"Well that's just great. I guess we'll sit here staring at each other till you wake up. What an invigorating dream," Rosetta said with a roll of her eyes. "At least it's an improvement over what I was dealing with even trying to get into my fianceé's dream. I don't know what's going on with her nightmares, but trying to even get in is a horrible experience."

"You could just leave and go focus on her," Laura suggested with her ears laid back. "I didn't ask for some random pony to show up in my dreams."

"I told you I don't know how," Rosetta said with a groan as she gestured around them with a hoof. "I just got put in here and told to figure it out by Luna. As I said, I have no idea what I'm doing at all. I don't know what kind of crap you're dealing with, and I'm sorry that you got saddled with a dreamwalker who doesn't know crap about what they're doing for trying to sort it out."

"Do you honestly have no idea at all about what happened here? I know I asked already, but figured it was big enough news everypony would have heard about it." Laura asked as she flicked an ear.

"Not at all. I heard gunfire in the distance when I got here and see you sitting here crying. My best guess is somepony that you cared about got shot," Rosetta said as she looked behind Laura in the direction the gunfire had come from. She softened her expression as she looked back to Laura.

"She didn't care about me, not really," Laura muttered as she looked down at the ground.

"It's a she? Well, that's a little bit of information. Care to share a little more?" Rosetta asked with a smirk.

"No, it doesn't matter I don't care about her either," Laura huffed as she crossed her forelegs in front of her as she continued to hover.

"Well, I think you definitely cared about her, whoever she was, otherwise you wouldn't be sitting here crying about it," Rosetta pointed out. Score one for Rosetta.

Laura gave Rosetta a stricken look. Then lowered her self back down to where she was sitting before with a slumped posture. She sat silent for a minute again as she seemed to be struggling with what to say.

Rosetta got up and sat down next to her, wrapping a wing around Laura's shoulders and spoke calmly to her. "You'll probably never see me again after this. You don't have to worry about me talking about this with any pony else. Talk to me about it and let it out."

Laura looked at her and seemed to consider that. The pegasus took a deep breath before speaking. "When I was transforming still I met Sunset Shimmer. I didn't know it was her at the time, I thought she was just another person transforming. Somepony who encouraged me and seemed to be my friend. When we were being held in the shelters, after we finished transforming, I stepped up and took a stand about our rights, and derailed a lot of potential fights between humans and ponies at the same time. She was there encouraging me and giving me advice the whole time."

Rosetta was told this pony had an association with Sunset Shimmer, but hadn't expected anything like this really. It just wasn't the way she pictured Sunset Shimmer behaving. She kind of imagined Sunset Shimmer being some cross between Saruman and Lex Luthor. Of course she had never met the unicorn, this pony had been friends with her.

"She sounds like she was doing everything a good friend would do. It's okay to be upset that she's dead in that case," Rosetta said with sympathy.

Laura shook Rosetta's wing off and took into the air so she was hovering away a few feet away before turning around to face her with tears in her eyes again.

"But don't you see? She lied to me about who she was. She was responsible for forcibly transforming millions of humans into ponies. She was almost certainly trying to use me for something. It was all a lie," Laura sobbed.

"Really? Oh what dastardly use did she have in mind to use you for?" Rosetta said sarcastically with a raised eyebrow. "From her perspective she must have thought that she had already succeeded in all her plans and was just waiting for them to finish themselves out. If she was encouraging you it was probably because you were worth encouraging. She didn't need to be anything more than a pony in the crowd after ETS was unleashed."

"Maybe she couldn't stop herself from meddling. And I was just a potential new project to meddle with," Laura said as she stomped into the air as if she was trying to stomp the ground.

"I don't think you believe that. The fact that you're crying over her death says that," Rosetta said as she stood up and walked towards Laura again. "In fact, now that I think about it, you seem terrified of the fact that she actually cared and feel guilty for it."

"Why would I feel guilty for her caring if she did?" Laura asked in confusion.

"Think about it, she had no reason to stick around after her plan went into action. She put herself in danger by staying in one place after ETS started. Maybe the reason she did that was because she was too attached to you, and you're terrified that is it. You don't want to be the one responsible for her death," Rosetta said as she stood as straight as she could and locked her eyes with Laura's.

"Even if she really cared, even if she really put herself in danger because of me; that doesn't make me responsible," Laura said as she turned and started to fly away.

Rosetta rushed into the air and in front of Laura to block her path. "Exactly, that's on her. That doesn't mean that you didn't really appreciate that care and encouragement. If she cared enough for you that she put herself in that kind of danger to stay and help you that seems like a pretty clear sign she gave a damn about you, no matter what her other faults were. The fact you're crying over her death shows you gave a damn about her as well."

Laura teared up as stoped and laid down where she was. A moment later she began sobbing into her forelegs. Not exactly the response Rosetta was looking for, but maybe it was progress. This would be better if Phobia was doing this; though if Phobia could be doing this right now Rosetta wouldn't need to be here at all.

She took a breath before go finishing her points. "You knew the real Sunset Shimmer. To me Sunset Shimmer is just a pony I heard about, somepony that might as well be a legend. Ponies are complex beings and even the most terrible ponies have many sides to them. You should meet my future mother-in-law, she's a piece of work herself with a nasty streak a mile wide, but she has a surprising amount of care and compassion in her as well. I believe Sunset Shimmer, despite all her many...many faults, cared about you because of you, and not some bigger plan or desire to use you. And you should be glad to have a pony care about you like that."

"So where does that leave me now?" Laura asked as she looked at Rosetta with tear filled eyes.

"Sunset Shimmer is gone, you aren't. She gave you encouragement to be the best you that you can be. You're still that pony that was worthy of that encouragement. Let the dead rest and don't worry that you're some pawn. Accept the good things she gave you and accept that she was a flawed pony too. You're your own pony who can do great things on her own. Let her sun set and let your sun rise," Rosetta affirmed with a play on Sunset's name as she bent down to where she was almost touching snouts with Laura. It sounded corny to her ears, but maybe not to Laura's.

Laura brought a hoof up to wipe her tears. Then stood back up and gave Rosetta a small smile.

"You aren't as bad at this as you think. Thanks for the talk. I don't think it fixed everything, but it gives me a different perspective on things," Laura said gratefully.

"That's score another one for Rosetta," Rosetta cheered as she pumped a hoof. She then blushed as she realized that was probably highly inappropriate at the moment. "Sorry, got excited, but I'm glad I helped. I'm not making a habit of this. Not my thing. I'm a history buff, not a psychologist."

"History buff? You should meet my mom. She loves history," Laura said with a chuckle.

"Maybe. I don't think that I'll be meeting any pony out here any time soon...," Rosetta stopped as the location and Laura's last name clicked together in her mind. "You're mother is Sarah Tanner, the archaeologist and anthropologist, isn't she."

"Um, yeah. How'd you know about her?" Laura asked as she blinked in confusion.

"I'm a big fan of hers. I just discovered her work the other week and have spent time reading everything she wrote. I'd love to work with her, though I have no idea how I would find time to. I have a foal on the way," Rosetta said, dropping into straight out excited fanfilly mode.

Laura gave a hearty laugh in response. "I'll let her know about you. Rosetta Stone, right? She's always happy when anypony gets interested in her work. Maybe someday something can work out where you two can work together."

"I appreciate you doing that for me," Rosetta said with a happy smile as she tried to restrain her excitement.

"And you gave me an idea for a name by the way. Sunrise Storm. Something to pay tribute and to say I'm moving on," Laura, or Sunrise Storm now, said as she looked over at her cutie mark. Rosetta hadn't paid it much attention before and could only get a quick glance now. It looked like a sun poking out from a hole in some clouds from the angle she saw it.

The dream then abruptly faded away, leaving Rosetta standing again in the star filled expanse.

"Not how I would have done things, but not bad," Luna said with satisfaction from behind her. "I think this is enough for now. Tomorrow we shall try again to penetrate Phobia Remedy's dreams."

Great, back to nausea tomorrow again. At least she had the satisfaction she had helped somepony.

It was an interesting group that walked together down the main street of Riverview. One human, two earth ponies, one night pony, one pegasus walking, and one pegasus flying low level along with them. Groups of ponies traveling together was not that uncommon a sight, but their group still stood out amongst those on the street.

Devon kept looking down every few seconds to check on Jessie who followed close to her. She had decided that since the crowds had indeed died down that she would let Jessie walk instead of being carried. She had also decided that at the first sign of Jessie wandering off or possibly being in danger of being trampled the little filly was going right up in her arms again.

To her other side walked Amanda. Amanda had Jackie walking beside her as well, though Jackie was still leashed. The filly had suprisingly made no attempts at flying thus far, and Amanda had commented that she was going to be cautiously optimistic that the surges were coming to an end. Though the presence of the leash indicated she was taking precaution still.

Robby walked just opposite his little sister. He also kept an eye on his sister and kept her corralled between Devon and him. Devon had stressed to him that he needed to make sure Jessie stayed between them to keep her safe. The little colt had instantly latched onto the duty of protecting his little sister and took his assigned task extremely seriously, much more serious than would normally be expected of a five year old.

Tonya didn't walk, she flew along with them at a pace that matched their walking. Devon really didn't understand how Tonya managed to casually move through the air at a casual pace, but the answer as it almost always was with ponies was no doubt magic. Tonya also seemed to keep and eye on the foals and would give off an almost chirp like sound if one of them started to veer more than a step or two away.

The adults casually talked as they walked to their first destination, which would be the school building that served as area one. Devon needed to eat and Amanda wanted an opportunity to eat something that wasn't hay, as well as get a good look at the school the two of them might end up working in together. Tonya had explained that she needed to speak with Amber, who not only worked the information desk there for the time being, but also lived there so she could be found quickly if any human needed something.

When reached the school building they walked in together and were greeted by a confused look from Amber as they entered.

"Tonya? What can I do for y'all? Are we moving all these ponies and Ms. Middleton in here? I have space if y'all need to, will just take me a minute or two to make assignments," Amber asked quizzically.

Devon watched Tonya shake her head as she finally landed on the floor. "Nope, just having a meal together at the cafeteria. I personally am here to make you an offer."

Amber gave Tonya a skeptical look. "What kind of offer? Ya say offer and I hear more work."

"Well, it would be more work, but you might still be very interested. It means a promotion for you," Tonya explained with a hoof brought up to cover a grin.

"Promotion how? I'm already the pony that gets left doing things whenever ya have something else to do. I don't really have anything to be promoted to," Amber said as she creased her brow.

"There is one position you could get promoted to," Tonya said with an innocent smile.

Amber sat and looked at Tonya with a baffled expression for a moment. Then she blinked and gasped as it occurred to her exactly what Tonya was speaking about. Devon felt like chuckling herself at Amber's gaping expression.

"Ya mean...," Amber began after she started breathing again.

"I could offer the job to some other pony if you aren't interested...," Tonya tried to cut in.

"No-no-no-no, or yes, or whatever--what I'm saying is I'm interested. If ya're offering me that job I accept," Amber said hurriedly.

"Good," Tonya said, suddenly taking on a very serious expression. "Tomorrow you start as the town outhouse repair and maintenance pony."

"Wow, information desk services must be really low on the job totem pole," Amanda whispered over to Devon. Devon hoped that Tonya was joking, that seemed like an outright cruel thing to do to Amber. Amber seemed to be a very friendly and helpful pony from the little she had talked to her.

Amber sat and looked at Tonya with a stricken look for a long moment then lowered her head down and put her forehead on the desk.

"I've been flummoxed," Amber muttered.

"I'm not the best speaker, but I don't think that word means anything like the word you were looking for," Tonya said thoughtfully.

"If it's not that's just a sign of how bamboozled I am," Amber muttered after that. Devon wondered if this was some kind of joke or if Amber really didn't know what these words meant.

"And after you are done with the outhouse cleaning tomorrow you can permanently take over my job," Tonya added on.

"I'm a straight mare, I'm not sleeping with Sunset Blessing," Amber said with her head still firmly planted on the desk.

"If you did I would be very upset with you good madam and would have to challenge you to a duel," Tonya said in overdone haughty tone. Okay, at this point Devon was sure they had to be playing some sort of game with each other.

"Ya're a scrawny bit of feathers and wings who's mama didn't feed her enough, I'd win," Amber said as she turned her head to gaze at Tonya.

"Well, I'd still do it. It's the principle of the matter," Tonya explained with a still serious expression.

"Ya know, it's supposed to be the stallion who does that, not the mare," Amber said in a bemused voice.

"That's just plain misogyny. Equal rights for mares to go kick another's flank. And we are all mares in this situation any way," Tonya said in an offended tone. How long were they going to keep this going?

"That does complicate matters. Still, it goes against the way I was raised to have a southern lady fighting, so I figure I must concede Sunset's hoof to ya--not that I wanted it," Amber said graciously. Amanda seemed to be having trouble beside Devon containing her laughter and was turning from pink to red in the face.

"That's kind of you," Tonya said with a smile. "So, ready to be lead pegasus?"

"I don't know, are we still talking up our asses or are we being serious now?" Amber asked as she raised her head up.

"We could do both, but it would be unpleasant, so I guess I'm serious," Tonya said with a laugh.

"Sure, why not? I already do the work because ya're such a lazy bum. Why not get the credit?" Amber said with a big grin.

"Good, you're lead pegasus now, because I quit," Tonya said as she spread her wings and did a little dance. Devon had to step back and Jessie almost fell over stepping backward as she did. "Though you'll have to find some lieutenants; I'm not getting involved and I pawned Joy off on Tattered Wing...you're welcome for that second one."

"Momma, is Aunt Tonya crazy?" Robby whispered up to her in a worried voice. Devon just looked down at him and shrugged her shoulders. At the very least Tonya seemed fun loving.

"Thank ya for that," Amber sighed in seeming relief. "I mean it to. Joy is really efficient, but I get the impression that when she heard the story of How the Grinch Stole Christmas she was criticizing the Grinch for not burning the Whos' houses down too. That should be her cutie mark, just the Grinch's face."

"This has all been very entertaining, but are we done with all this?" Amanda asked with a bewildered expression. "I know Devon has several things she wants to get done still, and I want to eat quickly so I can get Jackie here back to the tent and settled for the night."

"We definitely can head to the cafeteria now, I'm a free mare and Amber is the mare with the cutie mark saying she is going to be stuck doing paperwork the rest of her life," Tonya said with a whoop.

"Wait...what?" Amber said as she quickly whipped her head around to look at her flank. After seeing it was still blank she turned and looked back at Tonya with a scowl. "Not funny."

"You never know," Tonya said with a giggle before the party finally departed the lobby and moved on to the cafeteria.

They found the cafeteria about half filled at this hour. The majority of them were humans though there were a fair number of ponies present here as well. Seating areas were long tables that in a school setting could have each held a full classroom of students and their teacher. There was an actual lunch line like a school would have. The line was mostly filled with humans, though a few unicorns seemed speckled in.

"Well, guess getting the food falls on you Devon," Amanda observed as she saw some people walking around with school lunch trays. "If one of us was a unicorn we could probably carry trays with ease. I can grip one in my mouth and carry it fine, or possible balance it on my back, but I'd be scared that I'd get bumped and spill everything."

Devon counted out the meals she would need to pick up, just four. She'd have to make two trips as the trays looked like they could hold two meals a piece. That wasn't a huge deal. Maybe those running the line would let her get it all in one line trip and let her leave one tray sitting at the line for a moment while she delivered them back one at a time.

"We'll find somewhere to sit together and save you a seat. I'm sure Robby and I can keep Jessie from wandering off between us," Tonya said with a gesture at the earth pony filly. The little filly seemed very caught up trying to look at all her surroundings with wide eyes.

"Are you sure?" Devon asked uncertainty.

"Aunt Tonya and I got her, Momma!" Robby said with enthusiasm as he draped one of his wings over Jessie protectively, a second later Tonya draped one of her wings over both Robby and Jessie to show she would watch both.

Devon forced a smile onto her face despite her misgivings about it. Jessie should really be fine between having two adults and Robby watching her while Devon was only a few feet away. Nothing was going to happen to her. She had to trust those in her support system or she wouldn't have much of a support system.

"Does anyone...anypony have any requests?" Devon asked, trying to consciously acclimate herself to pony terms.

"As long as it is not meat and not just more hay I'll take anything," Amanda said right before grabbing Jackie up in her teeth by the scruff of her neck, cutting off any further talking from her.

"I want a hamburger or pizza!" Robby declared excitedly with a little hop.

"Honey, you can't eat hamburgers, they'll make you sick. I'll see if they have some cheese pizza or something though. That might be okay," Devon said as she looked down at him with sympathy.

"Believe me kid, you really wouldn't like the taste of the hamburgers, they'd be the worst tasting things you ever had," Tonya said with a look of disgust at the thought of eating hamburgers.

"Even worse than lima beans?" Robby asked skeptically with a raised eyebrow.

"I think at this point you might start to feel lima beans are alright, even if not great, and hamburgers are really icky," Tonya explained.

"I'll let you try just a bite of whatever meat I get and try some vegetables too just to show you. I don't want you swallowing the meat though, okay?" Devon said as she looked at her son. If he didn't swallow he should be okay.

"You want me to spit the food out?" Robby asked with wide eyes. Devon typically would scold him for that kind of action.

"Just this one time. I want you to taste the meat so you know it isn't good for you," Devon explained patiently. She hoped it tasted as bad to ponies as Tonya made it out to.

"Okay, if you say so," Robby said, still looking completely skeptical that meat would taste bad.

Amanda and Tonya shepherded the foals over to the sitting area while Devon got in line. Directly in front of her in line were a human couple with many pony traits between them. The man had what was clearly a red mane and webbed wings on his shirtless back. The woman had yellow hair with orange streaks running through it in a very regular pattern. Both had holes cut into their pants to let tails that matched their manes fall out and both sported pony ears.

"Evan, can you rub my back again? It's getting real tight again," the woman said to the man.

The man, presumably Evan, turned to the woman and Devon spotted that he had yellow eyes that were a close match to her son's. He began rubbing her upper back gently as the woman let off a contented breath.

"I wish these things would just sprout. I'm getting really tired of this constant ache," the woman said.

"I don't think it's going to happen, Kira. We haven't had any further changes in nearly two and a half weeks. Don't think there will be any more," Evan said with a touch of pity in his voice.

"I'd wish they hurry up with that damn rehumanization spell then, or did something to just let me get past this one stage so my back didn't hurt so much. It's not fair leaving us in this freaky in-between crap," Kira complained.

"The clinic said that it was getting close and to keep checking back and they'd let us know as soon as something became available. Just a few more days hopefully, we just have to be patient," Evan said calmingly.

"I know," Kira sighed. "I'm just so sick of being uncomfortable. I just want to be one thing or the other. I don't even care at this point which one it is as long as it doesn't have this constant ache."

Just then Evan's wing did a quick flap and smacked Devon's arm by accident. She winced in pain. She made a note to herself never to get popped by one of Robby's wings, those things hurt.

"Sorry, really sorry. I didn't mean to do that," Evan said as he turned to her looking extremely embarrassed. "They do that sometimes when I get moody. It's like they have a mind of their own."

"It's okay," Devon said as she rubbed the red area on her arm where the wing had struck her and gave them a friendly smile. "I know it wasn't intentional. My little five year old colt is a night pony and you just taught me never to get smacked with one of his wings."

"Well, I still apologize all the same," Evan said as he tried to tuck his wings a bit more.

"Can I ask you a question, if it isn't too personal?" Devon asked cautiously.

"Sure, we don't mind. What is it?" Evan asked.

"Do you feel more human or pony? I mean if given the choice of what to be which would you take?" Devon asked.

"Human," Kira said without hesitation.

"I really could go either way on my own, but my wife wants to be human and I'd follow her. That tips the scales to human for me too," Evan said as he went back to rubbing his wife's back.

"Why are you divided, Evan?" Devon asked then worried she was getting into inappropriate questions. "Sorry, I'm just trying to figure some things out for myself. I know I can't get ETS at this point, but I have two foals and I am trying to figure out their mindsets and my own."

Evan stopped rubbing his wife's back and scratched one of his wings absently. "Well, I guess when these things came in I kind of the hoped that I would actually get to use them. Didn't really work out that way of course. I think Kira would feel a little less certain about wanting to be human if her wings had actually come in."

"I prefer human, but as I said, I'll take anything but this," Kira mumbled. "I'm not really a human anymore, not close to being a pony either, just some freak that has a body that doesn't work right."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," Devon said as she took a step back.

"You didn't upset me. This body upsets me. Don't feel bad for asking questions. Just be glad you didn't catch ETS late and end up like me," Kira said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Devon hadn't even considered before tonight how miserable she could have been if she had indeed caught ETS and not finished transforming before the counterspell happened. It was a whole new perspective on what might have been.

This didn't make her feel better about what might be still when her foals got older and started possibly viewing her as something apart, but it definitely made her appreciate that things could be worse.

Author's Note

Next chapter will be Thursday September 6th and then another Friday September 7th.

Chapter 13

"Just ten more minutes..." Tattered mumbled as she was shaken vigorously.

"Come on sis, you told me to make sure you were awake. Get up, it's your own fault for staying up late," she could hear Alex say from somewhere nearby.

"Mmmhhbl," Tattered mumbled sleepily as she tightened her wings around her head.

"Fine, hard way then," Alex said with a sigh and could be heard walking away.

A few moments later the hoof steps returned to the room and then water was unceremoniously dumped on her. Tattered jumped up and unfurled her wings as she took a defensive stance and water dripped from her wings and tail. "What the hell, Alex!"

The colt smiled at her as he set down a coffee mug that he had found somewhere and had presumably filled with water. "You said make absolutely sure you're awake. Don't blame me if I had to do something extreme to wake you up."

She relaxed herself a bit, folding her stiff wings back to her side after giving herself a shake to clear off some dampness. "You're right, I did say that. Was just more comfortable sleeping than I had been in a while, and I was enjoying it."

Alex looked at her wings at her sides. "I definitely noticed you had a different sleeping position and the lack of bandages on your wings. Does that mean your wings are all better?"

Tattered stretched them out again to put on display and smiled happily. "I need to get them back into shape since I haven't been using them, but no more shreds. Doc says that I can fly again in a few days once they're less stiff."

"I've only ever seen you with them bandaged up. They look a little odd. What's with all the pink and purple?" Alex asked as he visually looked them over.

"My name was very literal. Those spots are where the wings were ripped. The Equestrians are miracle workers to have gotten them together again. For the first time since the night that happened I feel whole," Tattered said as lifted them up high, despite the stiffness.

Alex took on a slightly paled complexion as he looked at the spots again. "I'm sorry, Mand...Tat, I hadn't realized how bad it actually was."

"It's okay, you had other stuff you were worried about," Tattered forgave him. She then grimaced as she continued. "I’m angrier at everyone else in the family who didn't even bother to care at all how badly I was hurt."

"Well, I could only hear what was going on in the house since I was locked in my room so I wouldn't contaminate the rest of the family, but I heard Megan plead to go see you. Mom and Dad shot her down and grounded her for it," Alex said with an angry flick of his tail.

"Megan got herself grounded?" Tattered said with wide-eyed shock. "I think that is probably more unbelievable than a quarter of the country turning into ponies. I didn't think she had it in her to try to buck Mom and Dad."

"She's our sister, Tat, it shouldn't be that much of a surprise that she cares," Alex said as he lowered his ears slightly.

"Well, Mom and Dad are our mom and dad and we should've expected them to care too. You see how well that worked out," Tattered said as she laid her ears flat.

"We shouldn't be mad at Megan for what Mom and Dad did. She doesn't have much choice but follow along until she can move out on her own. Ponies are supposed to forgive and be understanding," Alex insisted.

Tattered stopped and considered it. Maybe she was being too harsh on her little sister. She had a habit of being too harsh with others in general and she frowned as she wondered if that was how her parents had rubbed off on her. If Megan really cared she didn't deserve Tattered's wrath.

"Is your phone charged?" she asked her brother as she made a decision.

Alex looked shocked. "Um, yeah. You want to call her? I didn't think you wanted us to have anything to do with them or I'd have tried to reach out to her already."

Tattered shook her head. "I appreciate you trying to respect my wishes, but if she still actually cares about us I'd like to try. Not right now though. I want you to take a selfie of the two of us and send it to her with a message letting her know we will call her in the morning around eleven; only if she can find somewhere private to talk to us on the phone without Mom and Dad finding out."

"Eleven? Are you sure you don't want to do it earlier?" Alex asked.

"Job gets in the way," Tattered said with another shake of her head. "I have to attend a big meeting about crystal ponies in the morning with all the other ponies' leaders in town, the government rep, and town council rep that will last a few hours. I figure it should be done by eleven and you can come by my office and we can make the call then."

"Let me go get the phone. It will be just a second," Alex said as he hurried out of the room.

Tattered got up and stretched her legs and back and began doing a few of the wing stretches she was instructed to do. By the time that Alex returned she had been able to go through a solid two minutes of stretching.

"What're you doing with your wings?" Alex said with a bemused expression as he came in with the cell phone floating behind him in his green magic aura.

"Wing stretches, doc wants me to stretch them like this every day, several times a day, until they aren't stiff anymore. I'm done for the moment," Tattered said as she folded them back up to her sides.

Alex floated the phone and a stylus in front of him and started doing something with it as Tattered waited. He then walked over next to her and floated the phone out a few feet in front of them in the air.

"Smile for the camera," Alex said as he put a cheesy grin on his face. Tattered rolled her eyes and then blinked as the phone flashed.

"Urgh, Alex, please no flashes in the future," she said as she shook her head as if that would help clear her vision. "I have eyes that are sensitive to light. I can deal with daylight most of the time, but sudden flashes like that are a pain. Now I'm going to have spots in my vision for a few minutes."

"Sorry, it's just so dark in here. We need light for a photo which means a flash," Alex explained as he watched her continue to try to clear her vision.

"I like the dark, the dark is nice and soothing...but I get what you're saying. Maybe warn me next time though? Or get me a pair of sunglasses or something? Jesus, that stings," Tattered complained as she tried to blink to clear her vision.

Alex didn't respond as he was back to work with the stylus and phone.

"Message sent," Alex announced.

"Alright let me know in the morning what she said, no matter..." Tattered paused mid-sentence as the phone dinged, saying they had received a message back.

Alex floated the phone back to where he could read it. Tattered restrained herself from trying to read over his shoulder. She was much bigger than him, and it was amazing how much smaller he was as a fifteen-year-old colt than a fifteen-year-old boy. As humans she had been much shorter than him since he had a growth spurt the year before. The tables were turned now. She could have looked over his shoulder with ease.

"She says she's really happy to see that we're okay. She asks also if you really are okay if that's really you in the picture. She also says that she will definitely be ready for our call tomorrow," Alex summarized after he finished reading.

"Tell her that's really me, her big sister, and that I'm going by Tattered Wing now instead of Mandy. Let her know I'm healing up well and I'm looking forward to the call tomorrow," Tattered listed off after considering an appropriate response. Then she paused before adding. "And tell her I forgive her for not making it to the hospital."

Alex typed in the response with the stylus and they both waited for the reply. A moment later it dinged again.

"She wants to know why we need to wait till tomorrow to talk," Alex said as he read off the response.

"I can't really wait around anymore to keep this up, I need to get to work," Tattered said as she considered the time. "Tell her that we want to be sure that the three of us talking is kept secret from Mom and Dad, so she doesn't get in trouble, and we don't want her to be overheard by rushing to talk tonight without making sure she is well away from where they are. Plus, tell her I need to get to work right now because I'm an important pony in town with responsibilities."

"Will do," Alex said as he continued to type away with the stylus. He glanced back at her. "If you need to get going then go. I'm going to keep chatting with her for a little while before bed, and I promise to be at your office by eleven in the morning."

She nodded, wishing she could hang around for longer. Duty called though. She hurried out of the bedroom and made her way to work.

Devon finished setting salads out for Amanda, Robby, and Tonya and finally took her own seat between Robby and Amanda with her own plate of mixed vegetables and cafeteria mystery meat. She had started passing silverware out for them until Amanda put a hoof over Devon's hand to stop her.

"Devon, we have hooves, and none of us is a unicorn. We can't use silverware," Amanda said with an amused expression.

"Oh, I'm sorry...I didn't think," Devon said as she realized her mistake and wondered if she had done something insulting.

Amanda popped her hand with a hoof. "Stop that, it's okay. You were auto-piloting through things. Just don't worry about all our table manners since we have to basically just lean in and start eating."

"We really need to start doing more vegetarian sandwiches," Tonya mused as she looked at her salad. "We can pick bread up alright with two hooves, but a fork or knife is pretty much useless. Maybe if we could strap them on somehow."

Devon smiled, glad she hadn't done anything too offensive. She then frowned as she looked down at her own plate. She really needed to eat the meat since she needed her protein, but it looked bland. It would taste bad even to her despite being human. At least it should turn Robby off the idea of trying to eat meat himself.

She cut a a very small bite off and it and held it over to her son. "Okay Robby, open up. You can chew but don't swallow. When you are done you can spit it back out into my hand."

"Spit it out in your hand?" Robby asked as he looked at her hands.

"Yes, just this one time. If it'll make you sick to eat I'd rather you spit it in my hand than have you spend time vomiting," Devon explained.

He still looked dubious of the whole situation but nodded to her.

"Wish I had a camera for this moment," Tonya said with a giggle.

"Thought the same thing several times in the last few days," Amanda added in with a smile. "Cameras for ponies that need to operate things by hoof. Somepony needs to get on that right away."

"Probably many things they need to get on right away for pony friendly items," Devon said as she looked at Robby. "Okay, open up and let's see how long you can tolerate this in your mouth."

Robby pulled back looking suspicious. "Can you eat a bite first?"

"Are you thinking I'm trying to trick you?" Devon asked in surprise as she pulled the fork back.

"No...I just want to be sure it really is okay for you too," Robby answered sheepishly.

Okay, so he did suspect that he was being played. Well, he was in for a shock.

Devon quickly put the meat into her mouth and casually chewed it. It wasn't particularly great, but it was alright. Tasted like it was a microwave meal Salisbury steak; bland, but acceptable. She then cut off another small chunk of meat and held it out to her son again. After a moment she swallowed.

"Perfectly fine for me. Now let's see you and your pony taste buds try to take a stab at it," Devon said as she looked at him.

He looked the bite of meat over suspiciously and looked again at the food on her plate as if trying to figure out if there was any possible trick that could be played. He finally conceded the idea that it was the exact same stuff on the fork as Devon had just eaten.

Robby leaned in and let the fork put the meat into his mouth.

The effect was almost immediate. Robby's eyes bulged, and he didn't even wait for Devon to put her hand out to catch the bite of food. He expunged the offending food item out with a violent spit right back into Devon's shirt and then stuck his tongue out and began rapidly trying to wipe the taste away with his forehooves.

Tonya burst out laughing and the little colt glared at the pegasus even while still trying to clean his tongue with his hooves.

"So, is it settled now that you shouldn't be eating meat?" Devon asked in a serious tone as she picked the meat off her shirt.

"Yes, Momma," Robby said as he finally finished wiping his tongue with his hooves. Devon held a glass of water out for him to sip and he didn't even object as she held it for him.

"I remember when I learned meat wasn't going to work for me anymore. It took me a few times to figure it out," Tonya recollected with a grin.

"How'd it take more than one? I know it got to the point even the smell of a steak cooking could cause me to vomit well before I finished transforming," Amanda asked the pegasus.

"I had a habit of getting hot dogs from the local gas station. Took three times in a row getting sick eating them before it occurred to me that they weren't just under cooking their hot dogs," Tonya explained with a shrug.

Devon looked at her sister-in-law with a bewildered expression. "Why would you keep going back to the same gas station for hot dogs if you were getting sick each time?"

Tonya put a hoof behind her head in embarrassment. "Um, I was kind of perpetually near broke and kind of lazy, and they were cheap and convenient."

"What kind of job did you have when you were still human?" Devon asked as she took another bite of her mystery meat, curious to learn about what was a long-lost family member.

"Nothing special, worked part-time at a Wendy's as a drive-thru cashier about thirty hours a week and part time at a Domino's Pizza as a delivery driver for another thirty hours a week," Tonya said with a shrug. "If tips from deliveries weren't so great my bills got kind of tight. Even when they were good it was still a lot of Ramen noodles."

"I know it isn't the best food either, but couldn't you have gotten food from one of your two jobs?" Amanda asked.

Tonya laughed in response. "Um, I had to pay for that stuff too just like all the customers, and I wasn't spending ten dollars on a pizza or five dollars on a sandwich that didn't come off the kids’ menu. They let me get free drinks when on shift, but that's it in terms of free food."

"So, since you seemed to have just quit your job you already had here what are you planning on doing?" Devon asked with a frown.

Tonya's complexion changed at the question, smile dropping and adopting a serious expression. When she answered there wasn't any of her previous cheer in her voice. "There's a job in the works for me. I can't talk about it, town business."

Devon was taken aback by the dramatic shift in attitude and tone in Tonya. She had seen Tonya angry last night, Tonya mischievous and playful through much of tonight, but this was yet another side of her and Devon felt uncomfortable with it after starting to get used to the more playful side. She'd probably be uncomfortable with it no matter what.

Tonya relaxed slightly as she looked over at Devon. "Want to join me as I go to the little filly's room? We can talk along the way about things little colts shouldn't hear."

"What kind of things?" Robby asked, realizing he was the only little colt at the table and secrets were being kept from him.

"You don't want to know. It's the kind of talk that can get colts cooties, and you'd get cooties just by hearing it. We don't want you getting cooties now do we?" Tonya asked the colt in a grave tone.

"Eww, no. I don't want cooties," Robby said with disgust.

Devon rolled her eyes. "Good, so stay here and keep Miss Amanda, Jackie, and your sister safe, and listen to whatever Miss Amanda says, okay?"

"I can keep them safe, Momma," Robby said proudly as he raised his head high and proud.

"And listen to her," Devon reasserted.

"Yeah, that too," Robby added in. That earned a separate eye roll and giggle from Amanda.

Tonya hopped down from her seat and gestured with a wing for Devon to follow.

Once they cleared the cafeteria Tonya turned and spoke. "We can go to the school library and find a quiet corner to talk there. I also happen to know they have Wi-Fi in the library if you need to make any calls."

"That does save me some time," Devon said with relief before frowning. "I'm assuming you want to talk about Paul."

"Yes," Tonya answered as she nodded. "Let's get some more privacy first though."

When they reach the library, they found a large empty room. There were tables and chairs in the room, but the shelves were devoid of books. A few humans and ponies were attempting to put some books from some boxes to the shelves and a few humans sat using their phones in a few areas. The pair of them found a private enough area on the far side of the room and took seats at a table there.

"Maybe you should make whatever that call that you need to make out of the way first," Tonya said as she took another glance around the room. "If the conversation gets emotional it's probably best it doesn't spill over into your call if you're trying to find work."

Devon nodded in silent agreement as she pulled her phone out and turned it back on. The power level was low still despite her making every attempt she could to conserve the battery. But she shouldn't have any fear of the phone running out of power while making the call unless it took an exceptionally long time.

She had the phone dial the number for the job from her contact information and within seconds it was picked up. By someone with a tired voice. "Hello, Yvonne speaking. How may I help you?"

"Hi, I saw a sign saying this was the number to call if we had teaching experience and were interested in a position at the school. I'd like to apply," Devon said, making sure to put a pleasant professional tone into her voice.

"Okay, happy to keep hearing from people about that. I just need to get a few notes here and I can give you an interview time and place," Yvonne said as the sound of shuffling papers could be heard in the background. "Alright, just a few basic things. First up is your full name."

"Mrs. Devon Ann Middleton."

"Good, teaching experience and focus areas?" Yvonne continued.

"Four years teaching. I taught art at the private Montessori school in Charleston. I have my four-year teaching degree from College of Charleston, as well as my master's from the University of South Carolina," Devon answered.

"Master's degree? That's good," Yvonne said happily. "Alright, onto the next few things. Sorry if these questions seem odd, but recent circumstances make them things we need to know. Are you a human, a pony, or something in-between?"

"I'm human," Devon answered.

"Alright, and do have you any objections to teaching classes that contain both humans and ponies?"

"I'll happily teach both, they're all just students to me, and all will be treated with equal respect and care for their needs," Devon said with confidence.

"That's the kind of answers we like to hear," Yvonne said cheerfully. "Alright, so we will have an open interview session in two days starting at noon. It will be held at the library in the building at area one which will be the school when it reopens. Are you familiar with that location?"

"I'm actually calling you from it right now," Devon said with a laugh.

"Oh, so definitely no problem finding it. Please be there promptly but expect a wait as we will be having many that are getting interviewed on that day. We promise that everyone that arrives is getting interviewed. We should actually be able to tell you if you have the job or not right away after the interview process is done. Do you have any questions?" Yvonne asked.

"None, none at all. I'll be here in two days at noon right on time," Devon said with excitement.

"Good, see you then. Have a good evening for now," Yvonne said in parting.

As Devon said her quick goodbye and Tonya gave her a smile. "Sounds like that went well."

"Yeah, they make everything so easy around here," Devon said with letting out a breath of relief.

"That's the goal we were trying for when we were planning this out. Glad it seems to be going smoothly," Tonya said, then her smile dropped. "Now, let's talk about Paul."

Devon's upbeat mood dropped immediately upon that being brought back up. She didn't owe Tonya a talk about this, but Tonya was family.

"We had been under stress for some time up to that point because the kids were being kept from us in isolation and they wouldn't let us near them for fear of us getting infected too. Both Paul and I had done everything we could to try to convince them to let us go to them and we didn't care about getting infected if it meant we could be allowed to see our children. The hospital was adamant about keeping those not infected isolated and under quarantine," Devon began explaining.

"The hospital was keeping humans in isolation? I heard of them doing that to ponies, but not humans. Which hospital was this?" Tonya asked in shock.

"Roper Hospital, and there were a lot of us there, all very angry about it," Devon replied with a grimace as she remembered how the hospital had barricaded the doors and the only thing that had prevented riots was that they had armed guards posted.

"So, moving past the fact that Roper hospital needs to be sued and shut down for what they did; what happened after you got them home?" Tonya asked.

"Paul and I did our best. Robby wasn't too much trouble other than him being awake all night long and asleep all day. Jessie wasn't too much trouble the first day or so either, and we thought that we could manage things somehow. Then Jessie's surges started. We didn't know what they were at the time," Devon answered as she remembered the shock of having Jessie start easily overpowering both her and Paul.

"So, that's when it got too much for my brother?" Tonya asked in a neutral tone.

Devon shook her head. "No, he kept trying along with me for two weeks. We were both very frustrated and tired, but we were trying our best. Then Jessie bucked him. He had to get medical attention for his ribs due to how hard she got him. That's when he wouldn't come near her anymore and got nervous about being near Robby as well. When the call went out saying that they were going to be resettling all these ponies over here he took us to the convention center and left us there. He wouldn't even say anything other than he was sorry and he couldn't handle it anymore."

Devon couldn't help herself, she started crying again after explaining what had happened again. She had talked about it a little with Amanda, but this was recounting even more, and it hit her harder. Tonya got up on the table and walked over to Devon and gently laid a wing on Devon's shoulder.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think you should call him," Tonya said in a low voice.

"Why?" Devon asked as she looked up at her sister-in-law in shock.

Tonya frowned. "Because I don't think Paul is a bigot, or an uncaring father and husband. I think that he's a coward and should be given the chance to be less cowardly. He never got on my case about my issues, he just kept quiet while our parents did. When they cut ties he just followed along because he is afraid of confrontation."

Devon considered it. Tonya wasn't wrong about Paul's normal reaction to conflict. He always tended to just remove himself from it. He wouldn't even stand up for himself at work because he couldn't be convinced to stand up to his boss.

"If that's so why should I go pleading for him to come back? He's still going to just turn tail and run as soon as it gets too much for him again," Devon said as she felt herself getting angry at him. He was her husband, he was supposed to stand up and support her and the children.

"I'm just saying he should get another chance to do right. If he can keep it together wouldn't you want...," Tonya cut off what she was saying with a shake of her head and immediately continued, "rather have him here?"

"Why are you pushing this? I know he's your brother, but he turned his back on you too and kept it turned," Devon asked with a mixture of anger and confusion.

Tonya teared up slightly herself before answering. "I never tried to reach out to him. I just assumed the worst. I'm guilty for not even trying too. Maybe it will be wasted effort, maybe it won't. If you don't try you won't know. Someone needs to reach out first one way or another and just waiting for the other to do it is just petty."

Devon picked the phone back up and stared at it for a moment. She didn't know if she'd do it or not. Her emotions involving this were a wreck. Even if she did do it, what was she supposed to even say? What do you say to the person that dumped his wife and kids in a parking lot and ran away from his responsibilities?

She pulled up his phone number and stared at it for a moment. What to say wasn't coming to her at all. The desire to just turn the phone off and not even bother was strong, but she instead hit the button to initiate the call.

The phone rang several times before going to voicemail.

She sighed before speaking. "Paul, it's your wife, Devon. I'm in Riverview and making this call from a spot that has Wi-Fi. Me and the foals are doing well, and things are looking up. Please, call me back so we can talk."

She then hung up and dropped the phone on the table before putting her elbows on the table and crying into her upraised hands.

Tonya came closer on the table and draped her wing over Devon's back. Devon then gave the pegasus a shock when she suddenly turned and gripped her arms around the pegasus and pulled her into a hug while crying into Tonya's mane.

"Hopefully he'll call back," Tonya said in a soothing tone.

Devon didn't get to reply before the phone started buzzing. She looked down at the phone like it was a viper and saw that it was Paul who was calling back. She stiffened up, not knowing what to do.

"Answer the phone," Tonya whispered loudly in Devon's ear.

She picked it up swiped the green phone icon to answer the call. Before bringing it to her ear. "Hello, Paul?"

"Devon? Can you hear me okay?" Paul asked.

"I hear you fine," Devon answered, unsure what else to say at the second.

"How are the kids? Are they with you right now?" Paul asked.

"A friend is watching them for me in another part of the building. They are doing well. Robby has gotten really protective of me and Jessie as of late, but that's probably on account of his night pony instincts getting to be more prominent. Jessie is walking already if you can believe it, and she follows me close when I let her walk on her own," Devon answered, feeling a small amount of pride in her children.

"Jessie is walking already? Are you sure?" Paul asked in a shocked tone.

Devon felt her anger start to resurface. "Considering I actually live with her and have her with me most of the time I think I can be pretty sure she can walk. She actually took her first steps just an hour or so after you abandoned us."

With no immediate answer to that she continued. "To tell you more about what you have been missing she isn't super strong like she was before anymore. Those were something called surges that all foals get soon after birth that last a few weeks then stop. She'll get strong again, but it will take years and will develop over time. She probably won't be that strong again until she's a full-grown mare."

"They're kids, we shouldn't be calling them by pony terms like they're animals," Paul cut in.

"They are ponies, Paul, and I'll use pony terms because that's what ponies themselves prefer. I'm adjusting to their situation because I intend to see them live good happy lives. They're my babies and I may not be a night pony like our son, but I will protect them as best I can--like you should be doing," Devon all but growled into the phone as she tightened her grip on it.

"I'm sorry...it's just...I didn't know what to do anymore," Paul said sadly.

"Do you think I had any better idea what to do when you dumped us off in that parking lot?" She hissed into the phone. "I'm learning, and I've learned a lot. I'm finding ways to get our lives back together here. I've got a job interview lined up, I'm getting us a house here soon, and I'm asking questions. Why aren't you here with me?"

"Did you just call me to tell me how rotten a person I am?" Paul asked defensively.

"No, I called you because Tonya--your little sister--is sitting here in front of me and insisted I call and give you a chance," Devon said as she glanced up at Tonya. Tonya flinched back from the look and stared down at the table.

"Wait? Thomas is there?" Paul asked in a puzzled tone.

"Yes, the pony previously named that is right here. An orange pegasus mare with a purple mane and tail who is very clearly a she and is currently named Tonya; she's right here in front of me," Devon said as Tonya tried her best to sink into the table. "By all rights she should be one of the last ponies here to be giving you a chance, but she seems to have more loyalty to you than you have for her, me, or our foals."

She heard Paul sigh over the phone. "I don't want to fight. What do you want from me."

She leaned forward and put the phone directly in front of her mouth while she spoke firmly into it. "I want you to come here and try to be a father to your foals. I'm not sure that I can just get over what happened, but I do know I'd rather Robby and Jessica have their father there for them, and that I wasn't left having to someday explain to them how you turned your back on them."

There was a long pause and it went on long enough that Devon wondered if he just hung up and the call for whatever reason had not disconnected. Eventually he spoke again.

"Alright, I'll head out that way tomorrow. Where do I find you?"

She didn't know whether to sigh of relief or find another reason to yell at him, her emotions were a mess. Instead she just gave the answer. "We're at resettlement area four, spot thirty-five...it's a tent that we share with my friend Amanda and her foal. I'm still deciding on a house. If I'm not there Amanda will be. She's a rose-pink earth pony with a pegasus foal the same age as Jessie. Wait for me there if I'm not there at the time."

"Okay," Paul said in a defeated tone.

She tried to force a smile and force the smile into her tone. "I have to get off the phone. I don't have much power left. I'll see you sometime tomorrow."

She didn't even wait for a reply before hanging up.

"You didn't say that you love him."

She looked over at Tonya who was giving her sad eyes.

"I don't know if I do after what happened. If I say that again he must earn it," Devon said as she set her phone back down.

"I'm not sure it works that way."

"Are you a relationship expert?" Devon questioned her furry in-law while raising a brow at her.

"Well, no..."

"Then I'm going with he has to earn it," Devon said as she crossed her arms in front of her.

Hopefully he would.

Chapter 14

After Wild left Number Crunch for the evening she decided to head back by her sister's house to check on her and Phobia. She gave a quick knock on the door and it was promptly opened up yet again by Tom.

"Hello again. Coming in this time around?" Tom asked her as he did a quick look around.

"Yeah, I wanted to check on the two of them. I don't have any off-limits friends with me this time around," Wild said as she walked into the house.

"I heard what was said with Number Crunch. I'm not sure I'd want her around here myself after hearing about what she said to my daughter," Tom said as he flicked his tail.

"We'll leave that decision to my sister and Phobia," Wild replied without getting offended. She looked over at the stallion's cutie mark and then back to his face. "Are you going to be taking a pony name now that you have your mark?"

"Not particularly interested in one. I don't see any particular reason to change my name, and I don't understand the strange fascination most of the rest of you have with changing your names," Tom replied as he looked at his mark as well with lowered ears. "Never wanted this thing anyway, and I'm guessing I'm a pony for life now because of it. Just another damned soul that isn't what they're supposed to be."

"There's nothing wrong with being a pony, you talk about it as if being a pony is a bad thing," Wild said, actually feeling offended that he was saying that like it was a curse. It had been nothing but good for her, and she would be able to do good she wouldn't have been able to do otherwise if she wasn't a pony. She loved being a pony and hearing him talk that way about being a pony was just insulting to what she loved.

"If you all could only see it the way I do," Tom said with a shake of his head. "I won't spend my days complaining about it though, not much point to doing that; it won't undo what's already been done."

She briefly narrowed her eyes at him. When she had been questioned by her sister about how she felt about a pony that didn't want to be a pony she had told her sister that she never met a pony that wanted to go back to being human. It seemed fine if they really wanted it. Now she had met one and couldn't help feeling anger at him, and wondered if she should reconsider her stated position. Her parents and brothers secretly wanted to be ponies--her brothers not so secretly, and though she had mixed feelings about that this felt like an insult to them too.

She took a deep breath and reigned her anger back in. Until she had fine control of her powers she had to at least have fine control of her temper. Even though she disliked what he was saying she understood he was under a great deal of stress himself. His daughter had been raped and he lost his chance at what he wanted in one fell swoop. He deserved her sympathy, not her anger, and could be forgiven for some things.

"I'm going to be turning in a bit early tonight. Just make sure they lock the door behind you when you leave. They're both awake upstairs," Tom said with a yawn.

The stallion took time to make a pit stop at the downstairs restroom before going to bed. Wild dismissed Tom and his insulting attitude towards ponies from her mind and headed up the stairs to find her sister and Phobia.

She stopped outside their door and knocked lightly on the door, doing her absolute best to keep the knock just loud enough to announce her presence. Phobia was very easy to startle at the moment, and Rosetta had stressed to all the family that extreme care had to be taken to not startle her.

"You can come in, Wild," Rosetta called out.

Wild pushed the door open and stepped through the door, letting light into the room from the dimly lit hallway. It was extremely dark inside and Rosetta and Phobia were busy trying to get books from Rosetta's boxes transferred to her bookshelves. Phobia was carrying over one book at a time with her forelegs to Rosetta while walking awkwardly on her hind legs, and Rosetta was collecting the book in her hooves and flying it over to wherever she felt the appropriate spot was to place it. It would probably be more efficient to just take Phobia out of the equation, especially with her trying to carry books in a bipedal fashion like that, but this was obviously busy work to distract her.

"Why are you two working in the dark?" Wild asked.

"Night ponies, duh," Rosetta said. "We like the dark. This is our home and we like the idea of keeping it darker in our room. We see perfectly fine in this light."

"Did Luna speak to you in your dreams today?" Wild asked as she entered in and sat down to watch the activity.

"Yes, she did. I had a not-so-fun few hours of crash course dreamwalking," Rosetta said with clear aggravation.

"I'm sorry about that again," Phobia said as she paused and hung her head and ears. "I don't know why my nightmares should be that bad to try to enter. I mean, they are bad, but I'm pretty sure I've entered worse and it was nothing like what you described."

"Luna says it has to do with your magic intensifying the effect. Don't apologize, it isn't anything you're consciously doing," Rosetta said as she shifted one book from one side of a shelf to the other with a hoof.

Phobia still looked like she felt guilty, and Wild could see that her future sister-in-law had been crying due to the red in her eyes.

"Now, let's talk about you coming to this house with Number Crunch. In fact, let's talk about you spending time near that bloody bitch at all," Rosetta said in a far too even a tone.

Wild drew herself up straight. "She didn't come into the house."

Rosetta landed and stared daggers at Wild. "She shouldn't have been anywhere near it or any member of this family, including you."

"She wanted a chance to apologize for what she did before," Wild asserted as she matched her sister's stare.

"Not going to happen. Do you know what she said?" Rosetta demanded. "She threatened Phobia and the rest of the family. That mare is not welcome around any of us or you."

"I do know what was said and she apologized for it," Wild said as she matched her sister's glare. "And you don't get to decide who I do or don't come near. I make that decision, not you, and not our parents."

Rosetta walked over to Wild and sneered. "I heard you got drunk today. It shocked the hell out of me to hear and apparently shocked the hell out of the rest of the family too. How damn drunk did you have to get to believe anything that came out of that mare's muzzle?"

"I wasn't that drunk, and she made sure I sobered up before coming over," Wild said as she took a few steps back defensively.

"You're just a filly, you shouldn't have been drinking at all. The fact that Number Crunch gave a filly alcohol is all the more sign she should not be anywhere near you," Rosetta said as she gestured up and down Wild with one wing.

"I'm a grown mare!" Wild yelled as she got angry. "If I choose to have a drink it's my call and my consequences. I asked her for it and she gave it. She also helped me out when it turned out I had too much. I slept it off and no damage was done."

"Oh, look at me. I'm a grown-up mare because I drank alcohol and got drunk when I'm only seventeen. Clearly I'm a responsible adult," Rosetta mocked as she awkwardly danced around Wild.

"Who's acting foalish now?" Wild asked as she stomped a hoof in front of her dancing sister.

Rosetta said as she switched over to sneering at Wild in Spanish.

Wild fired back in Spanish.

Rosetta's eyes went wide and it seemed for a moment as if she was going to strike Wild.

Wild said back as she relaxed her posture slightly. The comment about Rosetta failing to protect had been a low blow that she knew was out of line.

"Excuse me," Phobia spoke up. The two sisters turned to the distressed looking night pony. "If you two are going to argue right in front of me can you please do it in English so I can follow what's being said?"

Rosetta sighed and turned back to Wild. "And what about you deciding to just have a security system install here without consulting us? Or how about you insisting I need to listen to a pony that I want nothing to do with? Seems to me that since you became Miss Moneybags you seem to think you should be able to just make decisions for others. That we poor penniless ponies shouldn't even be consulted about things."

Wild sat and considered that for a moment. Everything she did was for trying to help the family. There wasn't any selfish reason for it. She wasn't looking down on them or anything. She had the resources and they didn't so she used what she had for their sakes. And she did it without being asked because they shouldn't have to come beg her for help.

She took a deep breath. There was something else she needed to consider at the moment. Her temper, which had been getting out of control during this visit. If she didn't get it under control it could end with the house being leveled by a freshly grown stretch of woods.

"Fine," Wild said in concession. "I'll consult with you if it's alright before making a decision to spend money for your benefit. I won't press you about talking to Number Crunch either. I want you to not get on my case about who I choose for friends or what I choose to do when spending time with them."

"She isn't a pony you want to be friends with. Even if she hadn't threatened us she is still a horrible influence and a potentially dangerous pony. I don't want you hurt or misled because you're seventeen and naive. I was naive once and I ended up engaged to John," Rosetta said in a pleading voice.

"Well, thankfully both she and I are straight mares who wouldn't have romantic interests in one another. So, that's one mistake you made that I won't," Wild said crossly. She felt a need to clarify, fearing it would come off as directed at Phobia. "And I mean John by that. I like Phobia, and I'm glad she's joining the family."

"Are you going to keep on drinking with her? I don't like the idea of my little sister doing that. You're too young," Rosetta questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Perhaps, it did make me feel less stressed for a bit," Wild said with a dismissive shrug. "I learned my limits today though, and I don't intend on getting drunk to become a regular thing. I can be responsible while doing things like that. Abuelita was actually happy today to see I had loosened up a bit and did something risky. Did you know that?"

Rosetta shook her head in frustration. "Can't you see that you're already starting to make bad choices associating with Number Crunch? As for Abuelita, much as I hate to say this about family, she's old and crazy."

"Let me make my own choices without fighting with me. If I make a mistake I'll learn from it. I think Number is trying to learn from whatever mistakes she's made too, and I think you should give her a chance. If you don't feel like giving her a chance don't get on my case just because I choose to be friends with her and do some minor things you don't agree with," Wild said as she set a hoof on her sister's shoulder pleadingly.

Rosetta looked at the hoof for a moment then shook it off. "Fine, do what you want. Just keep that pony away from me and Phobia."

Before Wild could respond they heard the sound of knocking at the front door.

"Stay here with Phobia, I'll go check to see who it is," Rosetta said as she walked out of the room. A moment later she could be heard saying. "Go back to sleep, Dad. I've got it."

"When did she start calling your dad that?" Wild asked Phobia.

"Don't know, maybe just started today," Phobia said as she laid down looking miserable.

"You were awfully quiet through that discussion. Did you have anything you wanted to say too?" Wild asked as she slowly walked towards Phobia.

Phobia eyed her warily and scooted backwards slightly. "Do you mind keeping a little space between us? It's nothing personal, I'm just not comfortable with anypony being too close to me other than Rosetta."

Wild paused and felt her earlier anger evaporate into sadness. "I'm sorry. I should've thought about that."

"It's okay," Phobia said with a groan as she tried to settle into a comfortable position. "As for what I think; I don't personally trust Number Crunch. That mare scares the piss out of me. When she threatened me she didn't speak with rage, she spoke like a cold-blooded killer. She admitted that as a human she had arranged murders. That pony is not one I would trust."

Wild took a few steps back in shock at hearing this. She couldn't match what Phobia described to the desperate mare she was coming to know.

"She arranged murder? She told you that? She didn't tell me that," Wild said as she tried to continue to reconcile what she was hearing about Number with what she had seen.

"She admitted it outright. Rosetta doesn't even know or she would be even more dead set against you speaking with Number Crunch." Phobia said as she seemed to struggle with looking Wild in the eyes.

"Why are you telling me if you didn't even tell Rosetta?" Wild asked.

Phobia sighed before replying. "I'm telling you because I want you to know what your dealing with when dealing with her. I wouldn't confront her about it, but do be wary. My mom and Tonya both know about her past as well."

"You think I shouldn't be friends with her then," Wild said. Hearing this did make her question whether she was being a stupid filly again for not listening to her sister. Maybe she owed Rosetta an apology.

To Wild's shock Phobia shook her head and said, "Actually I think that's your choice. Tonya is my best friend and she vouches for Number Crunch, and told me about what went down between Number Crunch and my mom. Maybe she really is trying to turn over a new leaf and you're the pony that can help her do so."

"You are sending me very mixed signals about this," Wild complained as she sat back down.

"Rosetta and I fear the worst, and it's a good rational fear to have in this case. But ponies shouldn't run from fear, they should confront them and learn from them. I'm just telling you to be wary and be aware. I want our fears to amount to nothing, but I want you to have just enough fear you can be on the lookout for anything that could end up hurting you. Fear is a good thing, it keeps us safe," Phobia explained. Everything came back to fear with Phobia. It was in her name after all. "If Number Crunch is honest about wanting to be better you're more effective in helping her be that better pony if you know what she's suppose to be better than and can take her fears of slipping back into what she was seriously."

"So...that's an endorsement?" Wild asked with confusion. She couldn't help feeling a little afraid after hearing Phobia talk about this.

"It's me saying use your own best judgement," Phobia answered.

"I think you should be instilling more fear in her about this," Rosetta said as she entered back into the room with Tonya close behind her.

"Actually, I think Phobia should avoid talking about fear altogether for the moment," Tonya said with a grimace.

Rosetta turned and gave Tonya an angry glare. "Why? I didn't hear anything but the end of the conversation, but if she is making sure Wild is being cautious I think talking about fear is very appropriate."

Tonya looked between Rosetta and Wild for a moment and then helplessly over to Phobia before letting out a long breath. "I'll explain in a moment, but I need you all to promise that what I'm about to tell you doesn't leave this room. I'm actually tempted to just tell you all to just leave me and Phobia alone to talk, if I'm being honest."

Wild's ears perked up in curiosity. "I want to hear what this is about. I'm staying. I can keep my mouth shut."

"If it involves her it involves me. I'm not going anywhere," Rosetta said harshly.

Phobia didn't say anything, she only watched Tonya intensely.

Tonya sighed and shut the door to the room, making it even darker with only a little bit of light peaking through the curtains to see by. Rosetta apparently decided to be considerate and opened up the curtains, letting the light of the moon in, then settled down next to Phobia.

Tonya looked over to Phobia and started speaking. "Phobia, I need to ask you something and I need you to be honest with me. This is really important and I want to help you, but I can't if you don't open up to me."

"Ask whatever it is and I'll do my best to answer," Phobia said in a neutral tone.

"When you talk to ponies, do they respond in ways that they seem like they normally wouldn't?" Tonya asked as she sat down and hung her head.

Rosetta started looking very uncomfortable for some reason and Wild looked at all the other ponies in the room with confusion. What did Tonya mean respond in ways they normally wouldn't? Number had insisted that she didn't understand why she acted the way she did to Phobia. Had Phobia done something to her?

"Yes, I noticed that after Luna pointed it out to me, and Rosetta and I have talked about it. It's like I have some magical way of getting ponies to open up to me when talking to them," Phobia answered calmly.

Tonya's ears went erect and she seemed to stiffen up. "What did Luna say about it?"

"She didn't really say anything other than it was another area I would need training on," Phobia said with a grimace. "I hadn't realized any pony had realized I could do that. It hasn't happened much."

Wild watched as Tonya seemed to take a moment to gather her courage before speaking. What was all this about? After hearing Phobia confirm that sometimes others opened up to her where they seemed they shouldn't made her uneasy. Like the night pony might do something to her to force her to say things as well.

"I have to stress again that this doesn't leave this room. Sunset Blessing knows about it, but no other pony is aware. I want to keep it to a minimum of ponies knowing. Can I trust you all?" Tonya asked.

Phobia nodded right away. Rosetta glanced at Phobia and then gave her own stiff nod. They all turned to Wild and Wild gave her own nod under the pressure of their combined gazes. Tonya took a deep breath and continued.

"I realized you had strong mind magic after I spoke to Number Crunch about what happened between the two of you. Number Crunch is really trying to be a better pony than she was a human and has a lot of regrets. She's talked to me about it several times before and I have done my best to help her move on from that and leave her past behind," Tonya explained and then looked back briefly at her own cutie mark.

The mare then looked back at them and took another deep breath before continuing. "Phobia, I have magic similar to yours, that was how I was able to recognize what you had unintentionally done with Number Crunch. It isn't exactly the same, but I can make ponies focus on certain things they want to the exclusion of other things."

"That sounds dangerously close to mind control," Wild said in a harsh whisper.

Tonya looked at her and nodded. "You're right about that, and it scares me that I will fall into using it that way if I'm not careful. Sunset asked me to use it on her to help her manage her temper and not get distracted by things that could derail her work. I help her focus on what's really important to her and move on from less important things. She would've murdered Swift Strike right in front of you, Phobia, if I hadn't used my powers to stop her from becoming a murderer. She didn't want to have you see murder in your state, and didn't want to be seen as a murderer to you. That gave me the power to reach her. The want has to be there for me to bring it to the surface."

"Are you saying Phobia brings the wants of others to the surface and Number Crunch secretly wanted to hurt Phobia?" Rosetta said as her voice hardened again.

Tonya shook her head in response. "No, that's not what Phobia is about. Phobia is about fear, not want. Phobia brought what Number Crunch fears the most to the surface. Her ruthless and cold-blooded side. She hates and fears it like nothing else, but it's part of her. Phobia, I don't know if you used your power intentionally or unintentionally with Number Crunch, but you poked a hornets' nest and almost got stung."

"But is it part of Number Crunch? Does she have a ruthless and cold-blooded side willing to do murder?" Rosetta asked Tonya while looking at Wild with an almost smug expression. It made Wild want to slap her sister.

"What we were as humans isn't gone. Number Crunch was a ruthless business woman who had no remorse about going to any end to get what she wanted, including seeing people get hurt or worse.," Tonya said with her ears and tail hung low. "She doesn't want to be that anymore though. She's desperate to move on from her past and be a decent, caring, and compassionate pony. She sees becoming a pony as her second chance, a lifeline of salvation that was given to her."

"I've talked to Number and she does seem desperate for forgiveness and approval," Wild said thoughtfully. "Any sign of disapproval from me makes her seem extremely hurt."

Tonya looked at Wild with a raised eyebrow. "I hadn't realized you and she talked, but that does seem in line with what I see in her."

"We're drifting off topic discussing her. What does this mean for Phobia?" Rosetta said with frustration.

Tonya drew herself back up and turned to face Phobia. "You have mind magic, and powerful mind magic at that. Just like I need to be responsible to make sure mine isn't misused so do you. You've been through a very traumatic event and I know your head isn't in the right place at the moment. That makes it all the more important that you be extra careful. You might do things to the minds of those around you without meaning too, bad things. I know you, and I know you don't want that."

"I'm guessing that means I definitely shouldn't bring Number anywhere near Phobia," Wild observed. She was very bothered by what she had heard said about Number, but also felt like Number had been vindicated in some way too.

"Definitely not," Tonya agreed with a nod. "Number Crunch near Phobia right now is a very bad idea. We'd likely end up with a repeat of what happened before or worse, and it wouldn't be the fault of either one."

"And do you know enough to help Phobia control her powers?" Rosetta asked, looking worried.

"I wish I did, but they aren't exactly like mine and I have only just enough control of mine to get by. I'm still learning myself," Tonya said with frustration. "I can try to use mine on Phobia, with her agreement, to help her with getting her head back on straight. You can supervise me doing it too. Maybe watching me in action can give her some insights on how to better control herself."

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable with some pony messing with my wife-to-be's head. Is there any other option you can think of?" Rosetta said while getting increasingly anxious.

"Maybe she can consult with Luna. Luna almost certainly knows more than I do," Tonya offered, then got a worried expression. "Please don't talk to Luna about me though. I really don't like ponies knowing about me. Even alien princess ponies. I just don't want to have ponies treating me with fear and suspicion, or risk having those that would use me in bad ways find out about what I can do."

"Yet you let Sunset Blessing know about you," Rosetta said harshly.

"Sunset refuses to use me that way. I only help her with herself at her approval. She knows she has a horrible temper and without me to help her control it and focus her she would cause herself many problems, and problems for the ponies of this community by extension," Tonya said flatly as she gave Rosetta a challenging look. "I love Sunset, and don't like her being treated like a monster. She does what needs to be done. Please don't talk about her like that."

"If you say so, but I'm going to be watching you, and her as well," Rosetta said in a skeptical tone, then glanced at Phobia with ears lowered. "Luna can't give Phobia any advice right now anyway. She can't get into Phobia's dreams because of that mind magic causing a barrier while she sleeps. Luna came to me today because she thinks I can get through it somehow. I'm getting rushed training in dreamwalking now."

"Speaking of things that might be considered a gateway to mind control. Dreamwalking definitely fits that bill," Tonya said. "If I can trust you to not mess with ponies' heads when they're sleeping you should be able to trust me not to mess with their heads when awake."

Before Rosetta could retort Phobia cleared her throat to gather attention to her. "I can say with certainty that dreamwalking won't be used that way. The reason Luna is personally training me along with a few others is to have us act as guardians to make sure that dreamwalking isn't abused that way. Since you have been open with us about you I'll be open with you on that. I also trust you won't discuss what I'm being trained to do with anypony, even my mom. Me and the others who will become the Dreamwardens will keep ponies safe from unscrupulous dreamwalkers. We don't want to be pulled into political games."

"How many of these Dreamwardens are there going to be?" Wild asked. The logistics of that seemed mind boggling.

"Six, and that's enough," Phobia said flatly. Six? They were going to police the whole world with just six ponies? How was that supposed to work? "We'll be powerful enough in the dreamscape to take down any pony dreamwalking with ease if they start doing bad things. It's a matter of training, not natural talent, and we'll be trained by the best. We're committed to making sure ponies don't try to start mind controlling others using dreams or to try hurting other ponies' minds. Most of us didn't even spread the vision because we were that adamant about making sure ponies aren't mind controlled."

"If we can get your own dreams sorted out first," Rosetta said as she looked Phobia in the eyes. "You shouldn't be talking about this with non-night ponies, Phobia. Not even my sister. Keeping you and Luna's other students secret is important to making sure ponies don't try to use all of you."

"I trust these two to keep our secrets, just like we would keep theirs. They're family," Phobia said calmly. "But I won't be discussing it with any other non-night ponies, and the night ponies who learn of it will learn of it when me and the rest of the Dreamwardens lay down the rules of dreamwalking to them and the consequences of breaking those rules."

"And what kind of consequences are those?" Wild asked, feeling uneasy.

"We'll take the ability away from the offender, and that's the preferable option. If it's something truly horrific and deliberate they've done there will be no mercy, we'll break their mind," Phobia said in a voice like steel as she looked Tonya in the eyes. Both Tonya and Wild took steps back at Phobia's harsh commitment. She kept gazing at Tonya. "And I think Luna would see that the same way for mind control from non-night ponies. So watch yourself Tonya, because the Dreamwardens will be watching you. I don't want to have to hurt you because you're my best friend, but I will if it comes down to it and you'll be helpless to stop me. That's another reason I'm telling you, you deserve the same warning that the night ponies are going to get, even Rosetta."

Tonya actually shivered and Wild couldn't blame her. If Tonya did wrong then she would have no mercy, even though Phobia was her best friend. It chilled Wild far more that Phobia had implied that Rosetta would get the same treatment and that Rosetta seemed perfectly fine with this. Wild understood that night ponies were more aggressive and harsh than other ponies, but this was family that was being casually threatened. It seemed hypocritical to her that Phobia could so casually threaten both Tonya and Rosetta yet Number was treated so harshly for what was said to Phobia. She wanted to scream at both her sister and future-sister-in-law for the injustice of it, but kept her mouth shut.

"I'll definitely keep that in mind. I have to give it to you Phobia; you managed to scare the piss out of me. I don't intend to ever put you in a position you have to do that to me. I also hope I never do something to earn it," Tonya said in a trembling voice.

Wild couldn't help wondering if Tonya had reason to be afraid already. Number had said that she and Tonya had issues between them and whatever had gone on between them felt wrong. Did Tonya do something to Number's mind too?

Author's Note

Regular schedule next week as of right now. Will update on my blog if anything changes with that.

Chapter 15

Tattered wandered into the large room that was used for town hall meetings and court hearings. Already the audience seats were filled to the brim with crystal ponies, every single one in town most likely. They all looked around with eager, anxious faces. A herd of glittery ponies that wanted to be told that they had purpose, that they were useful, that had felt lost since their transformation. Today was the day they would be told their purpose and use. Whether they would be glad after they heard it was still left to be seen.

She walked to the head of the room with the others who would be telling these ponies their purpose, and to hopefully try to sway many of the ponies into jobs with them.

First was Sunset Blessing, who looked around the crowd, tail slightly swaying, with little emotion other showing. She had plans of some sort and Tattered had no idea what they were. Since it was Sunset Blessing it could be good or bad. What she wanted was likely some mixture of the two.

Next was Director Baker, who was flanked by two crystal ponies himself. Those crystal ponies had been working with the government since the day that the counterspell had been cast. They knew what crystal ponies were capable of. They continued their work with the government even after the cleanup of transformation magic was done. Tattered wasn't sure what purpose they served now, but she wasn't sure she trusted them. What use the government had for them was something she would learn today.

Next was Rudra Patel, her fellow Enclave member, as well as the town's non-Equestrian doctor. He was chatting quietly with one of the crystal ponies that worked with him at the clinic. Ponies could get illnesses that could cause havoc with their magic, and crystal ponies could be very important in helping treat such illnesses as they started to manifest in the population. It was inevitable that some Equestrian illness would eventually cross the worlds and they needed ponies at the ready to treat such things.

The human town council that had existed before the migration had a representative here as well. They were interested in businesses and shops, as well as reopening factories. Such interests were not specific to crystal ponies, but if there were those that had no interest in the other possible options presented today those more mundane things were acceptable alternatives.

It was going to be a long meeting, with lots of talking, and even though she was hopefully getting some new Enclave crystal ponies by the end of the day, she still wanted time to fly by to when she and Alex would get to talk with their sister.

She took her seat at the far end of the officials and waited for the meeting to be called to order.

After several minutes of waiting with crystal ponies and council members chattering away Sunset Blessing walked up to the podium with her head held high and climbed up on the stool provided for ponies to actually be seen over the podium. Tattered looked at it and decided that when her turn to speak came she'd choose to simply stand in front of the podium instead.

Sunset touched her hoof to the microphone on the podium a few times causing feedback which brought all attention to her. Tattered could only see her backside from where she sat, but she imagined the unicorn was giving the crystal ponies her most welcoming and happy smile. Sunset was good at giving smiles, ponies should learn to be worried when Sunset Blessing smiled at them.

"Greetings, all our crystal pony brothers and sisters," Sunset began, sounding like she was addressing a church rather than a town meeting. "We're all overjoyed that you all turned out for this meeting today. There's a lot to cover, and I know you all are eager to see where you fit into the future. Let me assure you now, you're all invaluable and all fill a unique purpose in God's vision of our collective future. A future you'll help build."

Tattered wanted to snort. God had little to do with this unless you considered Sunset Shimmer a god. If you did then she was a pretty sorry excuse for a god.

The preacher continued. "I know many of you have felt lost and confused about what your purpose is after your transformation. Crystal ponies have the lowest percentage of cutie marks. The vision didn't provide you much for answers either. It has taken us longer to realize your full potential, but I'm happy to say that it's better late than never, and that I'm going to be answering that for you right now."

The crowd's interest was high. They were all hushed and leaning forward with ears angled towards Sunset. These ponies were desperate for answers. Tattered could feel some degree of sympathy for them. Her life as a human had been much like theirs now, directionless and depressing.

"So, the question of the hour is what do crystal ponies do?" Sunset said slowly. All the audience looked at her with baited breath. "If you think about it you should already know the answer. You were all there front and center the day of the counterspell. You all felt your purpose being carried out. What crystal ponies do is absorb, redirect, and alter magic."

Nods of affirmation greeted this announcement. Many of them might have already been aware of this. What they wanted now was practical applications of those abilities.

"While many of you might not realize the full significance of your abilities many of us have been thinking of those applications and are eager to employ crystal ponies as a result," Sunset said in that same happy voice. "The first to speak to you will be Doctor Rudra Patel. He's already employing a few crystal ponies, and is eager to employ more. I'll let him explain to you what crystal ponies mean to the medical field."

Sunset jumped down from the stool and made to start heading back to her seat. Rudra called out to her as he got up from his own seat. "Miss Blessing. If you would be so kind, I would like for you to stay for the sake of a demonstration. I assure you as a doctor that no harm shall befall you."

Sunset stiffened and laid her ears back for just a moment as she looked at the doctor. Tattered wanted to grin at her discomfort. What Rudra wanted to demonstrate was a crystal pony's ability to siphon magic off a magic user. It really wouldn't do her any harm, but a loss of magic for any period seemed to bother her a lot.

"Of course, these ponies need to see what they're capable of. I'd be happy to help," Sunset said with a smile that Tattered imagined was forced.

Rudra and his crystal pony helper made their way down to the podium. Rudra flew straight from his seat to the podium and then waited for the crystal pony stallion to walk to the podium. After the stallion reached the front he stood next to Sunset Blessing. Rudra turned back to the crowd to address them after he was in place.

"Medical treatment of ponies can be a bit more complicated than medical treatment of humans. More complicated because of the presence of magic and mana flows within a pony's body. Extra care must be taken when treating illnesses and performing surgeries to not damage these mana flows. In addition, there are specific illnesses that exist in Equestria that target what we will call the magical circulatory system, causing damage or causing magic to behave erratically as a result. While such illnesses are not known here yet it's likely that some will develop over time. A crystal pony's ability to syphon magic from patients is essential for some treatments, as well as essential for keeping the staff and patient safe from wild magical surges that may happen," He gestured with a foreleg to the stallion and Sunset Blessing. "My assistant and Miss Blessing will now demonstrate this syphoning and show that it's easy, and safe for the patient."

The stallion turned and looked at Sunset Blessing and she looked around seeming a little lost. She looked up to Ruda and asked, "What do you need me to do?"

"Just draw some magic into your horn and hold it, not for any particular spell, and nothing too strong, but make sure your aura is clearly visible for the audience," Rudra explained to her then smiled. "Scott here will be touching your horn gently, so please don't buck him for it."

The audience gave off a small chuckle. From what Tattered understood unicorns didn't like their horns being touched, much like winged ponies didn't like having where their wing joined their body being touched. It was just a sensitive area of the body.

"Alright, I can do that," Sunset said as she lit her horn up in a soft red aura and held her head high.

Scott, who was a pearly white crystal pony with a glittery orange mane, walked up to her and gently placed a hoof up on Sunset's horn. The horn started dimming almost immediately and Scott started getting more crystalline and sparkly. After a few seconds of this he removed his hoof. He remained all shinny after doing so. Sunset gave her head a shake and blinked a few times.

"Are you alright Miss Blessing?" Rudra asked her, as he looked her over with concern.

Sunset blinked another time or two before answering. She then lit her horn back up and smiled after it lit with no problem. "I'm fine, just felt a little lightheaded for a moment. It feels like getting blood drawn. Nothing too bad."

"And it shouldn't be," Rudra agreed. He then gestured to Scott as he turned back to the audience. "Now Sunset Blessing was not doing much for magic. This allowed Scott to absorb with no problem by himself. If something stronger was being done with magic, or if wasn't a weak magic user being absorbed from, it would have taken more crystal ponies. Having multiple crystal ponies available is critical in case of urgent care needs."

Tattered wanted to laugh again as she watched Sunset's ears flatten at being called a weak magic user. She wasn't sure how strong Sunset actually was, but the preacher definitely caught the veiled insult.

"What are we supposed to be doing the rest of the time?" one of the ponies in the audience called out.

"Excellent question," Rudra replied as he point out to the questioner. "Plenty of clinic and hospital jobs can be performed by anypony, and we would like to fill those with crystal ponies since it allows us to have crystal ponies available if needed. Jobs range from regular secretarial positions, accounting positions, data entry, nurses, equipment technicians, and more. I'll be taking information after this meeting for anypony that wishes to pursue a career in the medical fields."

Scott and Sunset returned to their seats as Baker started walking up front. Rudra detoured and came over by Tattered. He whispered in her ear. "Melissa Rivers has agreed to be rehumanized. The Equestrians have sent word to their home about her situation, and they've agreed to proceed with haste due to her medical condition. A team will be here tomorrow night. I thought you would want to know."

"Have they confirmed that it will heal her?" Tattered whispered back as her ears stood erect.

"That is part of the reason they're willing to work with haste. They haven't done extensive testing with ponies injured as badly as her. They're fairly certain it will work, but they needed more testing to confirm. Melissa Rivers has agreed to let herself be a test subject, so it'll be confirmed before the centers go active," Rudra explained.

The idea that something could go wrong, and Melissa would have those injuries carried over, was horrifying to think about. Things were in motion now, so all there was left to do was hope.

Baker was discussing various government positions, including helping with the upcoming rehumanization centers. This was the first time many of these ponies had heard of the rehumanization centers, and a lot of questions and answers were going back and forth. This would take a while.

Her ear flicked as she turned back to Rudra and kept her voice low. "What about Dan? How is he taking this? Did he reconsider rehumanization for himself?"

"Mr. Castillo has expressed his concerns repeatedly. He's not opposing Miss Rivers decision, but has made it very clear that if she comes out of this in pain he'll become violent. He shall be separated and restrained through the process," Rudra said, his voice still down low.

"How long a process are we talking? A few weeks like the original transformation or something quicker like the later ones that only lasted a few days?" Tattered asked.

Rudra shook his head. "Nothing like that. They explained that if things go smoothly it should only take a few hours. They're estimating between six and seven hours for the procedure, mainly because they want to do this with extreme care. Miss Rivers will be sedated through everything."

Tattered looked at Rudra with disbelief. "That quick? I feel cheated, it took me nearly two weeks to transform into a pony. I guess we should be thankful she doesn't have to deal with awkward in-between stages then."

"The biggest concern is we can't actually tell if she has a cutie mark or not due to the severity of her injuries. If she's marked this won't work. She has expressed she is fairly certain she isn't marked, but we won't know for sure until they begin the procedure," Rudra said with a sigh.

"Let's hope not," Tattered mumbled. "How big an affair is this going to be? Will I get to watch?"

"You are not allowed to watch, but you can wait outside while it is going on. They are sending three Equestrians and will have three crystal ponies standing by, and only that many of each because they are taking such extreme care with her. Afterwards she'll be examined briefly by a human doctor and psychologist," Rudra explained. "Provided she gets a clean bill of health, she'll be kept at the clinic only long enough for us to find her appropriately sized clothes. You can see her during that period, provided everything goes smoothly."

Tattered let off a long breath. "I really hope this works."

Baker's talk with ponies was drawing to an end and her time had come. She wished she had paid more attention to what he had gone over so she didn't repeat things, or fail to know something herself. The discussion about Melissa was too important to put off though.

She rose to her hooves and walked to the podium area. Ready to see if she could add crystal ponies to her Enclave and thoughts that were heavy for the founding member that was going to be treated soon.

Alex paced in the lobby of town hall as he looked impatiently at the time on his floating cell phone. It was nearly eleven and Tattered was still at the meeting. If she didn't hurry up they were going to be calling Megan late, and that might cause Megan problems. What was taking so long?

"You're going to wear a hole in the floor kid," the unicorn stallion sitting at the information desk, who had earlier introduced himself as Chase, said as he watched Alex pace.

"My sister is taking way too long with this meeting. There is something we need to do right at eleven," Alex complained as he continued to pace and whip his tail about in frustration.

"Who's your sister? Is she one of those crystal ponies in there?" Chase asked as he pointed to the doors. "You know that isn't a private meeting, it's open to the public, even though it was only inviting crystal ponies."

"My sister is Tattered Wing, she's the night pony leader of the Enclave. She's one of the ones actually conducting the meeting," Alex said with frustration. He looked at the time again, four minutes till eleven.

"Maybe you should stick your head in and get her attention then. They've got like close to a hundred crystal ponies in there that are all vying for jobs. She might be swamped by ponies trying to touch hooves with her," Chase said as he looked over to the doors and ran a hoof along the back as his head.

Alex watched his phone switch over to three minutes to eleven and shook his head. Yeah, she was probably unaware of the time. He would just go in and find her as quick as he could. They might be late by a minute or two, but hopefully it wouldn't impact anything.

He started towards the door, and when he was almost at it the door came flying open, smacking his floating cell phone from the air down to the ground. As Tattered exited out the door he floated the phone back up from the ground, finding massive crack on the top right corner of the screen.

Tattered spotted him and looked flustered. "I'm sorry. I've been trying to get free of the glitter bombs for a while, but they just kept on coming up to me to talk. I meant to be out here a while ago."

Alex pulled his stylus out and did a few quick tests of the screen. The one corner wasn't going to respond, but the rest seemed fine. The phone would be good to make the call. He'd fuss about his destroyed property later, calling Megan was the priority now.

"Lead the way back to your office. I'm pulling up her number now and getting ready to call," Alex said in a hurry.

Tattered took off at a trot towards one end of the hall. As she took off Chase called after her in a hurry. "Miss Tattered Wing, ma'am, I was wondering that since you are accepting pegasi and glitter...I mean crystal ponies into the Enclave if you were accepting unicorns too? I've got several years of..."

"Thank-you-for-your-interest-holding-interviews-tomorrow-morning-can't-talk-right-now-see-you-there!" Tattered yelled back in a single breath as she reached her door with Alex hot on her hooves.

Alex had already hit the button to start the call as they got into Tattered's office and shut the door. He hit the speakerphone button with his stylus and they waited. A moment later the phone was answered.

"Hello? Alex is that you?" Megan's voice came over the phone with an odd resonance like she was somewhere that echoed.

"Yeah, Tattered and I are here. Can you hear me okay?" Alex said with relief that the phone seemed to be working. Tattered came up and stood close beside him and he floated the phone between them.

"I hear you fine," Megan said excitedly. "Is Mandy there too?"

"I'm here, and it's Tattered Wing, or Tattered, or Tat if you insist," Tattered said towards the phone.

"Alright...Tat, I won't argue with you about your stupid pony name; I'm just glad to hear your voice," Megan replied.

"It's not a stupid name. It's a perfectly good pony name," Tattered stated flatly.

"Tat, don't start fighting," Alex pleaded as he looked at her with his ears laid back. He didn't want this to descend right away into his sisters yelling at one another as usual with them.

"Fine," Tattered said with a roll of her eyes.

"I apologize, I'm being insensitive. I should be treating you better after everything that happened," Megan said in a quiet voice over the phone.

"I know you and Alex got to chat last night, but I didn't get to hear what was said. I've been working from when I left last night till just a few minutes ago. What's going on back home?" Tattered asked as she gave her wings a light flap that Alex just barely dodged.

"Mom and Dad gathered everything you and Alex own, took it all out into the backyard, and started a bonfire," Megan said hesitantly.

"Even my stuffed animal collection!" Tattered's mouth fell in horror. Alex gave his own roll of the eyes. His sister, terror of the night, vigilante scourge of Charleston, police chief of Riverview, and collector of stuffed animals.

"Well, you can get new ones," Megan offered on a helpful tone. "Anyway, I'm not even allowed to mention either of you. They're trying to wipe out all proof you ever existed around the house. I'm over in the restroom of the grocery store so I can have this conversation without them hearing."

"Are they treating you alright at least?" Tattered asked as both Alex and she lowered their ears.

"They're getting on my case about everything!" Megan hissed in frustration. "It's like they're trying to find things wrong that I do. School is still out indefinitely, and they've been yelling at me that I'm not studying every day. If I want to visit a friend they require a full biography of whoever I spend time with. I’m nineteen, not nine!"

"Wow, sounds familiar," Tattered mumbled. Alex could only nod along. Both he and his eldest sister had endured that regularly. Megan had always been the one that had gotten the blatant favoritism. With both him and Tattered gone it seemed Megan was getting all the crap they normally would have.

"You don't have to be snide about it. I get it; Mom and Dad treated you both unfairly way before you became ponies and I treated you like you deserved it too. I'm getting it now and I'm sorry," Megan said. Alex was pretty sure he could hear her trying not to cry.

"We're sorry too, we didn't think you were much different than them. There isn't anything we can really do to help you, but you have our sympathies," Tattered replied.

"There's one thing you can do," Megan said with her tone firming up. "I don't want to be here with parents that treated you like you aren't even family and treat me like shit. I want to move in with you two."

"Are you sure?" Alex blurted out without thinking.

Tattered hushed him and gave him a hard glare. What was her problem? This was their sister and she needed their help. If she needed a place to go she should be able to come here.

"Megan, you know we have pretty much nothing right? Alex has what he left with, I don't own anything. We have a roof over our head, but that's about it. If you came here you would have to quit college, especially since Mom and Dad wouldn't pay for it anymore, and probably find some minimum wage job just to help us try to get by. I know things suck right now, but coming here would sabotage your future," Tattered said calmly and firmly into the phone.

"Would you turn me away if I came there?" Megan asked.

Tattered's posture slumped and she looked at the phone mournfully. "No, I wouldn't. I really advise against it though. I'm a night pony, Megan; do you know what that means? It means I protect, and I want to protect your best interests in this case. Your best interests are to endure Mom and Dad, finish college, and move out on your own then."

"I appreciate you wanting the best for me, and what I really appreciate is that you do it for my sake instead of for making you look good like Mom and Dad would," Megan could be heard crying through the phone. "Family comes first though, and Mom and Dad turned their back on you and Alex. They don't deserve to be called parents and I don't want to be here anymore. I'm not spending another day here if I can help it."

Alex stared at Tattered waiting to see what his sister would do. If Megan wanted to be free of Mom and Dad and come here she should be able to. They could find a way to make do.

Tattered sat silent for a moment, and both Alex and Megan waited for their oldest sibling to respond.

"Make sure your car is filled up all the way with gas. When Mom and Dad go to sleep tonight gather up everything you absolutely need into your car and come here. Leave a note so they don't send a search party out after you," Tattered said in a quiet voice. "I'll be awake at town hall no matter how late it is. Come there and I'll show you where home is after that."

"Thank you, Mandy," Megan said with relief.

"There are going to be ground rules for living with us," Tattered cut in, flicking her tail. "One is my name is Tattered Wing, not Mandy, and you will call me by my name or some variation. There will be a few others, but nothing too demanding. Mainly respect that I need to sleep during the day and not do anything to wake me unless urgent, and to keep me aware of when you won't be at home. I don't need to know where you are, but I need to know when you'll be out. Are those fair?"

"That's more lenient than Mom and Dad by a lot. I can accept those rules...Tattered," Megan said, seeming uncomfortable with the name still.

"Good, we'll see you tonight," Tattered said in a tired voice. "I'm going to leave and let you and Alex talk some more without me. I have things that I have to attend to."

And with that Tattered left quickly without even saying goodbye. Alex watched her go and wondered what was so urgent now.

Tattered entered back into the room she had left all the crystal ponies in just a few minutes before. A few had filtered out of the room, but the room was still largely filled. As she made her way through the crowds a few crystal ponies would try to ask her more information about the positions she was offering with the Enclave, and each time she would politely tell them that she would be happy to discuss positions with them tomorrow in her office, but she needed to attend to something now. Hopefully she wasn't turning them off from wanting to work for the Enclave, but this was urgent.

She found her target after a half a minute. Sunset Blessing was standing off at the side of the room talking with a few crystal ponies about whatever positions she had in mind. Tattered had no regrets interrupting the conversation as she was doing these ponies a favor by decreasing the chances that Sunset Blessing would be their employer.

"Sunset, you and I need to talk in private, your office, now," Tattered said in a commanding tone as she cut whatever Sunset was saying to them.

The unicorn gave her a glare and then considered the two crystal ponies for a second.

"Excuse me, it seems the Broken One has need of me for a few minutes. I will be back shortly," Sunset said, then looked at Tattered with a raised eyebrow. "I will be back shortly, right?"

"This won't take long, just a very short talk, in private," Tattered said in a neutral tone.

They left the large meeting hall and made their way down the hallway to Sunset's office. After entering in Sunset closed the door behind them.

"What's this about, Broken One, I have positions that need filling and I need as much time as I can fit in getting a feel for the candidates," Sunset snapped.

"We found Swift Strike's body and we're going to have a talk about what's going to happen," Tattered said as she stared the unicorn in the eyes. She caught a brief flash of fear in Sunset's eyes, quickly suppressed.

"You know I didn't do it. You knew exactly where I was that night," Sunset said quickly.

Tattered laughed and Sunset looked at her uneasily. Tattered went back to staring at the the unicorn, only now with a big smile on her face. "Sunset, you're going to hang yourself if you aren't careful. No wonder you have to have Tonya hanging around you all the time watching you. You realize I didn't say anything about when he was killed, and you just incriminated yourself, right? Don't worry, that's why we're talking now so we don't have to discuss Swift Strike any further."

"Are you planning on blackmailing me?!" Sunset said in shock.

"I'm just making sure that you don't try to try to pressure me ever again, or make me worry about the welfare of my siblings," Tattered said simply. "My little sister is moving to town. I want you to have Number Crunch personally assist her in getting one of those fast track mortgages from the government so the three of us can move into a house owned by her instead of one owned by you. In addition, there had never ever be a hint of a dead body connected to you again or I might not fail to connect the dots again. That's all I'm asking out of you. Nothing illegal, nothing that should be a burden or pressure on you. I'm just making sure I'm out from under your hoof, making everything all fair. We come to that arrangement then I won't try to connect you with murder, and we forget Swift Strike ever existed."

"I suppose that's an acceptable arrangement," Sunset said thoughtfully. "I agree to your terms. Let's bury this particular matter and cooperate together as good ponies should."

Tattered relaxed slightly. She had expected more fight from the unicorn. She didn't like that she was sweeping a crime under the table, but it was unlikely she'd even be able to have useful evidence gathered by the time she could order an autopsy anyway. There was no need to tell Sunset about how the government had pressured her on the matter already.

"On an unrelated note. I heard word that your friend was going to be rehumanized," Sunset said casually as she stepped back towards the door.

"She has a right to a life without pain," Tattered said cautiously. What was Sunset going to pull now?

"That she does," Sunset replied. "I just wanted to see if she was going to be staying on with the Enclave or not after the procedure. Just because she isn't going to be a pony anymore doesn't mean she can't still work for the greater good. Plus I found the discussion this morning about rehumanization very enlightening."

"I don't know what her plans will be, and I doubt she will consider what they are herself until after things are done," Tattered said with full honesty.

She personally wouldn't blame Melissa if she packed up and tried to return to her old life. Her life as a pony had been far too painful to want to keep associated with it. Tattered wished she had payed more attention when Baker was speaking. Sunset clearly had gotten something else out of the discussion about rehumanization that she was going to use to her advantage.

"I would suggest you at least drop a suggestion about it to her. I'm not one to so easily let those who've been blessed fall back into an accursed state. A pony state of mind can be maintained still if she stays with us, and that is better for her and us. I have some high hopes for the futures of the rehumanized. I'll leave that to you to convince her though. For now, I have crystal ponies to get back to talking too," Sunset said as she made her way out the door.

"Sunset!" Tattered called after her, causing the unicorn to turn and look at her.

Tattered gave her an evil smile. "Did you have any interesting dreams last night?"

Sunset's face briefly contorted with rage before she lit her horn and slammed the door shut behind her.

Chapter 16

Devon paced the tent as she waited for Paul to arrive. Jessie trotted back and forth following her mother with no apparent concern that that they were just going in circles. Jackie, now happily leash free, chased after Jessie without seeming to realize that they were going in circles either, and collided with Jessie more than once. Robby sat on his mat and seemed to be struggling to stay awake. Amanda just sat watching with one ear lowered.

"Devon, you don't need to be so nervous. If he said he'll come then he'll come. It's a long drive from Charleston, and he probably needed directions when getting here," Amanda said as she watched Devon go back and forth.

"Or he could have just flaked out and stayed home," Devon said waspishly. She then paused in her walk, causing the two fillies following behind to collide with the back of her legs, and looked at Amanda. "Sorry, I don't mean to be snappy."

"I understand, this is a big deal for you and your foals," Amanda said with an understanding smile. "Just try not to get yourself worked up before he gets here. Maybe we can discuss something else to distract you at the moment?"

"Like what?" Devon asked as she headed back to her mat and sat back down. The two fillies had gone back to playing with one another after their most recent collision.

"Um, not really sure," Amanda said as she held a hoof up to her chin. Then smiled and held a hoof up as she seemed to remember something. "I forgot to tell you. I was asked to help out tomorrow with prepping the fields. Farming isn't something I really am interested in, but the reason why in this case sounded pretty cool."

"What's that?" Devon asked as she started running a hand over her sleepy son's mane.

"After we get the fields all prepped they were going to have Wild Growth come and use her powers on them. That should be really exciting to see," Amanda said cheerfully.

"Who's Wild Growth and what's so exciting about that?" Devon asked, sure she was out of the loop on something.

"Oh, I forgot you didn't talk to many ponies before coming here," Amanda said apologetically. Then continued with a tone of a teenager talking about meeting their idol. "Earth ponies like to gush over her a lot, she's kind of an earth pony celebrity in a way. They say she grew a full set of woods in a minute or so by herself. That might not be my thing, but that's something I'd really want to see."

Devon smiled and couldn't help giving off a small laugh. "Better watch it, Amanda. Your earth pony nature is starting to show if you're gushing about stuff being grown; but yeah, that sounds like it would be something interesting to watch. I'm assuming she's going to be making crops grow instead of woods, right?"

Amanda blushed, probably because she was acting earth ponyish. "That's the idea. It's not going to be a regular thing. The other earth ponies would get upset she's pushing them out of their jobs, but the humans in particular need a restock of food, and it needs to be done quick. That's why we're doing this."

"Were you needing to have me watch Jackie while you were doing that, and isn't your interview tomorrow too?" Devon asked as she remembered what tomorrow was.

Amanda shook her head. "I'll bring Jackie with me, so you don't need to foalsit her. They told me that other ponies are bringing their foals, and they'd have some ponies there just to watch foals while we work. I'm a little more relaxed with her now that she finally stopped surging. I'll be at the interview too. I'll work in the fields for a few hours in the morning and then head over to the school for the interview."

"I guess that works," Devon said as she pulled her hand away from Robby as he brought a wing up to wrap over his head. It seemed his need for sleep finally won out. "I just realized that I'm not sure what to do about Robby tomorrow. The interview is late enough that he'll need to be asleep at the time. I can bring Jessie with me, but I need to figure out something for him. Even if I went early, and let him sleep there, I would end up having to wake him up again and making him walk home with us while he's exhausted."

"Well, hopefully Paul will be here, and he could watch Robby for you, or maybe you could get Tonya to watch him for you," Amanda offered.

Mention of her husband brought Devon back to thinking about him, souring her mood again.

Devon got back to her feet. "I'm going to step outside for a few minutes just to be more visible. Will you be okay with the foals for a few minutes?"

"Of course, I'm perfectly okay with them. You're just outside anyway, not even actually gone," Amanda dismissively waving a hoof at the two roughhousing fillies. "Go ahead and get some air and clear your head."

Devon gave the fillies one last look before exiting. They were getting fairly rough with one another, even though they seemed to be enjoying themselves, almost like kittens. Young foals must not have gotten the memo that ponies were supposed to be passive and gentle. As long as they weren't hurting each other she guessed they were fine. She shook her head as she realized she was trying to distract herself. She needed to focus on what she would be saying to Paul when he got here.

She looked up at the sky as she exited out of the tent and walked a few tents down. It was overcast right now, and by the looks of the pegasi moving through clouds that was done deliberately. Maybe they were trying to cool things off after days of bright sun and heat? Or if they were planning on having crops being attended to tomorrow maybe they were just getting the clouds ready for it to rain tomorrow? It was a little bit cooler today no matter what the goal, which she was thankful for.

"Devon?" A voice broke her from her gazing at the ponies above. She turned and saw Paul.

"Paul...," Devon said completely at a loss for words. "You're here."

Paul walked over to her. "I told you I'd be here. Where are the kids?"

"The term is foals, and they're inside the tent," Devon gestured towards the appropriate tent. "Jessie is playing with another filly, and Robby just fell asleep a few minutes ago. He was trying hard to stay up to see you."

Paul moved to try to embrace her, but she backed away and held a hand up. "None of that right now. I'm still furious with you, and it will take time for me to get over it, if I get over it."

"I didn't come here to fight. I want to have my family back," Paul replied as he spread his hands in frustration.

Devon replied calmly, "And I don't intend to fight either. I need to see you committed to this family. Let's just get you inside, where you can see the foals, and you can meet Amanda as well, okay?"

"Is Thomas here too?" Paul asked.

"Tonya lives in a house somewhere in town. She and the town's pony leader are apparently a couple," Devon said with annoyance at him misnaming his sister. "Don't call her Thomas. She stuck up for you, and was the only reason I reached out to you. You need to show some gratitude to your sister, and treat her with respect."

"Sorry," Paul said quietly.

Devon gave him a hard look. "Apologizing to me is nice, but you owe her an apology in person at some point. Just follow me so Jessie can see her father."

She turned and started walking back to the tent with the expectation that he would follow. Before she stepped inside she heard the wails of an upset filly, and she quickened her pace inside to find out what was wrong. Amanda was sitting on her haunches holding Jessie in her forelegs, gently rocking the crying filly and trying to sooth her. Paul followed in close behind Devon.

"What happened?" Devon said worriedly as she hurried over to gather her daughter from Amanda.

"Jackie gave her a good pop on the tip of the snout with her wing, and those are sensitive spots. She'll be okay," Amanda said as she passed the crying filly to Devon.

Devon put Jessie over her shoulder and started rocking her. "It's okay, baby girl, you'll be okay. This might be your payback for pinching Jackie's wing yesterday. You two need to be less rough."

"Hi, I'm Amanda, Amanda Wilson, you must be Paul," Amanda said in an upbeat tone as she held a hoof out in greeting as Devon kept soothing Jessie.

Paul walked over and hesitantly reached out a hand to shake Amanda's foreleg, only to realize it was a little big for him to grip. Amanda gave a little giggle, and then pressed the frog of her hoof up to his hand.

"The Equestrians told me the other day that's the way we're supposed to do it, though normally it would be hoof to hoof. Hand to hoof seems kind of weird," Amanda explained.

Paul withdrew his hand with a look of distaste. "Yeah, it does."

"Okay, baby girl, are we feeling better? Ready to see your daddy?" Devon said closely to Jessie's ear as the filly began to quiet. She then gave Jessie a kiss on her snout which made the filly coo happily. She then carefully set Jessie back down to the ground and looked over at Paul. "She gets fussy if she gets held and wasn't the one to initiate trying to be held. I'm guessing she only let me get away with it just now because she was already upset."

"I see," Paul said as he looked down at Jessie. The little filly had her back to him as she stared up at Devon. Jackie was interrupted from going after Jessie's tail by Amanda biting into the scruff of Jackie's neck, earning an outraged squeak from the filly, and casually taking her back to their mats.

Devon bent down and pointed at Paul. "Baby girl, your daddy is here to see you. Don't you want to see your daddy?"

Jessie followed Devon's arm with her eyes straight to the finger and then on to where it was pointing. When she looked at Paul she let off an excited gurgle, and then trotted over to him. She then started trying to climb his leg with her forelegs.

"I'm jealous now. She must have really missed you," Devon said. Letting some of her anger at her husband go. Seeing that Jessie recognized him and clearly missed him made her feel warm.

"She's okay to pick up?" Paul asked uncertainly as he stared down at Jessie.

"Yes, she clearly wants you to. She's a smart little filly, she knows who you are, and she wants attention from her daddy," Devon said as she looked briefly over at Robby's sleeping form and debated waking him.

Paul hesitantly reached down and put his hands around Jessie before picking her up and cradling her in his arms. The little filly cooed and rubbed her head up against his chest.

"See? She can't hurt you. She's small, helpless, and loves her parents," Devon said as she bent down next to Robby. She then gave Robby a light shake. "I know it's really late for you honey, but your dad is here."

Robby unfurled his wings with a sleepy mumble and did a full body stretch and yawn. He blinked sleepily and turned his head. When he spotted his father, his eyes popped open wide and he jumped to his hooves, giving an ineffectual flap of his wings as he did.

"Dad! You came back! Momma wouldn't say where you went and wouldn't let anypony talk about you," Robby said excitedly as he hurried over in front of his father.

Paul looked dejectedly down at Robby as he continued to cradle Jessie. "I had some things that I needed to work out. I'm here now, and not planning on going anywhere."

"You can spend a few minutes talking to your dad now, but I want you back to sleep soon. I don't want you exhausting yourself," Devon told her son firmly. "You will have more time to catch up tonight, after you wake up."

"Can't I just stay up late? I don't mind being tired tonight," Robby whined as he lowered his ears.

"You want to defend us all, right? You can't do that if you're exhausted," Devon stressed.

Robby seemed to consider this argument for a moment then his ears dropped lower as he nodded. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking about that."

"It's okay, baby. You've got a few minutes now. Your dad will still be here tonight and we'll all go talk with your Aunt Tonya tonight," Devon said with an encouraging smile.

"Okay, I like Aunt Tonya," Robby said as his ears picked back up. He turned to his father and started speaking. "Why didn't we get to meet Aunt Tonya before? She's funny, and she said she's going to teach me to fly when I get bigger."

Paul seemed to struggle with how to respond to this question. "She's been...gone for a while. Since before you were born. I'll be looking forward to seeing her tonight too."

Devon let them talk for a few minutes. It was mainly Robby talking and Paul listening as Robby recounted everything he had been awake to see the last few days, whether it was worth talking about or not. She was actually rather impressed with how closely he could recount conversations. Not word for word, but not far off. He remembered many of them better than she did. Some she rather he didn't remember.

She watched as Paul silently listened to Robby yammering away with enthusiasm about everything he remembered about every night pony he had seen. He told Paul all about Phobia, the night ponies he had seen flying, Tattered Wing, as well as Brick and his friend.

Paul looked up at Devon with concern while still holding Jessie, who seemed to have actually fallen asleep in his arms, and asked, "What's this about something bad in the woods?"

Devon shook her head. "I never found out. Tattered Wing showed up briefly after we left the woods and just reasserted that we weren't to go in, and that we weren't supposed to discuss it with anyone. I probably shouldn't be saying anything about it with you and Amanda."

"I noticed that they had blocked ponies from going into the woods just outside this area, but I didn't know why," Amanda piped up. "Now I'm worried about whether there's some chemical spill or something in there."

"Whatever it is, it can't be that bad or they'd make us move from the tents here," Devon said with a shrug only her shoulders, and narrowed her eyes at Robby. "Anyway, pretend Robby didn't just disobey the lead night pony by saying all that."

"Sorry, Momma," Robby said as he looked down at the ground. He then let off a large yawn.

"Just listen to what you're told to do from her from now on. She is making sure you stay safe," Devon said with a sigh. "Anyway, it looks like bedtime for you. We have a rare instance where your sister is passed out at one in the afternoon, and you're not."

"Okay--" he paused to yawn again, bringing a hoof up to cover it, "--Momma."

The colt walked back to his mat and laid down on it, wrapping his tail around his body. He then looked over at his father. "See you tonight, dad. I'm glad you're back."

"Sleep tight, Robby," Paul said as they watched Robby wrap a wing around his head.

With both her foals asleep Devon had a rare opportunity to speak with Paul alone. She turned to Amanda, but Amanda beat her to the punch.

"If you want to leave Jessie with me I don't mind watching her. You two go take a walk, I've got the foals," Amanda said with a glance between the two humans.

Devon smiled. "Thanks Amanda, I don't know what I'd ever do without you."

Amanda sat up on her haunches and held her forelegs out to Paul to take Jessie from him. Paul gave Amanda an apprehensive look, and then looked at the sleeping filly in his arms. Her husband looked hesitant to release Jessie over to anyone else. He gave Jessie a light kiss on the head and then reluctantly passed her over to Amanda.

"We'll be back soon," Devon said as she motioned Paul to follow her out the tent.

Paul walked next to his wife in a state of silent dread. Devon wasn't talking, and he wasn't talking. He was terrified of being the one to break the silence, and was more terrified of what might be going on in her head. He had no idea where they were walking to. The town was unfamiliar to him, and Devon wasn't being forthcoming about their destination.

Yesterday, after getting off the phone, he had wandered around their house and just looking at the remnants of their life. Spending extra time looking at Robby's room and the nursery that they had set up for Jessie. Robby's room had been a cluttered mess, and many of Robby's toys had been pushed into piles to make walkways, rather than picked up. The nursery had plenty of never opened, and now useless, diapers sitting in one corner of it.

When he had finally motivated himself to do something it was to start packing up his clothes and Devon's clothes into the car. He had almost started to do the same for Robby and Jessie's clothes, and had actually grabbed two sets of Robby's clothes before he realized what he was doing and stopped. What did his children even need? That was something he had no clue on. Human children were hard enough to do right by and provide for, the needs of pony children were a complete enigma.

After a few minutes of walking he finally broke the deafening silence. "I have some of your clothes in the car, along with some hygiene items. I didn't know what to bring. If you think of anything I can go back and get whatever it is."

His wife pulled on her shirt and looked at it. "A change of clothes is very welcome. I'm sure I smell terrible having been in these clothes for days. Thank you for bringing those."

"I didn't bring anything for the kids," Paul continued. "I just didn't know what they needed, wanted, or would even be useful."

"Foals, Paul. They're foals, not kids," Devon said with an exasperated shake of her head. "And I'm not sure what to bring for them either, to tell you the truth. Maybe a small stuffed animal or something for Jessie to play with, maybe some colored pencils and something to draw on for Robby. I don't want him biting down on crayons, they might be toxic or something for all we know, but wood should be alright. As for hygiene items for then; I'm not sure if human shampoo and soaps will work on fur and manes, but we can try. Bedding and towels would be good things to have. I'd love for us to have Jessie's crib."

"I'll start making a list," Paul replied. He felt a little more confident with plans being made. But there was still a lot of things that made him uncomfortable.

"What's happening with your job?" Devon asked as they stepped out next to the street. There were no cars on the road and most of the ponies seemed to be walking right in the middle of the road.

Paul sighed. "No word on when we are getting back to work yet still. Rumor is that they may start laying people off at the plant. There's to be a huge drop in demand for new cars now that a quarter of the population isn't going to be driving them, so production is going to be cut back dramatically. They might just shut the plant down."

"If I get this teaching job I won't be starting till the fall. We'll need money before then. My loan for the house is pretty open ended so we can pull from that if we need to, but I'd rather not if we can help it. Hopefully they'll give you unemployment checks," Devon said as she absently looked around.

He felt himself getting frustrated at what wasn't being said, and blurted out,"Are we just not going to talk about the two of us?"

Devon stopped in her tracks and gave him a disapproving glare. "What's to talk about? You left me and the foals to fend for ourselves. You had to be convinced to come here. We've already started moving on with our lives here, and have support here, so there is no point going back home. As for our relationship, that's going to be frosty for the time being. That you abandoned us isn't something I can just ignore, or get over, right away. We'll see how things progress as time goes by."

"Am I just supposed to do whatever you say without question until then?" He responded in a tight voice.

"No, you get to have your say, and I'll listen if it's worthwhile," Devon said like she was talking to a small child. "I make the final decisions involving anything with Robby and Jessie though; you gave up your veto rights when you did what you did. Are there some suggestions you wish to give?"

"You really intend to move us here?" Paul asked as he gestured around the street.

"I think that was your idea to start with since you left us by the convention center with all the ponies planning on coming here," Devon said with a snort. "It's actually for the best for our foals. It might be for the best for you and me too. A fresh start in a new place."

"Maybe," Paul conceded, not feeling convinced. "I just don't know how comfortable I am around all these ponies."

"Get comfortable, you have foals," Devon said harshly. "And if Roper hospital hadn't done what they had done we'd probably be ponies now too. That might have been better for us as a family if we were, but things happened in a less than ideal way. We'll just have to figure out how to be a mixed family."

"It's hard seeing our kids as our kids when I look at them now. Robby sounds the same, but I could tell when he was talking that he wasn't the same--not even getting into the fact he's got wings and a tail," Paul confessed. Robby was the more disconcerting of the two. Jessie was too young to have developed much of a personality yet to see a dramatic change in it, but it was obvious with Robby.

Devon surprised him by coming over to him and gently taking his hand. "He is different, and I do miss the way he was. He has a lot of instinctual stuff going on in his head that's completely unlike what he would have there before. I'm having to relearn what I knew about him. He's still my little boy though, and I'm going to learn all I can. I want you to do the same with me."

"Maybe they'll find a cure soon and they can both go back to being human," Paul offered.

"Robby doesn't want to, and I'm not going to make him," Devon said quietly. "Jessie has spent most of her short life as a pony. She doesn't know anything about how to be human, and she might not even be alive right now if she hadn't become a pony. Becoming a pony saved her, and it gave her a chance at a happy and healthy life. It wouldn't be right to make her human. For all we know if she was cured she'd go back to having to be on life support."

"We don't know that," Paul asserted. "She could come out a happy little human girl."

"And she might not," Devon said as she withdrew her hand and stepped back glaring at him. "I know she's happy and healthy now. I'm not going to risk her ever losing that."

It was hard to argue against that. He definitely didn't want Jessie reverting to having an underdeveloped immune system and lungs. It was better for her to be a pony than risk that. He could love and accept her as a pony. Accepting Robby's transformation was another matter altogether though. He had been perfectly happy and healthy as a human. There was no good reason for him to stay a pony if a cure came.

It wasn't worth fighting over right now though. If they announced a cure was found and the details of how it worked then things might change.

"Let's just drop the subject for now," Paul said in a defeated tone. "Where are we going? Are we just walking just to walk?"

"We're finding your sister. I want you and her to clear the air between you without the foals hearing it if anything gets heated," Devon said as she gestured for him to resume walking and started off again.

"I haven't seen Thoma...Tonya in years. She and I barely talked even when we were growing up. I wouldn't know what to say to her," Paul said.

He really didn't know what to make of the fact his sister was here. Thomas had been bad tempered, secluded, and just all around miserable to be around after he reached puberty. Paul had spent many days out with friends just to get out of the house, away from the constant back and forth arguing and screaming between Thomas and their parents.

Paul knew about the transgender thing, even if his parents unsuccessfully tried to keep it hushed . After coming out Thomas almost never left his room except to go to school, eat, and go to the bathroom. Their parents sent him to counseling, and that only seemed to escalate things. When nothing worked to dissuade Thomas their parents eventually kicked him out of the house, not to be seen again--until now.

They reached a large building that looked like a school and Devon led them in. Inside the lobby was an information desk with a blue pegasus stallion with orange mane sitting at it. Devon went up to it and got the stallion's attention.

"Is Amber off today? I was hoping she'd help me find Tonya," Devon asked the stallion.

The stallion gave a hearty laugh in response. "Amber got a promotion, and is trying to rapidly get things with the weather teams together and organized. It seems Tonya was really lax with that when she had Amber's job, and she left Amber with a lot of work to do. First time I've ever seen Amber start cuss'n."

Paul groaned internally. It seemed Thomas wasn't that responsible and got fired from his job. Hearing about that was probably not the best first impression if they were going to reunite.

"Do you know where I can find Tonya then?" Devon asked.

"I'm sure I could find her in five minutes by myself. I'm pretty sure she's out and about just flying around. She said she hadn't had a good chance to stretch her wings since ending up in charge of ponies. She let Amber know what needed to get done, then just took off, leaving our new lead pegasus gaping about how much she had to do and asking me if I wanted the job...I turned her down flat," the stallion started braying laughter.

Devon let out an aggravated groan. "If we stay here, and let everyone know you'll be right back, can you find her for us and bring her here?"

The stallion flew over his desk and landed between Paul and Devon. "Sure thing. It'll be just a few minutes."

The stallion left, and Paul and Devon just waited in silence. Several minutes passed by, and luckily no one came looking for information. A few minutes later the stallion returned with a orange coated pegasus mare with an unruly purple mane and tail.

"Here she is for you. Told you it wouldn't take long," the stallion said as he retook his place behind the desk.

Paul just stared at the pegasus mare trying to connect the image of this pony with the brother he had known. The mare stared back with a wide-eyed expression, and wings spread slightly in a way that made it seem like she was ready to bolt away at any moment. That was the only familiar thing about her to him, the desire to get away from a bad situation--a trait they both shared.

"Maybe we should go somewhere else more private to talk," Devon suggested.

That seemed to snap the pegasus mare out of her stare, though she still eyed him like he was a rabid dog ready to attack. "Y-yeah, that might be a good idea. I think there are some empty administrative offices. Follow me."

The voice was completely unfamiliar and clearly feminine. Still nothing of significance that indicated this was Thomas. The mare led them to a door behind the information desk and pulled it open before walking through. He and Devon followed quickly behind. After all of them entered the door swung closed again.

"So...Paul. Are you just going to keep quiet, or are you going to say something to your sister?" Devon asked as she crossed her arms and leaned against a wall, glaring at him. How long before she stopped being this openly hostile to him? He was trying to make right. Couldn't she see that?

"Um," he looked at the pegasus, lost on what to say. He wouldn't know what to say to his brother, and he had no clue what to say to this pony. "Long time no see. You look...different...from the last time I saw you."

"I looked pretty different even before becoming a pony. I changed a lot," the mare said as she looked downward, while nervously crossing her forelegs as she stood. She still seemed ready to flee at any moment.

"You just kind of vanished off the face of the Earth. Mom and Dad wouldn't talk about you, and I never heard another word," Paul said as he tried to treat this pony as if she was Thomas.

"I'm guilty of not reaching out to you, I admit that, but you must not have tried too hard to find out where I was either," the mare said as she looked up at him with tears and hurt in her eyes. "Why didn't you even try? I spent nearly a year living on different people's couches, homeless shelters, and more than a few days sleeping on park benches right after leaving home."

"You just admitted you didn't reach out to me either. Don't pin this all on me, Tom," Paul snapped back at the mare. Oh this was definitely Thomas, still not willing to take responsibility for what he did to himself.

"Don't call me that!" the mare said with pure fury. She then pointed a hoof back at herself. "My name is Tonya, and you have no idea what I had to do to get my name. I had to work multiple crappy jobs getting treated like a freak by customers the whole time to pay for hormones, keep a roof over my head, and get just enough food I didn't starve. I had a period early on where I earned extra money by letting perverts fuck me before I got to where had enough money to pay for legal fees for changing my name, doctor fees to even start hormones, and getting off the street. I went through hell for the right to never be called that name again and I expect you to call me Tonya!"

"Well, that is your own poor decisions. You're the one who chose to be transgender and fuck your life up," Paul said as he advanced at the mare pointing a finger at her accusingly.

"I didn't choose shit!" The mare snapped back as she flapped her wings and flew up in order to stare him face to face, spitting as she spoke. "I am what I am, and I got no support from the family! Mom and Dad treated me like I was the biggest embarrassment ever and like I was mentally diseased, and you--and you just did nothing and let it all happen. You condemned me with your silence. The opposite of good is not evil, the opposite of good is indifference--and you were indifferent through it all."

"Cute, did you read that in a book somewhere?" Paul asked sarcastically.

"Yes, but it's true," the mare said as she landed with ears laid flat and glared up at him.

Paul glared down at her. "Okay, Tonya, what do you want to say to me?"

The mare's eyes widened slightly before narrowing. When she spoke there was an odd undertone to her voice. "What do I want? I want you to feel bad for turning your back on your family. I want you to dedicate yourself to giving your foals a happy life. I want you to accept me as your sister. I want you to give a damn about me rather than ignoring I exist. I want a brother, not a coward unwilling to stand up for his loved ones. I want Devon to give you a real chance, and I want you to rise to the occasion in every way. Last but not least, I want you to want this too."

Paul didn't know what happened, but suddenly he felt like he was going to be sick. His vision faded out for a moment as he dropped down to his knees to steady himself as a wave of vertigo hit him. He felt like there was extreme pressure on him, like he was deep underwater. He just barely saw out of the corner of his vision Devon stagger as well.

"No...what did I just do...," he heard Tonya whisper in horror.

"What the hell hit us?" he heard Devon ask.

His vision cleared, his balance returned, and the pressure let up. He looked immediately at Devon, then at Tonya. Devon was shaking her head as she got back to her feet. Tonya was staring at the two of them with a look of pure terror as she backed away with her wings outspread and tail tucked between her legs.

After he could stand he hurried over to Devon first. He steadied her as she got back up.

"Are you okay?" He asked her.

"I think so...are you okay?" Devon said as she gripped onto his arm to steady herself.

"Yeah, just a quick wave of something that hit all of us. Maybe a sonic boom or something like that," he said as he turned to Tonya, who still looked terrified. "Are you okay, sis? Are you still feeling whatever that was?"

Tonya's eyes widened further in terror after he spoke to her. She shook her head in denial as she spread her wings wide and took to hovering.

"I-I have to go...now," Tonya spluttered as she started crying. "I'm so sorry..."

And with that Tonya immediately flew for the door and crashed straight through it, completely knocking it off its hinges. She didn't even pause in her flight as she took off away from them.

Author's Note

Will be another chapter in 24 hours.

Have some new arts to add to the collection, just click the name below. Remember to check out the author's notes in the first chapter for the full collection.

Thomas Gilmore

Amanda Wilson and Jacquelyn Wilson

Chapter 17**

Chapter 17**

Tonya flew over the town quickly, nearly colliding in the air twice with other pegasi. She didn't know where she was going, only that she wanted to fly and get away. It was a primal panic reaction to danger. The only problem was that the danger in this case was herself, and there was no escaping herself.

After flying for a few minutes she came to the old docks for the town. The river from shore to shore was perhaps the length of a football field in this area. A few ponies milled about with some humans in the area looking things over to see what needed to be done to get things operational again, few others seemed to be just enjoying the view of the river, and a pair of humans were fishing. She came in for a landing on the opposite bank of the river from everypony and took shelter from their eyes in an outgrowth of trees.

She laid down and buried her face into her forelegs. How could she had done something like that to her own family members? She had gotten angry at the use of her dead name and Paul mentioning want seemed the final blow to push her over the edge. She wanted all those things she said, but forcibly mind controlling him and Devon into doing it wasn't what she wanted.

Her abilities were just far too easy for her to abuse, even when trying to avoid using them she ended up using them. For the first time since her transformation she questioned whether she had been better off staying a human, or at least if everypony else was better off if she was a human. That wasn't something that was an option at this point. She had been among the first ponies to get their cutie marks, and from what she knew of the process that disqualified her from rehumanization.

Why couldn't she just have her gift of flight and maybe some weather magic like most of the rest of the pegasi? Why did she get saddled with this extra ability that violated the free will of those around her? She didn't need to be powerful, she had simple wants. All that she ultimately wanted was to everyone to live a happy life, but not because she commanded it. She wasn't a particularly smart or highly disciplined pony, her qualifications for wielding this magic were far short of the care it deserved.

She walked up to the edge of the river and looked at her reflection in the water. And started to cry. "I'm so sorry, I'm just not good enough to be you. I'm not strong enough to be you. What am I supposed to do?"

The reflection gave no answer as she continued to stare at it. It offered no forgiveness or answers. At times in the past where she felt lost she had sought solice in singing. That was something she hadn't done since becoming a pony. She wasn't sure what the appropriate song to voice her feelings was though. She picked a song from Blake Shelton that felt close to what she was feeling.

She cut her singing off as she realized she felt magic, strong magic, building up in her; stronger magic than when she used her abilities to influence others, or what she had used just minutes before. Could singing channel magic? Did she have yet more untapped abilities that she wasn't aware of that she'd need to learn to keep in check as well?

It made her want to cry again. She didn't even know what the magic was doing just now, so there was no way of knowing if it was dangerous or not. She already had one set of powers she could barely control or understand, she couldn't deal with another group that she had no clue about as well. She wasn't a smart pony, she couldn't just figure out this stuff on her own. This couldn't continue like this, somepony was going to have to teach her what she could do and how to control it. She didn't want to be a monster.

There weren't very many options for that though. Sunset was supportive of her, but her lover didn't have any actual knowledge to help her get this under control. The possibility of begging Luna for training passed through her mind briefly since Luna was apparently going to train Phobia in how to control Phobia's abilities. However, her crime from the other day was the big deal breaker there. If they found out what she had done to Number Crunch there was no telling what they'd do to her.

Fuck, there was no telling how they'd react to what she had just done. She didn't want to be brain dead either, and that was the consequence that Phobia had laid out for misusing mind magic in such a way. She couldn't tell them what happened; the risk was too great. It wasn't a scolding she might get, it was effectively a death sentence, and she wasn't suicidal.

Luna had to know that she had powers though. There was no telling how much the alicorn had seen in her dream before Tonya had caught her spying. There had been no further visits from the alien pony last night. Maybe Luna didn't care she had this magic? That might open some possible avenues on finding help, without going straight to Luna.

After deciding on a course of action Tonya spread her wings and took to the sky. She flew as quick as she could back into the town and didn't pay much attention to anything around her yet again. All that mattered was seeking help for controlling her powers. It was a good thing that she had given her duties over to Amber, this was going to have to be her focus for the coming months. Nothing else mattered right now but making sure she didn't hurt anypony else.

She landed at her destination, the town clinic. Lavender Mist might know what to do, or at least lead her to somepony who could help her. Worst case scenario, Lavender would get in touch with Luna and the alicorn would direct somepony to come help her. Luna had to have mercy on her for whatever she might have done if she was showing she was trying in earnest to learn to control her abilities so she didn't hurt anypony, right? Phobia's declaration of no mercy echoed in her head. Tonya shivered, she didn't want to die.

Going into the clinic she found a small lobby with a pearly white crystal pony stallion acting as secretary for the office. She trotted over to him, trying not to seem to anxious. As she got to the desk she gave the stallion her most confident smile.

"Hi, I'm Tonya Middleton, I was wondering if Lavender Mist was available to see me," Tonya stated with as upbeat a tone she could force.

"She is in," the stallion said with a pleasant smile. "Let me get your basic information real fast. After I get this pen in my mouth all I need to know is full name and reason for visit. No long forms to fill out here."

After waiting for the stallion to get the pen in his mouth she quickly listed off the information. "Tonya Tamara Middleton, I'm just here for a basic check up and to get some magic health information."

The stallion raised an eyebrow at the last part of the reason, but scribbled the answer down anyway before setting the pen back into a nearby cup. She couldn't help noticing it had a large number of bite marks on it. They really needed to figure out a better system for writing than with their mouths. Strap on pens for their hooves maybe? It would require relearning how to write, but they already were relearning with just the mouth writing.

She gave her head a shake. That wasn't a concern right now. She needed to keep focused on what was important right now, and not let herself get distracted thinking about minor or stupid things like that. Build up that attention span, Tonya. Stop being a stupid pony.

The stallion touched his hoof to a com button and spoke into a microphone. "Nurse Mist, there's a pegasus named Tonya Middleton here, are you available to see her right now?"

"Tonya?" Lavender's voice came back over the intercom with a hint of shock. "Yes, send her right back. I was actually in the process of making out a request to see her as soon as possible."

Tonya frowned and bit down on her lower lip. Why was Lavender putting in request to see her? Did the Equestrian already know? Did Luna tell the night pony about her? Was she walking into some sort of interrogation right now, or worse about to be hauled off to some Equestrian jail? It made her want to turn and leave, but the fact of the matter was that would only make her look bad. What she needed hadn't changed and the fact she was coming asking for help should hopefully show she was sincere about wanting to not hurt anypony. At least, she hoped it would.

"Just walk on back through the door. Lavender Mist should meet you in the hallway to show you what room you'll be examined in," the stallion said in a friendly tone as he pointed to a nearby door to his right.

Taking a deep breath she nodded and did as directed. As soon as she walked through the door she spotted Lavender Mist eying her appraisingly. The night pony was wearing around her neck a round silver medalion with strange symbols on it that Tonya had never seen her wear before.

"What do I owe this visit? Hopefully nothing political on your marefriend's behalf," Lavender asked with with a small flick of her tail.

"Um, it's nothing like that, this is all for me," Tonya said with an anxious glance around to see if anypony else was present. "I've got some concerns about my magic and wanted to go to an Equestrian for advice and help."

Lavender lifted a hoof and clutched the medallion tightly to her chest as she answered. "What kind of concerns?"

Tonya eyed the medallion with suspicion. "I'd rather not talk about it in the middle of the hall, if that's okay with you. Can you pick a room to let us talk in private?"

The night pony pressed the medallion close to her chest again briefly, looking anxious, before releasing it and nodding. Maybe it was just something religious and today was some Equestrian holiday or something? That didn't feel likely for whatever reason. That medalion had some purpose other than decoration, and Lavender seemed to be on edge. Something was definitely up, and Tonya had to try harder to resist the urge to flee again.

Lavender guided her into one of the nearby rooms and shut the door behind them. Tonya gulped as the door clicked, feeling trapped with the alien pony.

"So, tell me what's bothering you and I can see what I can do to help. After that I'll discuss with you why I was hoping you'd come by," Lavender said as she sat down a few feet away from Tonya, again clutching that medallion.

"Alright," Tonya said as she sat down and considered how to explain this. Honesty was the best policy. She didn't need to go into full details of what she had done though. "My magic doesn't seem to be like other pegasi's magic. When I talk to ponies I can make them focus on something they want to the exclusion of other things. I'm frankly a little scared of what I might do without meaning to."

Lavender's eyes widened, then she let off a relieved laugh as she released the medallion from her chest. "Well, that makes what I needed you for simpler. Princess Luna had dreamwalked to me last night telling me that you might have powers like that. I'm glad you're here on your own volition to address that. I was scared I was going to be having to fight with you about it, or worse."

"So you can help me out? What did Luna say about me?" Tonya asked, not sure if she should be relieved or scared for herself. Lavender didn't seem hostile; if anything the night pony had seemed scared of her until just now.

"The princess didn't give me much information. She said that she determined that you could use mind magic. She wanted me to run some tests to check the extent of what you can do, find out if you are actually hurting anypony, and if you were what steps to take to make sure you don't do that," Lavender explained, the night pony then looked up at Tonya's expression and must have read some of what Tonya was feeling. "I wouldn't have told you all that normally, but as I said, you're here on your own to address those things. I'm more comfortable being open with you as a result. It's a sign I'm not dealing with some mad powercrazed pony who wants to abuse their powers."

"I appreciate that, I guess," Tonya said uncertainly. "So how do we go about this? I really want to get this under control. As you said, I don't want to hurt anypony."

Lavender tapped her medallion. "This right here is a tool that protects me from mind magic being used on me, but I can use it to get a read on how strong your mind magic actually is. Didn't think we were going to need it when Luna sent it with us, but guess that's why she's the princess and not me; well aside from her being a thousand year old alicorn and I'm not."

"So, when you walked out in the hall wearing that thing you were wearing it because you were afraid I might try to use my magic on you," Tonya said as she stared at the medallion.

The night pony looked a little embarrassed as she answered. "Better safe than sorry with mind magic. Mind magic can be nasty stuff, and shouldn't be taken lightly. The princess said you used it like, and I quote, like she was trying to smash open a nut with mountain. I'm guessing that means you were really strong and really rough with it."

"A lot of times ponies seem kind of dazed after I talk to them, could that be why?" Tonya asked. That was a detail that might not get her into trouble.

"That would definitely be a sign of strong mind magic being used sloppily, yes," Lavender said with a nod. "I was shocked when she told me about it. Normally it would just be night ponies that have that ability, and rare even in night ponies. Typically any pony else would have to be trained to use that kind of magic, and I would only expect it out of a pretty strong unicorn mage in that case. Only case of a pony using mind magic without training that I can think of is the Element of Kindness uses it on rare occasion for what she calls The Stare."

"I'm kind of a freak then," Tonya said as her ears sagged.

"What? No!" Lavender said as her eyes widened with outrage at the suggestion. "Well, all you ponies on Earth are kind of messed up in the head, but the fact that you have this kind of magic isn't a factor in that. It's unusual, but it isn't something to be ashamed of. We just have to make sure you have it under control. Magic itself is just a tool, it's how you use it that matters. Even the princesses have used what we call dark magic on rare occasion, nopony thinks they're evil despite that being typically associated with evil ponies."

"Can you do mind magic?" Tonya asked curiously. Not sure how she should take the comment about all her fellow ponies being crazy, or how she felt about the alicorns using magic that was implied to be inherently evil by its name alone.

Lavender shook her head. "It's more common in night ponies than other ponies, but it's still extremely rare. I could maybe learn it, if I really wanted to go through the training for years and years to do so, but I don't really have any desire to. Too much work to learn if you aren't naturally predisposed to using it. I'm a nurse, not a psychologist, it would be useless to me typically."

"How are you going to help me then?" Tonya said with a frustrated grimace.

"We'll get to that," Lavender said dismissively as she sat down and grabbed her medallion up in both forehooves. "First thing's first, I need to know what we're dealing with. Can you do anything to actively use it, by choice?"

"Yes, if I focus on the word want it typically will work and I can make a pony focus more on one thing they want over another," Tonya explained. If Lavender asked around enough and watched her enough she'd figure that out on her own, so no point in hiding it.

Lavender frowned and narrowed her eyes. "That sounds dangerously close to mind control. I'm not accusing you of doing anything deliberate, but that's concerning. How often do you do this?"

"I'm coming to realize I do it way too often, and it scares me. That's why I'm here," Tonya said in a flat tone.

"Is there any pony or ponies you've done that on more than others?" Lavender asked with clear concern. "I'm not saying you did anything intentionally bad; you seem like a genuinely nice pony. I'm worried you might have done damage to somepony's mind that you weren't meaning to."

Tonya's chest got extremely tight and it felt like her heart stopped for just an instant. There was one pony that she applied her power to frequently at the pony's own request. If she had done her harm...

"If I have accidently hurt a pony by doing this can you fix it?' Tonya asked in a low voice as she stared downwards.

Lavander shook her head and lowered her ears. "I'm not sure, depending on how much has been done, probably not. Mind magic is tricky, and it's hard to undo a lot of things without causing more far worse damage. Sunset Shimmer apparently used mind magic on a human and it made him crazy for years. If it was easy to fix we'd be trying to unravel what Sunset Shimmer did to all the ponies on this planet's heads. As it stands we'd probably just make things far worse trying to fix it. If there is a pony let me know, please."

Tonya's eyes started swelling up in tears as she forced herself to say the name. "Sunset Blessing, I use it all the time on Sunset Blessing. She asks me too."

If Lavender's eyebrows could have gone any higher they would have left her head and flown away. "That's a pretty big concern, considering she's the leader of this community. From what you're describing you're piling level on level of mind magic on her. It's likely that the competing commands will clash with one another. Does she show any odd behavior or emotional instability?"

"Her mood can swing dramatically in a few seconds, and it's really easy for her to get extremely angry, like white hot rage angry," Tonya answered as she stared down at the floor. Was all that because of her? Was she causing the problems she was trying to help Sunset deal with?

"That needs to stop, immediately," Lavender said as she stomped a hoof to the ground. "Explain the situation to her and I'll see about sending for a mind magic expert to see if anything can be done for her. I'm not sure anything can be done, as I already said, but it can be looked into."

"I'll talk to her. I promise not to do anything else to her on purpose," Tonya said as she felt her eyes start to water.

There was two more that needed to be addressed though, it was the right thing to do. She couldn't say anything about Number Crunch, but her family was something she had done completely without intention.

"My human brother and his wife...," she began before fear gripped her again. This could be the end of her to bring up. "...I lost control of myself this morning and did something to them. I was just so angry and I didn't mean to."

"What did you do?" Lavender said as her eyes narrowed and she gripped that medallion close to her chest again.

Tonya gulped, her chest felt tight and her throat felt dry. "I forced them to think the way I wanted. Paul was being so difficult, and Devon was being so cold. All I wanted was for everything to be right with our family. I didn't mean to do what I did, it just happened."

"That is mind control," Lavender said in a harsh tone. Tonya flinched at her voice as she looked at the scowling night pony.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do it," Tonya repeated again as she shook her head and started crying. "That's why I came here. After that happened I didn't want to do anything to hurt anypony with my powers again. Don't let Luna or the Dreamwardens hurt me, I didn't want this."

Lavender's eyes shot wide open in shock "Dreamwarden is a very old term for Princess Luna that only night ponies know. It isn't just a title, it means she is judge, jury, and executioner for night ponies who hurt ponies while dreamwalking. We don't speak of it with anypony but each other, and then only as warning. How did you hear the term?"

Tonya looked at the night pony in confusion. "I assumed you knew. I was told it was for night pony ears. Princess Luna is training Dreamwardens here, on Earth."

Lavender blinked and then slowly lowered herself down on the floor, curling up slightly in fear. "Dreamwardens, plural. It makes sense, there are so many ponies on this planet, and spread out very far. Sweet Harmony, I hope your night ponies behave themselves. We on Equestria have it drilled into us from as soon as we can speak never to do wrong with dreamwalking or abuse mind magic. Your world hasn't had that."

"Is it really that terrible?" Tonya asked as she felt panic rising.

Lavender shivered as she sighed. "When I was still in apprenticeship there was a night pony that crossed the line and was unrepentant about it. Princess Luna took action as Dreamwarden for the first time in any pony's living memory. We found him, just staring vacantly at a wall. There was no mind behind those eyes anymore, not even enough to eat on his own. I never want to stare into vacant eyes like that again. Princess Luna was still trapped on the moon at the time, but she was still doing her duties as Dreamwarden."

"And will sh-she or the Dreamwardens do that to me now...," Tonya asked in a trembling voice.

"It is for those who do wrong deliberately, I think you're safe," Lavender said as she brought herself to her hooves again. "Please, when I get the expert here bring those humans here as well so we can examine them. There is already another medallion on it's way that is for you to wear that will block you from using your powers while wearing it. Hopefully it will be here tomorrow with the team that is taking care of one of your Broken Ones."

"I'll do that, just let me know when the expert arrives," Tonya said as she tried to reign back in her terror.

"Now," Lavender said as she seemed to shake her own terror away. "Let's start testing to see how strong you actually are. We've gotten sidetracked."

Tonya just nodded. She was still feeling scared out of her wits. What would happen if they found out about Number Crunch?

Wild Growth stepped outside to the backyard where her papa was taking a weed-wacker to the grass. The sound of the machine made her ears very uncomfortable, but it was bearable. She had largely avoided her parents since yesterday. She couldn't shake off the feeling they were disappointed in her.

As she approached her papa he shut the noisy machine off and looked over at her.

"Here to help?" Roger asked as he wiped some sweat from his brow. "I could use some help with all of this. I'm not sure if you have some magic pony powers that will do anything to make this any easier."

"I'm not really sure," Wild responded as she looked at the grass. "I grow things, I'm not sure if I can do anything for removing plants or trimming plants other than yanking them out. I'll help out any way I can though."

Roger gently set the weedwacker down and sat down on the ground with his legs spread out as he wiped his brow yet again. "Take your time figuring out what you can do. I need to take a breather anyway. I doubt this will get all done today."

She sympathized with him needing to take a break, but had hoped to not have any downtime where they were left to talk. Yesterday was still casting a shadow over her dealings with the family today.

Placing a hoof into the grass, and pressing it down so she could feel the ground, she gathered up her courage to talk about things.

"Papa, about yesterday...," Wild started and then grasped for what to say. "I should have spoken to you about Number Crunch without bringing her with me. She just insisted on coming and I should have insisted to her that I needed to talk to you first."

"You really shouldn't be hanging around that pony to begin with," Roger said in an emotionless tone.

As she delved her power into the earth to feel around she replied. "I had this argument with Rosetta last night. I'll be friends with who I want, and none of you have the right to stop me from being friends with Number."

"You're right, we can't force you to do anything," Roger said as he watched her. "We can tell you what we think is best though. I'd hope you respect us to take what we say seriously."

"I spent time listening and talking to her before deciding to give her a chance, Papa," Wild said firmly. She focused a little more on the root systems of the grass and other weeds. Maybe she could loosen them up somehow? "I was hesitant to give her a chance at first too. I nearly walked out on her several times because of what Rosetta said. It was not a blind decision to be friends with her."

"You're still young, and if I had to admit it pretty sheltered. You might need to consider your decision more," Roger said.

She sent a pulse of magic into the ground through her hooves. Both she and her papa felt the earth move slightly beneath them. Her papa looked at her for a moment for an explaination, but she kept focused on her task. He seemed to decide to just let her work, perhaps fearing he was going to cause an unwanted magical reaction.

"Phobia told me that Sunset Blessing and Tonya both vouch for Number's good intentions, and she thinks that I should give Number a chance as long as I'm cautious. If any pony should have an opinion worth listening to on this it's Phobia," Wild explained as she withdrew her hoof from where it had been.

Her papa seemed confused and unsure how to respond to that information and she chose to push her advantage, still staring at the grass. "And you respect the opinion of Sunset Blessing a great deal, don't you?"

"Yes, both her and Phobia's, but I also respect your sister's opinion too," Roger countered.

"As I said, she and I had this argument last night. She eventually relented about what I chose to do," Wild said as she turned to face her papa. "She's a night pony, Papa, that means she's exceedingly protective. We all have to recognize she may be blinded by those night pony instincts sometimes. Rosetta doesn't think the same way she did as when she was just Haley--and yes, I recognize I might be more willing to just be friends with anypony since becoming a pony. I can be self aware of how I've changed too."

"Just be careful. You've got so much going for you right now. I don't want you to get hurt," Roger said as he looked at her. Looking him back in the eyes she could see it for the first time, the longing that said he wished the same for himself.

"Papa...Number told me something about you and Mama, and I want you to be honest with me," she said as she walked towards him. "She said that you and Mama went to Sunset Blessing and pledged your support for trying to help find a way to make humans into ponies and that you wanted that for yourself. Is it true?"

Her papa looked uncomfortable and didn't look her in the eye. Just like with Number that told her all she needed to know.

She pressed him more since he still wasn't answering. "I can tell you did by the fact you're not denying it right away. I'm not upset, but I want to know why my human parents are secretly Shimmerists. You can believe in what you want, but I want to understand you."

"Do you promise to keep this discussion private? Especially from your brothers and your sister?" Roger said as he let out a long breath, and glanced around as if looking for listeners.

"I promise, I can't imagine Rosetta would take it well, and the boys don't need any more encouragement in that kind of thinking," Wild said as she made a rough gesture of crossing her heart.

"Your mother didn't want any of you to know yet, but she has early symptoms of Parkinson's disease. She's been doing her best to hide it from the four of you. She was just diagnosed about two months ago so it isn't that obvious yet," Roger said in a low pained voice.

Wild stepped back from him for a moment. Without thinking she slammed her hoof down on the ground and forced magic into the ground. This time trees didn't grow. This time the ground shook and split throughout the backyard, creating mini canyons and raised plateaus of stone.

She and her papa looked around in shock for a moment as they gazed at large chunks of earth that had suddenly forced themselves up out of the ground. There was more to her power than just growing trees it seemed, and she had not even consciously chosen to do this. That was a worry for another time though.

Worry for her mama soared, overriding the further display of her powers, but also some resentment as she refocused on her still dazed papa. "Why keep that from us? Parkinson's can be slowed down with treatment. It isn't an imminent death sentence or anything like that. If it's early enough we haven't noticed she can be fine for years yet and we could get used to the idea. You shouldn't be keeping this from me and Rosetta."

"She said she wanted to wait till you graduated high school in a few months before she sat down and talked to you about it. She didn't want it to be a distraction as you were finishing your senior year. Then ETS happened and you don't need me to tell you how that has become a focus of everything since. Becoming a pony would mean an actual cure, not just slowing it down, that's why she wants to be a pony. We didn't know while ETS was going on that it could do that," Roger said with a shake of his head. "Don't tell your sister, she has enough stress right now."

It was hard to argue that point, Rosetta had enough on her mind with Phobia. It was another thing that Wild needed to worry about though. She thought back to her conversation with Rosetta as she remembered one of her promises.

"Do you want me to pay for doctors and treatments?" She asked, getting a confused look in return. "Rosetta got on me for just doing things without asking permission last night, otherwise I'd be right on it. I feel like I should ask permission since talking to her."

"Your welcome to try to help any way you can, but remember, Parkinson's is incurable. There is only so much that can be done," Roger said mournfully.

"And what about you wanting to be a pony?" Wild asked as she tried to move from the painful subject of her mama.

"As for me, if your mother was going to become a pony, both my daughters are ponies, your grandmother suggests she would rather be a pony, and my sons are wanting to be ponies then I want to follow with them," Roger said simply with a shrug, then gave a small chuckle. "Plus, I admit I kind of wish I could do a fraction of what you can do. What true botanist wouldn't want the ability to just grow a plant in seconds."

Wild nodded to the answer. Her parents wanted to be ponies and her mama at least had strong valid reason for wanting it. She'd pay for whatever treatment she could for her mama. Maybe some breakthrough medical research could possibly happen that could overcome the advance of the disease.

There was another route of research that might be more promising though; the type that the Shimmerists longed for. Was backing that reasearch putting herself in their camp as well? Did it really matter if it did? It was a means to an end. If there was a way to make sure her mama didn't suffer from this it was worthwhile. It was also worthwhile for untold millions of others who also just wanted a chance to be free from illnesses that medicine had no cure for. It wasn't a question of superiority of one species over another, it was a question of doing what was merciful and kind.

Funding so many things might be more than what she had the ability to provide for. Her money was not endless. She earned millions a year, she needed to have far more resources than that. Lucky for her she had made friends with a pony that knew how to make money grow.

"Papa, I need to go see Number. I need her help to do all I can do," she said after a long moment of thought. "I know you don't like her, but she is exactly who I need right now. Don't tell Rosetta or Phobia what I'm doing."

"What's she possibly going to do to help?" Roger asked as he started bracing himself to stand back up.

She didn't feel shame in answering, only resolve. "She's going to help me grow my wealth so I can fund the best medical research possible. She's also going to tell me what I can do to help the Shimmerists find a way to turn humans into ponies."

"I'm not sure that you doing that will be a good idea," her papa cautioned. "That gets you labeled as a Shimmerist by association, and that might be something that will make people not want to deal with you."

"If that makes me a Shimmerist I don't care," she said without putting the confidence into it that she should have. She did care, but not as much as she cared about helping her mama. "But I will do my best to keep what I do with them from being public knowledge. Number can help me with that too."

Her papa came over and sat down beside her then grabbed her into a hug."Be careful Catherine. Don't sabotage your future for our sakes."

"If I don't do all I can to help my family be happy and healthy then I don't want my future. I'll be careful though," Wild said as she hugged her papa back.

Author's Note

No chapter update tomorrow. Next chapter update should be next Thursday. Follow me and keep track of my blog for any changes.

Editing insight. Earliest drafts of this chapter ended Tonya's section with her taking off from the riverbank and the rest that followed for her section was going to be in the next chapter. Decided on review that it was better just to run the two as one section.

Chapter 18

Number Crunch sat in her office looking over potential business proposals for the town. The town needed industry to bring in money from outside, and it had a fairly good sized industrial district that had plenty of buildings sitting vacant. It seemed a match made in heaven, but there was a hiccup in that.

There were no shortage of companies that were already hard at work trying to figure out what kinds of products would be most marketable to ponies. The problem was the lack of finalized product designs. Most were in concept stages, and those that weren't were still in need of testing. Virtually no company had a product ready to begin mass production as of yet.

Getting industry rolling, and having ponies making paychecks that they used to buy things, was an urgent issue. Not only did the town need to demonstrate its economic viability, but delaying too long with this could make ponies lose interest in engaging in the economy. It had been only a few weeks since they had been stopped from trying to turn the Charleston area into a farming commune, they couldn't be allowed to fall back into that. If they did that they might never get back on track.

She sighed as she continued to consider the options. The best thing to do at the moment was just to interest as many companies in doing tests of their products in the area, that might help at least drive public interest until production could begin in earnest. Once they had enough interest she could market the town as a production site. She started picking out the most promising of the proposed products and began prepping letters and emails.

"Ms. Crunch? Miss Wild Growth is here to see you. Should I let her in now or should I schedule her an appointment?" Kelly said as she slipped her head into the office with a hand gripped on the door.

Wild was here? Number didn't mind spending time with a friend, but she had to attend to business. She couldn't just ignore her responsibilities every day.

"Let her know when I will be getting off and that I'll be happy to meet up with her after. I can't really spend too much time on non-work related matters during my shift today," Number instructed as she continued making notes.

"She actually asked me to tell you that this is a money related matter," Kelly added on.

Number stopped what she was doing as her eyebrows rose. She had already told Wild that as a sign of trust she didn't want Wild doing business here, and she meant to maintain that trust. Still, perhaps she could offer advice on whatever this was about. A consulting fee would have to be charged just to certify this as her working, and having the bank get some profit for the time she spent. Business was business after all.

"Alright, send Ms. Growth in and I'll see what I can do for her," Number said as she stacked some papers neatly to the side with her magic.

Kelly departed the doorway and a moment later Wild walked in and shut the door firmly behind her. She looked a little distressed, but not angry. Was this actually about money or was that just an excuse to discuss personal matters?

"What can I do for you, Wild?" Number asked she touched her hooves together on the desk while the younger mare took the seat across from her.

"I need your help and advice. I need to grow my money to where I can fund a large amount of research. I know I make a lot, but I have a feeling I'm going to need much more than even I currently make," Wild explained in an anxious tone.

"There are many ways of doing that, and I can act as a financial consultant on that if you wish," Number said as she considered her friend's expression and posture. "What exactly are you looking to fund?"

"How noise proof is this room?" Wild asked as she looked around anxiously.

Number let a concerned frown appear on her lips. "I haven't checked, but I'm pretty sure what's said in here won't be overheard without some pony having their ear directly on the door. What's this about that requires secrecy? You don't seem the cloak and dagger type."

Wild let off a sad laugh before speaking in a near whisper. "I might have to learn to be. I want to fund medical research, and I know that requires no secrecy. I also want to help fund ETS research, and I know that is something nopony can be allowed to know I'm doing."

Number's eyes went wide as she glanced at the door and window now concerned about eavesdroppers herself. She couldn't be officially tied to anything involving ETS research, neither of them could. She turned back to her friend and spoke in a near whisper as well. "I'm beyond shocked right now. That's a major about-face from you. Just yesterday you were staunchly anti-Shimmerist and today you're basically signing up for your membership card with us. That doesn't just happen like that. What's wrong?"

"It's private information," Wild said in a low voice as she stared downward.

"I'm your friend first, a business pony second, and a Shimmerist third in terms of dealing with you right now. Much as what you're saying you want to do might please parts two and three from that list, the first thing on that list means I must look out for your best interests. I can't do that if you aren't open with me about what's going on," Number pleaded. She was being completely honest; this was out of the blue and that was a sign something major had happened. She would normally be very happy to have Wild Growth working with the Shimmerists, but she wasn't sure that was something Wild actually wanted.

Wild sat sitting quietly for a moment and Number could see tears start to well up in Wild's eyes. Not knowing what else to do Number got down from her seat and walked around the desk to place a comforting hoof on her friend's flank. Wild looked first at the hoof and then to Number and broke down crying before she reached down and grabbed Number in hug that was near bone crunching.

"It's my mama! She's got Parkinson's disease and that's something there is no cure for other than ETS. I just want to make her better," Wild sobbed onto Number's shoulder.

Number tried her best to resist trying to squirm free of Wild's grasp. It wasn't that she objected to being hugged, having a pony being willing to hug her was appreciated, but it was the fact she enjoyed having her bones intact and the ability to breathe. Why did earth ponies have to be so ridiculously strong? How much force was in Wild's grip? How much force could her bones take? Number wished she knew those numbers as they seemed pertinent at the moment.

"Wild...grip...tight...,"Number managed to say with a few pained grunts.

Wild gasped as she released her grip and fell to the floor from her seat. "Sorry, it's hard to remember how fragile everypony else is compared to me sometimes."

Number rubbed her chest and took a few deep breaths. She wasn't struggling to breathe so that seemed fine. She wasn't sure if she wasn't bruised though.

"I'm okay, you're just really strong and weren't thinking," Number said as she tried to put on a reassuring smile. She'd check with the clinic later to make sure she actually was okay. For right now she had to comfort Wild, and unfortunately break her of a possible misconception about what was possible anytime soon.

"Wild, I hate to disappoint you, but I don't think there is any real hope of getting a new ETS spell made for years at least, and when I say years I mean decades if not centuries. The magic involved is just far too complex," Number said with sympathy to the crying green earth pony, hating that she wasn't doing anything for encouragement.

"I need something to cure her though," Wild sobbed as she sat with her hind legs spread out in an undignified manner. "Parkinson's research has gone on for years already without any cure coming from it. What in the hell are you all even working towards if there isn't ever going to be a way to turn humans into ponies again?"

Number frowned. "It isn't that the spell will never exist again, it's that it isn't happening anytime soon. We believe that humans are all better off as ponies, and we understand that it will take time to reach a goal of an all pony world. The fanatics out west might think they can make something happen sooner, but we're realists here. If we were like the Shimmerists out west the government wouldn't be willing to deal with us at all."

Wild deflated even more where she sat and hung her head. "What am I supposed to do Number? My mama is going to be suffering in a few years. She's likely suffering right now and hiding it."

"There's nothing stopping you from investing in medical research. We just got magic thrown into the equation of medicine and we don't even know yet what the Equestrians might share with us. Perhaps there'll be new breakthroughs that weren't possible before," Number offered.

She chose not to even mention the ETS research. As she suspected, that wasn't Wild's real desire, and she wasn't going to take advantage of her friend to get funding for that. She was going to be a good pony, and good ponies didn't take advantage of their friends.

"Maybe, I guess I can hope," Wild said with a shake of her head. "Do you think maybe the Equestrians would be willing to cast the spell on request? It's for a good reason, and she actually wants to be a pony from what I understand. I haven't confronted her about that yet."

Maybe their goals lined up a little. "That's one of the options that Sunset--our Sunset--was going to try to push, trying to pressure our government and Equestria into letting humans who want to be ponies be ponies. She figures that in time every human would eventually want to be a pony once enough did it."

Wild wiped a tear from her eye. "I could care less if it turned out that way or not, but I want my mama happy and well. If I can help with anything involving that I will."

Number sat and considered the options. She'd have to sit down with Wild and Sunset Blessing to discuss everything, but there were possibilities if they took care. Wild wasn't just any earth pony, Wild was an earth pony that other earth ponies idolized and humans took note of, she had the potential for major celebrity status. Celebrity status could be a strong voice of public opinion.

"There may be some things you can do to help, if you're really interested. We'll take time to discuss those later," Number said after much consideration. "For now we should see about helping with medical research, and before that ways of expanding your personal wealth."

"Thank you, Number," Wild said as she looked up and gave a sad smile.

Number shook her head. Wild needed to completely aware of what was involved. "Don't thank me yet. I can't grow money at the speed you can grow trees. This will take time, and by time I mean years. There is no quick fix, no matter how much you want one. You have to be in this for the long haul and get heavily involved in the corporate world. Business can be ruthless and amoral, which means you have to learn to be ruthless and amoral when needed. If you're committed to this path though I'll teach and help you."

Wild sighed. "Whatever it takes. I just want to do right by my mama and all the other people that are in situations like this."

Number nodded and couldn't help but feel sad for the loss of innocence Wild would have to endure along the way.

If she sat very still the pain wasn't too bad.

That didn't mean that there was no pain though.

Melissa lay in on the same stretcher, which everypony called a bed, that she had spent her last three weeks on. Rudra had rolled a TV in every night to try to give some distraction. On and off it would distract her, but tonight it couldn't bring any distraction from her thoughts. The fact that the movie now playing was The Last Unicorn actually made them worse, it seemed to have gotten a surge in popularity lately given how often it aired on every channel. Whoever chose to start that trend needed to be given a broken leg.

Tonight was probably her last night as a pony. And she lacked the same peace that she had when she had endured what she thought would be her last night as a human. No calm acceptance, just silent dread.

Across from her Dan sat watching the television with feigned interest. She could tell he was actually intent on her, and he was watching her from the edge of his vision, even though his eyes didn't turn her way. Dan was good at paying attention to things in his peripheral vision.

She wondered what he was thinking about right now. Was he hoping this worked for her? Was he hoping that this failed? Was he angry with her for having made this choice? He had been closed mouthed about it since she had told the Equestrians she would do it. He had been her primary companion these last few weeks, and she wondered if he thought he was losing his best friend. She certainly couldn't help fearing if she was going to be losing him.

She suppressed the urge to sigh. Sighing made her breathe deeper, breathing deeper made the pain worse. Even miniscule movements were capable of causing great pain. She was so tired of being in pain all the time.

What was her life going to be after tomorrow? She didn't know what would come next for her if this worked. At this point there was so much of being human that seemed strange and alien to her. She supposed that was much the way she had felt about becoming a pony while still human. Perhaps that part wouldn't be so bad. It would be like riding a bicycle, you might not do it for a long time, but you never really forget how.

The bad part was that she didn't feel like she had a life or purpose to return to. She didn't know if her friends from before were humans or ponies at this point. She didn't know if she would want to return to her boring old job working at Costco, or if it would be available for that matter. Her apartment had probably already evicted her. She had been running late on rent as it was before ETS, and her landlady had already been threatening it.

Where could she possibly go? She couldn't return home to her mom. She promised herself she would never go back there again, that she would never endure her mom's passive aggression and emotional abuse, much less her mom's constant drunken stupor, ever again.

Her dad was probably off the table too. His service in the army was probably keeping him constantly moving on the road right now due to everything happening. He had no real home to take her in to. Among the first things she should do when she had hands again was try to get in contact with him though, to let him know she was alright, and tell him all that had happened. Hearing from him again was at least one thing to look forward to.

There was no life to return to, no purpose, nothing. All this procedure was accomplishing was freeing her from pain. She was greatful for that, but feared the cost. As a night pony she felt purpose, purpose that she had always lacked in her life before ETS. She was a protector, a guardian, and that gave her meaning. When she returned to humanity would she have the same drives or would she lose her meaning and direction again? More than anything else that scared her most.

It was all too much for her.

"D-D-Dan, I'm scared...," she said softly as her vision fogged behind tears.

Dan turned towards her with a look of uncertainty and anguish on his face. "It's okay to be scared, but you've endured all this for weeks, and you'll be okay after all this is said and done."

"What am I g-g-going to be after tomorrow?" She wept. She wasn't talking about being a human or pony.

"If everything goes right, and these Equestrians don't fuck it up, then you'll finally be pain free," Dan said in a firm tone that she was uncertain was meant to reassure her or himself.

"I da-da-don't n-na-know where I'm supposed to go...after," she breathed.

"You can stay with us if you want. The Enclave won't turn you away," Dan said in a quiet voice. He then stared menacingly at some imagined foe. "If they try I'll fight them. I'm not turning my back on you. I'll protect you, no matter what."

Melissa whipped her head around to stare at him. She instantly regretted the quick motion as she closed her eyes and shuddered in pain. Then reopened her eyes to look at him. There was an urge to smile at the offer, but she was still troubled.

"We know hu..mans and ponies think different. I don't...know how I'll think tomorrow...," she said worriedly. "Might not...want to."

To her absolute shock, Dan started started beating his wings. A moment later he did a wobbly flight over to her bed. Not having two legs must have thrown off his balance a great deal. With him being bed-bound for the last three weeks it was amazing he was even able to get into the air. He came down on the bed across from her, and the impact of his sudden landing shook the bed and made Melissa whimper yet again. Dan took a moment to regain his breath after the sudden bout of exertion before he met her eyes.

"Mel, you don't need to reply, because I don't like seeing you in pain as you talk, but I want you to listen to me," Dan said as held her gaze firmly, yellow eyes meeting yellow eyes. "We formed the Enclave because we knew that night ponies weren't up to task based on our basic instincts. We wanted to make sure other night ponies didn't end up like us while trying to protect. Tattered has done a good job with bringing us legitimacy and leading our ponies, but much as I hate to admit it both she and I are still subject to the same messed up instincts that the Equestrians like to criticize us for. We need a human to tell us when we aren't thinking straight. I can't believe you will forget what brought us to this, or that will stop mattering to you. We still need you, Mel."

"I was listening in from outside and I agree with Dan," came Tattered's voice. Melissa looked up, ignoring the pain, and saw both Tattered and Rudra standing at the door. Tattered was giving her normal look of pity and Rudra was scowling at Dan.

"Mr. Castillo! What are you doing out of your bed?" Rudra yelled as he marched over to the bed.

Dan looked sheepishly at the night pony doctor. "Um, I flew over here. Mel was upset."

"Oh, you flew? Well then, we shall have to begin a rehabilitation regimen for your flight," Rudra said with an instant improvement in his mood. "Now fly back to your bed, and I will discuss with Nurse Mist tomorrow how we shall proceed with that. Hopefully we can get you out of this place soon."

Melissa got one last sad look from Dan as he backed up in the bed to clear some space before spreading his wings again and launching back into clumsy flight back to his bed, doing a light crash into the pillows.

"You fly like a drunk bumble bee," Tattered said to Dan with a laugh.

"I'm doing more flying than you do, you lame penguin," Dan grumbled as he settled himself back into bed.

"Not for long, I'll be flying again tomorrow with luck. We can figure out flying again together," Tattered replied to him as she spread her wings with unabashed glee.

Talk of flying made Melissa want to cry again. She had already accepted she was never flying again, but this banter between them was just further reminder she was going to be something else soon. That there would be a divide between them that wasn't there before.

She tried to control her weeping but she caught the attention of all three of the others.

"Sorry, Mel, probably not the best thing to be talking about around you," she heard Dan say.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Tattered echoed, looking ashamed of herself.

"It's...okay," Melissa replied in a whisper. It was a lie, nothing was okay, but what else could she say?

"I know it's not the same, but maybe after you are human you can get a pilot license or something," Tattered offered in a hopeful tone.

It wasn't even close to the same thing. It was a pathetic substitute for flying with your own wings and magic. Of course, she was a pathetic creature that couldn't fly already. When she didn't reply Tattered walked over to her and propped herself up by her forelegs on the bed.

"Dan's right though. I really could use your help once this is all said and done. Even if you won't be a pony anymore you still shared your blood and pain along with us. You know what night ponies are prone to do and how we can't let them get hurt like we were," Tattered said gently, then averted her eyes away. "I'm ashamed to say I know nothing about what kind of human life you had before, but I do really wish you'd stay on with us after going back to being human. We built this group together, and we have purpose together. You still can have that same purpose with us here."

Melissa tried to raise her head to better look at her friend. She only lifted it about a centimeter before realizing she couldn't do more without crying out in pain. Purpose was a strong word, and maybe it was the one she needed to hear. She had no other home to return to, the Enclave was her home, and with the Enclave she had purpose.

"I-get...my own...office," Melissa said as she forced a smile through the pain.

Tattered smiled back at her. "I will make sure of it."

Tom sat on a floor with a fork gripped in his magic, casually stabbing at the leafy greens of the salad in front of him. He had no idea where his wife had found the stuff to make this, but he wasn't going to refuse it. It was a million times better than hay. Sitting here eating it with a fork felt like an almost human activity, and it brought some warped feeling of comfort.

A few feet away from him Sunset Blessing sat with her fork and salad both levitating in front of her as she ate. Having no trouble redirecting her magic to do multiple tasks at once. Phobia and Rosetta were both upstairs eating privately. Phobia preferred to eat with just Rosetta.

After Sunset finished chewing her most recent bite she turned and addressed him. "How much improvement is she showing? Has she even left her room yet since the other day?"

Tom shook his head. "Not really. She went to the bathroom a few times. Rosetta had to escort her there and back each time or she wouldn't leave the room. She won't even let me get too close to her. Rosetta says she is going to try to get her to come out on the porch for some fresh air tonight."

Sunset scrunched up her nose in frustration. "Yes, she wouldn't let me get too close either when I was giving them their food. I understand it, but we have to get her beyond this. Has Tonya come by? She was supposed to, but didn't mention it to me. Tonya's been oddly reserved the last few days and I'm starting to worry about her too."

"She was by for a little bit yesterday. I heard Rosetta let her in, and both she and Wild were here that night. Wild and Rosetta started yelling at each other before Tonya arrived. Don't know what all was said, I fell asleep early," Tom said before biting down on another bit of leafy greens.

"I'll just have to talk to Tonya about it when we go to bed tonight," Sunset said absently.

Tom didn't know how to respond to that. How was he supposed to take comments about how his wife was sleeping with some other pony, a mare at that, and likely doing much more than just sleeping in the same bed? Of course, it was hard to picture the pony that sat across from him as the woman he had known for so long. Of all the ponies that behaved differently after their transformation there was no more dramatic change than Sunset Blessing. His wife was all but a memory, replaced by this alien that had her voice and some memories.

Sunset must have picked up on what he was thinking. "Tonya is scared I'm going to be getting back together with you."

He looked up in shock. "Are you wanting to get back together with me?"

Sunset closed her eyes and shook her head. "No, definitely not, we're too different from one another now. I'd like to make peace between us though, maybe even be friends, for our daughter's sake."

"What happened to you, Charlotte?" Tom said as he set his fork down. "How did you change so much? I look and listen to you, I hear your voice and recognize it, I even recognize your scent, but what is being said sounds like something from a complete stranger. Phobia is more familiar to me than you are, and she changed sex."

Sunset looked up at him and he saw that fanatical fire in her eyes that had become so common as of late. "I made myself what I need to be for the future of our species. I'm not proud of everything I've done, but I'm proud of who I am. I'm Sunset Blessing, and ponies need Sunset Blessing, not Charlotte Gilmore. Charlotte was a weak-willed coward and bigot that is best forgotten."

"Funny how you talk about how you're no longer a bigot when you make it abundantly clear you look down on humanity," Tom said while frowning at her. "Or those who think it better we never left it."

"I want humanity to rise up and become something better, and we're something better. God gave us a gift," Sunset said as she stomped one of her hooves in protest.

"Not everyone is so convinced as you are, Charlotte," Tom said flatly.

He was now a pony for life. He had lost all hope for a return to humanity the night Phobia had been raped. To add salt to his wounds he hadn't even been able to stop the monster until it was too late in the process of getting his cutie mark. It was a cruel twisted joke, and his misery was the punchline.

He sat watching her as she angrily chewed her food. She looked up at him with an evil eye and said with a full mouth. "Are you wanting a response to that? You can probably imagine it for yourself. I'm trying hard to keep my temper in check and not fight with you."

"I was actually waiting for you to correct me about saying everyone instead of everypony," Tom said giving her a smug grin. Finding some perverse joy in the fact she had missed him saying it.

Sunset's gaped at him for a moment and then broke down into laughter. "Oh that, don't worry about that. I've actually been considering whether we should try to encourage ponies to use the old terms. It makes things feel more inclusive with the humans, making them more comfortable with us. A little bit of language can be sacrificed for the sake of that. You can consider yourself ahead of the curve, Tom."

Tom raised a brow at that. "You're actually encouraging ponies to be more humanlike in something? Maybe you aren't completely lost after all."

Sunset snorted at him as she set her salad down beside her. "I make plenty of concessions, it feels like all I ever do is make concessions." She paused and sighed before looking back at him with the edges of her ears drooping. "Speaking of which, there's going to be a rehumaization center opening here in a week."

His heart about stopped at that news. His gaze hardened, and he resisted the urge to scream at her. "Are you just trying to be deliberately cruel. You're telling me this right after I got marked just to rub it in that I won't be eligible for it? Are you ever going to be satisfied that I've hurt enough?"

"No, I'm not trying to be cruel," Sunset said with a shake of her head. She actually did look sorry. That didn't mean anything though. She could grin on the inside. "I'm sorry you aren't going to be getting your wish, that's just the way things are. I'm sorry about the circumstances that stopped that from being available for you, and I think I would be sorry even if it had been different."

"I don't buy it," Tom snarled back. "I might not know everything there is to know about Sunset Blessing, but I know that you're dead set on us all being mind controlled ponies. Don't you think you can fool me with sweet words. I'm not stupid."

The red unicorn mare let her nostrils flare as she stood to her hooves. "You listen here, and you listen good. I keep our ponies safe and work towards a better future for everyone. I think that future is best with us all being ponies, that is absolutely true. Ponies are not mindless creatures, and though our instincts might be a little off right now that will even out eventually, and it doesn't constitute being mind controled. If we were all mind controlled, as you like to claim, then we'd all be on the same page. The fact that you and I are even having this argument is a sign we are free thinking creatures."

She was breathing heavy and paused to catch her breath before continuing, "The reason I'm going to support that damn center is I learned today that those who are rehumanized retain some of their magic, if only a small amount. I'm hoping that if I can encourage humans who have been rehumanized to have large families. Then eventually humans can share in the same types of gifts ponies have, even if it is absurdly long process that would have been shortened just by making them all ponies to begin with--like it makes sense to do--but whatever works. I want to see the world blessed!"

"So, it's still all about your long term goals, rather than what they want? It's still about making a magical world that wasn't meant to be. You never stop do you?" Tom snapped back.

"What they want? You don't know anything about what they want," Sunset fumed back and pointed a hoof at the door.

Tears started to flow in her eyes as she continued. "Do you know how many people there are out there that are stuck in-between human and pony that honestly want to be ponies? The government won't let them get what they want. There are full humans that want the same. The government definitely isn't going to let them get what they want either. And do you know what I have to do with those stuck in between? I have to sit there with a smile on my face, knowing full well that they're better off as ponies, and try to encourage them to rehumanize; because that's what the fucking government wants. Fuck you for saying I don't care about what they want."

Tom just sat for a moment as she laid down and started blubbering into her forelegs. There would never be peace between them on this subject. She'd never convince him and he'd never convince her. However, even with all the hurtful words that had been said, the tempers that had raged, and the damage that had been done, even after all that it still broke his heart to see her sobbing like this.

He quietly stood up and walked over to her. He laid down next to her as he began running a hoof down her mane as she cried. He might have hugged her, but there was still a divide between them that made such intimate contact inappropriate. She was only his wife on technicality.

She kept on crying. It was hard to imagine Sunset Blessing crying like this, but he could imagine Charlotte Gilmore crying like this. It stirred memories in him, memories of other times she had been distraught back when she was someone he knew.

"Do you remember Mat...Phobia's first day of kindergarten?" He said to break the tension.

Sunset lifted her head up and looked at him. "How could I forget? When he...she didn't get off the bus at our bus stop I was terrified. I was so frantic that my baby was missing."

"And it turns out that...she...got on the wrong bus and was out in the middle of nowhere with a bus driver who was getting increasing frustrated that she didn't seem to know where she lived," Tom said with a sad laugh.

"I wanted to kill that driver," Sunset said with an equally sad laugh. "Asking a five year old for directions and expecting them to know."

"Or the time she was riding her bike with that other boy and the two of them got it in their heads to play chicken with one another," Tom said as he recalled the event.

"If it weren't for the fact she ended up in the hospital with a concussion after that I would have murdered her myself. So scared of everything yet so stupidly brave," Sunset said in a nostalgic tone.

"She gave us a lot of scares growing up," Tom said as he glanced up at the ceiling, wondering how much of this Phobia or Rosetta's pony ears could pick up.

"That she did," Sunset agreed. "She made it through all that though. She'll make it through again. It hurts me so much knowing what happened."

"I thought you we're going to kill the pony that did that to her. I know I wanted to. I think I only released him to you because I expected you to roast him alive," Tom said as his voice hardened, remembering his rage and the desire to keep crushing Swift Strike harder against the wall until he was truly crushed.

Sunset glanced over at him and then down at the ground. Then she whispered just loud enough he could barely make it out. "I did kill him...or at least, had somepony kill him for me."

Tom stared down at her in shock.

She continued In a harsh whisper that rose in volume with each new sentence. "That bastard hurt our daughter, he violated her. She finally got to be a mare and he desecrated her marehood. Nopony does that to my family and lives, NOPONY!"

"Charlotte...," Tom was at a loss for words. His wife had just admitted to murder. He had just admitted to her a moment before that he expected her to do murder, but hearing her admit she did was a whole other matter. This truly wasn't his wife. Charlotte would never murder someone, but apparently Sunset Blessing would.

He thought about how Phobia flinched away from him and everyone that visited her. He wasn't going to cast judgements on Sunset Blessing , he couldn't without casting judgements on himself. It was probably the most human thing she had done since becoming a pony, vengeance.

He looked down at his recent christened cutie mark, a shield. What was the full meaning of that mark? Shields were for protection. All that he had left was to protect his daughter.

Sunset stared up at him with eyes that clearly expected judgement and he considered her. For all their differences they still had Phobia that they both cared deeply for. Nothing could match the rage of a parent defending their child.

He bent down and gave Sunset Blessing a hug and spoke softly to her.

"We'll keep her safe, together."

Chapter 19

Tonya waited patiently outside of Phobia's house for Sunset to exit. She could just go in and find her lover, but the risk of Phobia learning that Tonya had possibly done something to hurt Sunset's mind was enough to keep her outside. It was well known to her how bloodthirsty Sunset could be when her family was at risk, Tonya didn't want to learn how like her mother Phobia could be after learning that her mother's mind was possibly damaged. Phobia had already made it abundantly clear how she felt about misuse of mind magic and that Tonya would not be spared her wrath.

It was well after the sunset that Sunset finally decided to make her way out of the house. The red unicorn paused on the porch as she saw Tonya hovering over the yard and gazed up at her with a confused expression.

"Tonya? How long have you been out here?" Sunset asked.

Tonya came down and landed next to her lover and gave a light nuzzle before answering. "I'm not really sure. It's been a while."

"Why didn't you just come in then? You're family, you know you're welcome here," Sunset asked her with a concerned brow raised.

Tonya bit her lip. She had no idea how to have any of this conversation. She couldn't talk about Phobia, she was also terrified of what Sunset would do after finding out that there might be long lasting damage due to the constant mind manipulation. The entire time she had been outside waiting she had been considering what to say and she still had nothing.

"Can we talk somewhere secluded? It's kind of important," Tonya said as she brought herself down from her hover in front of her lover.

Sunset kept her brow raised and then gestured with her head to a spot in the grass of the front yard. The unicorn then started walking to the indicated spot with Tonya following close behind.

When they got some measure of privacy Sunset turned and spoke. "What's this about? You didn't say much at all in bed last night while I was talking to you, and your normally very open with me. I'm worried about you."

Tonya bowed her head and spoke quietly. "I'm worried about me too. I lashed out with my powers this morning on Devon and my brother. It was strong, and I think I forcibly altered both their minds. I didn't mean to...it just happened."

"Tonya...," Sunset said with sympathy as she came close and embraced her. "We'll get you better at this, you just need more practice working on me and you'll learn to control things better."

Tonya jerked away from the embrace and looked at Sunset as she started crying. "That doesn't make what I did today okay or better. Plus, there's more to it. I might be hurting you by using my powers on you. Not just hurting you, but doing permanent damage to your mind."

"What are you talking about?" Sunset said with a disbelieving shake of her head. "I'm fine, you help make me better."

"You're not fine," Tonya said as she took a step back. "All that anger and lack of control of your emotions. I think me suppressing so much in you is screwing with them in ways I don't understand. I don't know what I'm doing, Sunset, and you're paying for my lack of understanding. Not just you, but my family, ponies like Number Crunch, and who knows who else. I don't want to hurt all of you. I want to be a good pony."

Sunset stared at her in shock and seemed to be looking for what to say. Tonya had more to say, even though she was terrified of what she needed to say.

"I love you, Sunset," Tonya said as she looked at Sunset through her clouded vision. "I love your conviction, I love your passion, I love how you're always ready to comfort me, I love you at your best and your worst, but I'm terrified. I'm terrified that you might only feel for me because I've made you feel that way, because I want it. I fear that you're addicted to me like a drug, and I keep you hooked on me with constant meddling with your mind. I'm scared that my selfishness makes everything a lie."

Sunset sat staring at her still with a stunned expression while Tonya went silent and waited for a response. Sunset eventually looked downwards as her face went through a series of different warring emotions. The unicorn then walked over to Tonya stiffly with a stern expression on her face, and Tonya stiffened as she prepared herself for the worst. Would Sunset denounce her, strike her, or do something worse like say she wanted her to leave and never come back?

Then to Tonya's amazement Sunset quickly pulled her into a tight hug. The amazement lasted only a moment before she broke down crying on Sunset's shoulder.

Sunset spoke quietly. "Whatever you may have done without meaning too, your love still shines through. You've always done what you can to support me, and now you come to me because you're concerned about me, knowing you risk my love for you in doing so. You aren't selfish Tonya, you're a good mare, and you deserve my love."

Tonya kept crying happy tears as Sunset gripped her tight. There was more she needed to discuss though.

"I need to tell you so much still," Tonya said as she pulled back from her lover's embrace. "For starters, Luna entered my dreams the other night and she saw part of what happened with me, Number Crunch, and Swift Strike. She saw me using mind magic. Also, I went to the Equestrians today because I was desperate for help."

"Luna seems to get around," Sunset said with a grimace and flick of her tail. "I had my own encounter with her. We can talk about that later though. What did the Equestrians say?"

"They had some sort of magic medallion that protected them from mind magic. They used it to measure how strong I actually am," Tonya recounted. "I'm strong, really strong. They had to stop me because I was going to exceed what their little knick-knack could handle. They say they are going to have a stronger medallion meant for me to wear that blocks me from using mind magic while wearing it. They also said they'd find somepony to teach me to have better control...as well as examine your mind for any damage I might have done."

Sunset looked uncomfortable. "While I appreciate what they will be doing for you I'm going to insist they don't touch my mind."

"But...," Tonya started to protest before Sunset put a hoof on her mouth.

"No buts," Sunset said firmly. "If you've done anything to me we're going to count it as over and done with. You've helped shape me to what I need to be, and I won't let them reduce me back to my cowardly and bigoted beginnings. If you feel uncomfortable continuing to use your powers on me I understand, but I don't want your work undone. I'm a better pony because of what you did."

"If you say so. I wish you'd at least let them check to see if I hurt you, but I respect your decision," Tonya said after Sunset removed her hoof.

"I didn't like who I was," Sunset said as she looked downward with a frown. She then looked up with a smile and continued, "but I'm proud of whom I've become. You love the current me too, and I want to stay that way."

"Always," Tonya said before leaning in and kissing her marefriend on the lips.

After the kiss Sunset gave her a coy smile. "Now let's head home. I seem to remember I owe you snuggle and smooching time. I intend to give you far more than just that though."

"Oh, I could really do for a peppermint stick," Tonya responded as she looked up at Sunset's horn.

"Peppermint stick?" Sunset asked in confusion.

"Your horn tastes like a peppermint stick," Tonya said with a chuckle. Earning a blush from Sunset.

Sunset looked back at Tonya and smirked. "Well, I think I could do with something creamy and salty myself."

Tonya blushed herself as the two left the yard.

Megan laid in her bed staring at the ceiling listening to the sounds of the house. It had been over three hours since Alex had sent his last message and she was still waiting to be sure her parents were asleep. She couldn't allow a confrontation to happen when leaving.

She never liked this house. Her parents had moved them all here away from their home in Spartanburg a few years ago so they could be official Charleston residents. Her dad wanted to run for congress in Charleston as it was considered more politically important than Spartanburg, and the family name carried more weight in Charleston anyway. They were Rutledges, descendants of the first official governor of South Carolina and second Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who had also signed the Declaration of Independence; and her dad had big political dreams because of their family history.

And until recently she was gearing herself to follow in her dad's footsteps. She was a political science and criminal justice double major at Harvard. Her dad had already been having her start coming to fundraising parties with him in order for her to start meeting people. There were a few congressmen that he had been talking her up to about taking her on as an aide after graduation just to get her foot in the door.

She was about to do as her sister had done and toss that all in the trash. Mandy had told her this was a bad idea, and maybe it was a bad idea. Megan had something that her dad seemed to have lost track of though, convictions and love of family. Her parents had tossed her siblings aside like they didn't even matter, and she couldn't stay under a roof with her parents if they only had love for their status, she didn't want to become that.

She sat up and looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost midnight. Her parents had gone to bed around nine, but she knew they watched the news and read a bit before going to sleep. They were hopefully asleep by now though.

She quietly got up and pulled her large luggage bag out of the closet and opened it up. Earlier in the day she had already gotten some of her clothes and blankets into her car. Her parents had caught her doing it but she had been prepared. She had them all in laundry baskets and had deliberately dumped chocolate pudding all over her largest comforter. She claimed that she was going to take them to the laundromat because their washer wasn't big enough to properly wash her comforter--which wasn't a lie--and she already had a huge bag of quarters and laundry detergent at the ready. They had bought it.

Now it was time for more personal belongings, things she couldn't have made excuses about taking out to her car earlier. Things that were sentimental in value. She couldn't bring everything, but she could bring the things that mattered most to her.

Her gazed passed around the room as she tried to start making decisions. So many things, so many memories.

She went back to her bed and grabbed her teddy bear, Mr. Roosevelt, from the bed. Her mom and dad had given him to her for Christmas when she was five, and she had never stopped sleeping with him; she even brought him to Harvard with her. He may be a tie to her parents, but it wasn't something she was leaving behind now after years of snuggling with. Into the luggage Mr. Roosevelt went.

The teddy bear reminded her of her sister's lost collection. She went over to her closet and carefully pulled out a sealed cardboard box and opened it with care. Inside were toys from her childhood that she had wanted to save to give to her own future children. This would need to be abandoned now, but she knew one thing that she wanted to take.

She reached in and pulled out a rainbow-colored unicorn stuffed animal and looked at it. When Megan was six- or seven-years old Mandy had gotten one just like this and Megan had pitched a fit that she didn't get one too. Their parents decided to buy one for her as well. Mandy's was now just ashes in the backyard. Megan could give this to her sister to give some small gesture of condolence for what she had lost.

She frowned. Was it possibly rude to give her sister a stuffed unicorn considering unicorns were now a real thing? This one didn't look anything like an actual unicorn, that probably made it alright. Mandy would understand the intent of the gesture if anything was weird about it. Into the luggage the unicorn went.

She stood back up and looked at what else was in the closet. She grabbed her senior high school yearbook and placed her high school diploma as well as her acceptance letter from Harvard into its pages. Into her luggage then went the yearbook with its contents. She looked at the rest of the closet's contents and sighed. There was a lot here, but nothing that stood out more than the other things surrounding them.

She walked over to her dresser and mirror and looked over the contents. She grabbed a velvet bag and started stuffing all her jewelry into it. She'd pause and look over certain pieces of jewelry that had special meaning; pieces given as gifts for special occasions or were heirlooms handed down. Many of those heirloom pieces were rightfully Mandy's as the oldest child, but their parents had bypassed giving them to Mandy in favor of her. She didn't know if Mandy had any desire for jewelry as a pony, rings in particular seemed useless to a pony. Megan would still be the owner of all this, and she intended to hold on to them. Into the luggage the bag filled with jewelry went.

On her mirror there were photos stuffed into the edges or taped up. She carefully removed each one and placed them with care into the pages of her old diary. The diary with the photos went into the luggage.

She pulled open a drawer with important papers in it. She grabbed up a folder that had all her bank statements and information. She added to it her title for her car as well as her birth certificate and passport. Into the luggage those went. She wished she knew where Mandy's and Alex's birth certificates were, they might need them, but she had no clue.

The passport made her think of a few other items and she walked over to a nearby hanging shelf. On it were souvenirs of her summer tour of Europe she had taken right after graduating high school. She couldn't take them all, but she could take a few. She decided that she'd bring the snow-globes that she had collected representing each country that she had visited; United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Italy, and Greece. She carefully wrapped each in a separate small towel and placed them into the luggage.

At this point there wasn't much room left in her luggage, those snow-globes took up a lot of space alongside the two stuffed animals. She did one last quick scan around the room to see if there was anything else important. She grabbed her cellphone charger and hairdryer, and those took up the remainder of the space she had. She zipped the luggage closed and set it down on the floor.

Next, she walked over to her work desk and grabbed the bag for her laptop computer. She put the laptop in and triple checked to make sure she had all the plugs, USB drives, and wires that she needed. She placed a set of ear buds into the bag as well and closed it up. The laptop's bag was placed over by her luggage.

She then grabbed up her purse and opened it up. She double checked to make sure she had her bank card, credit card, social security card, driver's license, insurance cards, and everything else of that sort. She didn't want anything important to be left behind by accident. Once she was satisfied that everything was there she added her cellphone to the purse and pulled out the car keys.

She carefully slipped the purse over one shoulder, the bag for her laptop over the other, and then grabbed the handle for her luggage before looking around her room one last time. She then opened up her door and went out into the dark hallway.

Looking down at her parents' closed bedroom door her courage faltered for just a moment. Was she really going to do this? She could just go back into her room and forget the whole thing. Mandy and Alex would understand. Mandy had actually advised her to just stay.

Her resolve hardened as she thought about what their parents had done to her siblings. She needed to go.

"Goodbye mom, goodbye dad," she said in a whisper as she held back tears and turned and started walking for the front door.

In the living room she paused briefly to pull a note she had written earlier out of her purse and set it carefully on the middle of the living room coffee table. She then carefully opened the door, making sure it didn't make too much noise and then exited the house, shutting the door behind her.

Once she was at her car she carefully loaded everything in her car, and it was now that fear really started setting in. What if her parents woke up when she started her car? What would she do?

She shook her head. She couldn't worry about that right now. If they woke up they would probably just think it was some other car nearby or something. If they did realize it was hers all she could do was get on the road as quick as she could and just hope they didn't try to come after her.

After getting everything loaded she got into the car and did a quick check over everything inside. She did a double check of the glove box and found her taser. Her dad had wanted her to get a concealed weapon permit and a gun, but she really didn't like guns. Right now though she was kind of wishing she had done that though. She was driving out to somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the dead of night and it was scary to think about. A little more protection and security would have been nice.

She took a deep breath before starting up the car and backing out of the driveway. As she reached the end of the driveway and the beginning of the road her heart about stopped as a light flickered on in the house. She didn't wait to see if her parents would come out the door; she pulled onto the road and drove off.

She got all the way onto King Street and almost to the interstate exit before her phone started ringing in her purse. She let off a sob as she ignored it. The car was stopped at the light to turn onto the interstate and she was tempted to just run the light and get farther away from her parents as quick as possible. It must have been only a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity for the light to turn green.

The car turned into the interstate and was soon going seventy down it. There weren't many other cars on the road at all, and she had to restrain herself from going faster. The last thing she needed right now was to be pulled over for speeding. Seventy was all she was willing to risk for the moment.

Twenty-five minutes into driving she reached Summerville and decided to turn off to make sure she was completely topped off on gas. After Summerville there wasn't any twenty-four-hour gas stations for a pretty long stretch. She had filled up earlier that day but wanted to be absolutely sure she was good for the full trip. Plus, she could really use something to calm her nerves, maybe a coffee or something.

After pulling off the exit ramp and into the parking lot the phone started ringing yet again. Again after a few rings the voicemail caught it. She then heard a series of blips from the phone that indicated she was being texted. She pulled the car in front of a pump and turned the car off.

She pulled the phone out of her purse and saw two missed calls and a large amount of texts from her parents. Not bothering to read the texts or listen to the voicemails she sent off an angry text back saying to leave her alone and she wasn't coming back. She then turned the phone off and connected it to the car charger.

The gas station wasn't busy, but it was open. She topped her car off on gas and then walked into the gas station.

There was one cashier on duty, an older man who watched her warily. There was also a pegasus stallion standing right on the checkout counter who seemed to have been having a conversation with the old man. The pegasus watched her as well.

She tried not to pay them much attention as she walked around the store and browsed for some sort of snacks. She grabbed an energy drink from the cooler and a bag of beef jerky and headed to the counter.

"Will this be all for you?" The man asked as she laid the items down on the counter.

She looked at the cigarettes behind him. She really wanted alcohol, but she was only nineteen and they'd check her ID for sure. She had never smoked before, aside from a single marijuana joint when she was traveling overseas, but tonight seemed the kind of night to start.

"Pack of Marlboro lights, and a lighter," she responded as she started pulling out her ID.

The old man turned back to go gather the item. "Hundreds or shorts?"

"Hundreds, I guess," she said with a wave of her hand, not really knowing the difference.

The pegasus raised an eye at her as he listened to her voice. "Having a rough night?"

"Really rough night," she answered as the older gentleman took her ID and scanned it. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about Riverview, would you?"

"Just that most the ponies in these parts took off and left for it," the pegasus said with a shrug.

She passed her debit card over to the cashier and took her ID back as she looked at the pegasus quizzically. "Why are you still here?"

"Family is all still human except for me. No reason to leave my family, or to ask them to uproot themselves to let me be around more ponies," the pegasus explained with yet another shrug. "Still a few ponies left on the area. I'm not completely alone."

"You should be going home to bed, Phil," the old man said. "You know you don't do so well staying up late. Your family will be worried."

"Probably right on that," the pegasus said with a yawn. He looked back at Megan. "Hope whatever's bothering you works out little lady."

"It will work out," Megan answered as she took back her card and took her bag of items.

She left the store and went back to her car. A moment later she saw the pegasus come out of the store with the old man seeing him out. They said their goodbyes to one another and the pegasus took off into the sky.

Megan took a moment to pull out the pack of cigarettes and started packing it down like she had seen people do before. She then opened it up and put one in her lips and lit it up while inhaling in. She started coughing for a good few seconds after and scowled, then tried again. She kept at it till she felt she had the hang of it and even felt a bit of a buzz from it. She then rolled down the window to let the cloud of smoke that had built up out.

Within a minute or two she was back on the road and then back on the interstate. She punched into her GPS system Riverview and the system started giving directions. It would take a little over two hours of driving to get there.

Forty more minutes into driving she left the interstate. It would be back roads for most of the rest of the way. Most of these roads passed in and out of small towns with lots and lots of nothing in between except for woods. They were still technically state highways, but they were now down to just one lane going each direction, and many of them were in poor condition. Many of these required her to make turns onto other roads and without her brights on she would never have even noticed the side road.

Boredom and anxiety became more oppressive as she spent the final hour on the road. She quickly ate through all the jerky and drank all her energy drink. She wished she had bought more of each, the energy drinks in particular, but far too late to worry about that now. To pass time, and to distract herself, she practiced smoking. It gave her a bit of a headache after about four cigarettes in a row and she started feeling ill. She figured she was having too many too close together and decided she needed to space those out more. This left her with nothing to do for longer stretches but focus on the road, and it made her surroundings feel more oppressive without something to focus on.

At around three-thirty in the morning she finally saw the sign for Riverview and slowed down to only fifteen miles per hour. It was a simple enough sign that gave a big welcome, and had a new sign hammered onto it that stated population over fifteen thousand with a happy face drawn next to it, and a message beneath it saying the pony capital of South Carolina. The word Carolina seemed to have been tacked on at the last moment.

She felt a certain relief as she saw it. Even though she had driven much farther and for greater periods of time in the past this trip felt like the longest of her life. For better or for worse she had reach where her new home would be.

Very shortly after passing into town she spotted two night ponies sitting on the porch of a house, watching her. Neither was her sister; one was a dark blue and the other was grey, she knew her sister was brown. The light of the car's light caught their eyes and seemed to make them glow, despite not shining directly at them at any point. She couldn't help being reminded of wolves when she saw this and shivered.

Continuing into town she saw similar houses, though the rest were devoid of night ponies. As she drove deeper into town the scattered houses gave way to brick buildings placed close together, all of which were clearly shops. Signs hung on all the windows that looked fresh, but she couldn't read what any of them were. Very few of these had any signs hanging above declaring what the business happened to be.

She spotted night ponies again sitting on top of many of the buildings watching her drive by, and a few shadows darted through the air that she was sure were more night ponies. They didn't seem to be making any effort to keep hidden, unlike when they were in Charleston and knew they were there but couldn't see them.

After a minute or two past these she saw her destination. The very obvious town hall. Sitting just outside the doors was a pony that was very clearly her sister. Megan had spent a lot of time looking at the picture Alex had sent her and Mandy had a very distinct appearance. Mandy stood to her hooves and started walking out to her as Megan pulled her car into park in front of the town hall.

As soon as she had the car parked and off Megan threw off her seat-belt and dashed out of the car towards Mandy. She caught her sister by surprise as she rushed over to her and bent down to grab her into a hug. Mandy quickly brought one of her forelegs up to hug back, as well as put her wings around her. Megan started crying as she and Mandy sat silently hugging one another outside the town hall.

Eventually Megan released her sister and looked down at her. "You look like shit."

Mandy smiled and raised an eyebrow at her. "You look pretty crappy yourself, and you smell terrible. Have you been smoking? You reek of it. Since when do you smoke?"

"Since tonight, it was something to distract myself with and help with nerves," Megan said as she deflated. "Mom and Dad heard me leaving, and I probably have a dozen voicemails on my phone by now from them. I'm afraid to even check."

Mandy looked down the road as if expecting their parents to come speeding down it at any moment. Megan couldn't help but feel the same way as she glanced anxiously in that direction as well. Back when she had stopped in Summerville she had a small fear then that they would pull into the parking lot and try to force her to return home.

Mandy looked upwards and Megan followed her gaze to a night pony perched on a nearby building. Mandy made some sort of gesture at the night pony and then pointed with a wing back down the road. Megan saw the night pony nod and take off in that direction.

"We'll make sure they don't trouble you," Mandy said in a consoling tone. She then rose to her hooves. "Let's get in your car so I can get you to the house and get you settled in so you can get some sleep. I'm sure you have to be exhausted. I warn you, it isn't much, and it is pretty empty. I'm already making plans for the three of us to find someplace bigger though."

"Alright, Mandy," Megan said as she stood back up.

Mandy gave her a disapproving frown. "I stressed that a few times, but will again now; my name is Tattered Wing, not Mandy. You can use some variation of that, but I'm going to stick to my guns about that. I have many reasons I want to leave that name behind me."

"Yes, Tattered," Megan corrected herself. She wanted to ask about what those reasons were, but it was late. Her sister was right, she was tired and ready to get some sleep.

Chapter 20

Amanda returned from her early morning walk with Jackie following close by her to see that Paul had returned from his time out and about that evening. He and Robby had gone out and explored around town together while Devon caught up on her sleep.

She had been a little surprised how much Devon had thawed out to him over the course of their walk yesterday. When they had returned from their walk they had been all smiles and seemed like a perfectly happy married couple despite all the hard feelings that Devon had been holding and the clear apprehension that Paul had showed. She wasn't going to complain since that was what she was eager to see, but it still felt weird for some reason.

"Did you have a good evening together?" She asked the man and his son.

Robby was entranced again by his comic book, but Paul smiled over to her. "Yeah, it was a good night. Robby and I got a good lay of the land together. He had a pretty good memory of a lot of it to guide me some, but we explored a bit more than he had seen."

Robby looked up from his comic book and grinned. "We saw a lot of night ponies flying around town. I can't wait till I can fly too."

Paul laughed. "Yeah, Robby had to point every single night pony out to me. We actually met a few that came down and talked to us. They all commented on how cute Robby was."

"I'm not cute, I'm fierce," Robby protested as he spread his wings in what was supposed to be a threatening gesture. It just made him look cuter though.

"A number of them did look pretty fierce that we met, at least at first. Once you start talking to them they loosen up a lot and get pretty chatty," Paul said.

Amanda gave a chuckle. "Ponies are pretty friendly by nature, even the fierce ones. I've got to head out of here to take care of something, and I won't be back until late. Remember to make sure your wife is up and ready to get to her interview later. I'll be there too, but I won't be stopping by here again first. Make sure she doesn't oversleep."

"Where are you going? I'm sure Devon will ask me," Paul said with a curious look.

"Oh, Devon knows about it already," Amanda said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. "I need to go help with the fields. Farming isn't really my thing, but they pretty much drafted every adult earth pony in town into this for today. I'll still be there at the interview trying to get a teaching job as well."

"Well, good luck. I'll make sure my wife's up with plenty of time to get there," Paul said as he glanced over to the sleeping form of Devon. Jessie was already starting to stir from her slumber.

Amanda left the tent with Jackie following close beside her once again. She kept her pace slow in order to not outdistance the filly. She couldn't help feeling like a major burden had been lifted now that Jackie seemed to have lost her ability to fly. With her no longer being able to take to the air the filly seemed almost shy and clingy in public, a sharp contrast to her more energetic and temperamental behavior when in the tent. Perhaps it had something to do with comfort in her surroundings.

That earned a frown as she considered it. If that was the case Jackie would get to being less well behaved as she got more used to the town. Amanda would have to start trying to impress some discipline on the filly in the next few months. She was young, but she was intelligent. Amanda had noted that Jackie had already gotten to where she could recognize certain words and seemed to know what they meant. It was time to start teaching her some behaviors.

The thing that made that harder was the fact that she was going to be leaving Jackie in other ponies' care for upwards of ten hours a day for five days a week come fall. That would have her daughter learning who knew what from random ponies. This was a critical period of development and what she was learning now was foundational to her personality. Jackie's developmental education was highly important and should have some structure to it.

There was one possible solution and it made her scowl. She could get back into dating again. It didn't feel like enough time had passed since her husband had passed. She didn't feel ready to move on yet. The wound was still too fresh. The fact remained that Jackie needed a second parent though. It felt wrong thinking about getting involved with some stallion just for the sake of practicality, but she couldn't help thinking that way.

Of course, there was filling the personal void in her life as well. Making herself move on might be the preferable thing to do. His death was something she'd never get over, but her life wasn't over. She didn't need to just latch onto the first stallion that came along either. On a practical note it expanded her life beyond Jackie. Jackie was probably the biggest part of her life, but she couldn't neglect herself completely. Her own mother had done that as a single parent, and it had made her mother very bitter over the years.

She just had no idea what she wanted in a stallion beyond a good parent for Jackie. She didn't know what appealed to her now that she was a pony, or what would not feel like simply trying to replace her Paul. She'd probably get a better feeling for this if she started dating again.

She got so lost in thought that she barely noticed how much time had passed. Before she knew it she was coming up to the miles and miles of fields. In a panic she turned to check on Jackie, feeling incredibly negligent that she hadn't been paying attention to her filly. She let off a sigh of relief to find Jackie still sticking close by her.

There was a huge amount of activity going on in the fields already, despite the early hour. There were hundreds, perhaps over a thousand earth ponies already here working diligently. They were pulling weeds, tilling soil, and more. Standing on a wooden platform overlooking the fields was a white earth pony stallion with a silvery oak tree for a cutie mark, Pale Oak. Beside him were a pair of unicorns and a pegasus she recognized as Amber.

Not sure what she should be doing she trotted over to the wooden platform to get direction and find out who was going to be watching Jackie as she worked.

Amber spotted her and gave her a smile as she came up to the platform. "Hi there! I recognize ya from the other day, though don't think I caught ya're name."

"I'm Amanda, Amanda Wilson," Amanda answered with a smile. "I know we didn't get properly introduced."

"That we didn't. I'm Amber...Amber Flowers," Amber said as she scrunched her nose up in disgust for some reason. "And that is all my human name, not a pony one. Just call me Amber. If ponies start calling me by first and last name I have a feeling I'll get some flower cutie mark just as some big joke from the universe."

"No mention of Flowers from me if you don't want me to, though it's a pretty name," Amanda said with a nod.

"It may be pretty, but until I get a cutie mark in something I want to have a cutie mark in I ain't risking it," Amber responded as she ran a hoof in front of her as if warding off evil. She then took to a low hover and indicated Amanda should follow. "Let's get ya set up. I'll lead ya to where the foals are being taken care of and then see where ya're needed out in all this."

Amanda nodded as she followed close by the low flying pegasus. "If you don't mind me asking, what's a pegasus doing helping with the fields? It seems like an all earth pony job."

Amber pointed upwards with a hoof. "I've got a few pegasi up in the air keeping track of what's going on down below. There's a lot of area being worked so eyes in the sky help keep track of things. Pale Oak might think he's running the show, but he doesn't really have a clue what's going on out in them fields standing on that platform."

One of Amanda's ears flicked as she gave the pegasus a confused expression. "So, what exactly is he doing?"

"Looking impressive, think it motivates the mares to see his big muscular form. I know I could stare at his flanks all day myself," Amber said in a low voice filled with mirth and a hint of lust. "He's a good sort, and ponies do listen when he talks, but I'm not sure he's as bright as that pearly white coat of his. Honestly, we could use a different lead earth pony, but then we'd all lose opportunities to stare at him and have our daydreams."

Amanda giggled. She had to admit that the stallion did look attractive. If he wasn't that intelligent she doubted he would appeal to her though.

Amber led Amanda to a crystal pony stallion named Calvin who would watch Jackie for her. He was rather quiet, but seemed to do well with foals, and had three others he was watching. There were many other ponies, as well as a few humans and humans with pony features, each watching small groups of foals. A few stray human children could be seen about too, standing out like giants beside similarly aged foals.

She was then led out to the fields to get to work. There was a lot to do. Most of these had sat abandoned for long periods of time. Various plants ran wild throughout the fields, there were bushes and trees that needed to be removed, seeds to plant, and litter that needed to be cleared out.

It gave her mixed feelings. There was the one part of her that detested the idea of farming, and that she was getting drafted into it, but there was another part of her that was almost eager to dig in and get these fields in order. That was likely her earth pony instincts. She wasn't sure how to feel about the fact they were strong enough she could feel them at work on her thinking.

She flicked her tail, dismissing the thoughts. No matter what there was work to do right now, and it was just a one time thing anyway. She trotted over to a group of ponies working to uproot some trees that had taken root in the field and joined in putting her earth pony strength to work.

Wild walked along the outline of the fields with a few helpers as she watched the earth ponies of town hard at work. By her figuring she really should be in the fields helping as well, but there needed to be controls set for tomorrow when she unleashed her magic on the fields.

"Why are we doing this again?" asked Franklin, an older human, and native town resident. With him were several other humans and a few unicorns laying out tar. The ground had already been dug out in outline and covered in gravel. Another round of travel around with quick drying cement was still to come.

Wild's ears twitched as she looked at their progress so far. "We need to make sure the outlines of the field are covered with something that can't grow plants. My magic travels across the surface of the soil for as far as it can reach before it finds a surface that can't grow plants. This barrier, though it is only on the top, will keep my magic contained. Keeping my magic contained keeps the town safe."

The older man kept walking and spreading cement as be went. "Still not sure I believe what folks are saying you can do--no offense. It just sounds like a tall tale."

"Believe it," Wild said as she turned her attention back to the ground they walked to make sure everything was spread right. "I almost hurt a lot of ponies and my human family as well when I first did it. Getting my cutie mark was probably the most terrifying few minutes of my life--you need a little more tar right here."

"Well, I'll believe it when I see it," Franklin said as he backed up and better covered the patch of gravel with more tar.

"I'll be happy to amaze you tomorrow then," Wild said with a small smirk as she continued to supervise the makeshift carrier's construction.

"What's it like, being a magic pony and just being able to fix everything with hocus pocus?" Franklin asked as he resumed going forward.

Wild forced her ears to not lay back, instead they seemed to just shake and sputter on her head. "I can't just fix everything with magic. I feel just as helpless as I ever did sometimes."

Franklin paused for a moment and gave her a long considering look. "Something bother'n you? Even though I might not be a pony I still have concern for others. Townfolk is like a big family, and all you ponies are part of this town now. Family looks out for one another."

Wild smiled a little as her ears picked up a bit. "I appreciate hearing that, and I'm sure all the other ponies would be glad to hear that too, but this is something I want to keep private...for the moment anyway. I thank you for your concern though."

"Well, I can respect a lady's privacy. I hope whatever it is that's weigh'n on your mind works out soon. Anything as cute as a pony shouldn't have a longer face than what they already have," Franklin said as he resumed his walk, pushing the contraption that spread the tar.

They walked on in silence for a few minutes. After a while they stopped again as they saw a happy commotion off to their side.

"We got a new cutie mark over here!" A stallion shouted with excitement as he pointed towards a small crowd.

The team making the barrier sat and watched the ponies gathering to congratulate whoever the pony was that had earned their mark. Though many of those who had gotten marks earlier had gotten them with little fanfare, it had become something of a ritual as of late for ponies to stop to celebrate newly gained marks. It was a momentous occasion each time now.

After watching for a moment Wild finally spotted the pony in question. A rose-pink earth pony mare. Wild couldn't make out the mark from where she was standing, but she did see that the mare looked a bit uncomfortable with all the attention she was getting, even if she was smiling. As Wild watched it seemed many of the ponies seemed to be catching onto the mare's shyness, since they started dispersing from her after offering final congratulations.

Wild sniffed at the air briefly and smelled a few familiar scents near her.

"Hello Number. Hello Sunset," she said as she turned to greet the two unicorns standing behind her.

"You're the first pony that has caught my scent before I announced myself," Sunset said with a grin and flicked her tail. "I don't do it on purpose, but my smell seems to just not be that noticeable."

"Maybe I just have a good nose," Wild replied. Sunset did indeed have a weaker musk to her. Phobia had complained multiple times of not being able to pick up on her mother until Sunset spoke.

"We need to borrow you for a few minutes to continue our discussion from yesterday," Number said as she glanced over at the crew laying out the barrier.

"We got this, little lady, go take care of what you need to," Franklin said and the rest of the crew nodded in agreement.

Wild frowned in response. She did need to talk to these two, but she wanted everything to be absolutely right with this barrier. If her magic breached the barrier it could cause havoc. Her power was not something to be taken lightly and controlling the environment they worked in was exceedingly important. She didn't want to be responsible for hurting anypony by letting her magic run amok.

Number walked over to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "The fact that you take making sure everything is right seriously is very commendable, Wild, but you can't be responsible for everything."

That was easy for Number to say. Ponies couldn't get seriously injured or hurt because of anything Number did.

"Alright, but I'm going to come triple check everything afterwards," Wild acquiesced.

Sunset nodded and began leading them away from the fields.

They walked for several minutes in silence until they were in the abandoned warehouse and industrial district. There were few ponies about in this location. That indicated that this conversation was going to touch on subjects that they'd all prefer to be kept private.

As they neared one of the abandoned warehouses Sunset began speaking. "Number told me about your conversation yesterday. The two of us had a long conversation about what could be done to aid you, and how you could aid us."

That last part felt like how we can take advantage of you to Wild's ears. She wasn't a fool, she knew to Sunset she was just another tool in bigger plans. She heard how her sister and Number talked about the red unicorn. She'd even listened to Tattered Wing talk about Sunset a few times with Rosetta and Phobia when they didn't realize that she was in earshot. Sunset had been good to her so far though.

"And what kinds of ideas did you come up with?" Wild asked as Sunset used her magic to open a rusted metal door to the warehouse.

"What I'm going to discuss with you is not to be discussed with anyone," Sunset stressed as they entered into the warehouse and Sunset shut the door behind them. "Not even any of your family. This is classified government information, and I'm only sharing with you because I hope to bring you into our inner circle to help with the good work."

"You've got my silence if you can help me find ways to help my mama," Wild said. She was eager to find out exactly what she was getting herself into.

"Ways of doing that will take time to develop. I promise that we'll deliver a way to help her eventually though. I just want to be sure you're not going to turn on us if this takes years," Sunset said as she looked Wild in the eyes.

"You can promise results?" Wild said with a raised eyebrow.

Sunset seemed to consider her answer. "I can promise that every effort will be made, and that I have an idea that seems like it is within the realm of what we can accomplish in a few years--given enough study. It's something that I think the government might be willing to support and aid us in developing, despite their disapproval of ETS."

"I'll help however I can if that's the case," Wild said.

"Good, now let me explain what I have in mind," Sunset said as she let out a sigh. She must have been nervous that Wild would refuse. "Sunset Shimmer was on Earth for more than twenty years, masquerading as a human. We know that whatever she used on herself was not any variation of ETS or the rehumanization spell."

Wild nodded. That made sense. Sunset Shimmer would have cut herself off from using her magic if she had used a transformation spell like ETS to turn herself into a human.

"After some of our associates did some questioning we learned that the Equestrians have actually had a different transformation spell for centuries," Sunset explained as she began walking around. "It isn't a spell like ETS, it doesn't actually change the core of what you are, and it wears off, often in just a few hours. A powerful unicorn like Sunset Shimmer likely had ways of maintaining it for longer periods, but even the few hour version could be of great use to us."

"And the government would be okay with this spell why? It just seems like ETS-light," Wild asked with a flick of her tail.

"Because it solves one of their problems as well," Number spoke up. "The rehumanization spell doesn't work on ponies with cutie marks. It wouldn't actually change a pony into a human, just give them the shape of one for a few hours, but it gives the government a way to let ponies operate as humans again for periods. Like they are taking regular doses of a medication."

"And on the reverse side it would work for making a human temporarily a pony for a few hours," Sunset said as she took control again the conversation. "Mind you that this wouldn't actually cure your mother's Parkinson's, but while she was in pony form it would be like she didn't have it since her biology is actually transformed for that period. When the spell ends each time she would revert back to her human form as it was before, including the Parkinson's."

It wasn't a perfect solution, but it gave her mama a chance for a more happy and productive life. "And you really think you can develop this and that the government will be okay with it?"

Sunset nodded with enthusiasm. "The Equestrians have known this spell for centuries and it is well documented over there. The government wants us to learn to be able to do anything they can do, they fear having all that power in the possession of a foreign power like Equestria without the United States being able to match it. Plus, they get their human-shaped ponies out if it. What do I care what physical shape a pony is in as long as they are actually a pony?"

It seemed like a good route to take, one that would make everyone happy. Most of all it could help her mom. She looked back at Sunset and raised a hoof out to her.

"I'm in. What do you need from me?"

Rosetta paced around the living room swatting her tail at nothing with each turn as her fiancée and future father-in-law trying to calm her.

"Rosetta, I'll be okay for a few hours. You don't have to watch over me constantly. Dad will be right here anyway," Phobia said calmly as she gestured with a wing to the sickly-colored green unicorn.

Rosetta stopped and laid her ears back and restrained herself from growling. "I don't like leaving your side for any period of time."

"You have to give her some space. You can be as smothering as every other person too," Tom said as he watched the exchange.

"But John is still out there somewhere," Rosetta whinnied in frustration and anger at Tom. "He could come back at any time and hurt her again."

"That's highly doubtful, and I'll be right here to watching her anyway," Tom said with sigh. He then looked pleadingly at her. "You know that the two of you need to be earning an income, you have a baby on the way, and Phobia is not going to be up to work for a while. You need to go do this interview, for the good of your family."

"I don't know why you are suddenly pushing me on this, Dad," Rosetta snapped back. "Up until yesterday you were as adamant as me about keeping her guarded. Now all the sudden you are joining in the chorus your wife started about me needing to get a job. Since when do you take her side?"

Tom frowned and looked down at the floor with his ears lowered. "I've reconsidered the level of danger Swift Strike presents. I don't think he'll be back. I think it's time for you two to get back to living your lives."

Rosetta narrowed her brow and swished her tail violently. "What did Sunset Blessing say to you that convinced you of that? I see no reason to let my guard down."

Tom let off a sad chuckle. "It's funny how you feel comfortable calling me dad but refuse to give Charlotte the same dignity. Not that I blame you, but it's a funny observation."

"She makes my fur stand on end, she creeps me out," Rosetta said as she did one final swat with her tail and let it fall still.

"She and I strongly disagree on almost everything," Tom said as if he was sucking on a lemon. His comment was a definite understatement, "but we both want the best for the two of you. She and I agree that you getting out of the house and trying for this position would be good for you, and for Phobia by extension. That's why Charlotte pulled strings to get you included in the interviews for teachers."

"I never worked as a teacher before, I'm not sure I'm qualified. Plus, I sleep in the afternoons, that makes teaching day ponies and humans pretty hard," Rosetta said as she searched for excuses about why this was a bad idea.

"There will probably be night pony foals that need teaching, and human children that some parents might prefer to put into night classes for whatever reason. You could also do half days," Phobia suggested. "You want to teach at a university, this is a good opportunity for you to get your hooves wet on that."

Rosetta looked at Phobia and started flicking her tail again. "Sometimes I wish you would be less supportive."

Phobia stood up and walked over to her. Once Phobia was close she gave Rosetta a kiss and rubbed her nose against Rosetta's before backing up a step.

"I'll be okay with just Dad watching me, I'm not made of glass. You know we need the money, and can't keep relying on your sister for everything," Phobia said in a tone firmer than the expression on her face.

"Are you sure? If John comes back and kills you I'll be very angry at you," Rosetta pouted.

"I'll be fine," Phobia said again with a forced smile that Rosetta didn't buy. "Just go to this interview and come right back home to me. Maybe today after getting out you'll make more progress with my nightmares."

Rosetta snorted. "Not likely. Luna told me yesterday that she's busy today, and I'm going to have a substitute teacher today."

Phobia gave her a baffled look. "Substitute teacher? Who would be able to sub in for Luna?"

Rosetta gave Tom a wary glance and talked in a hushed voice. "One of your coworkers. Apparently she spent a lot more time with about three of them and those ones are fully trained. I'm not sure which one though."

"Really?" Phobia said in amazement. "I really need to get back to functioning so I can catch up."

"What kind of coworkers are these?" Tom asked as he glanced between the couple.

Rosetta looked at Phobia for Phobia to give an answer. Phobia looked over at her dad and gave him a shake of her head. "I can't talk to you about it, Dad. I can tell you that it's really important work and that you would probably approve of some aspects of it and really wish you didn't know about other aspects. Let's just say this is strictly night pony business, but I won't have any chance of getting hurt doing it."

"Why does everyone in this family have to be so secretive," Tom humphed in frustration as he crossed his forelegs. "Isn't that supposed to be one of those big positives about being a pony that you all try to drill in me? That we're all supposed to be open and honest with one another?"

"Sorry Dad, but secrets keep us safe. In this case secrets keep me safe," Phobia said apologetically. She turned back to Rosetta. "You know what you're supposed to do with whoever it is, right? You're subject to the same rules as every other dreamwalker."

Tom shook his head in frustration and walked out of the room. After he was clear of the room Rosetta resumed her conversation with her fiancée.

"I repeated what I was supposed to say about a hundred times for Luna yesterday. I won't have any problems reciting it all off," Rosetta affirmed.

Luna may really have had her say it a hundred times, she lost track of how many times she had to repeat the Oaths of the Dreamwardens before Luna was satisfied that she wouldn't screw it up. The Dreamwardens were supposed to be very strict about the Oaths being said to them, even though it didn't seem like oaths being said, and there were consequences to misspeaking them. The only one of the Oaths she was sure she got right each and every time from the start was the one for Phobia, fear of the Wardens keeps us safe.

"Go on, go to the interview and hopefully we'll talk when we sleep together," Phobia said as she gestured to the door.

Rosetta lowered her ears in defeat and nodded. "Alright, just because you insist. Just make sure you keep safe with me gone."

Phobia gave her another kiss. "I will, now go impress them with all your history knowledge."

Rosetta wasn't sure that was enough to qualify her for teaching foals, but she'd give it her best shot.

Author's Note

Updates should be on regular schedule next week.

New Art below just click the names:

Robert and Jessica Middleton

Chapter 21

Devon walked into the schoolhouse with confidence. Within a few hours she would have a job, and hopefully late tonight she and Paul would have decided on a new house together.

She had really been too hard on him when he first came back home yesterday. He was doing well with the foals, and being very helpful with everything. He had spent all night bonding with Robby, and was up watching the foals now. Paul had to be exhausted, and she hoped she wouldn't be here too long so she could relieve him for some much needed sleep.

She still worried about Tonya though. They had been unable to find her after she took off yesterday. The conversation between Tonya and Paul hadn't gone well, and Devon hadn't expected it to, but Paul seemed to be mortified that he had caused Tonya that much distress that she felt the need to run away. He even started referring to Tonya as his sister, while sounding like he really meant it, and didn't trip over her name at all. Hopefully the two could really mend their relationship next time they spoke together.

She wanted to forgive Paul for what happened before, she really did. If things kept going the way they were she might be able to. What he had done was wrong, extremely wrong, but he was doing everything he could to make right. Maybe she could open herself up to loving him again.

She reached the doors of the library and took a tentative look in to see how many others were there already. It wasn't quite a packed house, but it wasn't far from it. Most of those waiting were ponies, of course, but there was a human or two. Almost everyone, whether pony or human, looked anxious as they waited.

There was no way she was going to find a table to herself. She looked around the room hoping that Amanda was already here so she could join her, but there was no sign of her. There was still time left before the interviews were supposed to start, which meant Amanda still had time to get here. That still left finding a seat though, which meant engaging with a potential future coworker or two.

After looking around the room for a moment she spotted a night pony mare sitting at a table by herself, looking even more anxious than most the rest of those waiting. She looked vaguely familiar, but Devon couldn't place where she had seen this particular mare before. Sitting by her there would still be room for Amanda, and this was almost certainly going to be a teacher for Robby. That made her the best person to sit next to.

She walked over to where the night pony was sitting. "Hi, I'm Devon. Mind if I sit with you while we wait?"

The mare smiled as Devon pulled out a chair. "Yeah, you can sit here. I think I recognize you, even though we haven't talked. You might remember my fiancèe, Phobia. I'm Rosetta Stone."

Now Devon could place her. Rosetta had been there giving directions the day at the convention center beside Phobia. Phobia had said she was getting married and it just didn't register in all the stress of that day that Phobia was a lesbian. This was an opportunity to find out what had happened to Phobia and find out if she was okay.

Devon took her seat and smiled in return. "I remember Phobia very well, she was the first pony to really try to help me out, and I'm really grateful to her for that. I heard something happened with her and was worried about her."

Rosetta's ears fell and her posture slumped. "Yeah, an old boyfriend of mine came and hurt her pretty badly. She's mostly okay, at least physically, but we're still working on getting her to where she isn't afraid of everypony around her since then."

"Oh," Devon looked down at the table. It was difficult coming up with a positive response to that.

Rosetta looked up with the tips of her ears still sagging and a clearly forced smile on her face."If I remember right you have a night pony foal."

Devon took the offer to change the subject and smiled. "Yes, Robby's just five, but he'll be turning six over the course of the summer. He's always eager to say how much he'll protect me and his little sister. I actually picked you to sit next to because I figured you would have to be a teacher for him since he needs a nocturnal teacher."

The smile slipped from Rosetta's face again and Devon wondered what she had said wrong. Rosetta took a deep breath before responding. "I don't know. I've never actually taught before, my future mother-in-law pulled strings to get me this interview. I want to teach, but want to teach college. I'm not sure I'm qualified to teach foals. By the school year starts I'll be heavy with pregnancy too. Not sure if that's the best time to be doing a first year teaching."

"So why are you here if you don't think this is a good idea?" Devon asked.

"Pressure from family. When my future spouse, future father-in-law, and Sunset Blessing team up to pressure me I kind of have to give in. Plus, we do need something for income, we can't rely on my sister and Sunset Blessing to just keep providing for us."

"Sunset Blessing is related to you?" Devon asked. Tonya was supposedly dating Sunset Blessing. Devon didn't know how serious they were, but if they were a serious item together that might make Rosetta and Phobia family in the future.

"She's Phobia's mother," Rosetta said with a disgusted look on her face. "She makes me uneasy, always seems to be plotting something."

Devon's eyes widened a little. She hadn't heard much about Sunset Blessing beyond she was the town's pony leader. Since Tonya was dating the mare she had expected someone a bit younger. Phobia couldn't be that much older than Tonya. That meant Tonya was dating someone old enough to be her mother.

"Um, this might seem an inappropriate question, but I've got a good reason for asking. How serious a couple are Sunset Blessing and Tonya?" Devon asked.

Rosetta shrugged. "I can tell you that Tonya ardently comes to Sunset's defense if Sunset's intentions are questioned. Sunset also seems to listen to Tonya when she won't listen to anypony else. I'm not sure they're getting married or anything soon, since Sunset is technically still married to Phobia's dad, but it wouldn't shock me if they did end up married eventually."

Rosetta paused and gave Devon a long look. "Why do you ask?"

"Tonya is my sister-in-law." Devon rubbed the back of a hand nervously. Rosetta didn't seem to like Sunset Blessing much, did that dislike extend to Tonya as well?

"Well then." Rosetta chuckled. "If things do get to where they marry I guess that might eventually make you my aunt in a round-about way."

"I'm not great with telling pony ages, but how old are you?" Devon asked. It was kind of weird thinking of Tonya being a grown adult's mother-in-law, or stepmother for that matter.

"I'm twenty-two, you?" Rosetta responded as she looked Devon over carefully.

"Twenty-seven," Devon answered. "I don't feel old enough to have a twenty-something year old niece."

Rosetta smirked and batted her eyes at Devon. "Aww, but I could call you Auntie Devon."

Devon gave a silent groan at the name. At least she had cheered Rosetta up a little. She gave a smirk back. "Well, my dear niece, you'll be gaining some cousins too, since I have two foals. Even if you don't get this job I'm sure Robby will be thrilled to learn about potential night pony family members."

"I'm going to actually give this interview my best shot," Rosetta said as she glanced at the desk where it looked like staff was busy getting ready. "History is my subject, but wondering if it would be better for me to be a part time Spanish teacher. I'm bilingual Spanish and English, and studied a lot of German too since a lot of the archaeology papers are in German. Kind of interested in learning Equestrian since it seems a very pretty language, and I'm sure there will be demand for teachers who can teach foals languages."

"That seems like it would be a good thing to do," Devon said, "The earlier children start learning a second language the better they can get a good grasp on it. It's kind of in your name too."

"And it works well with adult education which happens more at night typically." Rosetta paused to think about it more before continuing. "I actually think that might be my best way of marketing myself today."

At that moment Devon saw Amanda come hurrying through the door of the library, breathing heavily, like she had run all the way to the school. She looked rough and she had a huge patch of brown dirt on her flank.

Devon blinked as she looked at Amanda's flank again. That wasn't dirt, it was a picture of dirt with several white circles in it. Amanda had gotten her cutie mark while farming today. Did that mean she was going to give up teaching? Devon had been looking forward to working with her.

Amanda did a quick glance around the library and put on a relieved smile as she spotted Devon and trotted over to where Devon and Rosetta were sitting.

"I was worried you weren't going to make it. It looks like you had a pretty big day," Devon said as she leaned back to take another look at the mark on Amanda's flanks.

Amanda blushed. "It has been a big day. I was worried I was going to be late. I don't think I have ever run so fast in my life."

Devon decided to make introductions before pressing her friend about the mark. "Rosetta, this is Amanda Wilson, my roommate. Amanda, this is Rosetta Stone, my possible future niece."

Amanda gave Rosetta and Devon a skeptical eyebrow then extended a hoof over to Rosetta. "Nice to meet you. I'm guessing you're related to Paul and Tonya?"

Rosetta touched hooves with Amanda. "Not right now, but for all I know Tonya might eventually become my stepmother-in-law."

"I hadn't realized Sunset Blessing was that old, but we do age gracefully as ponies I guess. I'm thirty and it is hard to tell the difference in my age and a mare ten years older or younger," Amanda mused, then she glanced at Devon as Devon continued to examine the new cutie mark. "And I'm guessing you want to hear all about this patch of dirt on my flank, right?"

Devon nodded.

Amanda sighed as she glanced over at it, though the edges of her lips turned upward slightly. "I was working in the fields like I said I'd be today. What Wild Growth wanted us to do was pretty demanding. Not only were we to get all the weeds pulled and seeds planted, we needed to get all the seeds that didn't belong out, particularly seeds for any trees."

"My sister's powers impact everything in the area when she uses them. If you don't get the seeds for trees out you will be dealing with a large patch of woods," Rosetta said. Devon and Amanda stared at her after she spoke and then Rosetta added in. "Wild Growth is my little sister. I had an unfortunate front row seat the first time she used her powers. Just to note, you do not want to be standing in the area things are going to be growing when she unleashes her magic if you value your life."

"You've just got connections to everyone, don't you?" Devon asked the night pony.

"More than you know. I'm not that special, but definitely am surrounded by notable ponies," Rosetta said with a shrug.

Amanda continued after the interruption. "Anyway, it turns out most earth ponies were having a pretty hard time with this. I, on the other hoof, was not. I seem to get a better impression of what lies beneath the soil than most earth ponies do. I just delve my magic down and I can tell you with pinpoint accuracy where everything is under there. Once the other ponies figured out I could do it I became popular really fast, and I got my cutie mark."

"So, are you going to give up teaching now to do that instead?" Devon asked cautiously.

Amanda's eyes shot open and she looked outraged at the question. "No! Definitely not! I'm a teacher, and I love being a teacher. I might have a talent for finding things under the soil, but it isn't going to define me. I might use it to help ponies out from time to time, and I might find some way of working it into my teaching, but I'm not giving up my career for it."

Devon let out a sigh of relief. She was glad to hear that. It also meant that her foals didn't need to be defined by their cutie marks either once they eventually earned them.

"Have you thought of a pony name for yourself since you got your mark?" Rosetta asked politely.

Amanda shook her head. "Not really interested in one. My name is perfectly fine, and I'm used to students calling me Mrs. Wilson. A few of the ponies started calling me Treasure Finder out in the fields, and if they want to call me that then I'm not upset at it. My name isn't really changing though, that's going to be a nickname some ponies call me, at most."

"Amanda Wilson? Is there an Amanda Wilson here? If you're here please come up, you're our first interview on the day," a man who had been sitting at the library desk called out into the library.

"I'm here!" Amanda called back as she stood high in her chair waving a hoof. She then hoped down from her seat and gave a quick glance back at Devon. "Looks like I made it just in time. Wish me luck!"

"You've got this, you don't need luck," Devon said with a smile. "But good luck anyway."

As Amanda trotted over to the person interviewing her Devon felt contentment again. Everything was going to be just fine here in Riverview.

Megan wandered around the small house just examining the rooms. She'd done this a few times already, but didn't have much else to do. Alex was out getting some lunch for himself which left Megan sitting back at the house bored. It was good that the anxiety if the night before had passed, but now she wanted to be doing something.

Feeling frustrated that she had nothing to do until Alex or Tattered returned back to the house she went to her purse and pulled out her cigarettes and lighter from the night before. Last night it was anxiety that made her turn to them, today it was boredom; she might not be addicted yet, but she might as well consider herself a smoker looking at that pattern.

She stepped out onto the front porch and sat down on the steps as she lit up a cigarette. She took a drag off it and let off a plume of smoke. After taking another she felt that slight buzz again and she let herself enjoy it. If smoking was all she had to do for the moment she was going to take pleasure in it.

As she sat and smoked she just people-watched, or pony-watched as the case may be. It was kind of surreal seeing this many ponies in one place and very few humans. She had seen places like this on television, but being right in the middle of it was a whole other experience. It made her feel like the outsider, the alien invading into their territory.

After a little while of watching a van pulled up in front of the house and she felt a rush of anxiety again that her parents had sent someone to take her back home. Her fears were unfounded though, because the door to the van opened up and her sister hopped out of the van. Were those soldiers inside the van? What was her sister doing with human soldiers?

Megan took one last draw off the cigarette to finish it off before snuffing it out against the ground as Tattered walked up to the house. Tattered raised a brow at her as she looked around for somewhere to discard the butt, and ultimately just left it sitting in the dirt.

"We'll have to find you a pot or something to discard those in if you're going to keep that up. I don't want the front yard getting littered with cigarette butts," Tattered said as she walked up to the front porch. "Is Alex here?"

Megan shook her head as Tattered came and sat down next to her. "He went off to get some lunch for himself, apparently he has a haystack he regularly goes to. I'm not really interested in just watching ponies eat hay."

"We're not exactly thrilled with eating it, so don't feel like your offending anypony," Tattered said with a laugh. "I'm sorry I had to take off this morning after getting you settled in. I've been working sixteen to eighteen hour days most days since I left Charleston. Hopefully the other Broken Ones will be up and about again soon, and then I'll have some more personal time again."

"Broken One is a title of some sort then?" Megan asked. She really knew very little about her sister's position in the community or what all she had done before in Charleston.

"It refers to the original five of us from Charleston. We all got hurt, really badly, two of us died," Tattered said as her ears went low. "We're the founding members of the Enclave."

"And all the other night ponies that came to Charleston?" Megan asked. She didn't want to dig too much into how Tattered got hurt. It was too uncomfortable a subject.

"Recruited in," Tattered answered. "Though we are starting to branch out and take in other pony tribes. We got a pegasus recruit the other day, and we got a unicorn and five crystal ponies this morning. After tonight I might have a human as well. Night ponies will remain the core, because being protectors is what we are, but having day ponies and humans gives us much needed support in some areas we lack abilities in."

If her sister was taking in humans that was a possibility of work. "Can I join? I was working on a degree in criminal justice after all."

Tattered gave her another raised brow and then shook her head.

"Why not?" Megan demanded. What? Did her sister think she wasn't good enough?

"I won't show any nepotism. No family member of mine will work under me," Tattered explained calmly. "It makes me too suseptable to accusations of favoritism. I'm sure with how well studied you are that you understand. It isn't anything personal, I just don't want anypony making it something personal."

That was actually a pretty reasonable explanation. It wasn't far off from the reasoning her dad had given her when he objected to her working for him when he was preparing his campaign. It was why she was being marketed as an aid to other politicians. It seemed odd thinking it of her sister, who never wanted anything to do with politics, but it was a very politically minded decision. Maybe her sister might help her with something politically motivated then.

"I can understand that, you don't to be shown as showing favoritism by filling your ranks with family. Do you think you might help me get a job at some other town office though? I might be reduced to working in a small town, but I do want to pursue a career in politics still," she asked hopefully.

"You want me to do what Dad was doing for you by getting your foot in the door," Tattered said flatly, it wasn't a question either. "I might actually be able to do that. I'm on good terms with the director of operations for South Carolina, and I could definitely get a good word in for you with the town council as well."

Megan wanted to jump for joy. Her sister did have government connections. She had guessed as much already based on her position in town and the fact she had soldiers acting as taxi cab for her, but it was nice hearing confirmation. Maybe this was just a new opportunity rather than flushing her life down the drain.

Tattered chuckled, which made Megan look at her curiously. Tattered smiled at her. "You're definitely our father's daughter. I can see those gears going in your head. Don't worry, I won't look down on you for it. I should learn a little more about politics myself, all things considered. You're better than him anyway, you don't turn you're back on family for political reasons. You know where to draw the lines that shouldn't be crossed for politics, he doesn't."

"Thank you, it means a lot to me that you understand me," Megan said as she started feeling some of what she felt last night again. She brought a hand up to her eyes and wiped them.

"I've actually already been at work making arrangements to help you get back on your feet," Tattered said as she flicked her tail. "Tomorrow you'll have an appointment with the bank. You're going to be getting a house of your own. I hope you'll let me and Alex live with you after you do, but that's your call on how much privacy you want. It'll be your house, your rules, not mine."

Megan looked at her sister in shock. "Getting a house? I'm nineteen, I don't even have a job yet. Why would the bank help me get a house? How will I afford it if they do?"

"You get a large grace period before you need to start making payments, you'll have work long before then," Tattered stated as she engaged in watching some pegasi fly overhead rather than look at Megan. "I'm willing to help out with bills too, since I do get paid, or at least will, starting at the end of the week."

"But why would they do it at all?" Megan asked in disbelief. She felt the urge for another cigarette, but resisted it. What was her sister thinking by having her go to the bank requesting a mortgage?

Tattered turned and looked at her. "Megan, the majority of humans here are out of work at the second. We're working hard to make sure all of them, along with the ponies, get jobs. In the meantime we can't keep everyone housed in shelters indefinitely like this is some refugee camp. We need to first get all the humans and then the ponies into permanent homes. Construction crews will be hiring on humans and ponies starting in two days so we can start building. In the meantime loans are being pushed through to finance all this, even to people with no jobs yet."

"Kind of like an economic stimulus, with housing construction," Megan said thoughtfully. "That's going to lead to a lot more public debt, but it could get the economy moving again. I'm assuming they are doing the same with businesses?"

Tattered nodded. "Yes, money is being spent, lots of it. It's loans, but it will hopefully help jump start things here. This town had maybe about a million dollars in its local economy before we got here, maybe not even that. There is more than a hundred times that moving through it now. This town is the blueprint for other pony towns in the south, and they are determined to see it succeed. If ponies are not engaged in the economy that spells big problems."

"And you're involved with all this?" Megan asked with a raised brow. This seemed way outside what her sister ever learned how to deal with. Maybe she had just underestimated her older sister though.

Tattered laughed. "Me? Oh no, I'm not. I just read reports sitting in my boring office all day. Sunset Blessing and her cronies are the ones involved. Town council has to officially sign off on things, but they don't really make many decisions. The federal government and Sunset Blessing are calling all the shots."

That sounded like the pony she should be working with if she really wanted to pursue a political career still. "This Sunset Blessing is the real power in town then? Can you help me get a job with her?"

Tattered bit her lip and seemed to consider her answer. "Sunset Blessing is bad news. She's into a lot of hush-hush stuff with the government and she is a fanatical preacher and Shimmerist. I know there are things she's done that are...unethical."

Megan crossed her arms and gave her sister her best I'm smarter than you look. "Sounds like a politician to me. It also sounds like my best bet for pursuing my goals. The fact that she's into hush-hush things, as you put it, just means I have an even better chance of eventually getting involved with things beyond the local level. I don't have to agree with her on everything. I just need to get my foot in the door with the biggest fish in the pond. She sounds like the biggest fish in the pond."

Tattered looked unhappy. Megan guessed that there was bad blood between the two for some reason. That Sunset Blessing was a Shimmerist was of no consequence. If the feds were willing to work with her she couldn't be that bad of one. It would actually encourage Sunset Blessing to put her in higher responsibility in order to show how much Sunset Blessing got along with humans. It was simple politics.

Tattered finally seemed like she'd conceded. "If I recommend you to her I can't promise she'll take you on. Also, if you're working for her and she does something truly terrible that you find out about I expect you to blow the whistle on her."

"You want me to spy on her?" Megan asked. She wasn't offended by the suggestion. She was honestly just curious. Blowing the whistle on a Shimmerist up to no good could earn her a positive reputation.

"No," Tattered said with a shake of her head. "Just if she does something that will jeopardize lives or the well-being of this community I want you to take action. You can keep all her government secrets. I'd rather not know."

Megan did get offended by that remark. "I have morals and convictions. I'm not going to stand by if I see something like that going on. Dad might, if saying something about it hurt his political standing. I'm not Dad, and I will never be Dad."

Tattered just nodded, keeping her expression blank. "I'll talk to Sunset then. She and I really don't like one another, so don't expect much. I'll also talk to Director Baker and the town council. No matter what somepony will take you on for employment."

Megan turned and hugged her sister, earning a smile from Tattered and a hug back. Megan broke her hug as she remembered the stuffed animal that she had brought for her sister.

"I forgot until just a now, I brought you a gift," Megan said as she stood to her feet.

Tattered looked up at her with curious flick of an ear. With Tattered sitting down and her standing the size difference between them was put on full display. If she did get a house she'd have to take her siblings' statures into account. Even this house, small as it was, seemed far too large in many ways for them. Finding a balance between what worked for her and what worked for them would be tricky.

"What kind of present do you have for a pony? I don't have much for personal needs," Tattered asked.

Megan grinned. "Just one second, let me go fetch it from my luggage."

She hurried inside and to the room that Tattered had assigned her. This place only had two small bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a small foyer area that barely counted as a living room. Tattered and Alex were doubled up in one bedroom and the other was given to her.

After reaching her room she opened up her luggage and was relieved that none of the snow-globes had broken. They weren't cheaply made so she hadn't expected them to be, but there had been a little worry of that still. She grabbed up the stuffed rainbow unicorn and hurried back outside.

She held the stuffed animal out to her sister as she got back out to the porch. "I know it isn't much, but I thought I'd contribute to restarting your collection. It's the silly little things that make a place feel like home."

Tattered's eyes seemed to well up with tears as she reached up with her hooves and accepted the stuffed unicorn. Once it was in the night pony's grip Tattered pulled it close to her and gave it a tight hug. Megan then heard Tattered start crying and worried for a moment that she had done something wrong.

"Thank...you, Megan. This actually means a lot to me," Tattered said as she looked back up at her, still openly weeping. "It's family that loves and cares about one another that makes a place a home though. Things like this are just a reminder of that."

"Well, I'm glad it made you happy," Megan said as she looked at her sister. Her sister seemed almost childlike between her size and the way she gripped the stuffed animal. It made her grin at how cute her sister looked right now.

Tattered tucked the stuffed unicorn under one wing as she stood back to her hooves. "Happy as I am to spend time with you, I need to get to bed. Tonight a friend of mine is undergoing a pretty serious medical procedure and I want to be there for her. Make sure Alex shows you around town and to the school where you can get something to eat. I'll try to find more time to talk when I can."

"Alright, Tat," Megan said, sad that their bonding time was being brought to an end.

She watched her sister go back into the house, leaving her to keep waiting for Alex. She sighed as she pulled out another cigarette and got back to pony watching.

Author's Note

Tomorrow will be a rather...weird chapter. Prepare yourself. A dangerous Yinyu has crossed your path.

Chapter 22**

Chapter 22**

Yet again the nightmare persisted. Some aspects of it might change day to day, but one thing that never changed was the fact that when Tattered Wing slept she would be forced yet again to relive that night in some shape or form. While her friends at the clinic were enduring physical pain she endured this pain. Perhaps it was penance for the harm she had caused them.

One thing that had changed in the past few weeks was she had gained an awareness of the fact this was a dream. Constant exposure to it and the expectation that it was coming each time she laid down to sleep had dulled it slightly. She now looked on cursing that she had to watch this yet again instead of experiencing first hoof the horror of it by feeling her own victimization.

This time she refused to look at what was happening. This night was already burned into her mind to the point she would remember every smell, every word, and every cry that happened. If she thought about it she could feel every wound inflicted on her yet again. It was best not to do that though, otherwise she might find herself being attacked again.

She looked around the dream. What if she just went somewhere else? What if she decided to take off to some other part of this memory of Charleston? Could she explore the city? Could she go places she had never actually gone? What existed beyond these few buildings and the street within the dream?

She laid her ears back as the screaming began. Whatever was out there had to be better than here.

She spread her wings and took to the air. Unlike the waking world they worked perfectly fine here in the dream. The feel of flight lifted her spirits just a little. Hopefully starting tomorrow she would begin to fly again for real.

After flying for a moment or two she noticed something odd. All the edges of the city were bathed in a thick fog that she couldn't see through. It seemed that her dream version of Charleston really did have boundaries. What would happen if she flew out into the fog? Was there something beyond it? Would she just find herself looped around to some other part of the dream? This was a dream, so trying to do that couldn't actually hurt her, it wasn't real. It was worth trying, if only to get away from the never ending nightmare.

Beating her wings hard and picking up speed she zoomed through the air towards the fog. When she went in she didn't feel what she was expecting. She had expected to feel dampness, it was just loose water vapor after all. There was no dampness though, this didn't feel anything like real fog. It was pressure, and the deeper she got into the fog the greater the pressure increased, making her ears pop.

She couldn't see anything in the fog. There was no way of knowing if there was ground below her, there was no sign of the sky above her. She could see nothing but grey behind her and before her. All that existed was her in the greyness. Her and whatever kept putting increasing pressure on her.

It didn't want her to keep going forward. She wasn't going to be detoured back though. She wanted away from the nightmare. Even if she kept going forward and finding nothing but more fog it was something other than the nightmare. If the pressure got to where it was painful it was still nothing compared to what the nightmare could inflict. She pushed forward.

It felt like she had been going hours into the fog, time didn't seem to flow right. It just wasn't ending. Flying forward was doing nothing. There had to be something else, the pressure was intense. There had to be a final wall or something at the end.

Tattered abruptly stopped flapping her wings. This should have made her plummet to whatever ground there was below. There was no sensation of falling though. In the grim fog she just remained suspended, not even drifting, just sitting still. There was no telling anymore which way was up, down, forward, or backward. The pressure was everywhere, and there was no visual cues about anything. She might as well as had her eyes closed due to the lack of information they gave her.

There was light here, that only displayed the grey, but there was light. There was no source of light though. It aggravated her, some primal part of her night pony brain yearned for the dark. There was no shade here though, no shadows, no where to escape the light.

With nothing left to do she closed her eyes and focused on her other senses. Maybe she could smell something, hear something, or even taste something that could get her beyond the fog.

Almost immediately after closing her eyes the pressure vanished altogether. In the darkness of her closed eyes she reappeared, eyes somehow open again even though she knew she hadn't opened them again. She gasped as all around her a million tiny points of light appeared around her in all directions, like stars. There was no ground; there was just her, the darkness, and the stars.

"Congratulations, little dreamwalker. You just entered the dream realm for the first time on your own," came a loud female voice from all around her.

She looked frantically around for who was speaking but saw nopony. There was just the stars.

"Who are you? Where am I?" She called out into the dark.

The voice chuckled, toning down the volume, but still coming from everywhere. "I just told you, little dreamwalker, this is the dream realm. As for who I am, I'm a guardian for all those points of lights you see, a Dreamwarden. I'm here to lay down the rules you must follow if you're to be allowed here."

Princess Luna had said something about Dreamwardens. What had she said? Phobia was a Dreamwarden, right?

"Is that you, Phobia? You can cut the crap, it isn't funny," Tattered called uncertainly, ears flattening as she continued to look around for the source of the voice.

The voice gave an excited gasp. "Oh! You know my sister! I'm hoping to meet her very soon, if her marefriend ever bothers to fall asleep."

Tattered flicked an ear and looked around in confusion. "I didn't know Phobia had a sister. Who are you?"

"Well, sister in a figurative sense. We're both Dreamwardens, even if she isn't done with her training yet. We share a special purpose and will be spending most of eternity together," the voice explained. "Maybe I should bring you along when I go to meet her today. That might be fun."

Eternity? That required some explanation. It wasn't the most pressing thing to worry about though.

"Are you ever going to come out where I can see you?" Tattered called out. "I'd feel a lot more comfortable talking to a pony face to face."

"I'm Yinyu Wu Yan, Dreamwarden of Lust, and it isn't needed for you to feel comfortable--quite the opposite really," the voice said with amusement. "But if you really want to have a face to talk to I suppose I can accommodate that."

After the voice finished speaking a large number of the stars shifted and rearranged themselves. Within seconds there was a massive set of eyes staring down at Tattered, and an even bigger mouth grinning. The eyes gave her a wink.

"Now that I've given you a face to speak to we should get down to business. So much chatter and not enough giving of Oaths," the face said to her.

Okay, that was seriously creepy for some reason. Tattered debated asking for Yinyu to just go back to being a disembodied voice again.

"What are you talking about? What Oaths?" Tattered asked as she resisted the urge to flee. There was nowhere to run to anyway, she was locked in place just like she had been with the fog.

"My sister hasn't told you yet? Shame on her! And here I am playing around with you as if you know what is expected of you," the face said as if it was embarrassed. Then Tattered let off a small yelp as the face grew in size but still seemed to get closer at the same time.

"Getting down to business," Yinyu continued. "First up the rules. The rules are very important. The rules keep you safe. If you break the rules we Dreamwardens will either lock you out of the dream realm, or if you're really-really bad we will take your itty-bitty little brain and rip out every itty-bitty thought and instinct from it. You don't want me to completely destroy your mind, right? It makes things like...well...being alive really difficult. Don't think we won't find out, we will always find out. You can't get away from us either, because every pony has to sleep."

"Are you threatening me?" Tattered said in terror as she spread her wings defensively.

"Threatening? Little dreamwalker, I don't threaten. I just explain how things work here. If you follow the rules you're perfectly safe. This is our dream realm, and while you are in it you will follow the rules. You are welcome to be banished from it if you wish," the face said with a big grin. The teeth now looked jagged, meant for ripping and tearing flesh.

"Um, what are the rules then?" Tattered asked. Princess Luna trained these things? It seemed Princess Luna was very unforgiving about certain things. She made a mental note to herself that she should never make Princess Luna angry at her. Hopefully she wasn't too angry about what happened to Phobia.

The face rotated until it was completely upside down before it started speaking again. "The rules are simple. One, you will never use dreamwalking to deliberately hurt another pony. There are no excuses why you did it, it's off limits. Only the Dreamwardens dispense justice in the dream realm. That is not for you."

The face rotated again so it was now facing right side up. "Two, you will never use information that you learn in a pony's dreams against them. You have a sacred trust with the dreamers, you shall not violate it."

The face rotated again so it was upside down once more. "Three, you will never use mind magic in a malicious way to mind control or cause harm to anyone, pony or human. Nor will you use dreamwalking in attempt to gain control of another's thoughts. You should be disgusted by the very concept of it."

The face rotated to where it was right side up again. "Finally, you will respect the Dreamwardens and respect our authority. You shall give Oaths to us on demand to show you understand that we decide your fate here in the dream realm, and to break the rules will end in consequences."

Tattered's eyes narrowed. "You had me up until that last rule. Telling me that I must swear allegiance and obey doesn't fly with me."

"Do you wish to be banished?" Yinyu asked.

Tattered shook her head. "No, I just don't want to be at the mercy of some dream monster. I'll stay, and won't be swearing any oaths."

"I'm soo glad you said that," the face of Yinyu said with joy.

"Why...?" Tattered asked, as she started to get worried, wishing again that she could somehow flee

The stars condensed again briefly into the outline of a night pony mare and the outlined mare looked at her with an evil smile. "Because that means we get to play."

Before Tattered could respond all the stars that made up the pony turned into glowing white bats and scattered into all directions. With no warning, Tattered started to fall.

It was hard to say what was involved with falling. There didn't seem to be any ground, just the endless expanse of stars. She started trying to flap her wings on instinct to try to fly, then realized to her horror that her wings were gone.

"I should mention a few things right now," Yinyu's disembodied voice said calmly as if bored. "First, this is a dream, or at least, this is the dream realm. You can't actually die or get hurt here."

That didn't really do anything to help with her panic.

"The next is that because this is the dream realm you're at my total and complete mercy. I manipulate all you see at will. You're falling right now because I chose to have you fall," Yinyu continued in the same calm voice.

Alright, Dreamwardens were flat out sadistic, mentally noted.

"The last thing I should mention is that my patience is not endless. You will give me the Oaths, or I will eventually tire from our games and simply lock you out of the dream realm; never letting you dreamwalk again," Yinyu finished as a pair of normal sized red eyes appeared right in front of Tattered's, making Tattered flinch backwards from them.

Next thing Tattered knew there was something below her, and it added to her panic, a huge monstrous mouth filled with sharp jagged teeth. It opened wide and was sucking her towards it. She tried desperately to change the course of her fall but she had no wings to fly with.

"Please Luna, come and stop this," Tattered prayed as she was sucked towards the monstrous mouth, feeling the hot breath of it on her fur.

Her prayers went unanswered. She hurtled towards the maw. Right before she thought she was going to be eaten she covered her eyes with her hooves and braced herself for the pain that was certainly coming when those teeth started to dig into her flesh.

After a moment or two with no teeth ripping into her she timidly uncovered her eyes and gasped at what she saw.

Doors, endless doors in all shapes and sizes, were all around her as she continued to fall. It was a bottomless well and the walls were all made of doors. She still couldn't correct her fall at all to reach any of them since she still lacked wings. All that had changed from a moment before was her scenery.

"Now, let's see, where should we go?" Yinyu's voice asked, this time not from everywhere, but instead directly behind Tattered.

Tattered whipped her head around backwards and she gasped as she spotted Yinyu. Yinyu had a face like a pony, but she was no pony type Tattered had ever seen. Instead of legs she had flippers, and her tail was a long bulky thing like a mermaid's tail. She also sported the same webbed wings of a night pony on her back. Yinyu's colors were equally strange, a plethora of different colors that kept shifting dramatically as the Dreamwarden casually swam through the air as if she wasn't falling as well. Despite the whimsical appearance Tattered still felt dread looking at her.

Yinyu swam by her and stopped in front of her, watching the doors fly by as they continued their fall. She--Tattered assumed Yinyu was a she anyway--held one of her flippers up to her head as if thinking.

"What is all this? What are you?" Tattered yelled as she helplessly tried, and failed, to reach for anything to stop her endless fall through the well of doors.

"This is but another interpretation of the dream realm. I've only chosen that dreams should be represented to you by doors instead of stars, nothing has changed," Yinyu explained as she gestured to their surroundings with a flipper. "We've already established what I am; I'm a Dreamwarden. You must be slow on the uptake. To explain that a way you might understand better; I'm effectively a god here in the dream realm, and you're...well...not even close to that."

"You're just another pony dreaming somewhere, you aren't any god!" Tattered snarled as she kept her eyes locked on Yinyu. If she kept her eyes locked on Yinyu she could almost forget the fact she was plummeting with increasing speed.

"Effectively a god," Yinyu corrected as the Dreamwarden continued to watch the doors go by, not bothering to turn to Tattered when addressing her. "And only here in the dream realm. I'm a night pony too, and my body is sleeping very peacefully back in Beijing. But we're not in Beijing or Riverview right now, we're in the dream realm. The rules of the waking world don't apply here."

"You're on a power trip. Gods aren't mortal ponies that were until recently humans." Tattered jabbed a hoof toward her tormentor as the wind whipped her mane upwards. "If somepony comes and kills you in your sleep you're still dead like the rest of us. You aren't any better than anypony else."

"If somepony came and killed me while I was sleeping I'd be very upset with them. That's a highly disrespectful thing to do to a Dreamwarden, and it would deny me my more normal life," Yinyu said as she turned and looked down at Tattered with a grimace, as if considering an annoying bug. Her ears slumped as she continued. "I'd persist here though. That's one of the sacrifices me and the others made when agreeing to become a Dreamwarden, we don't get to quit the job. Our vigil shall never end, and we will never learn what lies beyond death. Our consciousness is chained to the dream realm for as long as anything with magic dreams, and we're prisoners to far greater oaths than the ones you shall give. We will only get our final rest when all the dreams are gone."

Either this pony was crazy or that job really sucked.

"Aww, here's a good one to start with," Yinyu said with a Cheshire grin.

Before Tattered could ask "a good what" Yinyu swam through the air with lightning speed behind Tattered and swatted Tattered hard from behind with her tail, sending Tattered hurtling toward the walls of doors. Tattered raised her forelegs to brace for impact, and just before she hit a door it swung open and let her hurtle through.

Just a moment later she collided with the ground leaving a small trench and got a muzzle full of dirt. She got up and looked at her surroundings. It was woods, and she was on an incline that made her think she was on a mountain. It reminded her a little of the woods in the Appalachian Mountains where she and her family had gone camping in when she was a child. She could hear birds chirping, smell the grass and trees, and feel the sunlight on her face. If this was a dream still it was very realistic.

A nearby boulder sprouted a face and Yinyu began speaking. "Welcome to somepony's nightmare. This is where you get to reconsider giving the Oaths. You won't be allowed to interact with the dreamer, or escape this dream. I have you locked in it until I decide otherwise."

"It doesn't seem so nightmarish," Tattered said as she glanced around. It was actually very tranquil and serene. If it weren't for her captor she might be able to enjoy her surroundings.

"Oh, that's because I effectively hit the pause button on it for the moment, at least for this section that is away from the dreamer," Yinyu explained as the eyes floated aimlessly around the boulder until they regained their proper position. "Now let me tell you the Oaths you're supposed to say, and shall be bound by."

The face melted back into the rock and writing started appearing across it, narrated by Yinyu's voice.

"Psychic Calm, we promise ponies shall dream in peace.
Yinyu Wu Yan, we shall not allow our passions to lead us to folly.
Ghadab, the Wardens' anger is unyielding and just.
Phobia Remedy, fear of the Wardens keeps us safe.
Tikhiy Krik, we shall keep the secrets of the Wardens.
Sha'am Maut, better to die than to face the Wardens' justice."

Tattered read the rock slowly after the narration and raised an eyebrow at it. "These are oaths? Some of them maybe, but some just look like statements. And what's this about secrets of the Wardens?"

"The magic of the Oaths are what make them Oaths, they shall imprint upon you the rules. As for that part about secrets, that means you won't talk about us with anypony or human except for other night ponies. The world as a whole doesn't get to know about us. Chances are they'd take it badly," Yinyu's disembodied voice explained in a bored tone. "If anypony ever asks you how dreamwalking won't be used for evil you can just say there are controls in place or that no sane night pony would risk what would happen to them if they tried abusing dreamwalking, and say nothing more on the subject."

"Fear of the Wardens keeps us safe?" Tattered read aloud questioningly.

"If you fear the consequences of misusing your powers you're more likely to be safe from making a boo-boo and making us do something unpleasant to you. If you don't do anything bad we won't hurt you," Yinyu said as her tone regained some cheer.

Tattered wondered which the monstrous night pony got more glee from; night ponies behaving or night ponies being punished.

The section mentioning Yinyu glowed as Yinyu continued, now seeming full of pride. "My part means that you won't let your emotions get the better of you and make you go do something that you shouldn't be doing. We are judge, jury, and executioner here, not you. And we only judge dreamwalkers on their dreamwalking--or those that use mind magic. Those ones are a little trickier to track down since we aren't aware of what goes on in the waking world like we are aware of what goes on here, but we'll find them eventually too."

Tattered shook her head. "These don't seem unreasonable, but I'm still not saying any damn oaths. Especially if they have some sort of magic that is going to force me to obey."

A human woman, a completely naked human woman, appeared right in front of Tattered, Making her jump back again in fright.

"The Oaths assure that all the night ponies don't run amok in the dream realm sowing chaos. Controls must be in place on dreamwalkers to prevent that, or the waking world would be doomed. We Dreamwardens are those controls and the Oaths are our contract with the dreamwalkers," Yinyu said then bent down in front of Tattered.

Yinyu ran a finger down the side of Tattered's face in a sexually suggestive manner. "The compulsion only works on those who want to see order maintained. The Oaths protect you if you're a good pony. If you're a vile pony, who actively wishs to do harm to your fellow ponies, then you will find little difficulty violating the Oaths, but you shall face the consequences for violating your contract with us. We Dreamwardens are harsh in our methods, but the waking world must be protected from what can be done here, and night ponies must be protected from destroying themselves."

Yinyu lifted then the hand up and gave a snap of her fingers, vanishing before continuing in her disembodied voice. "I just restarted this nightmare. This pony has a terrible fear of flesh eating zombies. Since this is a dream you can't die here, but I promise that if they catch you that you will feel it. I recommend you start running; I'm not giving you back your wings for this. Let me know when you've changed your mind about the Oaths, or if you just never wish to dreamwalk again and wish the ability stripped from you--that's an option too, though I think we'd both prefer it not come to that."

Tattered heard the moans of the undead start to pick up in the distance and she cursed the fact that she decided to see what lay beyond the fog of her dream.

Rosetta paced her dream as she waited for whoever her substitute teacher was to arrive. They were certainly taking their time.

"Mrs. Stone-Remedy, can I go to the bathroom?" One of the spectral students from her dream asked after raising a hoof.

"Yes, but go straight to the bathroom and come right back," Rosetta answered, with a dismissive wave of a wing, playing along with the dream.

"I will!" The dream student said as they took off out of the dream classroom.

Rosetta sighed. Of course she was having this kind of dream, she was Riverview Elementary School's new Spanish teacher. She'd have four hours of classes in the mornings and two hours of classes in the evening five days a week once the school year began. Not quite full time, but she got paid a little more per hour because she had to come in twice every day, so it evened out to her making what other teachers would make. It would be enough to pay bills and take care of basic needs for her, Phobia, and the foal. She'd even get paid maternity leave. Their dad might need to get a job too, but they were going to be alright.

Alright if Phobia got better anyway. Where was this Dreamwarden?

Her brooding was interrupted by a flash of light and Tattered Wing suddenly tumbling on the floor out of nowhere. Another flash of light occurred and an dark orange night pony mare with red mane stepped into the room casually.

Rosetta looked quizzically down at Tattered Wing as the Broken One groaned.

"Rosetta, I hope your wife is not as crazy as this pony," Tattered said as she blinked and then gave a fearful glance back at the other newcomer.

"Aww, it wasn't that bad, and we had some fun. Well, I had some fun, and you learned a few things," the orange night pony said as she spread her wings and the dream faded away into the star filled expanse of the dream realm. "To tell you the truth, I wouldn't have let the zombies get you before I just banished you. Sha'am might have let them get you, but that's just not me. I don't like all that pain and suffering, but there's nothing wrong with some jump scares."

"Are you the Dreamwarden that's supposed to be filling in for Luna tonight?" Rosetta asked the orange mare.

The mare grinned at her and nodded. "Yep, that's me. I'm Yinyu Wu Yan, Dreamwarden of Lust. I wasn't told that my sister had such an attractive mate. Maybe the three of us could have some fun later on. For now I'm assuming you know the Oaths to give to me?"

Rosetta was definitely not taking the Dreamwarden up on her offer, but she wasn't sure how to properly respond to that without offending.

Instead, she held her head high and calmly recited. "Psychic Calm, we promise ponies shall dream in peace. Yinyu Wu Yan, we shall not allow our passions to lead us to folly. Ghadab, the Wardens' anger is unyielding and just. Phobia Remedy, fear of the Wardens keeps us safe. Tikhiy Krik, we shall keep the secrets of the Wardens. Sha'am Maut, better to die than to face the Wardens' justice."

Yinyu rose on her hind legs and clapped her hooves together excitedly. "Very good! Since that's over with quickly we can get on to business."

Tattered turned and looked at Yinyu in shock and disbelief. "Wait, Rosetta doesn't get the full being terrified out of her wits experience too?"

Yinyu looked at Tattered in confusion. "Why would she? She knows what a Dreamwarden is, recited her Oaths perfectly, and understands the rules. There's no need to do all the other introductions. It's not her fault you took your time saying your Oaths."

Tattered must have started dreamwalking today. Rosetta felt a small amount of pity for the Broken One on getting what was probably a very nasty introduction to it. She also felt a small amount of envy as well, since Tattered seemed to have figured out how to do it on her own. It was doubtful that Yinyu just brought Tattered here if Tattered wasn't already dreamwalking.

"You, me, and Phobia are going to have to have a long talk about this Dreamwarden thing sometime when we're all awake," Tattered said as came over to stand by Rosetta.

Rosetta flicked her tail and smirked. "Just make sure you're respectful. I'm not sure what Yinyu put you through, but Phobia is a Dreamwarden too, and will be able to do the same to you once Luna has her trained."

"Believe me, I definitely won't be doing anything disrespectful to a Dreamwarden," Tattered said as she laid back her ears.

Yinyu clapped her hooves together to get their attention. Rosetta noticed that Yinyu had briefly shifted them into being hands while doing that before returning them to hooves.

"If all the pleasantries are out of the way we have work to do," Yinyu said commandingly.

The black mass of Phobia's nightmare came into view before the three of them. They hadn't gone anywhere, the dream realm had just shifted and moved it to be in front of them.

"What in the hell is that? Another round of torture from you?" Tattered said as she gave the mass a wary stare.

"This is Phobia Remedy's nightmare. Her magic makes it hard to get into," Yinyu said as she briefly expanded to a massive size more than a hundred feet tall and touched a hoof to it. She immediately withdrew the hoof and sucked on it like it had been stung, reverting back to her original size.

"And you expect us to go into that when it seems like it can hurt you?" Tattered said in disbelief as she pointed at the mass.

"It can't hurt me, it's just really difficult to deal with. It I tried to force my way in on my own I could, easily even, but I'd probably rip my sister's mind in the process. You don't want a truly crazy Dreamwarden, do you? That's how you get a crazy Dreamwarden," Yinyu said as she looked the mass over.

"I have to be the one that goes in. My bond to Phobia makes it so I can get in without hurting her," Rosetta explained to Tattered. Well, in theory anyway. So far it had ended with her just getting tossed out repeatedly with a strong desire to vomit.

"Exactly," Yinyu said with a smile, swishing her tail eagerly. "Now, try again to get in so I can watch your progress and see where we're at. Luna told me you were getting really close. I want to have you actually make it in today. If you can make it in then we can piggy back on you into her dream."

Great, once more into to the stomach churning depths.

She spread her wings and closed her eyes as she plunged into the swirling blackness once again. Immediately she felt it, the winds ripping at her wings, the blackness invading every orifice of her body. Her wings faltered for a moment and she had to force herself to continue.

She opened her eyes and kept beating her wings as hard as she could, but the winds were so intense. It really was like flying into a hurricane. After a minute she found herself exhausted and the flapping stopped. The winds took her and hurled her out of the dream again.

She found herself colliding with a giant velvet pillow that she had no idea where it came from after exiting the mass. A moment later the pillow vanished and she was left were she landed.

"Hmm, you know, I think Luna is babying you too much if she's having you do it that way," she heard Yinyu say. "Don't get me wrong, I love Luna as a mentor and friend, but she is just too nice sometimes, or maybe she just doesn't have the same imagination we Earth born ponies have."

"What would you do instead?" Rosetta asked the Dreamwarden cautiously. Luna was too gentle? That did not bode well for whatever she was about to endure from Yinyu.

The orange night pony sat and thought for a moment, a disembodied hand rubbing her chin as she considered the mass. Then a literal light-bulb appeared above her head before vanishing.

"I've got a great idea! Slingshot!" Yinyu said with excitement.

"Slingshot?" Both Rosetta and Tattered responded in confusion in unison.

Yinyu looked at both of them and laughed. "Oh that's a great idea, you two are so creative!"

Yinyu transformed her hooves into hands again and snapped her fingers. Immediately after Rosetta found herself drawn all the way back as the projectile for a massive cartoonish slingshot.

She can't be serious.

Yinyu snapped her fingers again and suddenly there was a rope tied from Rosetta binding her to both Yinyu and Tattered. Tattered immediately realized what was coming and started trying to run away.

Oh shit, she really is serious!

Yinyu giggled maniacally as she snapped her fingers one more time and the slingshot released, sending Rosetta hurtling back towards the mass. She felt the rope go taunt, but not slow her progress, as the other two ponies were carried along behind her.

Into the black mass she went and this time there was no slowing down due to winds. She cut through the mass like a bullet shot at point blank range. She screamed and covered her eyes as the mass rushed by her.

The next thing she knew there was a gasp as she collided hard with something with a sound of bones crunching.

"And that, ladies, is how you get into a difficult dream," Yinyu shouted triumphantly from somewhere nearby.

"I hate my life so much right now," she heard Tattered groan.

Rosetta was on top of something lumpy, wet, and squishy. She opened her eyes to see what it was and screamed as she backpedaled in fright.

What had been under her were what was left of John. She had collided with him and completely crushed him on impact. She started hyperventilating as she realized she was covered in his guts.

"Oh, I should put a stop to that shouldn't I?" She heard Yinyu say. A second later the dream vanished, leaving them all out on the dream realm again and her clean of her old boyfriend's remains.

Rosetta took a few deep breaths and repeated to herself in her mind that it was just a dream over and over. She stopped as her ears picked up the sound of another pony also taking deep breaths. She turned and saw Phobia with a leg up to her chest, breathing heavily, sitting among them in the dream realm.

Chapter 23

Tattered awoke with a groan. That was not how she was expecting to spend her time sleeping. She got to her hooves and looked at the window and was relieved that it wasn't sundown yet. There was still time to get over to the clinic before Melissa's rehumanization began. That had felt like a much longer time asleep than it was. Maybe Yinyu had twisted how time flowed, it wouldn't surprise her at this point.

Hooray for me, I'm a dreamwalker now.

She'd feel more excited about that when she got to do some actual dreamwalking, and not just be some Dreamwarden's abused toy. Yinyu promised that was a one-time thing, provided Tattered didn't break the rules. She definitely wasn't going to do anything to break the rules if that attracted Yinyu's attention. Yinyu being friendly was bad enough, she didn't want to know what Yinyu enraged looked like. The thought made her shiver.

Fear of the Wardens keeps us safe. The Oaths were ingrained into her consciousness now. She knew that it was some sort of magic at work that she could remember them so well, and the reason she was that opposed to breaking them. The threat of a Dreamwarden's wrath was enough for her without that though. The fact the Oaths had compulsion to them didn't matter, she wasn't going to get punished. She enjoyed living, and wouldn't have wanted to abuse dreamwalking anyway.

Dreamwalking was something that might interest Dan, considering he had limited mobility in the waking world. In the dreamscape he could be whole. Once she had a good grasp of what she was doing she could teach him and any other night ponies that might want to learn. She'd also be able to give them a heads up about the Dreamwardens so they didn't have their first experience dreamwalking be like hers. They could be like Rosetta, and be ready for the Dreamwardens with the Oaths memorized already.

Actually, cut the sarcasm. I'm a dreamwalker and that's pretty damn cool.

There were other things to do for right now. She'd check on her brother and sister and then head over to the clinic. Maybe she could get Megan to give her a ride to cut down on travel time. She typically had to walk to work and only got rides home. Hopefully after tomorrow she could just fly where she wanted again, but she'd probably have to build up her flight ability again in stages. Between the newly gained dreamwalking ability, soon to be regained flight, and reuniting with her sister she was in a good mood.

She did her wing stretches while walking. Alex wasn't in the room with her, and a quick check of Megan's room didn't show her sister there. She lifted her ears to try to hear them about. Her ears twitched a moment later as she heard voices out on the front porch. What had she ever done before she had pony hearing?

Well, she'd have probably wandered around the house until she checked the front porch and found them, but still, pony hearing made things easier. Having finally dreamwalked made her feel a little smugger about her strengths as a pony. There was nothing wrong with having some self-love. If she was ever going to move on from her feelings of guilt that caused her nightmares she needed to feel a little more pride in who she was.

She opened the front door and had her nose assaulted by the smell of her sister's cigarette. Her sister was free to do what she wanted, but did she really need to pick up a habit that smelled so bad? Once they had money rolling again and were moved into a new place she'd need to invest in something to dull that stench. Maybe she'd just get used to the scent and tune it out in time, but it seemed doubtful. That was hard to imagine though with a pony sense of smell. She'd seen a few unicorns still engaging in the habit and she wondered how they could possibly stand it.

"Hi, Tat? Off to work?" Alex asked her as she came out on the porch.

Her little brother had a good few feet between him and Megan, sitting on the far end of the porch, likely kept at bay by the scent. Megan was on the steps again and extinguished her cigarette as Tattered stepped onto the porch.

"To the clinic, actually. One of my friends who got hurt along with me is getting turned back into a human tonight," Tattered explained.

Both her sister and brother stared at her in confusion. Had word not gotten to them about the rehumanization process? She figured that the crystal ponies would have blabbed about it all over town by now after finding out about it. Ponies, being super social creatures, enjoyed to gossip, a lot. Megan might not talk to many ponies yet, but she expected Alex to have at least heard about it.

"They found a cure to turn you all back into humans?" Megan asked with a wide-eyed expression.

"It isn't a cure because there isn't anything that needs to be cured," Tattered replied as she narrowed her eyes. "Some ponies can be turned back into humans if they choose to do so. My friend is choosing to do so."

"But we have to agree to do it? They can't just make us?" Alex said as he laid his ears back.

"They can't make you do anything you don't want," Tattered confirmed.

"Are you going to do it?" Megan asked. She seemed both hesitant and hopeful. She was about to be let down hard.

"No, it wouldn't even be an option for me," Tattered said before pointing a hoof at her cutie mark. "Any pony with a cutie mark cannot be rehumanized. I'm off the table."

Megan looked over at their little brother. "But Alex can be rehumanized?"

She didn't like the way this conversation was going. "If he chooses to do so. Don't pressure him to go back to being human. This is a choice, unlike the lack of choice we were denied when we became ponies. If he wants to rehumanize that's his call, but it's also his call to stay a pony."

"I think I want to stay a pony. If it's my choice," Alex spoke up. He glanced at Megan and his ears dropped slightly.

It looked like Megan was going to question why or put up an objection. Tattered decided to just head that off for the moment. Alex would not be browbeaten into rehumanization.

"Megan, do you mind giving me a ride to the clinic? I'm not back up to flying yet and prefer to get there as soon as possible to see Melissa before she gets taken in by the doctors," Tattered asked as she gestured at Megan's car.

Megan glanced briefly at her car and then gave Alex another look. "Yeah, that's no trouble. Just give me directions, that wasn't on my site seeing tour earlier."

"Can I tag along? I'm not interested in being rehumanized, but I kind of want to see it done," Alex said as he walked across the porch.

"You won't get to see it. They won't let anypony watch it happening, and they told me it would take around seven hours. They won't be done till early in the morning," Tattered explained. I'm going to be essentially skipping a day of work for this, but they know where to find me if they need me.

"Oh," Alex said looking disappointed. "Can I at least come along to meet your friend? At least then I could meet her before and after. It would be interesting, seeing the differences."

She considered that for just a moment before shaking her head. "Melissa is doing this because she is in constant pain. She got it much worse than me during the same incident that landed me in the hospital. Just talking takes a lot out of her. I'd rather not overwhelm her. You can meet her after tomorrow, if everything goes right."

She paused and thought for a second before turning back to Megan. "After you drop me off do you think you could donate some clothes? I have no clue at all what size clothes Melissa is going to need, but I figure that if her human instincts come back she'll be wanting clothes. Ponies don't care if humans are naked, but humans do."

"What do you consider human instincts that aren't pony instincts?" Megan asked with a frown.

Tattered shrugged. "I don't put much thought into that kind of stuff, I leave that to Phobia or psychologists. They seem similar enough to me, except for a few tribal personality quirks, but I do know about the human nudity taboo at least; ponies don't have that. If she starts thinking like a human again I'd rather not have her freaking out about being naked."

"Maybe she'll become a nudist, but it makes sense. I'll see what I can do," Megan said as she got up. "Let me grab my purse and keys really fast. My car isn't locked if you want to get in now."

Tattered nodded and walked over to the car while Megan hurried into the house. After getting to the passenger side of the car she took one look at the handle on the door and flicked her tail, before sitting down to wait on Megan.

"Why haven't you gotten in the car yet?" Megan asked after coming out of the house again.

"The way your door is made is not hoof friendly at all. I'd need you or Alex to open this one," Tattered explained as she pointed a hoof at the door handle.

"Seriously? A door handle is stopping you?" Megan asked as she walked over to the passenger side door and opened it.

Tattered hopped up into the car and once her tail was clear Megan closed the car door behind her. The human sister then walked around the car and got into the driver's seat.

"I could have gotten it eventually, but it would take a lot of work and would have ended up with me scratching up the car's paint job. It was better to just have you or Alex open it for me," Tattered explained as Megan started the car.

Megan pulled onto the road before responding. "Why are you all so enamored with remaining ponies again if you struggle with simple tasks like that?"

"We're comfortable as ponies and feel right as ponies; the idea of being human just doesn't feel right anymore," Tattered explained as she pointed the direction to take. "Plus, there are things we can do with ease that you'd struggle with or just not be able to do at all."

"Some examples?" Megan asked as she waited for some ponies to clear out of the road in front of her.

"Depends on what type of pony, since we're all kind of specialized," Tattered replied as Megan started advancing the car again at a slow pace. "In my case I can fly, see better than any human, and as of today I can enter the dreamscape."

"Dreamscape? I think we might need the doctors at this clinic to check you out again," Megan said skeptically without taking her eyes from the road.

"You've seen magic in action, Megan, you shouldn't be dismissing the dreamscape," Tattered insisted. She was hoping that they could get along better than they had in the past going forward. Why was Megan being so difficult again?

"I haven't heard anything about anything called the dreamscape on the news in conjunction with night ponies, or anything else for that matter except some junkie's delusions, so forgive me for being skeptical," Megan said calmly.

"It seems to be tied to night ponies and takes us a little bit longer to figure out on our own, just like unicorns take time to learn spells other than levitation. It'll no doubt get talked about more as more night ponies start figuring it out," Tattered said as she thought about it. "I've known about it for a few weeks, just wasn't able to access it myself until today. The government set up a meeting with me by way of a night pony dreamwalking to me and making arrangements."

"And what'll you do with the ability to enter this dreamscape?" Megan asked as she gave Tattered a quick glance before turner her attention back to the road.

"Probably help ponies with dealing with nightmares; I know I have bad ones" she responded. Then she thought about where Yinyu said she was sleeping. "There doesn't seem to be any distance restriction on it, so I can use it as a communication tool too. I figure as long as me and another pony I know are both sleeping at the same time I can get in touch with them no matter where they're at."

Megan frowned and brought a hand back to rub her arm. "You just go into other ponies' dreams with this? Just ponies, not humans, right?"

"That's correct," Tattered confirmed. "Pretty sure if they don't have magic I can't get into their dreams, or find them for that matter. I don't think human dreams are part of the dreamscape at all."

"Alright," Megan said, smiling slightly with visible relief. "But isn't that a massive invasion of privacy?"

You have a sacred trust with the dreamers, you shall not violate it echoed in her mind.

"Believe me, I wouldn't ever use their private thoughts against them," Tattered said as she scrunched up her muzzle, disgusted at the concept.

"I'm glad you wouldn't, but what's stopping another night pony from doing that?" Megan asked firmly, clearly bothered by the idea.

"There are controls in place, no sane night pony would do that," Tattered answered even more firmly.

"And if they aren't sane, or they try to violate whatever these controls are?" Megan asked in a skeptical tone.

Tattered shivered as she thought about the Dreamwardens. "Then that night pony will suffer some horrible consequences. I can't talk about how. Just believe me when I say that no night pony would risk it."

Megan stopped the car in the middle of the street and looked at her in concern. "Something has you scared. What happened?"

"It's not your concern, Megan. It's night pony business. I know I'm not going to do anything wrong with dreamwalking," Tattered said firmly, not looking at her sister.

"Did you get threatened?" Megan pressed. Tattered could tell Megan was getting angry and actually felt pride in Megan's protectiveness. She still couldn't talk to her sister about this though.

"I know the rules and consequences and won't be violating them. Just drop the subject, Megan," she responded back even firmer than before.

"If someone is threatening you..." Megan kept on.

"I said drop it and I meant drop it! This isn't human business, this isn't any pony's business but night ponies. It isn't something that is discussed with family either. It will not be discussed, and that's final!" Tattered bellowed.

Megan flinched back from her. Tattered felt a pang of guilt as she saw tears start to form in Megan's eyes as her sister's face contorted into a look of hurt and anger. Megan then reached across the car and opened up the passenger side door.

"Get out," Megan said harshly as she started crying. "If you aren't going to talk to me about this, and scream at me when I'm just worried about you, then you can just walk the rest of the way."

Tattered lowered her head and nodded. "I'll get out. I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have yelled. There are just some things I can't talk about. It's not the exact same thing, but I'm guessing if you get more involved with politics you might understand. There's a duty and trust put on us to keep secrets that we can't betray."

As she was turning to get out she heard Megan say tightly, "I'll calm down in a little while, just get out for right now."

She hopped out of the car and pushed the passenger door closed behind her. A moment later her sister pulled into a side street, presumably to turn around and head back to the house. She was almost to the clinic anyway, so her sister had helped her out.

The temptation was there to try to fly the rest of the way, her wings weren't feeling stiff anymore, which should be a sign they were good to go. Lavender had stressed not to attempt anything without approval though. Hopefully this was the final night of no flying.

With a sigh, and a hope that Megan wouldn't hold any hard feelings for too long, Tattered started walking the remaining distance to the clinic.

Paul yawned, he hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep after being up all yesterday, all night, and on till early in the afternoon today. Jessie was passed out in his arms, and he was a little jealous of her sound sleep. The fact they were out walking helped wake him up more, but he was still exhausted. He was getting used to it. This had been an ongoing thing for the past month, except for a few recent days he'd rather not think about.

"Are you okay, Dad?" Robby asked from beside him.

He looked down at his son's concerned face and gave a smile. "Just a little tired. I'll get some more sleep soon, that's why we are out right now."

"I still don't want a foalsitter," Robby grumbled after the reminder about why they where they were headed.

Devon turned and looked at their son. "Your father and I need time where we can sleep. You'll like Miss Rosetta Stone. You want to spend time with other night ponies, don't you?"

Robby seemed to struggle with his answer. The conflict of not wanting a babysitter warring with his love of all things night pony. Paul wanted to laugh at the seriousness which Robby seemed to consider the two concepts. Eventually Robby just nodded in acceptance that he wanted to spend time with night ponies.

Paul turned to his wife. "Can you tell me a bit more about more about who we have watching him? I'm comfortable with Amanda, and understand why she can't, but would like to know more about who is taking care of our kids."

"Rosetta is a night pony who will be teaching part time at the school with me and Amanda. Her future mother-in-law is Sunset Blessing, who is more or less the leader of the town. Sunset Blessing is also who your sister is dating and it's pretty serious relationship from what I understand," Devon explained, then let off a little giggle. "You might be gaining a niece or two, Paul."

"How old is Rosetta if Tonya is possibly going to be her mother-in-law?" Paul asked with bemusement.

Devon laughed. "She's actually older than Tonya, she's twenty-two. I'm not sure how old Sunset Blessing is, but I figure she's at least in her mid-forties if she has a daughter around Tonya's age. Rosetta is a lesbian by the way, she's marrying Sunset Blessing's daughter, Phobia Remedy."

Paul sighed. It was news to him that Tonya was into other females, he had always figured she was into guys due to the whole gender thing. It was sad that he really didn't know much about his sister.

"Have you heard anything from Tonya? I really wanted to apologize to her for the other day," he asked.

Devon shook her head. "Not a word. I even asked Rosetta about her. Rosetta says she hasn't seen Tonya since before we last saw her. She said that if anything had happened to her Sunset Blessing would have probably said something to them about it."

"She's probably just avoiding us because of her fight with me," Paul said with a frown. "That's a bad habit we both always had, running from conflict."

"We can ask Rosetta and Phobia to pass word along that you want to apologize," Devon said as she came back near him and laid s hand on his shoulder as they walked. "I really am glad you seem to have gotten over things and are actually wanting to bond with her."

"All I can do is keep on trying to fix my mistakes and do better going forward," he said. He looked down at Jessie sleeping soundly in his arms. She might not be human, but she was happy and content. The same with Robby, who had a fierce protective nature that was beyond commendable. How had he ended up running from them? How could he have been that stupid?

"I think that is the place," Devon said as she withdrew her hand and pointed at a house. "I think I see Rosetta on the porch waiting for us."

Paul looked where his wife was pointing. They were at the edge of town now and it was literally the first house in town before anything else. Sitting on its front porch was a dark blue night pony mare who was looking expectantly at them.

It did make him uneasy leaving Robby in the hands...or hooves in this case...of someone else for hours at a time most days. Devon was right though, they needed to have time they could both sleep. Robby's sleep schedule was something that made their sleep schedules go completely out of whack, and caused them difficulty getting important things done together.

As they walked into the yard of the house the mare came out to greet them.

"I'm glad to see you. I hope you didn't have any problem finding your way here," Rosetta said as she trotted out to them.

"First house in town if you are following the main street is pretty easy directions," Devon said in a cheerful tone. She looked at Robby and then pointed at Rosetta. "Robby, this is Rosetta Stone. She'll be teaching Spanish at your new school in the fall."

Robby stared up at Rosetta wide eyed. Paul frowned wondering what the problem was.

After a long moment of staring, Robby blushed and then finally gave a small hop while raising his wings high, "You're a pretty pony!"

Paul and Devon started laughing and Rosetta blushed fiercely. How did ponies have the ability to blush with fur? However they did it, Rosetta's dark blue fur definitely darkened in her face, making it look almost black.

"Thank you for the compliment, my fiancée certainly thinks so too," Rosetta said after she finished blushing. She then looked back to the adults. "Follow me on in. We don't really have furniture yet, but I have a few mugs and running water. I can also offer a shower if you really want one, and we have towels to dry off with after you're done with that. I know getting one when you're living in the tents might be a hassle."

"We don't want to intrude too much," Devon said. Paul noticed that her attention had been caught at the word shower.

Rosetta waved a hoof dismissively. "You're fine. Dad and Phobia are both up. Please be mindful of Phobia though. She gets nervous if anypony gets too close to her right now. Part of why I agreed to do this was I figured having Robby around might help her get a little less off edge."

Paul raised an eyebrow. Ponies all seemed very social creatures that you had to go out of your way to discourage from being overly friendly. Hearing Phobia was nervous around others was strange. Of course, with a name like Phobia that might be all the explanation he needed on that.

They followed Rosetta into the house. It was indeed pretty empty, and dimly lit. There was one heavily laden bookshelf on one wall, a small computer desk with a computer, an ottoman that served as the chair for the computer desk, a throw rug, and a single lamp which was turned off; that was the extent of the furniture in the room. Also in the living room was a green unicorn stallion reading a book by the light of a small candle, and a grey night pony mare who laid in the shadows of a corner watching them warily.

"Phobia, you remember Devon and her foals, right? This gentleman is her husband, Paul," Rosetta said with a gesture of her wing back at them after they all entered in.

Phobia sat up and gave them a small smile. "I remember. Sorry I didn't get to help out sooner, it has been...difficult since the day I last saw you. I hope everything is going well for you since we last met."

"Do you mind if I turn the lamp on now since we have guests?" The unicorn asked as he looked up from his book.

"Go ahead, Dad. You know you don't have to stay in the dark down here if you don't want to," Rosetta said, then glanced back at Paul and Devon. "This is our dad, Tom. He's not the most social of ponies, but he's a decent guy."

Tom lit his horn up and the lamp flicked on, giving a great deal more light to the room. He then turned to them. "I'm not anti-social, I just prefer not to get sucked into the herd mentality like the rest of you. Just because I'm stuck as a pony doesn't mean I have to think like a pony."

Rosetta looked apologetic. "He has had a bad week, we all have. Hopefully having a foal around will lighten him up too."

Tom gave Paul a long look. "So, you're the brother of the pony that's dating my wife."

Paul frowned as he looked back at the unicorn. Yeah, that was a pretty awkward thing to bring up. "I really didn't know about that until today. I haven't even met your wife."

Tom gave a good-natured chuckle, earning a look of confusion from the humans. "Don't think I'm upset with Tonya. The pony leading this town bears little resemblance to the woman I married, and I'm not talking about the species change. If Tonya finds her appealing, then more power to her; Tonya seems better at reasoning with her than I am anyway. Phobia is the one who'll have to have her best friend for a stepmother, not me."

Phobia groaned as she wrapped a wing over her head. "Please don't bring that up, Dad. I've been doing a good job getting over the weirdness."

"You grew up with Tonya? Do I know you?" Paul asked as he looked Tom and Phobia over closer, not that looking at pony features would give him any clue.

"I remember you, though Dad might not. You might remember us best from church, the Gilmore family," Phobia said as she uncovered her head.

Paul thought back and tried to place the last name. "I remember Charlotte Gilmore, the Sunday school teacher. I'm not sure that's the right Gilmore family, don't remember her have a daughter."

"Yeah, that was a bit of a surprise to everyone, my human name was Matthew," Phobia said with a smirk.

Alright, he did remember Tonya's friend Matthew; weird little kid, wore a heavy jacket even in the summer. Guess Tonya's friendship with him made a little more sense if Matthew turned out like Tonya. He'd always just thought it was just the freaky kids joining up together for mutual defense.

That also made another realization go off in his head and his mouth dropped in shock. "Wait...Tonya is dating Mrs. Gilmore, the Sunday school teacher? The same Sunday school teacher who got on Tonya harder than just about anyone else at church? The one who took a switch to me and told me I was going to hell because I read Harry Potter?"

"Yep, that's was my wife," Tom said, then lowered his ears. "That was me too. That's one of the few things both she and I agree was wrong about our old lives. Having to see what went on with my daughter opened my eyes about how much of a bigot I was. That's wasn't Christianity, that was a sick perversion of it."

Devon gave him a look of disbelief. "Your Sunday school teacher beat you with a switch for reading Harry Potter? Is that why I can't get you to sit down and watch those movies with me?"

"Um..." Paul said as he rubbed the back of his head and looked down at the ground.

"The crimes of Sunset Blessing are much worse than I thought," Rosetta said as she raised a hoof to her mouth to cover a giggle. "Banning Harry Potter; I knew there was a reason that mare makes me angry every time I'm around her. Who would ban Harry Potter of all things?" Rosetta then turned to Phobia. "I thought you liked fantasy novels. How'd you get away with reading them if she was like that?"

"Libraries mainly," Phobia said with a shrug. "The Anne Rice books I got away with because I showed Mom some books from her Christian phase. She didn't investigate the rest."

"Who's Anne Rice?" Tom asked as he turned to face Phobia.

"She writes erotic vampire stories, Dad," Rosetta answered for the other night pony.

Tom just sat with a befuddled look on his face as he stared at Phobia. Phobia covered her head with her wings in response.

"Very erotic vampire stories," Rosetta said with a devilish grin.

"Et tu Rosetta? Your betrayal hurts, you know that?" Phobia said as she peeked out from behind her wings. "And I wasn't reading them for the eroticism anyway."

"You were reading erotic novels behind our backs?" Tom asked, letting his mouth hang open as he looked at his daughter.

"They are very well written!" Phobia protested, still hiding behind her wings.

"Well, I'm eager for that shower if it's still being offered," Devon announced, cutting off the conversation. Paul looked at his wife with a small pout, he wanted to hear this conversation keep going.

"Of course, just follow me and I'll get some towels for you. My parents even left us some shampoo and conditioner. They'll do you more good than us. You don't want to know what that stuff does to tails," Rosetta said as she started walking towards the stairs.

Robby nudged Paul's leg and Paul looked down to see what his son wanted.

"Dad, I think these ponies are crazier than Aunt Tonya."

Author's Note

Not the most eventful chapter I know, but needed to bridge some things. There will be chapter releases the next few days.

Chapter 24

Dan waited in the same room he spent the last week in. There was a huge difference now; the pony he had shared this room with, and a previous room with before that, was missing. Whether she came back or not, it was certain she would not return as who she left as. That thought weighed heavily on him as he waited.

Tattered sat a few feet away on the floor, speaking quietly to Lavender and Rudra. On the other side of the room a human psychologist sat waiting, reading a book. Dan resisted the urge to scowl at the man. This entire rehumanization thing felt filthy, but what other choice did Mel have? These humans were trying to help her get to where she could be pain free and well. He had to force himself not to see them as hostile.

It had been hours with no word, and soon it would be dawn. It had been over nine hours, and they said it would only take around seven. They had been told that they were going to be taking time to make sure Melissa was completely sedated and asleep, and that they needed to take time to make sure she understood the full ramifications of what she was doing. Those things might have added some time, but it still seemed like it was taking too long.

Every once and a while the human doctor or one of the ponies would come back into the room to get a quick drink of water from the sink before returning to the other room with Melissa. Everyone except the psychologist always asked how things were going, and if Melissa was alright. The answer was always the same though; it was an ongoing procedure and they would let everyone know when the procedure was done. The waiting and uncertainty were agony.

"How are you holding up, Dan?" Tattered asked as the trio on that side of the room had a lull in conversation.

"I'm just like everypony else, anxiously waiting to hear something," Dan said as he brought his one foreleg around and laid his head down on it.

"You aren't everypony else. You're the pony that has spent the most time with her. We all care, but I got the impression the two of you are pretty close," Tattered said as she walked over by his bed to face him.

"It doesn't matter. Soon she will be free to go where she wants and won't want to be around me. Why hang around a reminder of the pain she has endured," Dan said to the other Broken One.

For all he knew she would suddenly find ponies horrible to be around, or worse, start talking like the other humans about how they were all mind controlled. She might even see him as some beast.

"She isn't going to turn her back on you, or any of us. She's gone through too much with us to do that," Tattered stated firmly, scowling at him. "You're the one that told her that yourself. Why are you having doubts now?"

He sat up and looked down at his compatriot. "I had doubts when I said it. I said what needed to be said to soothe her when she was upset. She needed this procedure to be pain free. I was just saying what I needed to for her sake."

He had spent so many hours talking to Melissa. Telling her all about his life growing up, talking about the news they saw on television, and trying to cheer her up. She had made the time he spent healing bearable.

Despite Melissa's pain she had talked to him too. She told him about how she used to spend time as a child at friend's houses just to get away from her mother. She told him about how she had tried to enlist in the army like her dad but hadn't been able to make it through boot camp. She had told him about how eager she had been to finally be able to protect others when she first transformed, and how it eat her up that she had failed to live up to that yet again.

In these beds they had bared their souls to one another, and he felt a connection with Melissa that he had never felt with another pony or human being.

Now that connection might be ending, and that hurt worse than losing his legs.

Tattered propped herself up on the side of the bed and gave him a sympathetic frown. "Dan, I'm not stupid and blind. The two of you are more than simply friends. She isn't going to abandon you."

"We were just friends, okay?" He growled, flicking his tail in anger. "And I can't blame her for abandoning me if she does. Who wants to be around a crippled pony all the time?"

"You could do the same as she is right now," Tattered answered in a low voice. "If you really want to be with her."

He shuffled himself around in bed to face the wall instead of Tattered. What did Tattered know about anything? Even if he did feel that way about Mel, that didn't mean she felt the same way. And he didn't feel that way anyway, they were just really good friends. That made that whole line of thought pointless.

He blinked his eyes to clear his vision. They needed to change his sheets more often, he was getting stray hairs in his eyes from these things.

"We actually took a few minutes to talk about your situation with the mages when they arrived," he heard Lavender say. He had almost forgotten she was there with how quiet she was being.

"I didn't ask you to do that. I don't want to be rehumanized." He then lowered his ears. "What did they say?"

"They said they don't think the rehumanization process would properly grow your limbs back," Lavender said in a sorrowful tone. "The human doctor wanted to push you about rehumanization still. I told him to keep away from you."

Dan whipped his head around to stare at the Equestrian. She looked miserable, staring down at the ground.

"I thought you wanted me to rehumanize. Why did you tell him to keep away?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Lavender looked him in the eyes. "My job as a medical practitioner is to see that my patients get to live happy healthy lives. At this time you will still have the mobility afforded to you by flying. If they changed you back you wouldn't be getting that arm and leg back."

"What about prosthetics?" Tattered interjected.

"Yes, there are prosthetics he could have as a human, which may work to some degree," Lavender nodded. "They're no better than the ones he would get as a pony, and his mobility on the ground would be bad in either case. Taking away his flight when he struggles on the ground is just cruel. I'm pretty sure he would end up regretting his decision if he did it in this circumstance. I had to object for my patient's best interests."

"I have to concur," the human psychologist spoke up. Dan turned and looked at the man as the man closed his book. "There is an extreme chance of severe depression in this case if you rehumanize. While your mental state as a pony is questionable in several areas, it is likely better than the alternative in this particular case. From a mental health perspective, I would advise against rehumanization."

Dan laid his head back down. He didn't feel any better hearing Lavender and this human backtracking and deciding suddenly he was better off as a pony. Oddly it made him feel worse. It said that he had no real option to join Mel if he wanted to--not that he did.

The door opened, and everypony's attention immediately perked as two of the three Equestrian mages walked in.

"You're needed in the other room," one of the unicorns, a purple mare, gestured at the psychologist. "She's still sedated and asleep, but they'll be waking her soon."

"It's done? She's human? She's okay?" Dan asked. His chest was tight. She had better be okay.

The same purple mare turned to look at him as the psychologist exited the room. "She's human, or almost entirely human anyway. She seems to have recovered with a minimum of scarring. We won't know everything for sure until after the examinations are done."

"A MINIMUM OF SCARRING!" he bellowed as he pushed himself up by his one leg and quickly toppled back down again. He pushed himself back up again and continued. "She's supposed to be all better! What's considered a minimum of scarring?"

The unicorn looked at him impassively. "She has some light scarring around her abdomen and upper thigh of her right leg, with the appearance of old burn scarring. These don't seem like they'll be an impediment or cause any serious discomfort. Most human clothes will keep them covered, making them unnoticeable most of the time. She also seems to have retained her pony eye color, but no other pony physical traits. Her PREQUES number is less than half a full point as well, which is preferable."

Dan lowered himself back down to the bed. It seemed like she'd be alright, with no more pain. It was done, and all there was left to do was wait to find out what had happened in her head.

"Can we see her now?" Tattered asked as she glanced anxiously at the door.

The unicorn floated a paper cup under the sink and filled it with water. "Once she has woken up, and the humans have cleared that she's okay for visitors. You'll have to be patient for a little bit longer." She floated the cup back to her mouth and took a sip and stuck her tongue out in disgust at the cup after she finished her drink.

More waiting. He was so tired of waiting. At least the waiting was going to be at an end soon. He just hoped that at the end of his wait he still had his friend.

Melissa hardly had time to get her bearings when she woke back up. No sooner had she registered her change in body did she end up being subjected to a full physical and a long line of questioning; having the doctor poke at her while crystal ponies did something or other to her with their hooves.

By the time they finished, and she had her full list of rights read to her she was more than happy to have a few minutes of peace.

She stood up, not as shakily as she thought she might, and walked over to the mirror to look her naked body over.

Her skin was paler than she remembered. And her red hair maybe a touch more vivid than it had been when she was human before. Was she the same height as before or had that changed too? She thought she might be a tiny bit taller, but it could have been a trick of her mind based on her stature as a pony. Breasts far larger than any pony's udders hung from her chest and didn't seem out of place or freakishly over-sized. There was no trace of a tail, nor want of one.

She brought her hand up and looked at it. All the fingers seemed the correct length and when she flexed them found that they moved easily with no stiffness. They didn't seem strange or alien at all to her, they were supposed to be there because she was supposed to have hands. She was a human and she had a sense of herself as human, not a pony in a human body.

Using the same hand she had just examined, she looked down and touched the shriveled flesh on her side that ran in patches down to her leg. She could feel the pressure if she pressed on it, but that flesh seemed dead and without sensation. That had definitely not been there last time she had been human, and it was a grim reminder of her short life as a pony.

A cold chill went through her body as the memory of the horrible night she had been injured ran through her mind again, and she couldn't suppress the shudder. The psychologist wanted her to attend sessions for dealing with PTSD. She wasn't sure that would help much though.

She brought a hand up and touched her back. There was no trace of the wings that were once there. Their absence didn't bother her nearly as much as she thought it would last night. There was no connection to having wings, much as there was no connection to having hooves, tail, or fur. As a human she wasn't supposed to have those things, so there was no missing them. Already the concept of having them was growing strange.

As she looked her reflection in the eyes she saw the last reminder that she wasn't always human. Yellow eyes, too vividly yellow for any human, stared back at her.

Glancing around the room it seemed a bit dimmer than she remembered. It was probably a result of the loss of her night pony vision, but it didn't really trouble her. She could see perfectly fine, and the sun shouldn't feel as intense anymore. It was a fair trade off.

The more she thought about how natural everything seemed the more she realized how much being a human or pony impacted her view of the world. People liked to claim ponies were brainwashed by their transformation, but she wondered if becoming human had in a sense had done that yet again to her. You couldn't change what someone was without fundamentally changing how they thought. She was her thoughts and feelings, not her body, and now she was human.

A knock at the door startled her and she turned red in the face as she realized she was standing in the middle of the room naked if anyone came in.

"Melissa? Are you okay in there? Can I come in?" Came Tattered's muffled voice from the other side of the door.

Melissa hurried over to where the doctor had left her a hospital gown and she yelled out to the door. "Give me a minute to get something on. I'm completely naked!"

She could hear a laugh through the door. "Nudity taboo is in full effect again then? Guess that you're thinking like a human now. You know I don't care if I see you naked, right?"

"Yes, I'm thinking like a human and that means I care if you see me naked. Hold your horses a minute and let me get something on!" Melissa called back as she slipped on the hospital gown. "Alright, you can come in now."

The door opened and Tattered walked in with a smirk on her face. The smirk immediately dropped as the night pony's eyes spotted her and went wide as her mouth dropped open.

Seeing Tattered was a shock to Melissa as well. Was she really that small when she was a pony? She hadn't felt small at the time. As she looked Tattered over she tried to imagine herself with a similar body and somehow struggled to do so. It had only been the night before that she had a similar form, but already it seemed an alien concept in some ways. A testament to what had been done to her mind.

It made her think again about how much her thoughts had been forcibly changed not once, but twice now in the last month. That should bother her a lot more, but somehow it didn't. Maybe that was what brainwashing was, having your entire view of the world altered and not having any complaint about it.

Tattered came out of her stunned stare with a shake of her head and walked forward a few more steps. "Sorry, I knew you'd be human again when I came in, but actually seeing it is a shock."

Melissa smiled and brought a hand in front of her mouth to suppress a giggle. "Don't worry, it's pretty amazing for me looking at you now and noticing for the first time how small and adorable ponies are."

"I'm not small, humans are just too big," Tattered said in mock indignation.

"Nope, you're small, my little pony friend."

Tattered spread her wings and snorted before lowering them again. "Well, I guess that answers the question of whether you are thinking completely human-y now. Since you're talking with no trouble, and seem to be in an upbeat mood, can I assume you're pain free too?"

Melissa sat back on to the bed and spread her arms and legs wide. "Yes! Not a trace of pain or discomfort. All my body parts are working perfectly and naturally." She lifted her foot towards Tattered and wiggled her toes at her.

Tattered scrunched her muzzle in disgust as she looked at the toes. "Fingers and toes are so weird. Can you please not do that? You're making my fur crawl."

Melissa sat up and put her feet back down. "Sorry, just being able to move everything without pain is wonderful. I'm enjoying my body."

"So...no regrets about losing your ponydom then?" Tattered asked.

Melissa looked up at the ceiling lights and became thoughtful again. "I was thinking about that right before you knocked at the door. Since I was turned into a pony and then back again into a human in such a short period of time I was thinking about what that all did to my head."

"Sounds like something you should have discussed with the psychologist," Tattered said as Melissa listened to the night pony's hooveclops advance towards her.

She looked down at the pony. "I didn't get a lot of time to process things after waking up before they were running tests, asking me a million questions, and giving me instructions. I got to think more once they left."

"Are you on the ponies are all brainwashed train now too?" Tattered asked as she sat and curled her tail around herself.

Melissa frowned, she didn't want this to come out wrong. "That's partly right, but is oversimplifying things a lot. I think my thoughts were completely changed when I was a pony, but I think the same thing happened again today when I was turned into a human. A large part of us is our sense of self, and when you meddle with that you change a lot of things. If you call changing that brainwashing then I've been brainwashed twice."

"Alright," Tattered flicked an ear. "If that is so, do you think wanting to stay a pony is wrong?"

Melissa shook her head and heard her friend sigh with relief before she explained herself. "You're sense of self says that you're a pony and there's nothing wrong with wanting to stay true to what you are, no matter how you got there. How you got there might have been wrong, but that doesn't make being what you are wrong as a result."

Tattered raised a brow. "Instead of the ends justify the means it would be the end result is what it is despite the means?"

"No matter what we are we have a right to feel comfortable being what we are, no matter how we got there," Melissa tried explaining again, then decided to go another route. "Sunset Shimmer shouldn't have done what she did, it was wrong, but that's old news. Ponies are ponies now, and shouldn't be forced to not to be ponies. Doing that is no different than what Sunset Shimmer did; changing someone's sense of self against their will."

"And the ones saying that they just want us to go back to what we were?" Tattered asked as she stared up at Melissa with one ear lowered.

"There is no going back. I'm not who or what I was when I was human before. I spent three weeks in agonizing pain with pony thoughts running through my head. Do you think that I can just be the human I was before that? That person is gone," Melissa said with a violent shake of her head. She then glanced over at her paper work.

"I'm not exactly one-hundred percent human now anyway," she said as she reached for her paperwork. "They say I still have magic in me that isn't going to go away."

Tattered gaped in shock then licked her lips. "You didn't lose your magic?"

"I lost most of it, not all of it," Melissa said as she flipped through to the appropriate page of her paperwork. "They gave me a something called a PREQUES number, which is supposed to say how much magic is in me. Mine is zero-point-four. I can't actively do anything with that low a number--they said I would need at least a full one-point-zero for that--but I'm not a straight zero either."

"Give me a moment to think about something," Tattered said as she turned to stare down at the floor.

Melissa watched Tattered sit deep in thought, not wanting to disturb whatever line of thought her friend was following. They sat in silence for close to a minute with Tattered occasionally flicking one or another of her ears and Melissa re-looking over some of the papers in between glances at the night pony.

Tattered looked back up at her with a small smile playing on her lips. "If you have magic in you still, even if just a little, I might have an idea that it will help out with. I have to consult with a friend of mine about some things before I jump to any conclusions." Tattered then let the smile drop. "On a more pressing note; do you still want to stay on with the Enclave? My offer to you hasn't changed. I want you as my number two in command."

There was something her magic could still be used for? She didn't know if she should be happy at the prospect or worried, they had stressed that she should report if she somehow used magic. One thing she didn't need to think about was her answer.

She looked Tattered straight in the eyes and leaned forward. "If you still want me, even though I'm human now, then I'm your woman. I want to keep what happened to us from happening to anyone else. No one should have that happen to them."

Tattered grinned as her ears picked up and the night pony stood to her hooves. "Good, I'll even let you keep your title of Broken One. As soon as I get official authority I'll deputize you as an officer of the law and see what the town can do for getting you a regular paycheck. For right now there is another pony who is eager to see you. I think we should go down the hall and visit."

Her heart skipped a beat. How had she forgotten about Dan? How would he react when he saw her? He had said that he supported her and would stand up for her decision, but she knew he hadn't been happy about her choice. His resentment for humans was strong. Would that resentment get directed at her too?

Tattered must have picked up on her worries as the night pony mare walked over to her and laid a hoof on her leg. "I probably shouldn't be saying this, but Dan cares a lot about you. I think it's more than simple friendship to him."

Melissa blinked as she tried to process what was being said to her. Was Tattered saying what she thought she was saying?

"Dan seemed to waver about being rehumanized," Tattered said as her ears lowered and she took a brief glance at the door. "If it wasn't for the fact the Equestrians were pretty sure he wouldn't regrow his limbs I think he would have asked them to rehumanize him too, just to be with you."

Her brain threatened to shut down as emotions went to war with one another inside her. She leaned back in the bed. "Mandy, can you give me a moment. I need to think."

She heard Tattered snort, but the snort seemed half-hearted. "I'm going to have to break you of calling me Mandy if you're going to be my number two. I understand about needing a moment though; that was a lot to drop on you."

That was an understatement, that was a bombshell and she had no idea how to feel. She had been scared of Dan's rejection. Now if he rejected her it would come with an extra degree of hurt knowing how he had felt. Had she been that blind? Would she have changed her decision if she had known? Could she have endured the pain and taken the risk on what other treatments there might have been?

That was probably why he had kept his mouth shut about it. He didn't want her to risk staying in pain.

The next things to consider were more troubling. How did she feel about him? Was he right in thinking she would reject him? Could she feel that way for a pony? This made everything feel wrong.

There was nothing to do but press forward though. Avoiding him would just make everything worse.

She sat back up and stood to her feet and did a quick check to make sure her hospital gown was still covering everything. After she was satisfied she wasn't going to be showing her ass to everyone once she left the room she turned back to her friend who had accepted her without reservation.

"Okay, Tattered, I'm ready to go see him," she said with as much confidence as she could muster.

Tattered gave her a concerned frown, but only nodded in response, before turning and opening the door back up. The doors of the clinic all had the handles you just had to push down on to unlatch, ideal for ponies, even if they were placed a little high up to be perfect for ponies.

She followed the night pony out into the hall and down it to its end. The night pony did a brief knock on the door before rearing up and grabbing the handle with her hooves.

As Melissa walked into the room she was greeted by collective gasps that made her want to turn and retreat back to the other room. She stiffened up her limbs and kept herself still as she looked at the room's occupants.

There were not many here, just three other than Tattered and herself. Lavender Mist and Rudra were to one side of the room gaping at her, and she gave them a hesitant wave of her hand. She then turned her eyes to the one occupied bed and saw Dan staring impassively at her, though she could tell his muscles were all tensed.

"Dan...," she was at a loss for words after what Tattered had told her. Why had Tattered told her that? She forced a smile and spread her arms wide while giving a little twirl in place. "What do you think?"

He stared at her for a moment and she felt worry building again. When he spoke it was in a low, tired, voice. "Are you pain free? Do you hurt still?"

"I'm pain free," she said with a nod as she rubbed a hand along an arm nervously. She looked at the three completely intact night ponies and bit her lip. "I know everyone is eager to ask me questions and see how I'm doing, but can you give me and Dan a few minutes...alone?"

"Come on you two. I wanted to get a checkup on my wings anyway, and hopefully a clearance to try to fly again." Tattered said as she gestured towards the door with a wing.

Lavender looked like she was going to put up an objection and gave Melissa and Dan an appraising look before shrugging and heading to the door. Rudra followed behind her with no objections. He was a member of the Enclave, and though he might be the boss at the clinic he still understood an order from a superior phrased as a suggestion.

After they exited the room Melissa and Dan kept staring at one another for a long minute of silence, not moving.

Dan broke the silence first. "So...any lingering disappointment about not being able to fly anymore?"

She rubbed her back as she answered. "Not really. I guess it just isn't as important to me now that I'm human."

"I see," Dan said as he laid his ears back.

She sighed in frustration. Highlighting her changes in thoughts was not the best way to start this conversation.

"I'm still staying with the Enclave though," she said, trying to put some pep in her voice. She was rewarded with Dan's ears raising back up a little bit. She continued on what seemed to be the more appealing subject for him. "Tattered said she wants me as her number two."

Dan laid his ears back again. What did she do wrong now?

"She's putting a human as her number two," Dan said in an aggravated tone. "I'm guessing I'm getting regulated to number three."

"If you prefer to be her number two I don't mind letting you outrank me," she said while pleadingly waving her hands in front of her. "I'm the one who's an outsider now. I shouldn't make you feel like I'm taking your rightful place. I can tell Tattered you should outrank me."

His ears moved from being laid back to laying to the sides. He turned his head so he wasn't looking at her anymore. "No...she's probably right. It's better to have you as the number two than some useless broken pony like me."

Her face flushed with anger at the comment and she stormed forward next to his bed so she was able to look him in the face again. "Listen here, you are not useless. You're going to be flying again soon and will have plenty of mobility due to that. I'm not letting you wallow in self-pity."

He raised his head up but kept his ears just as flattened as a moment before. "You have no idea what's going on in my head right now. I know how much pain you were in, and I'm very glad you're pain-free now, but that doesn't mean you understand mine."

She took a deep breath and sat down on the side of the bed next to him. It was time to address the elephant in the room. "Tattered told me about how you felt about me."

Dan went wide eyed for a moment and then laid his head back down, curling his tail around himself, though the edge of it sat flicking still. "Tattered doesn't know what she's talking about."

She softly put a hand on his back. He flinched but didn't shake it off. She took that as a positive sign and pressed on. "Then you tell me how you feel. I'm here right now, able to talk to you for the first time in weeks without feeling agony saying every word. Talk to me, I don't want to have you turn away from me."

"I won't ever do that," Dan whispered without turning to look at her.

"Then talk to me about how you feel. I need to know. You have been open with me about everything till today. I may be human and have human thoughts and instincts now, but the bulk of who I am is still the same person who was in that bed over there," she pleaded as she pointed to the other bed.

"What does it matter?" Dan said, and she felt his body shake as she realized he was crying. "Things can't work out the way I want them to. I can just be glad that you're pain free, and that's something that actually matters."

She sat for a moment with her hand still resting on him, feeling his body convulse with silent sobs before she leaned down and wrapped both her arms around him, laying her head down gently on his back. He stiffened as she did so, but again didn't object.

"What if...what if I wanted to see if something more could still be between us?" She asked as she listened to his heartbeat and breathing.

She heard his heart rate quicken and his breathing stop for just a moment. "Why...why would you want that? I'm not the same species as you anymore, I'm not even whole. I can't give you anything."

"I'm not the same species as you anymore, that's correct. With that in mind I turn that question back around on you. Do you still want there to be something with me despite that? Do you want there to be something between you and a human?" She asked as she continued to listen to his rapidly beating heart. "Don't worry about what I want or think right now. Tell me what you want."

"Yes...I want there to be something," he said. His heart was racing fast, and she was beginning to get worried that it might be racing too fast in all honesty. He was still so frail from his time recovering. She had heard what she needed to hear though.

She sat up and used a hand to turn his head up towards her. He stared at her with fearful, hopeful eyes. The yellow of her eyes still matched his.

She bent down and gave him a brief kiss on the lips before sitting back up and smiling. "Then we're going to see if it'll work out or not. I don't know for sure if it will, if it's even possible for something to work between a human and a pony, neither do you, but I know I want to try."

He picked himself up and crawled into her lap before laying down again. She could tell it took a great deal of exertion for him to do that.

"I want to try too," he said as he brought a wing partially around her torso.

She leaned down and gave him another kiss. This entire thing might be foolishness on both their parts, but if it was then it was a foolish endeavor they were in together.

Chapter 25

There were some things Tonya could do well. Sitting around in a waiting room was not one of those things. She was just too energetic an individual for just sitting and doing nothing. The clinic's waiting area just had nothing to do though. There was no television to watch, no magazines to read, nothing at all to do but sit and be bored. If she was going to be up this early she would hope that she was going to at least have something to keep her interest.

Given no other outlets to entertain herself she turned to chatting with the crystal pony watching the desk to pass the time.

"Scott, right? What do you do to pass the time while on your shift and nopony is here?" She asked the stallion sitting behind the desk.

The crystal pony pulled out a notebook and set it open on the desk. "I spend time writing and practicing my penmanship. I'm to the point now that I can actually write better with my mouth than I could write with hands when I was human. I also attempt to do drawing."

"What do you write about? Do you write poetry, songs, stories, social commentary?" Tonya said as she placed her forehooves on the desk, which had it's legs sawed off to make it lower to the ground for ponies, and looked at the notebook with interest.

Scott blushed as he tried to cover the pages, "I'm trying to write an adventure story, set in Equestria. I'm kind of just making up what Equestria is like since I don't really know anything about it."

"An adventure, that's cool," Tonya said as she tried to peek between his hooves at what was written. "Tell me the plot. Who's the hero? Who's the villain? What's at stake?"

Scott ears perked up. "Well, it's a heroic crystal pony stallion and his companions out to save the kingdom from the tyrannical rule of the evil night king who had enslaved all the crystal ponies."

Tonya smirked knowingly as she looked him in the eye. "Night king huh? Guessing he's a night pony...like your boss."

The stallion turned bright red in the face and made an even greater effort to cover up the notebook by laying his body over it. "That's just a coincidence. No hidden messages or anything like that here. Just a fun little adventure story."

"Right," Tonya said with a giggle and a wink.

Scott paled as he glanced to the door for the hallway. "Please don't say anything to doctor Patel. I want to keep my job."

Tonya brought a hoof up to her mouth and giggled. "Your dirty secret is safe with me. You said you draw too, right? Let me see your drawings."

The crystal pony seemed to relax a little and then quickly flipped the book back towards the end. Tonya was actually very impressed with how adroitly he flipped through the pages with hooves.

When he reached where he was going she bit her lip and one corner of her mouth twisted down while the other twisted up.

"Those are some nice drawings of pigs," she was fairly certain those were pigs. It looked like a kindergartner's attempts at drawing pigs anyway.

"It's supposed to be ponies," Scott said as his ears flattened to their sides.

Whoops! She instantly felt bad for insulting his artwork. "Of course it is ponies, that would have been my second or third guess." Tonya said with an embarrassed laugh. Shut up Tonya, you're insulting him more. You're being a stupid pony again.

She was saved from further embarrassment by the front door of the clinic opening up and a young woman walking in with a bundle of clothes in her hands. Tonya took the chance to withdraw from Scott and her unintended insults of his artwork.

"This is the town clinic right? I'm supposed to be dropping some clothes off here," the woman said as she came up to Scott's desk.

Scott put away his notebook and smiled. "You're in the right place. I'm guessing those are the clothes for Miss Rivers. I'll let nurse Mist know you're here." He pressed the com button and spoke into the microphone. "Nurse Mist, the clothes have arrived for Miss Rivers. Should I send them back or did you want to come get them yourself?"

"Thank you, I'll send Tattered Wing out to you to get them," Lavender Mist's voice came over the intercom.

"Tonya Middleton is still out here waiting by the way," Scott said into the microphone as he glanced Tonya's way.

Lavender could be heard sighing over the com. "Let her know I appreciate her patience, we're almost done here. Just a little while longer and I'll be able to see her."

Scott turned to Tonya to relay the message but she cut him off with an upraised hoof. "I heard her, that wasn't exactly private. I understand everypony is busy, don't mind me being bored out here."

Tattered Wing came out the hallway door as Tonya finished speaking and hurried over to the human with a grateful expression on her face. "Thanks Megan, I appreciate you doing this. I'm sure Melissa appreciates it even more."

"Did everything go okay with your friend getting turned back into a human?" Megan asked Tattered as she drapped the clothes over Tattered's back.

Tattered shifted a little, making sure the clothes wouldn't fall to the floor. "Everything seems perfectly fine with her. She'll probably spend another night here while we figure out where to house her. She wants to keep close to Dan anyway. I'd like to get her out walking about today though. She's been stuck in bed for weeks."

Tonya's ears perked up. This was a chance to find out more about one of the other enigmatic Broken Ones. Since she couldn't just use mind magic on Sunset to get her over her grudge with Tattered maybe making friends with Melissa could be a first step.

"Sorry for interrupting, but I'd be happy to take her for a walk around town after I'm done here. I don't have anything else planned for today other than watching Wild Growth do her magic on the fields," Tonya cut in.

Tattered gave her a considering look, then glanced at Megan with a frown before looking back at Tonya again. "I'll ask Melissa if she wants to do that. Since she was asleep most of the night I suppose she'll be back on her day schedule again anyway. If Megan is willing, do you think you can bring her along as well? Megan had expressed interest in working for your lover and I'm sure you could put a good word in for her."

Tonya gave the human a look over. Megan clearly hadn't expected this from the initial look on her face, but now appeared hopeful. Sunset had said something about Tattered having a human sister who was moving into town. Helping Megan out would hopefully help mend some things between the leader of the Enclave and Sunset. Plus, it would make Tattered less inclined to double back around and restart her plans to investigate Swift Strike's death. Sunset was in dire need of an assistant to help keep her organized anyway.

"If she's interested in working for Sunset I don't mind spending some time with her and getting to know her," Tonya said as she brought herself into a cheerful hover, then realizing she was indoors dropped back down to her seat with a hint of a blush.

"I'll leave that to Megan to decide if she wants to do that. If you'll excuse me, Melissa is probably eager to get out of her hospital gown," Tattered said before turning and leaving for the hall again. Leaving Tonya and Megan to start their own discussion.

Tonya trotted over to Megan and raised a hoof up to her. "Hello, since we weren't properly introduced, I'm Tonya Middleton."

Megan gripped Tonya's hoof as best she could and gave it a shake. "I'm Megan, Megan Rutledge. You are friends with Sunset Blessing?"

Tonya brought her hoof back to her muzzle and chuckled. "A bit more than friends. She and I are a couple. I'm guessing you're Tattered Wing's sister. Sunset mentioned you were moving into town."

Megan's brow creased. "She has already heard of me?"

Tonya nodded and frowned as she remembered Sunset complaining about it. "Your sister went to Sunset the other day and basically told her in so many words that Sunset had better see to it you were given every aid possible getting a mortgage or your sister would make life difficult."

Megan sighed as she went over to one of the chairs and sat down. "She shouldn't have done that. That is not the first impression I'd want to make getting a job."

Tonya hopped up on a seat next to the human. "Don't worry too much about it. Tattered's a night pony, it's in her nature to be extremely protective. These things can be brushed aside with that in mind. You shouldn't think any damage has been done."

Megan shook her head in frustration. "I hope not."

"You just need to present yourself well, don't worry about what goes on between your sister and my marefriend," Tonya asserted as she patted Megan's back with a wing. "So tell me what you have to offer as skills. Sunset does need an aide to help keep her organized and make arrangements on her behalf."

Megan sat up straight and smiled. "I was until recently enrolled at Harvard as a double major poli-sci and criminal justice. My father was very involved in politics and spent a great deal of time making sure I learned the ins and outs of campaigning. I'm very familiar with how fundraising drives are run, I am an excellent scheduler, good at doing any research on anyone she wants me to research, and can put order to any filing system she might need."

Tonya's eyes widened again. This sounded too good to be true. Megan was a bit young, so she couldn't be that experienced, but she did seem to have the kind of background that Sunset needed in an aide. That youth also meant she wasn't set in her ways. Add in the bonus of making some peace with the Enclave and it was what Sunset would call a gift from God--even though Tonya didn't believe in God.

"I'm impressed. How about a more uncomfortable question then. You can guess by her name that Sunset is a Shimmerist, I am for that matter too. Are you comfortable working for a Shimmerist?" Tonya asked as she held Megan's gaze, looking for hesitation.

Megan didn't hesitate in her answer. "I'm told that the government is comfortable with her beliefs so I can't believe they're too bad. While I don't want to be used as a token I would think that she would want to hire on humans to show that there's no reason to be concerned she is a Shimmerist."

Megan paused for a moment as she seemed to consider how to continue, that was the hesitation Tonya was expecting. When Megan continued it was far less confident. "Do you think you can clarify for me what her stance is in regards to Shimmerism and how it might effect her policies?"

That was a fair question. The honest answer might be uncomfortable for Megan to hear though. "We believe humans are all better off as ponies, and hope that someday it will be an all pony world. We don't hate humans though, we want to encourage humans to want to be ponies. We here, in Riverview, also believe transformation should be a choice. We have no desire to unleash a new ETS pandemic.

"As for how that will impact policy. We do intend to put on display what ponies are capable of doing and providing for the world. We intend to do all we can to benefit humans and make humans long for the ability to do what we can as well," Tonya finished out and waited for a reaction.

Megan blinked. "You're being suprisingly up front and honest about your feelings. You're basically patronizing humans, and hoping humans will drink the pony kool-aid sometime in the future because you hope we get tired of being inferior."

Tonya shrugged. What was she going to do, lie? "That's much harsher than I would have put it, but that's about right. Mind you, our timetable on actually making humans into ponies is sometime so far in the future it loses all meaning for anyone alive today. It isn't something you need to worry about."

Tonya watch Megan weighing options. She could imagine the thoughts running through Megan's head and was fairly certain what they were. Megan was probably wondering if she was going to be treated with respect. She was also probably wondering if she was going to be pressured into a Shimmerist view.

Megan took a deep breath and looked Tonya back in the eyes. "If I am treated with the same respect as any pony, and she really is concerned about improving quality of life for everyone, then I'm comfortable working for her."

Tonya clapped her hooves together. "Good! I'll take you to meet her in a little while. I just need to pick up a small package from here first, then head out to the fields to watch Wild Growth in action. Sunset will be there."

It was an excellent start to the day. Not only could Megan hopefully bring some much needed order to Sunset's organization systems, she might fit into some plans Sunset had mused about to Tonya once or twice before. Being able to provide Sunset with such a great gift brought a smile to her face.

Devon woke up to pounding on her head, not pounding in her head, but something pounding on her head.

"OW! What in the world!" Devon winced as she sat up.

"Baba!"

Jessie was rushing around the tent frantically, looking around it for something. Paul was slowly stirring from his sleep due to the commotion. Amanda and Jackie were out at the moment. Devon knew her friend tended to go out very early for her breakfast.

"What's wrong, baby girl?" Devon asked as she tried reaching out for the distressed filly.

"What's going on?" Paul asked as he pushed himself up from the mat that Robby would often sleep on.

The filly immediately started looking around her father, still crying as she searched. "Baba? Baba?"

Devon tried reaching for Jessie again but the filly eluded her grasp. "I don't know what's gotten into her. This is the first time she's done this."

"Baba!" Jessie continued to yell.

Paul moved so Jessie could continue her search. "Um, I don't think that's random baby babble. What's baba? Does she want her bottle?"

Devon quickly considered. Jessie wouldn't be looking for a bottle since she hadn't used that in days. The only thing she could be looking for was...

"Baba is her trying to say brother!" Devon said with excitement. "She's looking for Robby. Robby is always around when she wakes up and this morning he isn't here. That's what's upsetting her."

"She's a month old, should she be saying her first word yet?" Paul asked in confusion. "I thought that was something to expect around nine months to a year in."

Devon shook her head while wide eyed. "I was told foals start picking up understanding of language around a month in, but it takes them much longer for them to actually start talking. I guess if she can understand a word she might attempt to say it, even if she can't get it out clearly. I told you she was smart."

"Well, happy as I am that she sort of said her first word, what are we going to do to calm her down?" Paul asked as the filly continued to cry and search.

Devon picked up a blanket with a sigh. "We go pick up her brother. I think we should drive this time, just so I can set her down in the car with no fear of her running off. I'm not sure if she'll keep next to us walking, and I really don't want to deal with holding her the whole way with her this upset."

"Baba!" Jessie continued to scream.

Amanda came back into the tent at that moment with her ears flattened.

"What has her tail twisted in a knot?" The earth pony asked, wincing at the wails.

Devon grabbed the crying filly up in a blanket and held her tight against the struggling. "She's upset that Robby isn't here. We're about to go over to Rosetta and pick him back up."

Amanda's ears perked up. "Mind if Jackie and I tag along? It's still a few hours before Wild Growth is supposed to do her thing, and seeing that was the only thing I had made plans for today. I'm looking for more opportunities to get out and about."

"Doesn't matter to me," Paul said as he gathered up his keys.

"I'm fine with it as well," Devon said. Amanda might be able to help calm Jessie down in the meantime too, the earth pony was fairly effective at doing that, or perhaps Jackie could distract her.

Amanda's ears flattened as Jessie let off another wail. "Maybe I can help try to calm her down along the way."

Devon let herself smile despite Jessie's distress. What would she do without Amanda?

"Let's get going," Paul said as he gestured for them to head out.

"I'm coming!" Rosetta called out as she walked to the door, Robby following closely behind her. She hadn't expected Devon to come for Robby for another hour or so.

She reached the handle for the door and grabbed it with two hooves to pull the door open. She then blinked in suprise to find her sister instead of Devon at the door.

Wild looked down at Robby with a bemused expression upon spotting him. "Damn sis, you popped that one out and grew them fast."

Rosetta rolled her eyes. "We're foalsitting for a future coworker of mine. This is Robby."

Wild held a hoof out to Robby. "Nice to meet you, Robby. I'm Wild Growth, Rosetta's my sister."

Robby touched hooves with Wild as Rosetta had shown him over the night to do, and looked up at Wild curiously. "Does that mean you're going to be my cousin too?"

Wild gave Rosetta a questioning look and Rosetta stifled a laugh. "I'll explain all that to you sometime. Are you just coming by for a casual visit or did you need something? I thought you'd be busy today."

Wild gave the little colt one last brief glance before turning to her again. "Growing those fields won't take much of my time today. I actually needed to talk to you about something."

Rosetta laid her ears back slightly. "This isn't a continuation of our conversation from the other day is it?"

"No," Wild said, shaking her head. "It's something else entirely. Mama and Papa might not be happy with me talking to you about it, and I wasn't going to, but the more I think about it the more I think you have the right to know. I know I'd be upset if the subject was kept from me."

Rosetta laid her ears further back. This sounded like something that was going to piss her off. She didn't want to lose her temper in front of Robby though.

"Dad, Phobia," she called to the upstairs. "Can you come down here? I need your help for a few minutes."

A moment later a clatter of eight hooves came down the stairs.

"Are you leaving the door hanging open again?" Tom demanded as he glared at the door. "Why can't anyone ever just come inside or outside?"

She gave an irritated flick of her tail. "Dad, I swear your cutie mark should have been something involving doors."

"What do you need?" Phobia asked.

She sighed. "Can you two watch Robby for a few minutes without me? Wild and I need to have a private discussion."

Phobia raised a brow at them. "Not more yelling, I hope?"

Wild gave an emphatic shake of her head. "Hopefully not, she has no reason to be angry with me about this."

That meant she had something to be angry at her parents about instead. Great.

"We've got him," Tom said as he walked over beside the colt. "Go on outside and try to keep it down and not make a scene."

She was going to object that there wasn't going to be a scene, but she had a bad feeling she might be lying. Something told her she was going to want to storm over to her parents' house about something in a few minutes.

"Are you ready?" Wild asked as she stepped back to let Rosetta out.

She nodded and followed; time to find out what the newest source of drama was going to be. Tom shut the door behind her after she exited.

"So what is going on that Mama and Papa don't want me to know about?" She demanded as she sat down on the porch.

Wild bit her lip before answering. "Please don't get mad at them. They're worried about upsetting you more while you're dealing with being pregnant and what happened to Phobia. They were going to talk to you about this sooner or later."

"Yet you seem to think it's a big enough deal that I should know now," Rosetta stated flatly.

Wild's ears sagged as she sat down and hung her head. "Mama has Parkinson's, she's known for about two months."

Rosetta's ears went from laid back to flattened to the sides as she tried to process what was just said.

Wild continued, "They wanted to sit down with all of us after I graduated high school to talk to us about it. Papa said it would be too much of a distraction during my senior year, and they didn't want that."

Anger started to kick in and bring her out of shock as Rosetta glared at her sister. "That might have been a decent excuse to keep it from you, but it wasn't a good reason to keep it from me."

Wild stomped her hoof and glared in return. "They wanted to discuss it with all of us at once. How would you feel if I was told and you weren't?"

Rosetta snorted. "It seems that's exactly the case already."

"I got Papa to spill the beans when I had him off balance. They hadn't planned on me finding out yet either," Wild said with a flick of her tail.

Rosetta took a deep breath. Wild was right, there was no reason to be mad at her about this. Getting mad at their parents wasn't going to help anything either. Her mama was dealing with a debilitating disease and didn't need their anger.

"What's the timetable on how it will advance?" She asked after calming herself down.

Wild shook her head. "I don't know. I don't know what all they've been told already, and I haven't had time to do any research of my own yet about the subject. I was hoping you and I could go talk with her about it tonight, together."

Before Rosetta could answer a car pulled up in front of the house and she could see Devon and Paul in it, along with Amanda. It was time to bring this conversation to a close for now.

"Come by here tonight at sundown and get me. We'll go talk to Mama together after that," she said as calmly as she could.

"I will," Wild said as she turned and perked her ears up in curiosity at the party coming up to the house.

Both Rosetta and Wild, along with Amanda, all flattened their ears as a scream was let off from the little earth pony filly Devon was carrying.

"Baba!"

Next thing they knew the front door was open and Robby came running out the door, wings spread aggressively, to come to the aid of his little sister.

"Baba!" The filly squealed as she spotted her brother. Devon set the filly down and Jessie immediately ran towards her now confused looking brother.

"Congratulations Robby, you're apparently her first word," Paul said with a laugh. "She was not happy you weren't there when she woke up, not at all."

The colt stood looking confused for a moment while the filly tried in vain to climb the stairs of the porch.

Rosetta leaned over to his ear and whispered, "Maybe you should go down to her before she hurts herself trying to get to you."

Robby blinked then headed down the stairs then he was quickly tackled by his excited little sister.

"Baba," Jessie said with contentment. Rosetta started smiling, that was adorable. She couldn't wait till her own foal was born so she could be exposed to more of this adorableness.

Robby looked over at his mother in confusion. "She's saying baba."

Devon gave him a smile. "That's her word for you. I think it is baby talk for brother. She definitely missed you; woke me up pounding on my head and screaming to alert me you weren't there."

Robby blinked and seemed to consider this as his little sister aggressively cuddled him.

"Should I see about getting him back to you earlier on in the morning from now on? I'd hate to have all your mornings start off that way. I can bring him to you so you don't have to get up," Rosetta asked.

Devon gave her an uncertain look. "We don't want to make it a hassle for you."

Rosetta waved it off. "It's no hassle. It gives me an excuse to drag Phobia out of the house in the morning. Speaking of whom." She turned to her spouse-to-be now standing in the doorway with Tom. "Weren't you two supposed to be watching Robby? How'd he end up running out here?"

"I watched him," Tom said defensively. "I watched him make a break for the door at full speed, and I opened the door before he collided with it and broke either himself or the door."

Phobia shrugged. "I'm not going to stop a night pony from rushing to the aid of a filly in distress."

Rosetta's eyes narrowed. "If we end up having a night pony foal I think we might need to divide who makes the rules when they are awake and when they are asleep."

"I already intended to have you be the boss when we're awake," Phobia said in her normal casual tone, earning a blink from Rosetta. "It balances out the fact that I have absolute authority when we're asleep."

Rosetta saw the reactions of Wild and Tom. Tom looked confused and Wild gave an involuntary shiver.

"Am I missing something?" She heard Paul ask from behind her.

She turned and faced the other visitors. All three; Devon, Paul, and Amanda looked confused. A brief explaination, without breaking her oaths, was needed.

"Night ponies have their own magic for dreamwalking. Dreaming for us really is a whole other world we spend several hours a day in," she explained calmly. She needed to be honest without giving too many details. "When it comes to dreamwalking I submit to Phobia's authority completely. She knows more than me, and she will almost certainly always know more than me on the subject."

"You haven't introduced me to your friends yet," Wild said.

Rosetta resisted giving her sister a grateful smile for sidetracking the conversation away from Phobia. And started gesturing to each of their guests in turn.

"Wild, this is Devon, Paul, Jessie, and Amanda," she named off in turn until her hoof came to be pointing at the Pegasus filly hiding behind Amanda's legs. "I haven't been introduced to the other little filly so I don't know her name."

Amanda beamed as she stepped aside to reveal the filly, only for the filly to duck behind her again. Amanda shook her head with a smile.

"She isn't anywhere near this timid when she's at our tent, but this is my daughter Jacquelyn, Jackie for short," Amanda said.

Rosetta nodded and gestured back at her family. "Well, all of you can meet my little sister Wild Growth then. Amanda, you can also meet my future father-in-law Tom, and my future wife Phobia."

Amanda's eyes went wide as she looked at Wild. "You're Wild Growth? The Wild Growth?"

"Um...yeah," Wild said as she looked over at Amanda uncertainly.

Rosetta imagined Amanda letting off a silent squee as the mare looked at her sister. "I think you have a fan, sis."

Amanda gave an embarrassed blush as she looked over at Wild. "Sorry, I try really hard not to let my earth pony nature intrude into my thinking...but what you can do is awesome."

Wild blinked. "I appreciate the compliment, but what's wrong with thinking like an earth pony? I know I fully embrace my earth pony nature and am happier for it."

Amanda gave a nervous flick of her tail as she looked down. "I just don't want much to do with most earth pony activities. I'm a teacher, not a farmer. I don't really feel like I need abilities like super strength or magic to help plants grow. Being an earth pony just isn't that great for me."

Wild frowned and looked ready to say something about the greatness of earth ponies. Rosetta readied herself to cut her off but Tom drew attention to himself with a cough before she could.

"There's nothing wrong with feeling that way, and don't ever let anyone make you feel bad for it," Tom said as he gave Amanda a considering look. Amanda smiled with visible relief at Tom.

Rosetta saw an opportunity to get her other relative out of the house more too. Tom was as much a shut in, or worse, than Phobia. Maybe getting him to make friends with a pony that he could empathize with would be the push he needed to actually socialize more. She understood he was dealing with his own struggles, but staying inside all the time was just going to push him into full on depression. Ponies needed the company of others, and Tom was a pony whether he liked it or not.

"What were your plans for the day?" She asked Devon; asking Amanda would be too obvious.

"Well, Amanda was eager to have us all watch your sister in action later, so we were going to do that. Paul and I were going to try to work on finding a place to live after that," Devon answered.

Rosetta smiled, this would be easy. "Dad, Phobia and I could use some alone time with nopony else in the house for a while. Maybe you should tag along with them. Hanging around with a group that is mostly humans might be more your thing."

"I'm not sure...I don't like leaving you two by yourselves," Tom said hesitantly.

She decided to play her trump card. "You need to get to job hunting too. Phobia is probably end up being a stay-at-home mom for at least a few years. I'm not paying for your expenses; not with me having to cover expenses for me, Phobia, and our foal. Unless you want to spend the rest of your life living off the wonderful free hay they provide us you will need to work to pay for your own food."

That got his attention. He looked positively ill at the suggestion.

"I guess getting out of the house for a little while might not be a bad idea."

Author's Note

Tomorrow: Sha'am Maut.

Chapter 26**

Chapter 26**

"So, I get forced out the door now because I'm not a pony anymore?" Melissa demanded.

Tattered brought a hoof up to her head and sighed. Why was Melissa making this so difficult.

"I told you, I don't know if I'm allowed to talk to you about this stuff since you're not a night pony anymore. There are very strict rules. I'll consult with the ponies that make those rules and see if an exception can be made for you. Until then I'm not getting in trouble by doing whatever I want," she said calmly and evenly.

"What kind of crock of shit explanation is that?" Melissa snarled with a wave a finger in Tattered's face. "I was a pony for a month before today; why am I just now hearing about these rules? It's bullshit!"

Tattered wished she could give a better explanation. This was incredibly unfair to Melissa. She should have taken the time to explain this to her last night when Melissa was still a pony, so there would be no question that she could be talked to, but she had been afraid if Melissa knew last night she might call off her procedure for the prospect of dreamwalking.

"You can be mad at me. I should have talked to you about this last night before you went in for your procedure. I didn't realize that it might be important for you to know at the time. That's my screw-up; but please, try to be patient and work with me," Tattered pleaded.

A little of the fight went out of Melissa and Tattered could see tears welling up in her eyes. "I don't like this, Tattered. I was supposed to stay included in everything, but we haven't made it through a half of a day and I'm already being pushed out of a night pony conversation."

"I don't like it either," Tattered said as her ears sagged low. "Don't let it spoil your first day of freedom from your bed in weeks. I'll find out this afternoon if an exception can be made for you."

Melissa blinked and took a step back. "This afternoon? While you're asleep? Did you figure out dreamwalking?"

Tattered lifted her ears a little and nodded. "You're looking at a dreamwalker as of yesterday afternoon. I'm going to see if I can teach Dan and Rudra how to do the same after we go to sleep, even if I have to have Lavender Mist help me out."

"And whatever this is, it involves dreamwalking?" Melissa asked, looking uncertain.

"I can't go into details, but yes, it does," Tattered said with a nod.

Melissa sighed and shook her head. "I guess that is something that excludes me. I'm sorry for getting upset. I just don't want to be treated as if I'm not a full part of this group anymore because I'm human."

"Mostly human," Tattered corrected. "I'm hoping that differentiation is enough to satisfy who I need to talk to. In the meantime you have my sister and Tonya outside waiting for you. I know Megan has some boring stuff to do today, but at least you're getting out of here for a little while."

Melissa frowned, but nodded. "Are you going to be here again tonight?"

"Probably not," Tattered confessed. "I took a full night off work last night. I'll need to be back to work tonight. The good thing is now you can come visit me at work and I can get you up to speed on Enclave activities and helping to run things."

Melissa gave her a smirk. "You're just wanting to get me started so you can get more free time."

"You'd better believe it," Tattered said with a flick of her tail. "You've no idea how sick I am of sixteen-hour work days. We'll each be doing twelve-hour days until we get Dan helping too. Then we might not only get down to eight hour days, we might get scheduled days off."

"An eighty-four-hour workweek. Just what I was wanting to go straight into after getting out of the hospital," Melissa said with a roll of her eyes and a groan.

"You're crying to the pony who has been running over hundred-hour workweeks even while I was in the hospital," Tattered said flatly. "Once Dan is up and running our weeks will get reduced down more. I'll see about getting us a sub-lieutenant or something to act as a fourth to take shifts as well; maybe one of those crystal ponies will fit into that roll. Just be patient."

"It's better than being confined to bed I suppose," Melissa said as she looked at the door. "I'll head on out then. Speaking of patience, Tonya and Megan have been really patient waiting for me, as you said."

"See you later," Tattered said as Melissa departed.

Now it was time for the conversation that might involve some real fights.

She walked back down the hall to Dan's room. Dan, Rudra, and Lavender were all waiting for her.

Dan started on her immediately. "So what did you want to talk to us about that you couldn't talk about in front of Mel?"

Tattered smiled. "Something that should be of particular interest to you in particular, Dan. I started dreamwalking yesterday, and I wanted to train you and Rudra to do be able to do the same thing."

"And why did you need me here?" Lavender asked with a raised brow.

"I was hoping you could help us get up to speed on what were doing," Tattered answered. "I'm an extreme novice at dreamwalking. Having an experienced dreamwalker helping us would help out a lot."

Lavender narrowed her eyes. "I might help you if you want. You're familiar with the fact that there are rules that have to be followed."

Tattered shivered. "Believe me, I know. That's why we're having a private conversation without Melissa hearing it."

"Why do rules for dreamwalking require Miss Rivers absence?" Rudra asked in confusion.

Tattered lowered her voice to a whisper. "Because one of the rules is we're not to talk about certain things with non-night ponies."

She glanced at Lavender to see if the Equestrian was familiar with what was being discussed. Lavender gave a slow worried nod. Good, knowing that the Equestrian was on the same page made things easier.

"I assume that you encountered Princess Luna?" Lavender asked with a flick of an ear.

"She visited my dreams in the past, but I haven't encountered her when dreamwalking. She wasn't the one that laid the rules down for me. I ran into one of the Dreamwardens on my first dreamwalk," Tattered explained earning a small frightened gasp from Lavender. "I'd rather these two were more prepared than I was for when the Dreamwardens come a-knockin' so they don't get the same experience."

Lavender shivered. "In the interest of making sure they don't upset a Dreamwarden--sweet Celestia, it still terrifies me that your world will have multiple--I'll do what I can to help."

"Um, what's a Dreamwarden?" Dan asked as he glanced between Tattered and Lavender.

Time to go into the big explanations. "First thing to know is we do not discuss the Dreamwardens with anypony but night ponies, period."

Lavender nodded along in affirmation. The other two night ponies gave skeptical looks, but then gave their own nods.

Lavender raised a hoof. "I should make you aware. Tonya Middleton seems to know about them. I think Luna told her, but I don't know for sure how she found out or how much she knows. She seems to know to keep her mouth shut though, and the restriction about night ponies."

That was interesting to know, but not something she'd worry about right that minute. "I'll keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't run her mouth." She looked her Enclave compatriots in the eyes. "Keep an eye on her as well. We don't want her broadcasting night pony secrets; for her own safety, and ours."

Dan and Rudra looked even more dubious of the conversation now, but nodded again.

Tattered continued on after getting their agreement. "There are six Dreamwardens on our world." This earned another shiver from Lavender. "I suppose Princess Luna would count as a seventh, but she isn't who we need to concern ourselves with--it's our Dreamwardens you need to fear. You can assume anything Princess Luna can do in the dreamscape they can do as well, and they won't be as nice and gentle with us."

"So, they're something dangerous we should avoid then?" Dan asked.

"You can't," Tattered said as she looked him in the eyes. "You have to appease them. They have rules, and they have Oaths they require you say. The dreamscape isn't American soil or any other country's, it's their realm, and their rules. You disobey the rules and you get kicked out for good...or worse."

"What kind of rules?" Rudra asked as his ears flattened.

"Pretty simple ones really," she said with a smile. "One, we don't try to hurt any pony using dreamwalking, or try to enact justice in the dreamscape--that's for the Dreamwardens to do, not us. Two, we don't take what we learn from dreams and use it against anypony. Three, we don't try to brainwash anypony using mind magic or their dreams. Four, we respect the Dreamwardens and give them their damn Oaths when they ask for them."

"That's all very much in line with what Princess Luna requires from us back in Equestria," Lavender confirmed, looking somewhat relieved for some reason, before she shivered again. "We have lived under her jurisdiction of the dreamscape for over a thousand years. It is very rare that she has to take action against any of us. The times before her taking control were said to have been very dark times. We as a race were hunted to near extinction by the other tribes because of our actions back then. Even Princess Luna herself, while bringing us under her authority and protection, killed many since many of our ancestors were incredibly cruel and vile with mind magic and she would not tolerate them living after what they had done. Our population never fully recovered, and we're still the smallest tribe by far after all these centuries. The rules keep us safe."

Dan paled as his ears flattered. "Okay...avoiding genocide sounds like a good thing to do. What are these Oaths?"

Tattered took a deep breath and before reciting them off. "Psychic Calm, we promise ponies shall dream in peace. Yinyu Wu Yan, we shall not allow our passions to lead us to folly. Ghadab, the Wardens' anger is unyielding and just. Phobia Remedy, fear of the Wardens keeps us safe. Tikhiy Krik, we shall keep the secrets of the Wardens. Sha'am Maut, better to die than to face the Wardens' justice."

"Um...you might need to go over that a few times," Dan groaned as he covered his head with his wings. "Why couldn't they just have normal sounding English pony names that are easy to remember?"

Lavender and Rudra were staring at her though.

"Phobia Remedy is a Dreamwarden?!" Lavender asked wide eyed.

Tattered considered before answering. "I think only a few of them are actually trained all the way so far. It is probably better to say she will be a Dreamwarden, but I'd still treat her as a full Dreamwarden already. I don't want to piss her off."

"Who's Phobia Remedy?" Dan asked as he looked at them from between his wings.

"She lives here, and is a recent rape victim. I'm actually expecting her in tomorrow for a follow-up on her recovery progress," Lavender explained to him. The Equestrian then turned to Tattered. "It's kind of ironic I told another pony just the other day I'm no psychologist, but if Phobia is a Dreamwarden then her mental health is going to be my top concern while I'm in town going forward. We do not want another Tantabus."

"Who or what is a Tantabus?" Tattered asked with a raised eyebrow.

Lavender put a hoof to her chin to think before answering. "Consider it a nightmare that takes on a life of it's own, and tries to swallow the world up in itself. Princess Luna spawned one a few years ago, and it almost got out of control before it was stopped."

"Alright, that is something I will pretend I didn't know, for the sake of my mental health," Tattered said with a shake of her head.

The next half hour was spent getting Dan and Rudra to memorize the Oaths. Lavender said she was fairly sure that her Oaths to Luna should suffice for her if confronted by a Dreamwarden, but she learned the current Oaths as well just in case. Once they were all satisfied that everypony understood the rules, and could recite the Oaths on demand, Lavender let the crystal pony up front know that she and Rudra would be unavailable for a few hours while they caught up on sleep, and to simply schedule appointments for tomorrow for anypony that came in-unless it was an emergency. And with that done they all went to sleep.

Within moments of falling asleep Lavender was already in Tattered's dreams and quickly walked her through a quicker way to reach the dreamscape than what Tattered had done just the day before that made everything much simpler. The next thing Lavender walked Tattered through was how to find Dan and Rudra's dreams out of the countless stars that filled the dreamscape, and the general guidelines on how to find specific dreams of those Tattered knew personally. It was surprisingly simple to learn, and she likely could have done so on her own in the next day or two. Once that was done they went to Dan's dream first to instruct him on how to dreamwalk.

She wasn't surprised at all that Dan's dream was also a nightmare reshowing the events that had crippled him. She was happy to see that in the dream he was whole. They pulled him away from the unfolding events and began to instruct him about how to leave the dream to dreamwalk, even while the pained cries of the nightmare made them all flatten their ears. Lavender looked like she was going to be sick as she glanced on and off towards the source of the noise.

After getting Dan instructed Tattered paused and took a deep breath. "Okay Dan, we're about to go out into the dreamscape together. That means we should have a Dreamwarden trying to get Oaths from you right away since you're dreamwalking for the first time. Just be ready for anything, and be ready to give those Oaths right away. Don't fuck them up."

Dan gulped and nodded.

They closed their eyes and pictured the stars of the dreamscape and the next thing they knew they were all there even though they had not opened their eyes. The Dreamwarden didn't appear right away which threw them off guard slightly after having hyped themselves up for it.

"Um, Yinyu?" Tattered called out into the dreamscape. "We have a fresh dreamwalker here wanting to give his Oaths. We're going to have another one in a few minutes too. Kind of just wanting to get this out of the way."

The dreamscape shifted, they were no longer standing in a field of stars; instead they were standing on a stone balcony of a building overlooking what looked like some sort of Middle-Eastern bazaar. With a quick glance around Tattered corrected her assessment from Middle-Eastern to Indian, since she could see statues of elephants and odd looking Hindu gods. Those down below were all humans, and she was pretty sure she saw World War Two era British soldiers in the crowd. A memory maybe? Whoever remembered this would have to be in their ninities or older.

"Yinyu is taking a few days break from dealing with your side of the world," came a voice from behind them, causing them to all jump in startlement.

A very old night pony mare with wrinklely dull tan fur and a mane that was straight white walked out of the building behind them. She was heavily laden with gold jewelry, and had that odd little dot that a lot of Hindus had on their heads. She had an empty ceramic bowl for a cutie mark, which did little to indicate what her talent or purpose was. The best word to describe her overall would be shriveled. It was a shock the flu hadn't just killed her with how old and frail she looked.

The mare came and sat down between them. Seeming barely interested in them.

"We're all very eager to see our sister and brother over in your country become active so our sleep schedules can resume a more natural flow. I'm too old to be trying to sleep at odd points of the night I typically wouldn't," the mare said as she propped herself up on the railing and looked out at the bazaar. "I'm Sha'am Maut, Warden of Death. You two from our world may say your Oaths now. The Equestrian doesn't need to, I feel Luna's Oaths on her and will not demand more."

Well, she had said to expect anything. This Dreamwarden seemed much easier to deal with than Yinyu at least. She wasn't going to ask how the Dreamwarden knew the difference right away between an Equestrian and an Earth-born pony. It was hard to feel intimidated by such a frail looking old pony, but the Dreamwarden's title was a huge red flag, so best not to make her mad.

Tattered drew herself up so she was standing at near salute and Dan mimicked her. They then recited in unison. "Psychic Calm, we promise ponies shall dream in peace. Yinyu Wu Yan, we shall not allow our passions to lead us to folly. Ghadab, the Wardens' anger is unyielding and just. Phobia Remedy, fear of the Wardens keeps us safe. Tikhiy Krik, we shall keep the secrets of the Wardens. Sha'am Maut, better to die than to face the Wardens' justice."

Sha'am nodded in acceptance then turned to face them. "You say there is another? Picture him in your minds for me, please."

Tattered didn't question it, she just did as she was told. The Dreamwarden stared at them for a moment then nodded again.

"Very good," Sha'am said. "I will fetch this third Earth-born pony and bring him here myself. It'll be faster than sending some half-trained filly or colt after him. You foals may make yourselves comfortable. There's food laid out to eat that you may help yourselves to. It gives no real sustenance, but the taste is enjoyable and shall help put you at ease."

With no warning Sha'am vanished leaving the three night ponies sitting confused.

"She seems nice," Dan observed as he gave Tattered a bewildered expression.

"Yeah, but note her title; Warden of Death. I'd rather not find out why she has that title," Tattered said with a shiver.

"Her culture seems very different from yours," Lavender said as she looked at their suroundings. "How many cultures does your world have?"

"A lot, more than I could possibly count or know of," Tattered said as she looked inside the house and saw a large table laden with pastries and drinks. "One thing that is pretty common in most is don't reject hospitality. We aren't going to do anything to offend a Dreamwarden if we can help it, so let's go eat."

They entered in and sat around the table. It was set low to the ground, as if meant for ponies, and pillows were provided to sit on. Tattered picked up a tart of some sort and popped it into her mouth. Her wings rippled with bliss at the sugary sweetness mixed with the taste of fruit and the fact it wasn't just hay.

Time seemed to drag on as they are in silence, and Tattered started to get worried. She was about to voice her concerns when Rudra came crashing down on the floor out of thin air with Sha'am stepping casually into the room as if she had just been standing out at the balcony.

"My apologies, your friend couldn't seem to get Krik's name or vow right, despite prompting. I could tell he was doing so deliberately. I don't allow ponies to try to sidestep their Oaths. He required...encouragement to say things properly. I almost banished him from the dreamscape for good before he finally recited them properly like a good little colt," Sha'am said as she came and took a seat at the table.

Rudra laid where he was and sobbed. Tattered and her other two friends flattened their ears but didn't say anything. What had Sha'am done to him for encouragement?

"Do pick yourself up from the floor. It is very undignified for a doctor to lay crying on the floor," Sha'am said as she poured herself a drink. "Come over here and have a bite to eat, and put your unpleasant experience behind you. I am sure you will never misspeak your Oaths again."

"No disrespect meant, Dreamwarden, but did you do to him what Yinyu did to me?" Tattered said with concern as she looked at Rudra breathing heavily trying to pull himself off the floor.

"Your question is acceptable," Sha'am said as she finished sipping her drink. "My sister is quite playful in her ways of dealing with things--I am not. I believe in a much firmer lesson being given at this period of time."

Rudra got himself to his hooves finally and made his way to the table. He sat down on a pillow and stared blankly at the food as if not knowing what it was for a moment.

"You may tell them what you endured for your attempted disobedience," Sha'am said as she looked at the stallion. "You need not fear any further repercussions. Your lesson is learned and I'm sorry I had to discipline you, nor did I enjoy giving you discipline."

Rudra licked his lips as he glanced around the table, cringing as he looked at Sha'am. "She made me experience death. With each time I misspoke she made me endure some other horrible method of dying. Drowning, being buried alive, immolation, being sliced in two; and I felt all of it."

Tattered whipped her head around at Sha'am. That was far worse than what Yinyu had done to her. She wanted to rush the Dreamwarden and tackle her to the ground. She held her tongue though and sat still.

Lavender wasn't holding her tongue. "That's downright evil! He was trying to give you your Oaths in his own way. You sat there and tortured him for a minor mistake. You're a monster!"

Sha'am took a sip from her mug then looked at Lavender with a flat expression. "Your disrespect will be overlooked, as you're not one of our ponies. I shall even give you an explanation on why such extreme methods must be utilized."

Lavender stomped the table with her forehooves. "There is no possible good explanation!"

Sha'am calmly took another sip from her mug then continued. "There is actually. To be very clear, none of the Dreamwardens--with the possible exception of Ghadab--have any natural tendency towards cruelty. It's necessity that drives us. There are several million night ponies on this planet, and those numbers will only grow in the coming years. There are only six of us. While we can wish that all ponies will just naturally do what's right, such a belief is pure foolishness. We must be seen as uncompromising, that we will not allow even minor slips or misbehavior. Those minor slips in mass can spiral out of control and lead to us having to do mass banishments from the dreamscape or putting ponies to actual death. They must understand that infractions, no matter how small, will not be overlooked or allowed. Fear shall keep them safe during this transition period."

"That is tyrannical," Lavender hissed. "Ponies should not be governed by fear."

"Fear serves a purpose, as my sister Phobia will be quick to point out to you," Sha'am said, still perfectly calm, displaying no signs of being upset at the accusations. "Tell me Equestrian, do you fear the repercussions of doing what is forbidden by Luna? Do you think she is cruel despite knowing what consequences you'll endure if you do wrong?"

"She doesn't punish for such minor infractions," Lavender countered. Tattered inched herself away from the angry Equestrian in case Sha'am decided to actually do something to her.

"Your princess has also had over a thousand years to establish herself and already has your absolute fealty. Obedience to her rules has been grilled in your kind for generations. If you were to travel back in time I think you might find a time she was not so kind because the state of your world demanded no compromises. A world when you nearly drove yourselves to extinction with your uncontrolled antics," Sha'am said and took another sip.

Lavender crossed her legs and muttered. "It's not right, It's unjust and cruel."

"The time when this level of cruelty is no longer needed is coming. Fear shall still be maintained, but some more leeway shall be granted. Unless a tragedy strikes you down first you'll all live to see the day," Sha'am said as she set her mug down that she had been drinking from.

The aged night pony briefly conjured a mirror in front of her and examined herself in it. "Five years at most, perhaps not even that. When I die my limitations on how many dreams and dreamwalkers I can watch, as well as when I can watch, shall be lifted. The same will be true of my brothers and sisters when they pass on. Even your princess is limited by her continued existence in the waking world and would be better in her service if she was dead."

The mirror vanished as Sha'am continued. "Forgive an old pony for trying to cling to her life but a small time longer. I was on my deathbed when the flu came, and have been given a small reprieve due to my transformation. I was chosen, in part, because my time on Earth isn't going to last too much longer, and this transition period could end with no suicides on any Dreamwarden's behalf or decades instead of years of us maintaining order through brutality; things we would all prefer to avoid."

Okay, that was kind of morbid. Tattered wondered if Yinyu would have been this forthcoming about things if asked.

Lavender licked her lips nervously. "Why are there six of you at all if just one dying would be enough to establish order?"

"To give us each time to rest for periods in the future," Sha'am said with a sigh. "Eternity is a long time, and the dreamscape must stay attended. We shall take turns locking one at a time into a regular dream for a few decades at a time to rest while the others maintain. Hopefully this shall keep us from growing too dispassionate with time, and stop us from longing for the eternal dream we cannot be released from. Luna's creator hoped that she would be able to withstand the toll of the passage of time due to her already existing immortality. Luna made us with the hopes that companionship and rest breaks will help us last longer."

Lavender looked confused at the explanation. Tattered was definitely confused herself. It sounded like she was talking about death, but she and Yinyu had both said they couldn't die as far as the dreamscape was concerned.

The aged Dreamwarden gave Lavender a sympathetic smile. "There's much that you don't understand about us. Equestria had a long history of Dreamwardens, going back to primordial times with things that weren't even ponies. Only Dreamwardens can make Dreamwardens, and we only truly die when the dreams are all gone. Back at your homeworld there are three previous Dreamwardens before Luna, bound into self contained dreams for all time because they have tired of their duty--yet they still live on in those prisions. Luna was just the most recent in a long line. If Luna had not established us here our universe would have eventually created something to begin the process here as well. Magic demands order, and it will make an order eventually if there is none, and order has no concepts of morality. You do not want to know what the universe would have likely birthed in our stead had Luna not helped raised us to our positions; the oldest of the Dreamwardens sleeping eternally on your world are some of the most vile things you could imagine. It has taken eons for us to reach this point."

Lavender frowned. "This is all new information to me. How can I know you're even telling the truth?"

"It's information you never had a need to know. Luna shall likely reign as Dreamwarden in Equestria for many millennia yet before she tires. Maybe she shall not tire and keep going. You may consult with her if you wish, she can give you a fuller education of who she inherited her job from," Sha'am said with a note of finality to her voice. The Dreamwarden then turned to Tattered. "Now, I believe I sensed you had some sort of question for me. Some matter of permission. I am not a mind reader, but I can pick up on some things unspoken here. Explain the matter to me and I will tell you if you will get approval or not."

Tattered took a deep breath again before continuing. "Our friend was recently turned back into a human from being a night pony. While I am sure that she can't dreamwalk anymore, I was wondering if it would be possible for us to dreamwalk into her dreams."

"To what purpose?" Sha'am said as she picked up a cake and started examining it.

"Dan and she want to pursue a relationship. We were thinking that they might be able to do that easier if they could spend time in a dream together where things are a little more...workable."

"I see," Sha'am said as she set the cake down. She seemed to consider or a moment. "Does she retain any magic still after her rehumanization?"

"Yes ma'am. It's extremely little, but the doctors say it's there," Tattered said with a bob of her head.

"Then it's possible for it to be done, though you may struggle to find her dream at first. If the magic is weak the trace of the dream shall be weak as well. If he forms a strong connection with her then he should be able to locate it," Sha'am said as she gave Dan a raised eyebrow. "The human would have to give consent for it to be done, and she would be the one who governs what goes on in the dream. If those conditions are not met I would consider your presence in her dream a violation of the rules, and consequences would be enforced."

Dan gulped. "I can follow those conditions."

"Good, and I would advise you that if you do end up doing such a thing that you do not discuss it with other ponies or humans, even night ponies. I have no rule to enforce in this so you fear no consequences if you choose not to, but it's in the best interests of night ponies that dreamwalking into such a mind is not known to be possible. Keep this a private matter between you and her," Sha'am said as she stood back up. "The prohibition on humans knowing about the Dreamwardens still stands with her. Speak nothing of us to her."

The night pony walked out towards the balcony. "If you'll excuse me, I have other dreamwalkers to attend to, and I can only divide my consciousness so many ways before my mortal body gives out so I feel strain no more. I prefer to preserve what little time I have left being able to live in the waking world, and my aged body can only take so much strain before it releases me here forever."

With no further discussion the Dreamwarden vanished, leaving the four night ponies sitting where they were.

Author's Note

Chapters will resume next week at normal times.

Chapter 27

Tom realized an unexpected benefit of being a pony, though it wasn't much of a benefit. You could stuff far more ponies into a car comfortably than you could humans.

While Paul and Devon were up front, the backseat of the car had himself, Wild, Amanda, Robby, Jessie, and Jackie. All of them had their own space to sit comfortably with no problems, though Robby had chosen to curl up on the floor and was now being repeatedly poked in the nose by his little sister.

Tom took a window seat behind Paul, Amanda was curled up in the middle of the backseat feeding Jackie, Wild was looking out the other window with a bored expression on her face.

The car ride was mostly in silence. While it was faster than walking, the fact they were constantly waiting for ponies to get out of the road to let them through did slow it down considerably. He didn't mind, it meant he didn't have to deal with non-stop greetings from strange ponies who had been brainwashed into being unnaturally sociable.

The problem was he was also one of those ponies who had been brainwashed into being extra sociable and the silence was starting to weigh on him. Rosetta wasn't wrong; much as he tried to resist his new pony nature it put a strain on him. While going all in and just striking up conversations with any random pony was something he was going to continue to resist, maybe he should build a small social circle of friends outside the family. Just for the sake of his health of course.

He turned to the mare to his side. She at least seemed to be less brainwashed than the other ponies in his family. "So, Amanda, what does that mark on your flank mean?"

"This thing?" Amanda asked as she pointed to it. "It means I can figure out what's underground really well. I can tell you where every bug and worm is, every rock, and every little seed."

"And you're a teacher?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. "What does that have to do with teaching?"

Amanda flicked her tail. "Nothing really. I've been trying to think of ways to incorporate it into teaching, but haven't come up with much for great ideas yet. It's just something I can do well, just like when I was still human I was a very good cook. People used to say all the time I should open a restaurant with how good a cook I was, but I never really had a desire to. I enjoyed cooking, and was proud I was a good cook, but I didn't want it as a career."

"You probably had to develop the skills to cook, this was something that you were made into doing well," Tom observed.

Amanda shrugged. "I was also very big breasted while having a slim body as a human. Genetics gave me that, not any choices of mine. I still didn't go off and become a porn star because of it, or feel ashamed of looking attractive."

Tom heard Paul give off a chuckle before yelping in mock pain when Devon lightly punched his arm, but not so lightly it wasn't picked up by pony ears.

"What does your cutie mark mean?" Amanda asked him.

"I can make a forcefield spell," he said dismissively. He didn't really care to discuss the mark of shame, but giving an answer was fair since Amanda had told him about hers. "Not really sure how it works, but it's apparently unique."

"Are you planning on doing anything special with that talent?" Amanda asked.

He shook his head. "Rather forget I have it. I never wanted to get my mark. I wanted to be able to go back to being human. Ponies that are marked can't do that though."

He caught Wild giving him an odd look. His first instinct was that she was being judgmental about his wishes, but he didn't pick up any sense of judgement off her. Before he could ask about it Amanda continued.

"At least you've got a horn. I'd love to have a horn, or hands, or even wings. Instead I'm going to be doing everything by hoof and mouth for the rest of my life." Amanda's eyes widened briefly before turning to Wild. "Not that I'm criticizing earth ponies or anything like that, it would just be easier for me as a teacher if I had greater ability to manipulate objects than I do now. I'm sure being an earth pony is great for most earth ponies, just not for me."

Wild gave Amanda the same look that she had just given Tom, only mixed with a hint of confusion this time. "Why are you apologizing to me?"

Amanda blushed. "You're like the earth pony. The earth poniest earth pony that most earth ponies would love to be. I didn't want to come off as insulting just because I don't think that earth pony was the best tribe for me to have been put in."

Wild seemed to struggle with what to say for a moment before sighing. "I can see what your saying. Don't worry, I'm not offended by you having those feelings."

The entire exchange brought a small smile to Tom's mouth. Amanda was like him when it came to feeling that being turned into a pony screwed with her life. It might have been for more practical reasons than moral ones, but she was the first one he had met that wasn't fully enamoured with what she had become and would be forced by the mark on her flank to live out her days as. There were ponies out there he could relate to after all.

He looked at Jackie and thought of something she hadn't mentioned.

"How does your husband or boyfriend feel about this?" He asked.

Amanda's ears flattened and she looked down. "He...passed away...just a few months ago, before everything happened with ETS."

Tom's ears sagged in turn. "Oh...I'm sorry for your loss."

Wild reached out and gave Amanda a hug, which Amanda accepted gratefully. Tom felt the urge to do the same, but he knew it was pony instinct driving him to do it, and resisted doing so. The poor mare didn't need to be smothered by well-meaning sympathies anyway.

"So, how was your night with Rosetta and Phobia?" Devon asked Robby.

"Miss Rosetta taught me about touching hooves and a few Spanish words. She also told me a lot of cool stuff about night ponies," Robby said excitedly.

"What about Miss Phobia? Did you like her?" Devon asked.

Robby looked uncomfortable. "Miss Phobia didn't say or do a whole lot. She just sat and watched most of the time. Miss Rosetta told me some things about her. Miss Phobia's kind of scary."

"Scary how?" Devon asked with a hint of concern.

Robby huddled a little in on himself. "She's just scary. I'm not supposed to talk about it. It's a night pony thing."

Paul stopped the car and turned around to look at his son. "Did she do something to you?"

"No. She's just scary," Robby said with a shiver.

Tom took offense to what was being implied. His daughter would never do anything to hurt a foal. He was about to say as much before Wild started speaking.

"I'm sure Phobia did nothing to him. If I thought Phobia was going to do anything bad to anypony I wouldn't support my sister getting married to her," Wild said firmly. "He's right though. Phobia can be really scary. She is probably the scariest pony I know. I pity anypony that gets on her bad side. For misbehaving night ponies she is the boogie-monster under the bed. Robby seems to be a good little colt though, so he has no reason to fear her."

"What's so scary about my daughter? Have you seen her lately? She's afraid to even leave the house," Tom demanded.

Wild gave him a steady look. "If you want to know then you go to her and ask. I don't think I'm even supposed to know about it; it's night pony business. It's not my secret to tell."

"Am I allowed to talk to you about her?" Robby asked the green earth pony.

Wild sighed. "I really don't know, kid. You might know more than me for all I know. I don't want to know more. You can try talking to another night pony about it, I know you're allowed to talk to them, or Tonya maybe; she knows as much as me, and I think Phobia scares her more than Phobia scares me."

Tom was completely confused. "Why would Tonya be afraid of her? They're best friends, and Tonya isn't a night pony."

"They are best friends, but Tonya's still scared of her. Take that up with Tonya, maybe she'll tell you why she should fear Phobia's wrath. It's none of my business," Wild said as she turned to go back to looking out the window.

Paul turned around and put the car back in drive. "We'll definitely do that."

Tom was still angry at the accusation that his daughter was somehow dangerous, but wasn't going to reignite the talk about it right away. Tonya would probably be at this big gathering to watch Wild grow some plants. They'd find her and put to bed this talk of Phobia being dangerous. Charlotte was dangerous, Phobia was kind and compassionate.

"Are you okay?" Amanda asked him.

"I'll be better when my daughter's good name is cleared," Tom said with a huff.

Amanda reached out and put a hoof on him. "I'm sure it will all be cleared up. Night ponies are a secretive bunch and can be intimidating. I don't doubt they're all good ponies though. Everything I've heard about your daughter up till today showed her to be very nice and caring. Plus, even though Wild says Phobia is scary she also isn't afraid for any pony around her it seems. I'm sure it is just some tribal misunderstanding."

"That's probably it," Tom agreed. Then thought of something no one had asked. Night ponies might really have a different view of things. Maybe Devon and Paul were not considering their son was a night pony. "Robby, do you think it's good or bad that Phobia is scary?"

"I think it's good," Robby said with an enthusiastic nod. The car lurched as Paul's foot slipped on the gas pedal, but quickly corrected itself.

"Why's it good that she's scary" Tom asked the colt. The question wasn't meant just to clear Phobia's name, it also was to give him insights into her himself. She was secretive and just like her mother thought extremely differently from when she was human.

"It keeps all the night ponies safe. She makes sure we don't do bad things again," Robby said confidently.

"Again?" Amanda asked as she looked at the colt.

Robby's ears sagged. "The vision you and Momma talked about. We made it go to everypony. Miss Rosetta said that was really bad, that it broke the rules. We're not supposed to be bad and break the rules."

Amanda gasped with shock. "Night ponies were responsible for the vision?"

"What vision?" Paul asked.

"I'll talk to you about it later, Paul," Devon said as she placed a hand on her husband's shoulder. "It didn't seem like a bad thing from what I heard about it."

"There's nothing wrong with the vision," Wild said as she turned back around.

"I always thought that vision felt rotten, and I'm proud to hear my daughter and future daughter-in-law think so too," Tom beamed. He was finally getting a confirmation that the vision was filthy brainwashing.

"So, all the night ponies are scared of breaking the rules again because...Phobia is scary?" Amanda asked in confusion.

"In short, yes," Wild spoke up again. "Night ponies are very particular about their rules and Phobia is one of the ones that makes sure those rules get followed. Don't dig anymore into the subject, Robby isn't supposed to talk about it. If you keep digging you'll get Robby in trouble. Just be satisfied Phobia is protecting you from night ponies and night ponies from themselves because she is really scary."

"I don't want to be in trouble, I want to be a good pony," Robby whimpered.

"We're still questioning my sister about this. I don't play around with the welfare of my child," Paul said firmly.

Tom gave Wild a suspicious look. There was still one thing bothering him. "How did you and Tonya find out about all this if the rest of us aren't allowed to know?"

Wild looked uncomfortable. "Tonya apparently can do things that Phobia has rules for. I was there when Tonya fessed up she could do those things and when Phobia warned her about...things. Again, ask Tonya if you want to know."

"The other night when you and your sister were arguing?" Tom asked. That seemed the most likely night. He hadn't seen Tonya around since then.

"Yeah, then," Wild said. She then turned back to her window.

"Anyway," Amanda said, breaking the tension. "See there, just a big misunderstanding. Robby is safe with Phobia. It sounds like he is safer with her than any other night pony."

Tom let himself smile again. That was true, and his daughter wasn't letting anymore brainwashing happen. He turned to Amanda and let himself give into pony instinct by giving her a hug. "Thank you, for sticking up for my daughter."

Amanda returned the hug. "Thank you too...for standing up for me earlier when I said I'm not happy with being an earth pony."

He sighed as he looked at his cutie mark then to Amanda's mark. "We're stuck as we are, but that doesn't mean with have to just feel great about it. We shouldn't be forced into just conforming to whatever arbitrary roles we're assigned as ponies. There's no reason you should be made to feel like you must behave like an earth pony. It violates free will, it's slavery."

Amanda gave him a long look and he wondered if he had said something offensive to her. When she spoke it was cautiously. "I don't spend a lot of time with other ponies because I worry about getting judged for feeling the way I do. Devon's been a great friend, but I could stand to make some more. Would you like to go get a bite to eat or something together and just hang out sometime? I know it must be lonely for you too."

He gave her a smile. "I think I wouldn't mind that at all."

It had been a victory when Rosetta had managed to finally get into her lover's dream yesterday, a terrifying victory, but a victory all the same. Today she was back to square one though.

"Luna, even though the way Yinyu did things was kind of insane, it did work. Why can't I do that again?" Rosetta complained as she picked herself up after being spit back out for the fourth time that day.

"It is an effective way of getting into the dream, but not something that you can do on your own." Luna explained. "I prefer that you be able to get into her nightmare on your own when I am not here. I have no objections to what she did, as it should give you confidence that you are capable getting into the dream."

"About that..." She took a deep breath. This had been on her mind since yesterday. "Do you think we could take a break and actually get me to where I'm dreamwalking on my own? I haven't actually managed to dreamwalk on my own as of yet."

Luna flicked an ear and looked between her and the black mass of Phobia's nightmare, frowning as she did. "Perhaps you're right. Perhaps your lack of confidence goes deeper than I thought. To tell you the truth I had assumed you had already developed the skill. I apologize for my oversight."

Rosetta's ears perked up. She hadn't expected Luna would agree so quickly. She was just as eager as the alicorn to get Phobia well, but seeing Tattered Wing was able to dreamwalk as of yesterday drove home the point she knew so little of what she was doing.

"Very well, we shall get you to where you are a competent dreamwalker for the remainder of our time today," Luna said as she walked up beside Rosetta.

Rosetta sat up at attention. "What do I need to do first?"

Luna raised a wing and brought forward the light of a dream. "First we shall go into a dream, and then you shall leave it of your own accord."

"And I can use the same method to leave my own dreams too after that?" Rosetta asked as she looked at the dream. It had no trace of darkness to it, so it was probably not a nightmare. There was a hint of something else though, but she wasn't sure what it was.

Luna nodded. "Go on in, so you can learn how to leave."

Rosetta jumped in and was instantly in the dream. It was a bedroom. Her ears twitch as she picked up sounds and looked over at the bed.

She wished immediately that she hadn't as she blushed and covered her eyes with her wings. Instinct made her close her eyes and wish she was anywhere else at that moment. After she did that she found herself back out in the dreamscape.

"I see you figured that out very quickly. It is very simple for a dreamwalker to leave a dream," Luna said from beside her.

Rosetta glared up at the alicorn. "That was real cute. Putting me in some pony's sex fantasy."

Luna smiled down at her and lowered her head so she was looking Rosetta in the eyes. "And that means you not only know how to escape a dream, but can now recognize this type of dream for what it is and give its dreamer their privacy."

"If you will allow me to interrupt a moment, Luna, this one just entered the dreamscape on her own for the first time and I have a duty to attend to with her," came a voice from nearby.

Rosetta whipped her head around and saw an extremely old night pony mare watching them intently.

Luna sighed. "Of course, Sha'am. I can tell you are having a busy day and will not interfere with you doing what you need to do and getting back to work."

The name was all Rosetta needed to know, and she immediately did what was needed.

"Psychic Calm, we promise ponies shall dream in peace. Yinyu Wu Yan, we shall not allow our passions to lead us to folly. Ghadab, the Wardens' anger is unyielding and just. Phobia Remedy, fear of the Wardens keeps us safe. Tikhiy Krik, we shall keep the secrets of the Wardens. Sha'am Maut, better to die than to face the Wardens' justice."

"Very well said," Sha'am said with a nod. The old mare turned to Luna. "I may need your assistance. The number of new dreamwalkers grows by the day and today has been the most straining day yet. If you could reinforce me for a few hours I would greatly appreciate it."

Luna frowned. "While I understand your position, I would prefer none of the ponies of this planet gave oaths to me."

Sha'am flicked her tail and shook her wings. "You could take on the form of Phobia Remedy so they believe they are giving the Oaths to her. Most of these new dreamwalkers are from her region of the world." The old mare flicked an ear. "Speaking of whom, when shall my sister and brother from that side of the world be ready? Their presence is very much needed. We can reinforce you with their training if need be if that gets them active sooner."

Luna sighed. "Phobia will take some time. She must overcome her recent trauma still. As for Psychic Calm, I'm working with him at this very moment. He just fell asleep minutes ago."

Sha'am lifted her ears and seemed to be listening to something. The old mare then nodded back to Luna. "Yes, I see you with him now. That still doesn't answer how long before you deem him ready."

"Two days more at most," Luna replied.

Rosetta didn't want to be an inconvenience. "Luna, if you are needed elsewhere, I can probably figure out some things on my own. I figure most dreamwalkers have to anyway."

Sha'am laughed at her. "Filly, she and I are Dreamwardens. We deal with multiple tasks in the dreamscape at once. We are not as constrained to one point of consciousness as you are. Luna can assist me, train my brother, and deal with you all at once without interruption. Even as we speak, I'm dealing with more than two dozen different conversations at once."

"And what in your judgement is your limit before your body gives out?" Luna asked

"Around forty I would guess would be my limit before my limitations are lifted. If the western United States follows the same trends as the east today I may be forced to die to maintain my duty," Sha'am said as she lowered her ears.

"Very well, I will assist you, and take up your suggestion to use Phobia's face in doing so," Luna said as she looked out at the stars. "My sister will be unhappy with my level of involvement though."

Sha'am snorted. "Send your sister into the dreamscape here and I'll spank her for you. She has no authority here."

Luna laughed. "As much as the look on Celestia's face if that happened would be amusing to see, I must decline your offer. I have to live with her in the waking world, and I'm sure she would vent her outrage at me at length."

"Twilight Sparkle will need to learn of us soon, do you intend to let us introduce ourselves or will you explain the situation?" Sha'am asked with a raised brow.

Luna shook her head. "I haven't decided yet. If I have her introduced, I will likely choose a gentler member from among you to introduce her to, and that she not be required to give any oaths."

"That goes without saying, she isn't one of ours," Sha'am said flatly. "Please make a decision on what to do about her soon as well, or we will make one ourselves once our ranks are filled."

Luna grimaced in response. "I have a feeling that she is going to be quite cross with me."

"If you delay telling her for too long you might find us getting cross with you as well," Sha'am said firmly. "You are our mentor and friend, but this is our dreamscape and our ponies that we need to defend, not yours. We wish no reason to be at odds with Equestria but delays too long could put us in a difficult position, forcing us to take action ourselves. Word will break of us sooner or later, the vow of secrecy was merely a stopgap for us until when we have the powers of our tribe properly policed, and we can demonstrate that fact to the other tribes and humans. I hope I'm already dead by the time we have to repeal that oath; not only because it will make it easier, but because I don't want to have to deal with the waking world pretending they have any authority in the dreamscape."

"I shall attend to it. Do not worry," Luna said as she held the old mare's gaze. "How high is the chance of word escaping early about you as things stand?"

"You can check the number of night ponies we've been forced to lock out yourself," Sha'am said with a sad shake of her head.

Luna seemed to listen to something for a moment then looked to Sha'am again. "Only forty locked out; considering the vast numbers you're dealing with that seems like you're doing exceptionally well obtaining your Oaths."

"Each one is another opportunity for our existence to be revealed too soon," Sha'am spat. "I would rather the total be zero, forty out of two million is forty too many. So far they're isolated and can be treated as madponies, but if the numbers grow too high they may begin to be taken seriously by Earth's governments. Your ambassador must be made aware of us before that secret finally breaks. Our tribe could be in grave danger if this goes wrong."

Luna grimaced. "And how many dead so far? That's something I rely on you telling me."

Sha'am's ears sagged. "One, and I pray that it'll be many years before there's a number two. Krik took action before consulting us, but upon hearing the details both Yinyu and I concurred with his decision. There was no need to debate between us this particular pony's fate, he deserved death, delaying till the others were ready for council would have only led to more suffering and death. Krik is still very distraught he had to finish a pony off though. Krik is perhaps the most gentle soul among us."

Luna nodded. "I will not press any of you for details. Lives were in peril, I need know nothing more."

Rosetta began to feel very uncomfortable. These were things that she'd rather not know, and they made her feel sick to her stomach.

It also was an eye-opening realization for her how much authority and power had been given over to the Dreamwardens. Sha'am was not talking as a student to her teacher, or at least not a current one. Sha'am was addressing Luna as an equal.

Phobia would have that power and authority soon. That filled Rosetta with pride for her mate, but also intimidation. How would that impact their lives? Night ponies would know what Phobia was, how would they treat her and Phobia when they were awake as a result? She wanted nothing to do with Sunset Blessing's plotting, but would there be ponies hoping to use her to get Phobia's ear? Phobia might only have authority in the dreamscape, but that authority was so strong that it could spill over into the waking world.

"I'll leave you two be now. While we've been talking I've had to split myself six more times. I need to reduce my strain," Sha'am said as she looked up at the stars, then her form faded from view.

Rosetta turned to Luna. "Is she going to be alright?"

Luna nodded. "I'm assisting her now. I can split myself potentially a thousand times if need be. It will distract from my duties back on my world for the next few days, but I won't have her running herself into a grave for her duties. Though I will be posing as Phobia for the duration."

Rosetta wasn't sure how to feel about that part. It made her think of a question though. "How many times will Phobia be able to do that at once, split her consciousness here, before it becomes too much for her?"

"I can't give an exact figure, but I would hazard a guess around two hundred times. She is younger and healthier than Sha'am. Sha'am is well over a hundred years old."

"And when she...dies...then she will have basically no limitations on that number?" Rosetta asked, not happy with the idea of thinking about Phobia's eventual death.

Luna nodded. "That's correct. Hopefully she will die an old mare who had lived a long happy life before it comes to that though."

"I'm just hope she doesn't overstrain herself trying to do her job. Hearing Sha'am talk about overstraining worried me about Phobia," Rosetta said as he ears sagged.

"I doubt she would, having to pressingly deal with that many ponies at once seems unlikely," Luna assured her.

"Yeah, that's true," Rosetta said. Her ears and tail still hung low though. She had been terrified she was going to lose Phobia the other night, any thought of losing Phobia dampened her spirits.

"Now we will finish up today with a simple enough lesson and I will let you practice in your own afterwards," Luna said as she began walking. Rosetta hurried after her.

Luna came to a halt after a few steps and Rosetta wondered why the alicorn even bothered to walk anywhere. It wasn't like they'd actually gone anywhere.

"If you focus on a pony that you know, you can locate their dreams specifically, as long as they are asleep," Luna explained. "The better you know them the easier it will be to get to it. If you don't know them well you will have to focus more intently and try to imagine more about their personality, their appearance, and other aspects to find them."

That seemed simple enough. She focused on the first pony she could think of, and hopped back in fright as Phobia's swirling nightmare immediately appeared right in front if her.

"I'd expect you would be able to find that particular dream with ease, and it will allow you to work on penetrating it without me present, but maybe another pony for this exercise would be advisable," Luna said as she glanced at Phobia's nightmare.

Yeah, that was a pretty stupid first choice on her part. She should have known what would happen with that. The problem was she didn't know who would be asleep right now to find a dream of.

She tried running through trying to summon up dreams if others; her sister, Tom, and Tonya all were duds. They were likely all awake right now. On a whim she tried Sunrise Storm and also whiffed on that one, she guessed the pegasus she had helped was awake as well. No, she should try some night ponies instead.

The first night pony she could think of outside Phobia was John--Swift Strike. She'd love to pull his dream up just so she could track him down. His also was a complete whiff though.

Luna put a hoof on her shoulder, startling her, and glared down at her. "Remember, you do not enact justice in the dreamscape. I advise you don't try that one again."

She gulped and nodded, realizing her mistake. Luna removed the hoof from her shoulder as she focused on another pony instead.

She was surprised to be rewarded with watching Tattered Wing, Lavender Mist, the doctor from the clinic, another night pony she didn't recognize, and Sha'am pass quickly in front of her into the light of a dream. The old night pony mare even glanced at her when passing by though the others went by so fast she doubted they noticed her.

"Tattered Wing is actively dreamwalking right now, if you try to locate a pony already dreamwalking that is what will happen," Luna explained.

She looked at the dream and was tempted to try following them in to see what they were up to. She had another thought first and decided to try one other pony first.

It turned out to be a very bad idea as every star glared to bright light around her and she covered her eyes with her wings and whimpered.

"Trying to locate a full Dreamwarden is impossible. We're one with the dreamscape, so we're in everything here. Only a full Dreamwarden can locate another full Dreamwarden face to face here." She heard Luna say. "You probably drew Sha'am's attention to you when you tried locating her though, even if she's choosing to ignore you. The same would happen if you tried to locate me or your wife after she's fully trained. Simply call out into the dreamscape instead, we shall come to you, if we choose."

After uncovering her eyes she found that the stars had reverted back to their normal locations.

"I think I shall leave you to practice now," Luna said. "Do try to get into your wife's dream again on your own some more today before you wake. I will return tomorrow to check your progress."

With that Luna vanished, leaving Rosetta to decide what to do with her time.

She picked herself up and looked around again. With another thought she summoned up Tattered Wing's location again and dove into the dream that Tattered occupied. It was time to see what other dreamwalkers were up to today.

Chapter 28**

Chapter 28**

Wild Growth walked the edge of the barrier, triple checking to make sure that there were no breaks in it. She actually trusted that others had already done this, but it was a convenient excuse to take more time. What she really was doing was trying to get into the mindset she needed to actually do what she was supposed to do.

She had gone out of her way to find things to make herself angry that day. They had all ended in failure. Her sister had been her best opportunity to get herself angry, she and Rosetta had gotten into it pretty heatedly the other night after all, but Rosetta had been surprisingly reasonable and Wild wasn't going to argue with her for no reason. The reason she had gone to Rosetta was completely honest, but she had hoped that it would have the side effect of raising her temper.

Tom and Amanda had each said things which might have gotten her frustrated a few days before. The fact that she was now going to be doing what she could to advance research that could give those two and those like them what they wanted took the fight out of her about how great being an earth pony was. How could she be upset with them when she was going to be fighting for their right to feel that way?

Phobia had been another possible outlet, but there was no getting mad at her future sister in law right now. Not when Phobia was acting scared of her own shadow, even if other ponies cowered in fear of her while she was scared of said shadow.

Why did it have to be so hard to just get angry? This town was depending on her using her powers, but she needed to get angry to actually use them. If she didn't get angry she'd fail them all, and ponies and humans would be short on food for days yet. It wasn't just a matter of looking like a fool if she failed to do this today, it was real consequences to others. She couldn't let them down.

She glanced briefly to her side. Standing out there was partly the entire town. Thousands of ponies and hundreds of humans all out to see her in action. The only ones not present were the night ponies, who were all sleeping right now, and a few stray humans and ponies organizing shops for the arrival of the bounty that she was supposed to be producing. Many humans and ponies had jobs that were starting today that depended on these crops; produce stores, restaurants, harvesters, logistics, transport. It wasn't just food at stake here, it was livelihoods. There were many others who would be possibly employed by Westvaco that needed to see that she could do what she said she could do, or they may not think such a job would pan out.

Her steps felt very heavy, she was carrying a lot of weight on her shoulders.

"Are you okay?"

Wild looked up and saw Tonya hovering in front of her, wearing a golden medallion. Wild put on a forced smile.

"Sure, just making sure everything is good to go with this barrier, don't want any magic getting loose," Wild said in a cheerful tone.

Tonya frowned. "I might have bought that the first three times you went around the thing, but you are wrapping up lap five. Ponies are starting to mutter. Sunset sent me over here to check on you."

Wild's posture slumped. She hadn't realized how many laps she had made already. She was looking like a fool in front of everypony already. She was letting them all down.

"I can't get angry," Wild said in a near whisper. "I can't do this if I don't get angry."

Tonya landed in front of her and tilted her head in consideration. "Angry huh? You just need to get angry? Want me to start insulting you and see if that helps?"

Wild gave Tonya a flat look. "I highly doubt it'll work if I know you're just trying to get a rise out of me before it even starts."

Tonya shrugged. "You never know. Not that I would expect a stupid ground-bound dirt pony to actually know anything."

Wild snorted. "You are trying way too hard with that one. You could have replaced dirt with shit and emphasized that I dig around in shit. It wasn't even imaginative."

"Grief, I'm trying to be insulting, not nasty," Tonya said as she stuck her tongue out in disgust. "I've got that image stuck in my mind after hearing it. Now I'll be afraid to ever touch hooves with an earth pony again until I watch them wash their hooves. Way to go Wild."

This didn't get Wild any closer to being angry. If anything, it amused her a little bit, which was the complete opposite direction she was trying to push her mood.

Tonya landed and fidgeted with the gold medallion hanging around her neck, looking at it with a frown on her face.

"What's with the medal?" Wild asked as she looked at it.

Tonya sat down and grasped it in her forehooves. "This thing stops me from using mind magic when I'm wearing it. Can't influence a pony whatsoever with it on. I was wondering if you wanted me to take it off and give you a little push to help you out. The thing is...I don't know if that would even help. I focus on wants, and I know you want to grow these crops, and are already focused on that. I'm not sure what I could add to that."

"What I need is anger," Wild said as she looked at the medallion warily. "And I don't think I'm comfortable with the idea of you messing with my head to give me that."

Tonya sighed. "You're right. I'd probably bungle that and make you permanently angry about something to the point you go off in rage every time it is mentioned."

That sounded vaguely familiar, like Sunset Blessing was sometimes described. Wild hadn't been present for any of these rages, except for one that had happened with Tempest. Tonya had been present at that outburst from Sunset Blessing as well, and had been the pony that had brought Sunset's temper under control. Wild hadn't known at the time about Tonya's mind magic.

Tonya looked over at the crowd then perked her ears up before looking at Wild again. "Maybe anger isn't what you need. You just need strong emotion. What if we gave you a strong positive emotion?"

Wild laid her ears back. "What kind of positive emotion?"

Tonya grinned. "A strong feeling of love and confidence. I've got a mental block over my own powers that makes it so I can only use them certain ways. Maybe you have your own mental block we can break down and move past."

That actually made sense on some level. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the pegasus. "What do you have in mind?"

Tonya came over to her and laid a wing on her shoulder. "Let's talk about what hypes you up."

Robby was tired, and the sun was too bright. It was behind the clouds, but it was still too bright. He wanted to go to bed, but his momma and dad said that he had to wait for Miss Wild Growth to do her magic. Miss Wild Growth was taking a very long time.

"How much longer, Momma? I'm sleepy."

His momma looked down at him and ran a hand over his mane, brushing it over his ears. That always felt good. "I'm not sure. If it takes too much longer then I'll take you back to the car and let you lay down in there. Just a few more minutes first."

He tried to see what was going on but everypony was bigger than him and blocking him from seeing. Miss Amanda looked around at him while he was trying to find a way of looking past her, and she smiled at him.

"Do you want to stand on my back, so you can see? I don't mind," Amanda said.

"Or I can pick you up," Paul said right after that.

He was five and a big colt, so he didn't want to be picked up like a little foal. He didn't want to tell his dad that though.

Instead he looked at Miss Amanda. "Is that okay? I won't be too heavy?"

Miss Amanda giggled. "Believe me, you aren't too heavy. I could pick up your mom and dad together if I wanted to and it'd feel like I was carrying a few feathers."

Robby glanced at his parents. He wasn't sure is Miss Amanda was fooling with him. His momma and dad were really big, like really really big. He had to turn his head up a lot to look up at them. He sometimes wished they were ponies too, just so he didn't have to look up so high. It hurt his eyes when he had to look up really high and the sun was out.

"Okay, Miss Amanda, if you're sure," Robby said as he came over to her.

Without any warning he was lifted up in the air by a green magic aura and set carefully on Miss Amanda's back. He turned his head and saw Mister Tom's horn all lit up.

"Thank you, Tom," Amanda said to the unicorn with a smile.

"No problem."

Robby adjusted himself so he wouldn't fall off Miss Amanda's back and looked over to what everypony was looking at. He spotted his Aunt Tonya and Miss Wild Growth off in the distance talking and nodding to one another. Tonya would start hopping around with her wings out on and off and that looked kind of funny.

"What's Aunt Tonya doing, Momma?" Robby asked.

"I don't know, hun. I think she's trying to help Wild Growth with something, but I'm not sure what," Devon replied.

They two ponies stopped talking and Aunt Tonya walked a little towards the crowd. She then took the thing hanging around her neck off and set it down on the ground. She then walked a little closer to the crowd and gave them a big smile as she hopped into the air and hovered facing them all.

"Everypony and every human, listen up! Wild Growth is going to get this done, but we're all going to participate in helping her. These are not just her crops, they're our crops too and we're going to help out. To do that we're going to sing a song and by the time the song is done she'll be ready to unleash her magic!" Aunt Tonya shouted.

Robby heard the crowd whisper and mutter in confusion.

"Um, is that the way earth pony magic is supposed to work?" Paul asked.

Amanda shook her head. "I haven't heard of any pony doing it that way. I don't mind singing a song if that is going to help her out, it could be fun."

"Seems kind of silly to me...but I suppose it isn't hurting anything," Tom grumbled.

Aunt Tonya looked around the crowd as the crowd talked and spread her legs wide while still hovering in the air. "Are you all ready to help out and make some magic happen?"

The crowd yelled back that they would sing, as well as Miss Amanda, Mister Tom, and Robby's parents. Jessie and Jackie both let off yells too even though it was with no words. Robby decided he should yell yes too since everypony else was yelling it.

Aunt Tonya gave off a happy yip and did a somersault in the air. "I'm very glad to hear that! Now how many of you have seen the Lorax movie they made a few years ago? Not the original one, the not as great remake one."

"I liked that movie!" Wild Growth yelled over to Tonya.

Aunt Tonya flipped herself so she was upside down looking back at Wild Growth. "And I'm glad it makes you happy, you can't deny the greatness of the classics though. Now let me talk to the nice crowd."

Laughter came from all around the crowd. Robby smiled as he heard it; Aunt Tonya was crazy.

Aunt Tonya got herself right-side-up and faced the crowd again. "Anyway, our song for today will come from that movie, it's called Let it Grow; which for some reason inspires Wild Growth to grow things, no idea why." The crowd laughed again. "I'll start it off...with some modifications, and the rest of you can join in when it time comes for the chorus."

Sounds of agreement went through the crowd as Aunt Tonya landed back down on the ground. Robby watched in anticipation of what his aunt was going to do next.

Tonya coughed into her hoof and looked up at the crowd.

"You know don't her, but her name's Wild.
She's just a mare trying to make us proud.
It seems to me we should help her out.
So I say, let it grow!"

Tonya did an odd little dance and pointed to some humans in the crowd.

"That lady's Wendy and that that man's Moe.
Their cupboard is kind of low.
And that's not good, so Wild supposed
We should let it grow."

The crowd all around Robby, everypony except him and the foals that couldn't talk started singing back. Robby felt something weird going on though, like a weird itch.

"Let it grow, let it grow
Like it did so long ago!
You can't reap what you don't sow!
Plant a seed inside the Earth;
Let's celebrate the world's rebirth.
We say let it grow!"

Robby heard everypony still singing and stomping their hooves with the beat. Even his parents were stomping their feet along with the music as they sang. Robby didn't do any of these things. His eyes were glued to his aunt. He didn't know how to express what he was feeling right, but his aunt was doing night pony magic, really strong night pony magic. It confused him because she wasn't a night pony.

The magic was definitely coming from her though, he could feel it. It was coming from her and going out all through the crowd. It was like it was helping them sing along.

The song seemed like it was coming near its end and Robby watched as Miss Wild Growth stood up and walked to where she was looking at the ground on the other side of the big line. The green earth pony raised a hoof up high and he felt more magic, a lot more magic. There was so much magic it made the magic coming from Aunt Tonya feel completely drowned out.

Miss Wild Growth slammed her hoof down on the ground and it was like a massive bell rang without making a sound, and the crowd went quiet very suddenly.

There was a low rumbling sound as Miss Wild Growth stepped back with a big smile on her face. The crowd watched with their breaths held.

A moment later the surface of the ground started breaking where the hoof had been stomped and it spread rapidly out away like ripples in the water when you through a rock in a lake, only this kept spreading and spreading far out of sight. Only being held back by the big line they had made.

Then plants grew. It wasn't slow either. They all but exploded out of the ground and grew rapidly all across the area that the ripple had just gone through. Vines, bushes, melons, pumpkins, corn stalks as tall as trees, tall grasses, and more just kept shooting out of the ground as it rumbled, and they heard the earth split.

A massive tree burst out of the ground somewhere in the middle of it, and Robby could see apples quickly start to grow on all its branches. The tree kept on growing till it was the biggest tree Robby had ever seen.

"Oops, guess we missed one," Amanda said with embarrassment. It didn't seem like anypony cared as they all gasped in amazement at what was happening.

As suddenly as it had begun it came to a halt. And where there were empty fields stretching for miles before now sat endless rows of plants filled with fruits and vegetables.

"Holy shit!" Paul said as he gazed out at the fields.

"Is it even possible for an apple tree to get that big? I can't even see the top of it because it's so high," Tom asked as he stared upwards. Robby tried looking up as well, but he couldn't see where the tree ended either. It was the most ginormous tree he had ever seen.

"That thing is like the size of a California redwood," Devon said as she looked at it, she looked back down at the other crops. "All the plants are huge. You're right, Paul, holy shit!"

Robby had rarely heard his parents say bad words so much, but they didn't seem angry. Maybe there was a right time to say such words and this was one of those times. Amazing as all the plants were, they were just plants, so he wasn't that interested in them. What he wanted to know about was what his aunt had been doing when she was singing.

"What was Aunt Tonya doing just now, Momma?" Robby asked.

She looked down at him with a confused look. "She was just leading us in singing a song."

Robby shook his head. "She was doing more than that."

Amanda turned her head to look at him. "What do you mean? All I saw was her sing and dance."

He looked around the crowd to find another night pony, another night pony must have felt it too. There were no other night ponies in the crowd though.

"We're going to see if we can get Tonya to eat dinner with us tonight. You can ask her about whatever it is then if we can get her to come eat with us," his dad said.

Robby let his ears sag. He hoped he remembered then. He was really sleepy right now.

As he yawned he heard his momma talking to his dad. "I'm going to take Robby and Jessie back to the car. That way Robby can lay down and nap for a few minutes before we get him back to the tent and I can feed Jessie."

"Alright, I'll hang around here until the rest of of the ponies are ready to head back. I figure it might be a while with Wild though," Paul replied.

His momma led him back to the car and opened up the back door for him to get in. He jumped in and immediately curled back up where he had been before. It was nice and cozy in that little spot, and not as bright. He wrapped a wing around his head as he got ready to sleep.

"Sleep tight, honey." Was the last thing he remembered before drifting off.

Robby was in his room back at the house. It was daylight outside and he tried to hide from the light peeking in from the windows, but he had no covers to cover up with. He tried covering with a wing, but it did no good.

He thought about trying to hide in the closet or under the bed. He was just about to go climb under the bed when he realized that the closet, under the bed, and in holes in the walls was where Miss Phobia lived. She was always there ready to gobble up bad night ponies. He hadn't been bad, but he felt it might be better if he didn't intrude into Miss Phobia's home--just to be safe.

He still needed to get out of the sunlight though. It was like noon sun with no clouds. Noon sun with no clouds was one of the worst things ever. Worse than the meat his momma had put in his mouth, and that was really bad.

Once he got into the hallway it was better, the hallway was nice and dark. His parents' room was at one end, the living room was at the other, and across the hall from his room was the room for his sister and the bathroom.

There was a sound out in the living room and he crept towards it. The sound made him tense, like something was wrong. Something was in the house that didn't belong. He wished then he was a big pony so he could better fight off whatever intruder was there.

The living room was full of sunlight, which made it scarier. He imagined the scariest monsters came out in the daylight. He'd be brave though. He'd go into the bright living room and scare away whatever was not supposed to be there. He was a brave night pony and it was his job to scare away the monsters.

After taking a deep breath he charged into the room with wings spread wide, hoping he was scary enough to scare away whatever scary thing was in the room. He yelled his fiercest sounding night pony yell as he went.

His charge came to a skidding halt as he almost collided with a short, orange creature.

It was no taller than him, covered in orange fur, and had arms and legs like a human, but it was no human. It had no real neck, no clothes, no cutie mark. It only had eyes, an enormous yellow mustache that was half the size of its body, and a mouth. It looked at him and grinned.

"Hello you, I am The Lorax, and I speak for the trees." The thing said with a bow.

"Um, hello, Mr. Lorax. What are you doing in my house?" Robby asked in confusion.

The thing eyeballed him and grunted. "Not Mr. Lorax, The Lorax. I speak for the trees."

Robby didn't know how to properly address a The. "Okay Mr. The Lorax, who speaks for the trees. Why are you in my house? You aren't supposed to be here. You need to go away...or I'll chase you away."

The Lorax took a step towards Robby and Robby jumped back. "I wanted to know why you didn't sing my song or stomp your hooves along."

Robby remembered the song and shook his head. "I didn't know your song's words. So I didn't sing along."

The Lorax advanced towards him again and Robby crept backwards. "But I gave you the words. Didn't you feel it? I gave them to you parents, Amanda, even grumpy Tom sang it."

Robby remembered the magic that nopony else seemed to notice. "I just didn't."

The Lorax frowned at him and Robby didn't like that frown. The Lorax's eyes were narrowed as he scowled, and The Lorax was not afraid. He took another step towards Robby, as Robby tried to back away.

Robby's tail hit the wall behind him as he realized he was backed into a corner. The Lorax kept walking forward, not going any slower.

The Lorax opened his mouth, and his teeth were sharp. Robby found himself much more eager to escape to the dark.

Robby cowered down in place and shut his eyes. He wished he could be anywhere but here.

He sat there shaking for a long moment before a voice spoke to him.

"Well, this is a surprise. I call most ponies foals, but you're the first actual foal that has managed to come here."

He didn't remember opening his eyes, but in front of him was a very old night pony mare, covered all over with necklaces and earrings. She also had a weird dot right in the middle of her head. She had a bowl for a cutie mark, and she was looking down at him with a smile on her face.

He looked around and found he was in a big room filled with all kinds of desserts. His mouth watered as he looked at each of them.

"Congratulations are in order. You've just dreamwalked for the first time. It's a very important part of any night pony's life. I am very impressed, you're the youngest I've seen yet. You should be proud of yourself. Such a talented little colt," the old mare said.

Robby stopped staring at the desserts and froze. "I'm dreamwalking? Like a big pony?"

The old mare covered a laugh then went back to smiling at him. "It would seem so, little colt. I'm Sha'am Maut. I doubt you've heard of me. I'm a Dreamwarden, and I'm here to tell you the rules."

He remembered the name. Miss Rosetta had told him that name. He immediately started crying.

"I'm didn't do anything bad. I've been good," he wept.

Sha'am gave him a raised eyebrow. "Perhaps you have heard of me then. Don't worry, little colt. I'm not here to punish you. Just here to explain the rules and get the Oaths from you. Please, eat and feel better."

Robby lifted his ears a little. "You promise you aren't here because I'm bad?"

Sha'am laughed again. "I wouldn't think a little colt could do anything he should be punished by the likes of me for. Tell me, what do you know about the rules and me?"

His ears picked up more. He knew a lot of stuff. "Night ponies aren't supposed to do bad things in dreams. Night ponies aren't supposed to steal others' secrets from their dreams. Night ponies shouldn't try to control anypony's mind. Night ponies are supposed to always be good to the Dreamwardens and give them oats."

"Oats huh?" Sha'am said with a twinkle in her eye. "While that might be a nice gift, the thing I'm looking for is Oaths, not oats. Do you know the Oaths?"

"Um...maybe," Robby wasn't actually sure if he remembered them right.

Sha'am went over to a nearby table and sat on a pillow by it. She then poured a drink. "Tell me them as best you can remember for right now, and then we shall work together on getting you to say them correctly. Do not worry, you shall not be punished if you are actually trying."

Robby sat and tried to remember what Miss Rosetta had told him. She said she would take more time to teach them to him since it was supposed to be a long time till he needed them. He guessed a long time was a few hours if that was true. He would have to remember that was what a long time meant if any grown-up ever told him he didn't have a long time to wait. They said that all the time.

He took a deep breath and tried as best he could. "Psychic Com, we promise ponies will dream in pieces. Yinyu Luann, we shall not allow our fashions to leads us to folly. Gadbab, the Warden's anger is unyielding and just. Phobia Remedy, fear of the Wardens keeps us safe. Ticky Krik, we shall keep the secrets if the Wardens. Sha'am Maut, better to die than face the Wardens justice."

Sha'am laughed into her drink, nearly spilling it. "Oh my, that was an excellent first try. You did get a few parts right, and most of the rest just needs a little practice and we shall have it right. You did much better than I would have expected a colt your age to do, and better than many adults do their first time."

Robby beamed at the compliment. "Miss Rosetta started teaching me today, with Miss Phobia watching. Miss Phobia said I did very good too. Miss Rosetta said it would be a long time till I needed them, and she'd practice with me more. She's teaching me all kinds of night pony stuff, and how to speak Spanish."

"Is that so?" Sha'am asked. She stopped and seemed to listen for something for a moment before turning her attention back to him. "I will have to tell Miss Rosetta she's a very good teacher. If this was your first day trying to learn and she didn't think you would need these yet."

Robby nodded. "I thought I would have to be a big pony first before coming here."

"You seem to be very talented," Sha'am agreed. "Tell me about how you came here. I'm very curious to hear your story."

Robby thought about the nightmare and his ears sagged. "I was having a bad dream. A monster was wanting to know why I didn't sing."

Sha'am looked confused. "Didn't sing? When were you supposed to sing?"

"Earlier before I went to sleep. Everypony in town was singing, but I wasn't."

"And why were they singing and why weren't you?" Sha'am asked before taking another sip of her drink.

"Because I think Aunt Tonya was making them sing, and I was busy watching Aunt Tonya trying to figure out what she was doing," Robby explained. "She was doing night pony magic. I could feel it, but she isn't a night pony."

Sha'am set her drink down and stared at it for a moment. "I see...can you think really hard about your Aunt Tonya for a moment? What she looks like, what she acts like, what you felt when she was making ponies sing. Just as a favor to me?"

Robby sat down and did his best to do just that. He sat and tried to remember every single thing he could about his Aunt Tonya.

A moment later a painting appeared across the table from Sha'am, a painting of Aunt Tonya, except there was weird wisps of light coming out of her mouth.

"And this is your Aunt Tonya, little colt?" Sha'am said as she examined at the painting.

Robby nodded. "Yes, that looks just like her, exactly."

Sha'am smiled at him. "That's good. For now, we shall work on getting you to where you can say your Oaths right. We'll take it verse by verse. I think it is just that some of the words are unfamiliar to a colt your age. I'll explain them to you. We Dreamwardens know a lot of things.

Sha'am looked back over at the painting of his Aunt Tonya.

"And those things we don't we always find out about."

Chapter 29**

Chapter 29**

Tonya walked around the crowds chatting pleasantly. While she enjoyed the company of others. she had an ulterior motive in chatting up the crowd; she needed to know that what she had just done with that song wasn't going to have any sort of lasting effect. She was desperate for an outlet to use her magic that wasn't going to hurt anypony, this felt like something safer than what she was doing before.

This time had to be different, this time she had to have actually done good. She wasn't forcing thoughts or suppressing anything as far as she could tell, she was just temporarily trying to get people to display all the support for Wild that she knew they had. Wild needed to hear that encouragement, she needed to feel that pride as she worked her magic.

And it seemed to have worked. Wild Growth walked around with her head and tail held high now. Everypony seemed happy, and nopony was behaving weird. Hopefully this time there was no screw-ups, and she was finally using her powers positively.

"Tonya, I finally caught you."

Crap, she wasn't prepared to deal with Paul yet. She froze, unsure what to do, then turned to face Paul with a smile.

"Hi, bro, what can I do for you?" Okay, that was probably not the best way of responding after the last time seeing him.

Paul looked at her and frowned. "Devon and I had been worried about you after you took off the other day. Are you alright?"

She lifted her tail and gestured around her at the crowd. "Never better. Just glad I could get the crowd in the mood to help Wild out."

Paul rubbed the back of his neck. "About the other day...I'm really sorry for what I said to you. I was out of line. I've been out of line with you for a very long time, and I just wanted to apologize."

Tonya kept her smile on her face but she wanted to scream at him that he was only thinking this because she made him think it. That thought filled her with a ton of shame though.

Instead she waved a hoof dismissively. "I was completely out of line too. I said and did some things that I shouldn't have. You really shouldn't be apologizing to me. I owe you an apology for what was said and done."

Paul seemed like he was going to insist on apologizing again. Tonya sincerely hoped he wouldn't, hearing those apologies made her feel filthy. Thankfully, Paul seemed to move on from the subject.

"If everything is cool between us, would you mind having dinner with me, Devon, and the foals tonight? Robby likes to talk about how he thinks you're funny and I'd like to get to know my little sister better."

Tonya's ears lowered and she looked to the ground. Why did this have to be so wrong? Why did she have to make this into something perverse? This should be good, but the fact she knew why it was happening ruined it all.

She raised a hoof to her medallion and thought about what to do. They needed to find out what she had done; she owed it to them, but she worried she'd ruin everything for them if she did. Why couldn't there be a way she could just make this right?

She put on her best smile and looked up at her brother. "Sure, I'll come by your tent around sundown and then we can all go to the school to eat together. Hopefully with all these fresh crops the restaurants will be opening again soon, and then we can have something a little nicer in a few days."

Paul nodded to her. "Sounds good, I'll be waiting for you tonight."

She took the opportunity to get away from Paul and got into the air and started scanning the crowd.

Amber and Pale Oak were near the crops speaking to a large group of both ponies and humans while making gestures out at the crops. They were most likely organizing the harvest itself. That wasn't something Tonya had any real desire to be involved in. She'd already done her part in making this possible.

She spotted Amanda and Tom together speaking with a pair a humans that looked like they had been in the process of transformation when the counterspell went out. She felt a strong pang of sympathy for them. They were so close to a better life, yet denied it. The fact the government wouldn't allow them to complete the transformation made her blood boil, but there was nothing that could be done for now.

Megan and Melissa were both chatting with Sunset. Tonya had just introduced them to Sunset shortly before going over to Wild. It was better to say that Megan and Sunset were chatting and Melissa was standing around looking at the crowds while the other two chatted. Tonya would have to do more to get Melissa involved with socializing, but that could wait a moment.

Wild Growth and Number Crunch were speaking to one another, along with several ponies that seemed to be eager to speak with the magically powerful earth pony. Tonya needed to introduce Megan to Number Crunch so Megan could see about that mortgage. Dealing with Number Crunch was an even bigger dread than dealing with Paul and Devon though. She hadn't even spoken to the blue unicorn since the night they had dealt with Swift Strike.

Tonya frowned as she tried to build up her courage. There were things that needed to be done. She couldn't spend her time just feeling sorry for herself. She took a deep breath and glided down to Sunset and the pair of young women that were with her.

Sunset looked over to her with a loving smile. "There you are. I was wondering what where you had taken off to. Great work with dealing with the crowd and getting Wild motivated."

Tonya beamed under the praise. "It was nothing, just doing what I can." She looked over at Megan. "And how are things going here?"

"I think I may have found my new assistant," Sunset said as she gestured at Megan, earning a smile from the human. "Megan, if you could come by my office in city hall tomorrow around nine in the morning we will discuss your salary and get you started. I have a busy day tomorrow and will need an assistant to at least take notes."

"Yes, ma'am," Megan said with an eager nod. "I will be there promptly and ready for whatever you can throw at me."

Tonya walked over to her lover and gave a quick nuzzle before looking her in the eyes. "If you don't mind, Sunset, I need to introduce Megan to Number Crunch. Her sister will be very disappointed in her if she doesn't make some arrangements about starting to find a home, and we don't want Tattered to get frustrated."

Sunset grimaced then nodded. "I suppose you're right. There's no reason to rile the Broken One up."

Melissa coughed into her fist. "Excuse me, but can you please refer to her by name instead of title. I'm a Broken One too, and I would appreciate it if Tattered, and the title, were treated with a bit more respect."

Come on, Sunset, please apologize. I can't just use my magic to help make you get along with them. Tonya thought to herself as she looked at her lover with pleading eyes.

Sunset swatted some non-existent fly with her tail and looked over at Melissa. "I'm sorry, force of habit. Tattered Wing and I have some disagreements about how she dealt with a particular situation and I'm still working on getting over the issue. It is inappropriate for me to come off as rude though. I will do my best to not be rude to her or your office."

Melissa looked down at the red unicorn with a frown. "What kind of disagreement?"

"Something I'd rather not discuss in public," Sunset said as she glanced around. "We can discuss it sometime in private, if she doesn't discuss it with you first. Perhaps now that you're active she won't make the same mistakes again."

Not perfect, but more diplomatic than Sunset typically was on her own. Tonya was relieved that was dealt with without Sunset making an enemy out of a second member of the Broken Ones. If Tonya wasn't going to use her powers on Sunset anymore they really needed to come up with new ways of dealing with Sunset's temper. At least this incident had ended with no blow-up.

Sunset looked over at Tonya. "I'm going to need you with me all day tomorrow. There is a pony delegation coming in from Augusta. They may be moving their pony population here, and that's going to be a major strain on our resources."

This was new, she blinked at the news. "How many ponies are we talking about? Another few thousand?"

Sunset shook her head looking bewildered. "They had a much higher rate of ETS cases there than in Charleston. Half the city is ponies. The humans are being exceptionally hostile though. We're looking at nearly ninety-thousand ponies and perhaps five-thousand more humans they're trying to dump into Riverview and the surrounding towns."

Tonya's eyes bulged. "What the fuck! We're in no position to support that many! We barely have the resources to support what we have now. What is the government thinking?"

Sunset scowled. "We are the closest large pony community that has a welcoming human population. They're saying with the amount of resources they have allocated to us we should be able to find ways of incorporating them. That leaves us trying to build a city out of an area that barely qualified for the title village a month ago. I'm going to have Number Crunch get on calling every damn building contractor in two states offering work. We need to get to building apartment complexes and businesses pronto and expanding our farmed land. I'll be expanding the staff we have working on organizing."

"What about Atlanta? What's happening to the ponies there?" Tonya asked.

"Their ponies are being moved into Brooks, Georgia and they'll have a similar population as we will when it is all said and done," Sunset explained. "Most of the rest of the southern states aren't moving the bulk of their pony populations to new centers, but Georgia and South Carolina are, and North Carolina and Tennessee are planning on gathering a large pony community in Saluda, North Carolina using ponies from both states. There will be Saluda, Riverview, then Brooks as major pony focused centers and the rest of the ponies in the south will stay put."

"So, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee are going to try to separate us from the humans while the rest of the south carries on as usual? I know this gives us a chance to build cities our own way, but I can't help feeling those four states are doing this because they don't want to be seeing ponies around," Tonya growled.

Sunset sighed. "I'm just going to take it as an opportunity. That's three pony centers that can put what we can do on display. It will make some things easier. Saluda is at least on a major highway and can be used as a commerce point, Brooks isn't too far off from a major highway, and we're a central location between those two. Florida definitely looks like it will maintain large pony populations in most it's large cities for sure, and I'm hearing hopeful news from most the rest of the south."

"But we're the most isolated of the three and we have major human cities between us and them. They have us cut off from one another," Tonya said as she flicked her tail with annoyance.

"We'll figure something out. Brooks at least is fairly easy to access from the other states," Sunset said with a shake of her head. "We have humans who can drive ponies back and forth between the three cities with no problems. Maybe that's just a new business opportunity for the humans. Every opportunity to get humans and ponies employed should be utilized after all."

"Maybe," Tonya conceded. "Still sucks that they are giving us three centers but completely isolating those centers from one another."

"It could be much worse," Sunset said as she glanced to the street. "I'll be on the government's case about improving the road system to and from here, since we are the worst off in the case. We need to move a lot of building material in and want to be attractive to prospective businesses, we need our infrastructure up to snuff. We'll build the damn roads ourselves if given permission."

Megan interrupted with a cough. "I'll get on making calls for you starting tonight if you want me to arrange meetings. I know some tricks for getting around some of the bureaucracy."

"Excellent," Sunset said with a smile at the human. "I like the fact you're ready to get right into things and start making yourself useful. Just come to the office tonight around eight instead of tomorrow and I'll have what I need for you. We'll discuss your salary then as well."

"Not to be an additional burden," Melissa cut in. "But if the Enclave are going to be policing a city of over a hundred thousand we are going to need weapons."

Sunset frowned. "That might be hard. There are no weapons designed for ponies, and I doubt I could get the government to help change that. They are going to be very hesitant to arm ponies."

Melissa frowned. "I'm not having my night ponies ending up in hospital beds or dead. If the population is going to be that high there's inevitably going to be human criminals or nutcases with guns. We can't count on the army indefinitely for armed backup."

"Perhaps you can focus on hiring on more humans?" Tonya suggested. "The goverment will likely be more open to arming them."

"Not an excessive amount, but enough you can call on for support," Sunset said firmly. "I will not stand to have a primarily pony population policed by a primarily human group."

"I'll talk to Tattered and Dan about it. They are definitely going to want even more Enclave members if the population is growing as much as you're saying it will," Melissa said with a sigh.

Sunset seemed to stop and think for a moment. "I'll reach out to the pony leaders from Augusta and see if they can put out an early word to their migrants about working with the Enclave. Your antics in Charleston might win you some recruits from their night ponies, but may not win you many friends with their other ponies."

"We'll take what we can get. We need more ponies," Melissa replied.

Well, it seemed that Melissa was going to be jumping right into a leadership role for the Enclave. The fact that she seemed amenable to working with Sunset made Tonya smile.

"So, where's Number Crunch? I don't want to take too long getting what else I need done today," Megan cut in.

Tonya's smile dropped again. She really wasn't looking forward to dealing with Number Crunch again yet. On the plus side, she only had to introduce Megan and be on her merry way.

Tonya took to the air and looked down at Megan. "Just follow me. I'll find her in this crowd."

She didn't really need to do much looking around. Wild Growth and Number Crunch were still chatting together, along with a few curious humans, where she last saw them. She quickly flew over to where she was above them and watched as Megan weaved through the crowds.

When Megan was finally near them Tonya came back down to the ground with a final snap of her wings as she landed next to Wild Growth.

"Hi again, Wild," Tonya greeted the earth pony. "Good work. I knew you had it in you without getting angry."

Wild gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you for encouraging the crowd. It meant a lot to me seeing all those ponies and humans giving support like that."

Tonya laughed. "They only did it because they wanted to see you succeed."

She looked over at Number Crunch and flinched at the sight of the scowl that the unicorn was giving her. She had been worried about dealing with Number Crunch because of guilt, not because she thought the unicorn was mad at her. Number Crunch had never looked at her like that before. Had what she did caused some sort of negative backlash against her?

"Hi, Number. I have a human that wanted to talk to you about a mortgage," Tonya said with a forced smile on her face as she pointed a wing at Megan as the young woman approached. "This is Megan Rutledge, Tattered Wing's little sister; Sunset might have mentioned her to you."

Number looked over at Megan and then nodded in greeting to her. She then looked back at Tonya scowling again. "I'll see what I can do for her. Is there anything else you personally needed from me?"

"Um, no not really..."

Number took a threatening step towards her with teeth bared. "Then I suggest you get out of my sight. I don't want you near me after what you did the other night!"

Tonya cowered and took a few steps back. Number Crunch had figured out what she did? That didn't seem possible. Number Crunch as far as she knew had no knowledge of her abilities. How had she found out?

"I-I'm sorry. I don't know what to say to make this better. I regret what I did," Tonya stammered as she stepped backwards.

Number let her horn flare to life. "You have no idea what you even did! Get out of my sight, now!"

"Number calm down. There's no need to get angry," Wild said as she touched a hoof to Number's shoulder.

Number glared over at Wild. "Wild, you're my friend, but don't try to calm me down. You have no idea what this little turncoat did."

"Talk to me about it then, but please don't make a scene here," Wild said firmly as she kept her hoof on Number's shoulder.

Number looked at Wild's hoof and her ears sagged. "I can't. I want to, but this is something I really can't talk about with anypony, even my friends."

Okay, at least Number wasn't ratting her out. That was a good thing.

She hopped back in the air. "I'll just get going then." She looked over at Megan. "I'll be back with Sunset and Melissa when you need me. If you end up going off to the bank with Number Crunch just give me a quick heads up."

"Hurry up and get out of here, before you betray any pony else!" Number growled up at her.

Tonya's eyes misted over. She deserved this, and she was just lucky Number wasn't saying anything to anypony about it. Without anything else said she flew off to the other side of town.

Tattered left another dream with a satisfied smile. She was making good progress on getting the night ponies in town all dreamwalking. There was no telling what time it was, but so far she had covered more than sixty ponies who were now dreamwalking with ease. With Rudra helping caution them there hadn't been any more that had faced any discipline either. It was a very productive day.

The group with her hadn't grown much. Most of the night ponies she had started dreamwalking were taking their opportunity to spread their proverbial dream wings and explore what they could do in the dreamscape. The group moving from dream to dream consisted of her, Dan, Lavender, Rudra, and recently was joined by Rosetta and Sha'am. Rosetta had joined them out of curiosity. Sha'am had joined them because following them around saved her time and effort.

"How many more ponies are you planning on visiting today?" Sha'am asked her.

Tattered bowed her head to the Dreamwarden. "There are about forty more in town. I could stop if you want me to Dreamwarden."

Sha'am shook her wings slightly. "No, continue by all means. You've been very effective in getting them to give the Oaths to me without me having to resort to harsh measures. Every pony I don't need to discipline is a victory. Yinyu might revel in her fun, but I find no joy in discipline."

Tattered didn't mention that Sha'am's discipline made Yinyu's look like a pat on the back. Some crazy thrill seeker might get a kick out of Yinyu's idea of discipline after all was said and done. Sha'am's nopony could possibly want to deal with.

Sha'am turned to Rosetta. "Before I forget; I must congratulate you on your instruction of one Robert Middleton. I found the colt doing his first dreamwalk today, and was impressed not only that he was dreamwalking, but that he had already started to learn his oaths."

Rosetta put a hoof to her mouth as she gasped. She looked worried as she replied, "Robby is dreamwalking already? I didn't think a colt his age would be able to do that. If I did I would have made absolutely sure he had everything perfect already. Please say he didn't need any discipline."

Sha'am snorted. "I'm not going to discipline a colt that's making a full and honest effort to give me the Oaths. He needed some talking to in order to get the Oaths right, but talking is all that was needed or done."

Rosetta let off a visible sigh of relief. Tattered saw Rudra and Lavender do the same, and she felt a tightness in her chest release as well.

"We have so few foals for night ponies," Sha'am lamented with a shake of her head. "There's hope for the future though. There are almost as many night pony foals in wombs as there are foals already. With a little more breeding we can hopefully maintain and grow our tribe."

Tattered raised an eye. "You can tell what kinds of foals are in wombs?"

Sha'am nodded. "Every pony mind has a feel for it. With practice even all you will be able to tell one pony type from another. The unborn's minds float in-between consciousness and dreams, and can't be said to be doing either early in their development. I can catch glimpses of those minds, and still feel what type of pony they are."

"Can you tell me what type of foal Phobia and I will be having?" Rosetta asked as she fidgeted in place.

Sha'am perked her ears up then looked at Rosetta. "Both of you are carrying night pony foals. Their minds are still too undeveloped for me to determine a sex for either."

Rosetta all but charged at the Dreamwarden. "Wait, Phobia is pregnant with a foal too? Are you sure?"

Sha'am took a calm step back and flicked her tail. "I'm a Dreamwarden, I'm sure. You're both carrying night pony foals."

"I'll run a pregnancy test tomorrow on Phobia Remedy when you bring her to the clinic, just to confirm it, but I trust a Dreamwarden's word," Lavender said to Rosetta.

Sha'am summoned forth a table of food again, which seemed to be her favorite thing to do, for whatever reason.

The old night pony looked over at Rosetta again as poured herself a drink. "You are actually carrying twins and my sister is carrying only one foal."

Rosetta's eyes bulged. "Say what?"

"I said, you are carrying twins and my sister is carrying only one foal."

Tattered grinned. Rosetta and Phobia were going to have their hooves full going forward. She didn't envy them that at all.

Rosetta pulled herself together and shook her head. "I really need to talk to Phobia about this."

Sha'am shrugged. "Perhaps you should get back to working on penetrating her nightmare. You now have a new incentive to do so."

Rosetta nodded and seemed to be getting ready to leave before Sha'am interrupted her.

"Before you go, there is a small matter I wish to question you about. Do you know anything about a pegasus by the name of Tonya?"

"Tonya?" Rosetta asked with a raised eyebrow. "Yes, she's Phobia's friend. Why are you asking about her?"

Sha'am looked up at the stars and back down again. "The little colt Robby informed me she was using mind magic today. I gathered many details from him as we went through getting his Oaths correct. Another pony type than night ponies using mind magic is not an impossibility, but is exceedingly rare to find. What was described to me didn't qualify as an abuse of that power, but I have concerns."

Tattered and Lavender looked at one another before Lavender stepped forward. "I have spoken with Tonya about her powers. I had actually given her a medallion to block their use until she could be properly trained to use them without abuse. She had done one incident that clearly qualified as abuse, but she was very upset about it and hadn't done it on purpose."

Sha'am's expression darkened as she turned to Lavender. "Tell me, what exactly has she done that qualified as abuse?"

Lavender shuffled her hooves and glanced between everypony around her before answering. "She forcibly compelled her brother and sister-in-law into thinking a certain way. It seemed like it was done in an outburst of anger and she instantly regretted her action. I would urge mercy for her, she did not do this maliciously."

"Phobia knows about Tonya's powers, too," Rosetta added in as her ears flicked nervously. "Phobia didn't go into full detail because Tonya isn't a night pony, but she warned Tonya that there would be consequences if Tonya deliberately misused her powers."

Lavender gasped. "That would explain how Tonya seemed to know about Dreamwardens. She was extremely scared that she was going to draw the Dreamwardens anger with what she did."

Sha'am sat down and seemed to consider what to do. "This is not a clear cut case that requires immediate action. A full council between the Dreamwardens will be needed, as well as further observation of her. That will be made difficult since she is not a night pony and not doing anything in the dreamscape, and her supposed victims are humans that we cannot examine ourselves."

Tattered realized that she actually had a way of being of assistance and stepped forward. "I've already planned on having the Enclave watch her so she doesn't discuss night pony secrets. I can that up that further so we can tell if she is doing anything wrong."

Sha'am nodded. "That would be acceptable. If you find any sign of wrongdoing you only need call to me in the dreamscape and I or another Dreamwarden will answer your call."

Rosetta continued to look nervous. "I know Tonya. I can't believe she would do anything to intentionally hurt anypony. I'll tell Phobia and ask her talk to Tonya again."

Tattered gritted her teeth. "Tonya is Sunset Blessing's little minion. I'm going to remain suspicious of everything she does because of that."

Sha'am nodded and spread her wings. "All seems in order here for now. I cannot stay asleep indefinitely though. Krik will be coming to take the Oaths from any further ponies on this side of the world."

At that moment a pale white night pony stallion with a black mane and tail appeared sitting among them. Sha'am gestured at him with a wings.

"Krik is not one for talking. He is aptly named the Warden of Silence," Sha'am explained. "Please give him your Oaths and he will collect the Oaths from others as well."

And with that Sha'am disappeared without so much as a goodbye.

Tattered looked at Krik, wondering what tortures this Dreamwarden would cause to those that refused to comply. The stallion just sat there silently staring directly at her, her specifically.

Alright, time to say the Oaths again and get back to finding the rest of the Enclave's dreams.

"Psychic Calm, we prom..."

Everypony was trying to give the Oaths and they we're all slightly out of unison, causing them all to be talking over one another.

Tattered turned to face Rudra so she could tell him to wait or to get themselves in unison, but was shocked to see Krik now sitting beside the other stallion. Krik was still staring right at her. Rudra was staring just to her side with a confused expression on his face.

She whipped her head around to see what Rudra was staring at and saw Krik standing there too, again just staring at her. She turned around to look at where he had been a moment before when they first saw him and found him there as well.

"How the fuck is he moving that fast, and why is he only watching me?" Dan hissed as he glanced around rapidly.

"No, he is watching me," Rudra said.

Lavender looked at them with confusion. "What are you all going on about? He hasn't moved, he's still right there in the same place, staring at the stars like he has been the whole time."

Okay, whatever Krik was doing he wasn't doing to the Equestrian. That wasn't really useful information, but it was nice to know.

Tattered spread her wings and took command of the situation. Hopefully Krik wouldn't take issue with it. "Everypony just look at where he started. Rosetta, say your Oaths first then go do what you need to do. After that I want you, Rudra, to say his Oaths and go visit some ponies we already got dreamwalking so you don't have to deal with Dreamwardens any more today. Dan you do the same as Rudra, you've had a long day. Lavender and I will continue working."

"I actually think I should go with Rosetta," Lavender corrected. "Phobia Remedy's mental health is still my biggest priority going forward.

Tattered frowned but nodded agreement. "Fine, I'll stay here alone with Krik and continue getting ponies up to speed."

Rosetta said her Oaths, and then both she and Lavender departed. Rudra then Dan said their Oaths and left in a rush. That left her alone with the Dreamwarden of Silence.

"Psychic Calm, we promise ponies shall dream in peace. Yinyu Wu Yan, we shall not allow our passions to lead us to folly. Ghadab, the Wardens' anger is unyielding and just. Phobia Remedy, fear of the Wardens keeps us safe. Tikhiy Krik, we shall keep the secrets of the Wardens. Sha'am Maut, better to die than to face the Wardens' justice."

After she said her Oaths Krik finally did something other than stare; he nodded and went back to staring.

She sighed. This was going to be a long day.

There was no point trying to strike up a conversation with the Warden of Silence, so she summoned forth the next dream and went into it.

Krik was already inside when she entered in. Just staring at her as she found the next Enclave member to speak to.

Chapter 30

Megan smiled as she drove back towards town hall and the bank next to it. It had been a good day all and all. She had gotten a job, gotten to see something spectacular, and made a few friends. Now she was going to be making arrangements for a house she would own. She had no complaints about today at all.

In her car with her were Number Crunch and Melissa. Number Crunch was going to be going through paperwork with both Megan and Melissa for mortgages. Melissa had expressed shock when Number had insisted on doing paperwork for the Broken One as well. The idea that she was entitled to the town's economic help for humans hadn't occurred to the rehumanized woman.

Megan really wanted to be able to sit and talk with Melissa with no ponies around. The woman didn't act particularly ponyish. Melissa had seemed just as overwhelmed as Megan by the extreme social nature of ponies, and seemed uncomfortable with dozens of complete strangers trying to strike up conversations with her. Southerners were social and friendly typically, but these ponies took that to a whole new level. Finding out Melissa's perspectives on ponies would be very interesting.

Her ulterior motive was she was secretly hoping that her brother would still rehumnaize and that Melissa would help encourage him. She just didn't know how Melissa felt about that kind of thing yet. Plus, there was the additional complication that her new employer might not be too happy with the idea that she was wanting her brother to rehumanize.

With what little she had spoken to Sunset Blessing so far she could tell that would go over badly. Sunset may have incentives galor for humans to cooperate, live with, and do business with ponies, but it was clearly ponies' benefits the unicorn was thinking about when she did so. A development of a society where things became more and more dependant upon ponies and being human became more and more something that put you at a disadvantage. Her incentives to humans were a bait to pull them into the economic system she was building.

Did working for Sunset Blessing make her a traitor to her species? The benefits for humans were real, and would remain benefits for years to come before the tide turned. Megan might be old and grey before that time came, and Sunset Blessing in the grave. In the meantime, what Sunset Blessing was doing could get the south back on its feet in ways nothing else could. Plus, there would be many economists and politicians that would realize what Sunset Blessing was doing. They could find ways between them to counteract the long term ramifications of accepting what she was doing now.

Sunset was likely expecting that too. There was going to be a lot of moves made in this game. For right now being at Sunset's side was probably the best place to be. It gave her the chance to help people now, and time to understand how the unicorn thought if she needed to be countered someday in the future. Between the two that not only meant Megan could do a lot of good, it meant her future being involved with major things was secure.

"The two of you are being very quiet," Number Crunch said from the backseat. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"Just thinking about my new job," Megan answered.

"I'm thinking about my job too," Melissa said with a small frown. "I'm thinking about how little experience I have in a management position, and how I'll be managing hundreds of ponies. When I was a night pony I had this reckless bravery. I ignored fear until the point I decided to rehumanize, and only then did fear start to get to me. I don't have that bravery anymore, and I'm feeling a little intimidated now."

"Is that a night pony trait? Being fearless?" Megan asked. It made her worry about her sister thinking about that.

"To an extent. I wouldn't say night ponies are fearless. Being brave kind of requires you to be afraid. We...they value fear as a virtue," Melissa replied. Melissa leaned forward and hunched her back. "I had a friend, Gail, that urged us to be more cautious, to not get in over our heads. She had been afraid. If we had all listened to her I'd probably still be a night pony now, and both she and another friend of mine would still be alive."

Megan had worry rise again. That was the incident that had gotten her sister hurt. Would her sister continue to do things that could put her in that kind of danger? Mandy had been pretty lily-livered, their parents had even constantly criticized Mandy for that, but since becoming Tattered Wing she was in so many ways a different person. Mandy was still her sister, but she was radically different in more than just form; Alex was too, to a lesser extent.

"And do you regret not being a pony anymore?" Number Crunch asked. Megan held her breath, she really wanted to hear this answer too, but hadn't thought it would be a good thing to ask in front of ponies.

"I'm don't have any longing to be a pony," Melissa said in a low voice. "I didn't have any longing to be human either when I was a pony. There are positives and negatives to being either one. In perfect health I would be still content to be a pony but being in constant agonizing pain was a negative that I couldn't deal with. I have no regrets about being pain free."

"Do you have any regrets?" Megan asked as she pulled the car into park in front of city hall.

Melissa scrunched her face up, and it looked for a moment like she might cry. "Do you know what my friends are doing right now? They're dreamwalking. I don't mind that I can't dreamwalk; dreamwalking actually seems strange to me now that I'm human, but the fact they're doing things without me hurts a little. I don't want to be excluded from doing things with my friends. We've been through a lot together in the last month, and now I'm suddenly the outsider."

Megan didn't really know what to say to that. She couldn't even offer to spend time with Melissa because she had no idea how much free time she would have at all. From the sound of how the town, soon to be city, was going to be developing Sunset was going to be working her ragged for the time being.

"Well, you'll be working with them still, so it isn't like you won't be seeing them or spending time with them," Megan said. While she was talking Number Crunch lit her horn up and opened the door to the backseat.

Melissa sighed as she unbuckled her seat-belt. "I suppose so, there are some other things that are bothering me, but they're personal and I don't want to talk about them. I'll adjust."

Megan considered what she had heard as she unbuckled her own seat belt and opened the car door. Melissa didn't seem as content as she claimed to be. She might have felt human and found pony things strange now, but that didn't make her content with her decision. That put the idea of pushing for Alex to rehumanize into a different light. She didn't want to make her brother unhappy. He had different circumstances than Melissa, he wasn't going to go dreamwalking with friends in any case for example, but she wasn't sure what his circumstances were yet.

She and Melissa got out of the car and followed Number Crunch over to the First Pony Bank. It looked much the same as most the buildings in town, and was only identified by the sign hanging over the door. Inside there were a few tellers sitting around chatting, there weren't any customers in the bank at the moment. Everyone was probably still back at the fields socializing.

A woman came hurrying over to Number Crunch. "Ms. Crunch, a representative saying he was from Ponco Accessories called while you were out and wanted you to call him back as soon as possible."

Number Crunch got a broad smile on her face. "I'll call him back right away." The unicorn turned back to them. "I apologize. I really need to speak with this gentleman. Bringing his business to Riverview would mean a great number of jobs for us, and would introduce some of the first pony-only products to the market here. I will only be a few minutes if you don't mind waiting."

"Go right ahead," Megan said with a spread of her hands. "That's helping all of us out. Just let me know about the details after so I can put it in my report for Sunset Blessing tonight. I'm sure she'll want to know about it."

"I hadn't originally planned on being here to begin with, so I don't mind either," Melissa said as she crossed her arms.

"Thank you both. I'll try not to take too long," Number Crunch said with a quick bob of her head. She then took a brief glance around. "I don't really have much for places to relax in here. If you wanted to wait outside you can do that as well and I'll come out and get you when done. At the very least you can sit down on the town hall steps out there. I'm sorry about that, I'm still getting things together here."

Megan glanced around. The place did look a little low on seating. She could possibly sit at one of the teller's desks, but they didn't look very comfortable. At least it was a nice day outside.

Megan and Melissa went back outside and stepped over next door to the steps of town hall before sitting down. Megan fished around in her purse for her cell phone and when she found it she saw that the signal was horrible. The signal bar drifted back and forth between a single bar and no signal. She put it back in her purse with a sigh.

"So, you're Mandy's--excuse me--Tattered's sister? Sorry, I really need to break the habit of calling her Mandy," Melissa asked.

Megan gave a sad smile. "Don't worry about the mistake, I'm still trying to get used to saying that name too. I spent my whole life calling her Mandy. I'm still learning who Tattered Wing is though. She's the same person, but then again she's not."

"I understand, better than most. I've been a few different people this month," Melissa said with a dry chuckle. "Take your pick which version; pre-ETS human, night pony on the prowl, night pony stuck in a hospital, rehumanized person. They are all different people."

"How different are you from where you started?" Megan asked as she looked over at the other woman. She couldn't help noticing the eyes; those yellow eyes might have not been as noticeable on a pony, but they stood out on a human. If she looked at those eyes too long she started to feel uncomfortable.

"Hard to say, get back to me in a month and I'll be better able to answer that," Melissa said with a grimace. "I can say that my life goals have been turned in a completely different direction, and I seem to do a lot more thinking about questions I'd never have bothered with before. I'm also getting into a relationship with a pony. I don't see the old me trying that."

Megan went wide eyes. "With a pony? How does that even work..."

Melissa crossed her eyes at her. "We aren't having sex if that's what you're thinking about. I'm not sure how the physical end of things is going to work or even be present. But Dan and I have an emotional bond that goes past being friends. We're going to try to make it work. Your sister even said she was going to be looking into something that might help us out."

"What's that?" Megan asked.

"I think she's going to try to have Dan dreamwalk into my dreams."

Megan was confused, and a little fearful. "Wait, she told me that ponies couldn't dreamwalk into the dreams of humans."

Melissa turned to her and looked her in the eyes. Again, Megan felt a little uncomfortable looking into those yellow eyes. "I'm not completely human though. I have magic still in me, just a small amount. Tattered is hoping that'll be enough. I want that too. It would open so many possibilities if Dan could come into my dreams."

"So why does she have to look into anything first? Why not just let him try if you really want him too?" She wasn't sure if Melissa was crazy for wanting some pony to come into her dreams. She supposed that in a dream they could take other forms and then they could...get physical that way. Best not to think about that too much. She wasn't going to judge if she could help it.

Melissa picked up a stray rock and tossed it out into the street. "Some damn rules. Rules I don't get to know about because I'm not a night pony anymore. See what I mean about being excluded?"

That reminded her of her fight with her sister yesterday, and she found herself getting angry again just thinking about it. Not only was someone threatening her sister, that same someone was putting up barriers for Melissa. It made her want to kick someone's ass. She picked up her own pebble and hurled it out into the street.

"Something wrong?" Melissa asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I wish I knew who was bossing my sister around about this stuff. She won't talk to me about it. She said the same stupid thing to me. I don't get to know because I'm not a night pony." She let off a frustrated growl and tossed another pebble. "I'm sure she was threatened but she won't talk about it with me so I can go do something about it."

Melissa looked at her for a moment then laughed.

"What's funny about that?" Megan asked with annoyance.

Melissa waved a hand. "Sorry, it's nothing really. I shouldn't be laughing. You just seem like you would have made a good night pony yourself just then."

Megan didn't really care to think about what type of pony she'd have ended up as if she had gotten ETS. That wasn't even worth speculating on.

She went back into her purse and pulled out her cigarettes. After opening the pack up she realized she was actually getting low, she hadn't realized she had gone through so many. She took a moment to count in her head when she had smoked and it came out about right. Maybe with how much Sunset Blessing would be keeping her busy she could lay off these.

Pulling her lighter out she flicked it and as it the flame appeared she heard Melissa gasp and shuffle away. Immediately Megan pulled the cigarette from her mouth and turned to face Melissa, feeling flabbergasted. "I'm so sorry, I should have asked if it was okay if I smoked. I apologize for that."

Melissa wasn't looking at the cigarette though, she was staring wide-eyed at the lighter and breathing heavily. Some things clicked into place in Megan's head at that moment.

"I hadn't realized you were afraid of fire," Megan said as she stuffed the lighter away. "I'm really sorry."

Melissa put a hand up to her chest and took a few deep breaths before she glanced back up. "I hadn't realized it till just now, so don't feel bad. There's something else for you that isn't the same anymore. I wouldn't have cared about the cigarette; I actually used to smoke before ETS. Just seeing an open flame again though, even a little one...I think I need to talk to my psychologist."

"It's some sort of PTSD type thing then?" Megan asked. She wasn't sure if it was appropriate for her to even be asking this kind of thing, but the conversation had already started.

Melissa seemed to gather herself together a little better. She lifted up the side of her shirt revealing scarring on her side. "When your sister, me, and my friends were injured the way I was hurt involved me getting burned really badly. I essentially had a homemade flamethrower used on me, among other things. I still have burns even after rehumanizing. They don't hurt anymore, but I'm guessing I'm still kind of nervous about flames."

"That was a little more than nervous," Megan observed dryly.

Melissa hung her head as she stared down at her knees. "Yeah, here I am trying to act like I can keep a leadership position with the Enclave and I'm freaking out about a little flame."

"Hey, don't worry about being afraid of fire," Megan stated firmly. "Your job is essentially going to be a deputy chief of police from what I understand. You're responsible for directing people...or ponies in this case...to combat crime, not be out there yourself. It's a supervisory position."

"I suppose so," Melissa conceded, posture still slumped.

Megan wished she knew how to cheer the other woman up, but wasn't exactly sure what to say to do so. Time would tell if Melissa was up to the pressure of her new position.

Paul looked over the electric box of the house and sighed. This entire thing would need to be replaced for the building to get power. The sad part was this house was in the best shape of the available properties that they had seen so far. Everything still on the market was in poor repair and basically unlivable. Everything that was in moderate to good repair had already been purchased in the last few days.

"I know it needs some serious TLC, but I've already got contracts with electricians, carpenters, plumbers, and so on who are eager to get started as soon as possible," Lashanda, a sky blue pegasus mare from the bank, explained apologetically.

"You're sure that there isn't anything better still on the market?" Paul asked as he looked over at the air conditioning unit that also would need to be replaced.

Lashanda sighed, brushing some of her orange mane back. "I'm really sorry. Most of the houses in town have been sitting a very long time with no upkeep whatsoever. This one has the least damage of the ones remaining on market. Most of the wiring, plumbing, and air ducts inside are in still perfectly good condition. Dry rot and termite damage is at a minimum. If you purchase this one we could have it ready to go in a month, maybe as soon as two weeks to move in if you're willing to deal with work continuing after you move in."

There was a lot of work to be done. The circuit box needed replacing, the air conditioner, the roof, the front porch, as well as areas inside the house that had water damage from the roof leaking. A month seemed a pretty enthusiastic estimate to him.

The house had possibilities if fully repaired, but he wasn't sure how much work getting it fully repaired would be. It had three bedrooms that we're all decent sized. It had a large kitchen and living room. It had only one bathroom, but it was also fairly large. There was no laundry room, but the back porch had washer and dryer hookups and was covered and screened--even if that screen needed replacing. The front and backyard were small, but looking at the amount of overgrowth that might not be a bad thing.

He just didn't know. If it weren't for the fact he was eager to get his family out of a tent he would just say build a new house. That could take much longer though.

He glanced down at his daughter, who has crawling along the ground following a large beetle that she had found. The little filly seemed completely fascinated by everything in the yard and had been examining everything with rapt attention. He had made several walks around the yard just to make sure there was nothing that could possibly hurt her. The only thing he had found was a large anthill on the opposite side of the house. This side seemed safe for her.

"You said we could possibly move in after two weeks. What would actually be done in two weeks?" He asked.

Lashanda seemed to get some more life to her after being asked. "I can be sure that we can get the bathroom ready for use and the box fixed in two weeks. It wouldn't be the best, but it would be better than a tent. You'd have to spend most of your days outside the house while we continue to work on it, but you'd have a dry roof over your heads at night, with lights, and a place to bathe."

The problem with that was Robby. Robby needed to sleep during the day and he wouldn't have that option if they were going to be having work done throughout the daylight hours. He'd have to have somewhere to go in order to sleep. That would leave him in the care of others for upwards of sixteen hours a day or more between others watching him overnight and while he was sleeping.

"Are you really certain that this place can be fixed up decently?" He asked.

Lashanda nodded enthusiastically and pointed to the mark on her flank, a cloth rubbing dirt off a vase. "I'm really good at figuring out what can be salvaged into something good, I've got a great eye for restoration projects. Miss Number Crunch said I was the perfect pony for figuring out what houses were worth the time and money."

"And how much experience do you have at this?"

Lashanda's ears sagged a little. "Well, being a real estate agent is new to me, but I know I can do this. There are houses in the area that should just be torn down and be done with, a lot of them, but this isn't one of those. Give me a month, I promise we can make it a great place to raise foals. The price is low because they understand the work that will go into it, but I promise the investment is worthwhile, ponies are honest."

Paul wasn't sure how much he trusted a tattoo on a pony's ass as a job qualification. This place looked rough. Whether they agreed to wait to have this place repaired or decided to wait to have a place built, they needed to get out of that tent, sooner rather than later.

"And you're sure this is the best that's still available on the market?" He asked as he shook his head in disbelief.

"Sorry again. As I said, the really good ones were grabbed up early. If you want something better you will have to wait for it to be built."

Well, a decision would need to be made soon then.

"I'm going to go talk to my wife. We'll have an answer for you in a few minutes."

He bent down next to Jessie and talked to her. "We need to go back over to your mommy. Can you follow me like a good girl?"

She abandoned what she was doing and got close by him as he stood up. Did she actually understand anything that he had just said? He really wished he knew. Devon had said that foals started figuring out what was said to them around a month old. It would have to be very limited understanding if so. She hadn't made any attempts to say anything other than baba so far, despite him and Devon both trying to get mama and dada out of her.

He walked around to the other side of the house where Devon was examining it for areas that would need replacing.

"This place needs some serious work. It will be a month at least before it's habitable if we signed a contract today," Paul said as he stepped up next to his wife and put an arm around her.

Devon didn't reject the gesture, instead she sighed. "Yeah, I know. It's my fault for taking so long to do this. If I'd gotten on this as soon as I had the loan filled out maybe we wouldn't have to wait."

Time to suggest what needed to be done.

He looked down at the ground where Jessie was now examining a dandelion. "I think it might be best to agree to it and then go back to the apartment until things are done. We need to pack and get everything back there settled and resolved. One month and then we'll be good to go."

Devon scowled. "That would be a month separating Robby and Jessie from other ponies. It isn't just bad for them, it's bad for us. We have no support system there."

"You had a lot of friends at the school, couldn't we call some of them and see if we could get some help watching the foals?"

Devon looked uncertain. "I don't know. I lost touch with everyone around the time Jessie was born and for all I know they are all here already, as ponies. Schools are breeding grounds for viruses and they would have been still teaching up until everything shut down."

"We could possibly get Amanda to come along too. She may need to settle some things with where she had been living as well," Paul said as he hugged her tighter. "It confuses me how all these ponies just up and dropped everything about their lives and came here. Just up and left everything behind without so much as a second thought."

"Amanda has a bag of stuff, and I'm pretty sure I've seen other ponies with the same. I'd assume most of what they left behind just wasn't useable by ponies."

"They could have taken time to sell it off or something," Paul insisted.

Devon shook her head. "Not likely. The market is probably going to be flooded with goods that ponies don't need anymore. I think it would be kind of liberating to just be able to toss aside most the crap that we worry about and say we don't need it anymore. We didn't get ETS though, so you're probably right about us needing to get everything in order."

Paul smiled. "Alright, let's go tell the mare that we'll buy and be back in a month."

Tonya sat on top of the roof of town hall gazing down at Megan and Melissa. The two humans hadn't taken notice of her. They hadn't even looked upwards once. The acoustics here were excellent, and even though they weren't talking loudly she could hear their conversation with ease.

She had seen Melissa's reaction to fire, and the conversation afterwards. Melissa had some things in her past that she needed to put behind her. Tonya had to work hard to resist rushing down there to try to help. That was her purpose after all, she was supposed to help others get past their...well...pasts, to bring the important things to the surface and push the other things aside for them. She longed to help Melissa overcome her past.

The medallion felt heavier around her neck at the moment. It wasn't actually any heavier, but at that moment she was much more aware if its weight. She glanced over to the building next door: Number Crunch was in there. Thinking about the unicorn was all the incentive she needed to keep sitting where she was at and not bringing attention to herself.

Again she couldn't help wondering how Number Crunch had found out. The only pony that knew what she had done was Sunset, and Sunset wouldn't have told Number about it. Phobia, Rosetta, and Wild knew what Tonya could do. Phobia and Rosetta wouldn't have gone to Number though; that left Wild Growth as the sole pony that could have said something to Number. That didn't make any sense either. Wild showed her no hostility, and if she had known the earth pony would have said something.

Actually there were two more possibilities. There was Lavender Mist and Luna. Luna had seen her nightmare, Luna could have known. If she did she could have told Lavender about it. That didn't feel right either though. Lavender didn't seem to have any issues with her, and Luna would have had Lavender doing something for sure if Luna knew.

The last possibility of how Number knew was a scary one. That was that her powers wore off and those she used them on became aware of what had been done to them. That wasn't only scary for the sake of Number Crunch knowing what she had done, it was scary because it would mean that it was only a matter of time before Paul and Devon had their effect wear off.

As if thinking about them had been a summons, she saw a car pull up in front of the bank and a moment later her brother and his wife get out of the car. Another pegasus flew up near them. She didn't know the pegasus, there were far too many to keep track of, but they seemed to know the mare and went into the bank with her.

She looked up at the sun. It would be setting soon and she had an appointment for dinner with her family after that. They were obviously not ready yet if they were going into the bank, so she still had time, but she was dreading it. The world would probably spite her and have what she did wear off on them while dinner was in progress, leaving her having to be confronted by her sins.

She shook her head and sighed. There was no help for it. Spreading her wings, she jumped off the roof and into the air, quickly gaining altitude and heading towards the tents. She'd wait there for her brother, and hopefully have thought of what she could do to make this right in the meantime.

She didn't have a lot of faith in that.

Chapter 31**

Chapter 31**

Rosetta woke with an intense need to vomit.

She unfurled her wings from her head and squinted at the daylight filtering in under the window shades. She weakly pulled herself to her hooves and tried to move as quickly as she could to the bathroom as she felt the bile rising in her throat.

The bathroom was too far a trip, and she ended up retching up in the hallway. Having already failed to reach the bathroom she simply choose to lay down where she was so any further puke was contained in one centralized location.

Congratulations, Rosetta, you've arrived at the morning sickness phase. She thought as she spit out bits of bile that hadn't completely exited her mouth.

After she was sure nothing else was coming up, and she could breathe again without laboring to do so, she went and searched out some towels and got to work cleaning up her mess. She then discarded them into a hamper that her parents had brought over, with the intention of taking them to her parents' house for washing sometime soon.

How long was morning sickness supposed to keep going once it began? She wasn't looking forward to finding out. It wasn't even morning, it was late afternoon. What should night ponies call morning sickness? Afternoon sickness? Early evening sickness?

She went to the bathroom and washed her face off and lapped up some water to rinse her mouth out with. Once she was satisfied that she didn't have overpowering barf breath anymore she returned to the bedroom.

Phobia had managed to stay asleep through all of that. A small part of Rosetta's mind was resentful that her mate had not awoken to notice that she was in distress. She quickly silenced the thoughts though. Phobia really needed her rest still, and this sickness from pregnancy was going to be a regular thing anyway for a while. Furthermore, Phobia would be dealing with the same thing in a month or so time. In a few weeks they'd both be up running to the bathroom, maybe trying to fight for who got the privilege of vomiting into the porcelain throne. She wouldn't resent Phobia getting a little time more to wake up without nausea.

She'd failed again to penetrate Phobia's nightmare over the afternoon, but had felt like she'd made good progress today. Increased confidence in her abilities really had helped and she had penetrated deeper than she had before. She'd get back to work on it early in the morning, along with another bit of dreamwalking that she was eager to see if she could do.

For right now she and Phobia needed to have a talk about what she had learned today.

After giving her lover a bit of nuzzling and some light shaking Phobia woke with a sleepy few blinks and glanced at the window.

"It's really early," Phobia said as she blinked a few more times. "Why are you getting us up this early?"

"Wild and I are going to be going to visit my mama in a little while to have a talk with her. I needed to talk to you about something first," Rosetta explained. "I figured we could get to sleep earlier tomorrow as well. There isn't any real need for us to be up all the way to noon."

"What's so urgent to talk about?" Phobia asked as she rolled on her back and yawned.

Rosetta took a deep breath and laid down so her face was closely facing Phobia's.

"I talked to Sha'am Maut last night. She gave me some information about my pregnancy...and let me know that you're pregnant as well."

Phobia's eyes went as wide as they could go and her pupils dilated and she rolled back over so she was laying on her belly again. "C-come again?"

"Sha'am said both of us are pregnant. All night pony foals. You've got one and I've got two," Rosetta said as she watched Phobia's face.

Phobia closed her eyes and shook her head in disbelief. "No...I can't be pregnant; definitely not because of him."

Rosetta's ears sagged low. "I'm sorry...I can't claim to completely understand how you're feeling, but we'll get through this. We can go to the clinic tonight after I'm back from my parents', instead of tomorrow, so Lavender can confirm it."

Phobia shook her head some more and started crying. "It can't be true. Up until a month ago it would have been impossible for me to be pregnant. I haven't even had a period or anything since becoming a pony. I can't be carrying a foal because of him."

Rosetta pulled Phobia into a hug and Phobia let the tears break free into full on sobs as she cried onto Rosetta's shoulder. Rosetta gently stroked Phobia's mane as the other mare trembled and sobbed.

"If you..." Rosetta had to stop to take a deep breath. She didn't want to suggest this. "If you want an abortion... I'll understand."

Phobia went stiff against her, and the sobbing came to an abrupt end. She just sat like that, not moving for a long minute, leaving the room feeling oppressively quiet.

"I-I won't do that," Phobia finally said. "I don't know what I want to do, but I won't do that."

It was a relief to hear that. She didn't think Phobia would do that, but the possibility was there. She wouldn't have blamed her if she had said she wanted an abortion though.

"We're going to go to the clinic tonight then," Rosetta said as she sat up. "Do you want your parents to come along with us or do you want to wait to tell them?"

Phobia sat up slightly and didn't answer right away. It was a good thing though. Making Phobia think about making immediate plans distracted her from thinking about the fact she was having a foal from a rape. While Rosetta waited for Phobia to consider her ears twitched as she picked up voices in the house. Tom must have come back, and he had company.

"I'll ask them to come with us," Phobia finally said with a sigh. "I have no idea how they'll react to the news. I don't even know how to react to the news."

"That's understandable." Rosetta nuzzled Phobia again. "You and I are going to get through this. We can see if we can get help since three foals are going to be a lot to deal with. I'm going to talk to Luna and see if she has any suggestions too."

It went unsaid that she was terrified of what this would do to Phobia's already daunting nightmares. She hadn't even gotten past Phobia's protective shell yet on her own to help her, and now things were going to no doubt get worse.

"What about your family? Do you want to bring them along too?" Phobia asked. Phobia seemed to be trying to put on a good face about this, but Rosetta could pick up on her body language; Phobia was scared.

She'd already considered that. "I'm supposed to be going over to my parents house in a little while to talk with my mama. I'll tell them then. There's no need to have the clinic packed and you getting smothered."

Phobia bowed her head and looked on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry about all this."

Rosetta flicked her tail. "You've got absolutely nothing to be sorry for, at all, so don't start acting guilty. You've done nothing wrong. I'm the one who was involved with that sonofabitch that did this to you. I'm even carrying around not one but two foals from him. I even slept willingly with him and feel filthy for it. I'm the one who should be sorry."

Phobia looked up at her. "You don't have anything to be sorry for either. I'm actually feeling a little guilty that you're having twins and suddenly I'm going to be a focus of attention again." Phobia shook her head. "I just hate having everypony worrying over me. I know I'm not okay, but I'm not going to be okay for a long time. I don't want to pull things down with everypony worrying over me constantly."

Rosetta touched a wing to Phobia's face. "We're having twins. These foals are ours. Three little lives that we're going to be mothers to. We're going to be going through all the joys of pregnancy together too; weird food cravings, mood swings, feeling fat and bloated, waking up and wanting to vomit, lots of pissing..."

"Yep, you're really selling how wonderful this is going to be," Phobia said with a flat look. "We haven't really asked that many questions about those kinds of things either. We got some answers from Lavender about how things go, but I think we didn't ask nearly enough."

"We'll do that later. She'll probably tell us even worse things." Rosetta giggled as she tried to lighten the mood. "And just think, we get three time the nightmares from surging foals."

Phobia's eyes widened for a moment then she blinked. "Maybe I can take a little advantage of my position and temporarily lock them out of the dreamscape."

"You can do just temporarily?" Rosetta asked. She was actually hoping that was true. She really didn't want to deal with three times the nightmares while these three surged.

Phobia shrugged. "I don't really know. I won't have an actual clue what I'm capable of until I'm bound to the dreamscape. You could ask Sha'am, Yinyu, or Luna what I will be able to do in that regard. I really don't know right now, being bound will be what essentially teaches me everything."

"What exactly is all the training for now then if you're just going to learn everything when you get bound?" Rosetta asked with a raised eyebrow.

"How to actually survive to get bound," Phobia said as she looked Rosetta in the eyes. "I get put into the raging furnace of the magic that's the true nature of the dreamscape. It will kill me if I'm not ready. All my training is just so I can buy Luna time to bind me once I go in. Technically, anypony can learn to do what I'm doing on their own, but without the binding by a Dreamwarden they'll still die after a minute or so. Once I'm bound it can no longer hurt me, but until then I'm in mortal danger of it ripping my mind apart. She needs only seconds, but I need to be prepared to give her those seconds."

Alright, this was new information, and it was bad. "Why's it so dangerous? I thought dreams couldn't hurt anypony."

Phobia sat and seemed to try to think about how to explain. "Except for the Dreamwardens, ponies don't actually experience the dreamscape. The dreamscape you experience is just an illusion that makes it manageable and comprehensible. The true dreamscape doesn't follow the normal rules of the universe, it has no shape, no sense of space, time flows there but it's more flexible; it's just magic and minds and nothing else. Getting put into the true dreamscape and trying to experience it will break a pony's mind and kill them. There's too much magic and too many minds with all your other senses gone."

Knowing that there was a chance that this could kill Phobia if something went wrong put a whole other level of urgency on getting Phobia's nightmares under control. She knew Luna wouldn't put Phobia in if she wasn't ready, but the idea that Phobia could die if something went wrong filled her with dread.

"Let's head down and do what needs to be done for tonight. You can go talk with your parents and I'll see if Dad can get in touch with Mom. I'm pretty sure I heard him downstairs, along with Amanda if I recognize the voice right," Phobia said as she stood up. Phobia must have better hearing than her if she was able to identify everypony downstairs. She just heard muffled voices. She wouldn't have heard anything as a human of course, but it was still interesting that Phobia heard things better than her.

They went downstairs and did indeed find Tom and Amanda talking in the living room, with Robby and Jackie sleeping in a corner next to a bag that she assumed belonged to Amanda. Tom's ears perked up as he watched them come down the stairs.

"You two are up earlier than normal. Did you have plans?" Tom asked as he looked at them quizzically.

This was going to be fun. She took a deep breath before answering. "We're moving Phobia's doctor appointment up to tonight instead of in the morning."

Tom's ears laid back as he looked at his daughter. "What's wrong? Are you hurt? Are you sick?"

Phobia shook her head. "Not sick yet, I'm guessing that will be coming sooner or later. Congratulations, Dad, you're getting a grandfoal directly from me; I'm pregnant."

Tom's eyes went wide and he shook his head. "That's not possible. You can't get pregnant. You weren't even female until this month. We don't even know for sure that you have those parts working."

Phobia laid her ears back and flicked her tail rapidly. "Dad, I'm trying to keep calm about this and don't need you saying shit like that. I have the parts and they work. I may not have had them a month ago, but I also didn't have wings, a tail, or hooves a month ago and all those work perfectly well too. You know how it happened too, and that is something I really don't want to think about; please don't be a dick!"

The irony that Phobia had just made that same argument herself was not lost on Rosetta. Phobia wasn't thinking straight.

The unicorn flinched back with his ears flattened. Rosetta draped a wing gently over Phobia's back, making sure Phobia saw her doing it. She then looked over at the two other ponies and took charge of the situation for Phobia's sake. "She's actually doing very good dealing with the news so far, but I'm expecting a full breakdown later. We're going to deal with things tonight before she's a sobbing mess again. For now, could you please get in touch with Sunset and get Sunset to come over here right away. She wants both her parents at the clinic when they confirm this."

Tom gathered himself up and flattened out his ears. "It will take me a little while to get her. I know she's probably at the town hall right now, but I don't have a phone. I'd have to run down there to get her. You'd probably get to her faster than me."

"I've got a phone," Amanda offered as she hurried over to the bag. "It's probably dead, but I have the charger too. I'd been considering just getting rid of it if it weren't for the fact I had contact information stored in it. It's really hard to use with hooves, even pulling out the stylus is a pain in the ass."

"If it has a stylus I can use it," Tom said as he went over to join her.

Amanda pulled open her bag and looked into it glumly. She then sighed and just upended the bag with her hooves so everything fell out. "Sorry about the mess, it's the easiest way of getting anything out. My only other option is trying to pull out each thing with my mouth until I found it."

Tom quickly found the charger and the cell phone in the clutter. "Don't fret, and don't worry about trying to repack. Just let me get this plugged in and I'll pick it all up for you."

Amanda smiled. "You don't need to do that. I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself; I packed it after all."

"You're doing me a favor by letting me use your phone," Tom said as he plugged the phone into a nearby outlet. "You only have to pick up that stuff due to me. I should be the one taking care of it."

Robby stirred from his sleep, returning his wings to his sides instead of around his head. One of the wings caught Jackie as it moved, and the little filly stirred from her sleep too; blinking and looking around as she tried to figure out what touched her.

Amanda looked apologetic. "Sorry, I didn't intend to wake you two up."

Robby glanced around from where he was laying and got a big smile on his face when he spotted Rosetta. "Miss Rosetta! I dreamwalked!"

Rosetta gave the colt a smile. "So I heard. I thought about checking on you but was busy with Phobia. I hope you had fun."

Robby looked confused. "How'd you know already?"

Rosetta glanced at Amanda and Tom before looking at Robby again. "We have a mutual dreamwalking friend that told me about it. She was very impressed. I'm sure Phobia is impressed too."

Phobia looked at Robby. "Dreamwalking already? Were you a good colt when you were dreamwalking?"

Robby nodded. "I was very good. I said all my things right and ate lots of cake!"

"And did you visit any dreams?" Phobia asked.

Robby's ears dropped. "I wasn't really sure how. After I got out of my dream..." He looked at Amanda and Tom who we're both looking at him with confusion on their faces. "Um, I'm not sure I'm allowed to say what happened. Ms. Phobia, am I allowed?"

Phobia looked at Rosetta. "Same one as told you about my pregnancy?" Rosetta nodded back. Phobia turned back to Robby. "So, you met an old pony then and she gave you sweets."

Robby nodded.

"And you stayed out of trouble with her?" Phobia asked.

Robby nodded more enthusiastically. "She made sure I did everything right, and asked me a lot of questions about Aunt Tonya's singing."

Rosetta caught Phobia's attention. "I talked to the old mare about that too. I think you're going to need to have another talk with Tonya."

Tom stomped a hoof. "Can you please give me and Amanda a better explanation about what's going on? Wild Growth seems to have some clue, but she's just as closed lipped as you two. Getting anything out of her was like pulling teeth."

Rosetta scowled. "And what did my sister say that she had no business talking about? She shouldn't be talking about night pony secrets."

Tom looked at Phobia. "She said something about how you make sure night ponies behave themselves and that they're afraid of you. That's all we got out of her. I still don't understand how you're so scary to them, and I don't understand the need for all this secrecy."

Amanda raised a hoof. "And I'm really confused about why Tonya singing was a big deal."

Robby flapped his wings in frustration. "I told you, Aunt Tonya was using night pony magic. Why doesn't anypony believe me?"

"We believe you," Rosetta said, as she gave him a sympathetic look. "And I'm pretty sure by the time they all wake up every night pony in town will know about it and believe you too."

"As for the secrecy," Phobia said as she sat down. "Night ponies have a collection of magic powers that are extremely easy to abuse, far more abusive than other tribes abilities. They can be abused even by ponies that don't mean to hurt anypony. This means the use of such abilities has to be strictly monitored and controlled. All the humans and the other pony tribes are completely incapable of doing that; we have to do that. Until the point is reached that we can prove those abuses won't happen we have to keep our methods of control secret."

Rosetta gave an internal groan. Why did Phobia have to be this open with these kinds of things? Tonya getting told some things was understandable, but there was no reason for Wild to find out. Now she was talking to Tom and Amanda about the subject. Since Phobia was one of the Dreamwardens she wasn't bound by the same Oaths as every other night pony, but this was risky.

Rosetta took a deep breath and addressed this as best she could. "Phobia, you agreed that I'm the one who makes decisions while we are awake, right?"

Phobia turned to her with ears perked and nodded.

Rosetta gently touched a wing to her lover's face. "Then can you please not discuss this with them. Every pony you discuss this with puts our family in danger. We have foals on the way we need to think about. I'm sure Amanda and Dad are well intentioned, my sister too, but everything they know are things that can be used by somepony to try to hurt our family. These are also things that you know can be used to hurt our tribe. I will not allow anything to hurt you or our foals, even loose tongues."

Phobia frowned as she glanced at her father and Amanda, who both looked on in confusion, then looked back at Rosetta and bowed her head in agreement. "You're right. Some of these secrets are not meant to be kept forever, but I'm far too quick to open my mouth."

Phobia turned back to the other two adult ponies. "Please, just accept that things are being done to keep you safe, and it is happening out of sight with things you don't need to worry about."

Phobia then turned to Robby. "And the rules still apply to you. You don't discuss this with anyone other than another night pony, even your family. The rules keep you from getting hurt just like the rest of us. You're a night pony and you must protect your tribe, yourself, and your family."

"Not even Ms. Wild Growth or Aunt Tonya?" Robby asked.

"Not even them," Rosetta confirmed.

Tom stomped a hoof, startling everypony. "What are you so afraid of? They're supposedly all scared of you, but you seem terrified of something yourself."

Phobia gave her father a long look then turned back to Robby. "Robby, what above all other things, even me, should every night pony be afraid of and make sure never hurts the innocent? I know Rosetta taught you what it was, you have my permission to say it."

Robby blinked then looked down. "The most scary, most dangerous thing in the world...scarier than all the monsters and bad guys put together...is ourselves."

Amanda gasped and slammed her own hooves on the floor. "You can't teach Robby to think that way about himself!"

Phobia held up a wing at Amanda and kept looking at Robby. "And since that is true, what is your responsibility as a night pony?"

Robby held his head up high. "I've gotta make sure I never ever become a monster that hurts other ponies while I'm protecting them against the bad guys and monsters. I've gotta have responsibility so I stay good."

Rosetta smiled that her lessons had taken so well. "Night ponies live to protect others, even if it means against ourselves sometimes. It is our duty, our purpose, and our pride. Are you proud to be a protector, Robby?"

"I'll never ever let any monster or bad guy hurt my family, or Ms. Amanda, or Jackie, or anypony else. I'll protect them and keep the safe," Robby said as he puffed out his chest. "And I'll never be a monster or bad guy, even though I could be. I know how to fear myself. Fear keeps me safe."

Amanda looked helplessly at Robby, then Rosetta and Phobia, then to Tom. She then gave a sad shake of her head. "Night ponies are crazy. What do you think about all this, Tom?"

Tom looked at Phobia with a hard glare. "It feels like some sort of indoctrination. I can't approve of this."

Phobia glared back at him. "You've no idea the harm we night ponies could cause if left to ourselves. That vision that everypony got? That's just the tip of the iceberg. We can invade your mind and there would be nothing you could do to stop us. Controls on us have to be put in place, and we're the only ones that can put those controls in place. It's our responsibility and duty to see you're protected from us."

Tom sneered. "You talk about it as if you're all criminals. Criminals typically don't write the laws they are governed by."

Phobia sighed. "Only potential criminals, like everypony else. Even politicians pass laws determining ethics violations on politicians. You don't need to understand night ponies, Dad, but please trust that we are doing everything we can to not be monsters."

Amanda snorted and pointed at Robby. "And you think that little colt is a potential monster?"

Phobia nodded, earning a gasp of dismay from Amanda. "He can dreamwalk. Expecting a five year old to do right dreamwalking without controls is as foolish as if you handed a five year old human child a loaded handgun and telling them to go play with their friends, expecting no potential tragedy to happen. Night ponies are weapons, and we have to learn as soon as we start dreamwalking, or even before if possible, to be responsible--otherwise ponies are going to get hurt."

Rosetta flicked her ears as she zeroed into a sound that she had been hearing in the background for a while. She took a quick sniff and then turned to the front door. "You can come in Wild. You don't have to keep sitting outside the door listening into the conversation."

The door handle jiggled a moment or two and then stopped. "Um...the door's locked." Came a muffled call from the other side.

Tom lit up his horn and the lock could be heard clicking on the door before opening in his magical aura. Wild then sheepishly walked in. Tom closed the door behind her after she entered.

Wild looked at Rosetta and scraped up hoof across the floor in embarrassment. "Sorry, didn't mean to eavesdrop. Just didn't want to interrupt."

Rosetta gave her sister a hard look. There was no telling how long Wild had been standing out there before she finally noticed. The earth pony had clearly been going out of her way to keep quiet.

"We'll discuss it later," Rosetta said, having decided not to argue the point. She looked at Amanda and Tom with a raised eyebrow. "Can we count this discussion done for right now? I don't want you upsetting Phobia. Between everything going on with her she doesn't need ponies getting on her case about her doing her appointed job. I've got two buns of my own in the oven and don't need the stress either."

Wild's mouth dropped as she looked at Rosetta. "Two? You're having twins? Wait...did you just imply Phobia..."

Rosetta cut her sister off. "We'll talk about it on the way to the other house." She looked at Tom and repeated her question. "Are we done for now? I know you have a call to make, Phobia needs to de-stress, and I have a few things to discuss with my mama."

Tom sighed. "I guess for right now. We'll continue this some other time. I do trust you two, but I'm not sure whatever you're doing is the right way to do...whatever it is you're doing. You're right that we have other things to worry about for the moment."

Amanda still looked on defiantly. "Robby is my best friend's foal. I'm concerned about what kind of things you might be teaching him. That is not normal things to be teaching a foal, at all."

Rosetta nodded. "That's fair. It's good you are concerned about his welfare. You're a good friend to Devon and a good pony for being concerned. Robby's a night pony though, and night pony foals come with a whole different set of concerns than other foals; concerns a non-night pony wouldn't understand on their own or be able to address. I'll be happy to sit down with Devon and explain those concerns to her, but she has to trust night ponies are the ones who'll have to teach him certain things."

Amanda sat down and crossed her forelegs. "I'll tell Devon and let her decide. I want to trust you, I do. I stood up for you when he was saying Phobia was scary and his parents were getting upset because of that; but him talking about how he should be afraid of himself sounds like teaching him to look down on himself, and a lot of what you say sounds like some weird religious indoctrination."

Rosetta gave a sympathetic dip of her head. "I know how it must sound, but our goals are to make sure he doesn't get hurt and nopony gets hurt because of him. Tell Devon I'll talk to her tomorrow night about Robby, and I'll tell her what I'm allowed to say about the dangers he faces."

"I'll do that."

Alright, crisis averted for the moment. Rosetta felt a certain amount of pride in herself for taking charge of the situation and defusing it for the time being. She'd probably have an angry mother screaming at her tomorrow in all likelihood, but that was tomorrow. Tonight she still had to make sure she didn't end up screaming at her own mama or her future mother-in-law, those were the two angry mothers she needed to be focused on.

She exited the house with her sister in tow. They were at the end of the yard before Wild finally broke her question again. "What's this about you're having twins, and is Phobia pregnant too?"

Rosetta crossed her eyes at her sister. "I'm pregnant with twins and Phobia is pregnant with a single foal. I'm not sure what you are missing in that, it sounds pretty clear to me. You shouldn't be shocked I'm having twins. Name one member of our family that has more than two kids who doesn't have twins. There's like a fifty-fifty chance with every pregnancy in our family that it'll be twins."

Wild's tail twitched as they walked. "I know about how the twins thing works with the family. I'll probably end up with twins too if I ever have foals. It was still a surprise to hear. Phobia's having a foal too was more a shock to hear."

Rosetta hung her head and flattened her ears. "Yeah, that was a surprise. I guess the silver lining is that her foal and my foals will be biological siblings. I really want to find that bastard, rip him apart, and decorate the yard with his guts."

Wild looked like she was going to be sick. That was kind of expected. Day ponies didn't take well to descriptions of extreme violence. You didn't even have to go that in depth and if they weren't green already they'd turn green. That's part of why they needed night ponies to defend them, day ponies were just too gentle and pacifist by nature; with a few notable exceptions that didn't really make Rosetta happy knowing about.

Rosetta dropped her blood-lust and continued. "Phobia and I are going to the clinic to get her checked out tonight after this talk with Mama is done. We'll be bringing just her parents along. She'll be stressed out enough without bringing everyone else."

Wild nodded. Then gave Rosetta a considering look. "About that argument you were having...what am I actually allowed to say to anypony? I barely know anything but they're pushing me for answers. I trust Phobia, but keeping her secrets is putting me in a rough position."

"Just keep your mouth shut and refer them to us or another night pony," Rosetta replied gruffly. "I'm sorry you're carrying that information around with you. You shouldn't have been told."

Wild ran in front of Rosetta and stopped them. "Why do you need to be so secretive, sis? Why can't you trust me, your family? This isn't like you."

How could she explain this to her sister? How could she explain this to any of her family? Phobia and the Dreamwardens had their whatever reasons for all their secrecy, but for Rosetta this was personal. If news about what Phobia was and what that meant got out it could make life for the two of them and their foals a living hell.

She put her mouth up to her sister's ear and spoke softly. "I keep secrets because it's the rules, and I also need to make sure my foals lead happy and normal lives. These foals and Phobia are my direct family, the rest of you are extensions of my family. If I've got to choose between being open with my extended family and protecting my direct family then direct family comes first. You'll understand someday when you have a family of your own."

As she pulled back from speaking in her sister's ear she could see her sister clenching her jaw.

Tears started to build up in Wild's eyes. "Why does there need to be any god damn choice? We're all family! You're my big sister, the big sister I looked up to for years. Now you're telling me that I don't matter? That you have to shut me out for the off chance that it might have some minuscule chance of hurting you, Phobia, or the foals sometime in the future? Even though you know I would never do something to hurt you?"

Rosetta sighed. Wild was taking this the wrong way. "It isn't that you don't matter, it's that I have to prioritize and do everything I can to protect my family. This is a huge deal, and not something I can screw up with. There is no harm done to you by me keeping night pony secrets from you, there is potential harm to my family if I give them out. You still matter very much to me, I love you, but I have to prioritize the needs of Phobia and my foals above you. I would slap you silly if you told me secrets that could put loved ones at risk by telling."

Wild went suddenly very rigid. Something that Rosetta had said struck a huge chord with her somehow. The question was what kind of chord.

"I think I understand," Wild said slowly. "I have a secret too, and it could be dangerous to talk about."

Rosetta raised an eyebrow at this. Wild had some dark secret? That was suprising. Perhaps earth ponies had their own tribal secrets since night ponies did. If there was ever an earth pony that would be in on such a thing it would be Wild.

"If it is something I don't actually need to know then keep it to yourself," Rosetta asserted. "Better to keep silent and keep those around you safe than to run your mouth and endanger somepony."

"You think way too much in terms of protecting," Wild said.

"I'm a night pony; it's in my nature to be protective, and I embrace that part of me. It might not define every aspect of my life, but it's still part of what I am," Rosetta said as she spread her wings and put herself on display. "Even if I wasn't naturally protective, keeping my family safe would still take precedence over indulging your curiosity."

"Okay, I trust you, and won't push about this," Wild said with a sigh.

"Good, because I was getting ready to start wing slapping you to try to knock some sense into you and I wasn't looking forward to hurting my wings on your hard head," Rosetta snarked as she walked around her sister.

Wild trotted back beside her and have her a grin. "Well, we earth ponies are built pretty solid, best not to hurt your delicate little wings."

Rosetta gave her sister a good smack off side the head with a wing, and winced as it actually did hurt. Wild wasn't kidding, it was like hitting a brick wall. It was a small consolation to her pride that it staggered Wild tiny bit.

"OW!" Wild hissed. "You didn't have to smack me that hard!"

Rosetta shook her wing to try to dull the soreness. "Don't worry, I think it hurt me more than it hurt you, no joke. Do you have concrete in your diet or something?"

"Glad it hurt. That's what you get for doing that," Wild answered as she glared at Rosetta's wing. "And I'm just really muscular."

Rosetta looked her sister over. Now that she was taking a more critical eye to her sister she could see that Wild really was extremely muscular, much more muscular than most earth ponies. Did all that extra muscle come with all that extra magic power? How much was Wild holding back when she used that earth pony strength of hers? She knew her sister didn't like her strength being asked about too much, but it did get Rosetta curious about exactly how strong Wild actually was.

Wild noticed Rosetta looking her over and scowled as she kicked some dust up off the road. "Before you ask, I don't know, and I don't plan on trying to find out. I grow things, and that's what I want to be known for; not how strong I am."

Rosetta looked straight ahead at their parents' house. "Wasn't going to ask. I know it's not your favorite subject. Just taking note of things for the first time."

"Good," Wild said as they started walking up the path through the yard to the front door.

Wild casually pushed open the door and Rosetta frowned at the fact it wasn't locked. There should be more concern for safety. She then realized what she was doing and shook her head. Maybe she really was letting her night pony instincts get the better of her. She needed to rein them in or they'd drive her to paranoia.

This was actually the first time being at her parents' new house since they moved in. The house looked to be completely unpacked by this point. Familiar furniture was out in the living room, there were family pictures hung up around the walls--some of which she hadn't seen in many years, and it had a feeling of home despite being an unfamiliar place. One of the regular constants of home was her twin brothers parked in from of the TV playing video games.

Apparently video games weren't that enticing, because the twins paused their game and rushed Rosetta soon after she walked through the door.

"Rosetta! We haven't seen you in forever!" Jose cheered as he came up and tackled her in a hug.

"Mama! Papa! Rosetta's here!" Miguel shouted loudly.

Rosetta eyes her brothers suspiciously. "What're you two trying to get out of me? Love you both, but you're never this affectionate with me."

"Yeah, what gives? You don't come charging me with hugs and kisses every time I walk through the door," Wild said, ears flat.

"Wild you live here, so we see you all the time. We never see our favorite sister, Rosetta," Miguel did in an unconvincing fake whine.

Okay, that sealed it. The twins were definitely up to something. Question was, what could they possibly be trying to get out of her? She had no money, and not much for possessions.

"Rosetta's your favorite sister?" Wild asked with her ears still flattened. It clicked in Rosetta's head what they were trying to do now. They were trying, if overdoing it, to make Wild jealous, and hopefully getting Wild to give them things to earn back the title of favorite sister. They really needed to be more subtle about if they expected to have that work.

No reason she couldn't play along though. "I know, I'm so great. Never in the history of the world was there a sister so great and wonderful as me," she said with a haughty smile, laying it on thick as she could.

Wild let off a low rumble in her chest. "Rosetta, I think we should focus in getting what needed to get done completed. I know you have a lot to do tonight. Especially since you have a better set of twins on the way than these two layabouts."

"Wait...what?" Jose said as he pulled back and stared at Rosetta. "You're having twins? When did you suddenly say you were having twins?"

"Tonight, and we aren't playing a joke either. I'm having twin night pony foals. There is going to be a cuter, more adorable, and more spoilable set of twins coming into the family," Rosetta said with a smirk. She then let the smile die and put a serious look on her face. "Phobia's having a foal too, which makes this kind of like triplets. Now, go tell Papa, so he knows. Wild and I need to go talk to Mama about something important, and we want some privacy."

"Um, okay," the twins said in that weird unison way that always weirded her out when they pulled it. She hoped her foals never learned how to do that. They then rushed to the backdoor and out into the backyard, letting the door slam behind them.

Rosetta looked at her sister after their brothers exited. "You know they're just trying to make you jealous to get things out of you, right?"

Wild blinked then rapidly nodded. "Yeah, I knew that."

Rosetta shook her head. "Sure you did. Anyway, lead the way to Mama."

Wild headed towards the stairs and Rosetta followed. This house was a bigger than hers, but it had a somewhat similar design. Wild led them up to a similar upstairs hallway and they quickly found their parents' room with the door open. Inside their mama was sitting on the bed rubbing one of her hands and she looked like she had dropped a book on the floor. She looked up at them and smiled as they entered.

"Rosetta, it's good to see you out of your house. Come over here and give me a hug," Jean said as she leaned down and spread her arms.

Rosetta walked over to her mama and reared up so she could wrap her forelegs and wings around her. The two embraced for a long moment before letting go and Rosetta sat down where she was at.

"Mama, the three of us need to talk," she said as she gestured with a wing for Wild to come over.

Wild came over beside her and sat down. "Jumping right into this then, huh?"

"Jumping right into what?" Jean asked as she looked down at the two of them.

Rosetta took a deep breath. "First thing first, I guess, then the big thing. Just to let you know, I'm carrying twins, and Phobia's pregnant."

"That's not the big thing?" Jean asked in shock. She then licked her lips. "Well, I suppose twins isn't that surprising. I was half suspecting it would happen. I can tell you from experience that twins is not a fun pregnancy to deal with. How's... how's Phobia coping with...her news."

"She just got it, so not sure it has sunk in yet. We're going to the clinic after I get back home. Just me, her, and her parents. Trying not to have too many others around her than we need. She's already jumpy from...you know."

"Yeah, I know," Jean said sadly.

Rosetta took another breath before continuing. "Since I'm kind of in a hurry because of that I'm going to have to jump into the main reason Wild and I needed to talk to you. I will give you updates on the foals as I get them, but for right now Wild and I needed to talk to you about your health."

Jean bit her lip and looked at the two of them then looked down at the book laying on the floor. "You two found out then."

"Yeah, I got it out of Papa the other day. I'm surprised he didn't tell you," Wild said, then glanced at Rosetta briefly. "I told Rosetta yesterday, I couldn't keep this from her if I knew."

"We're not mad at you for not telling us," Rosetta began then decided to be honest. "Or if we are mad we at least understand why you didn't tell us at the time you found out. We just want you to talk to us about it now."

"You really shouldn't be worrying about this. You have so much going on in your lives right now. I'm fine, and will be fine for a while," Jean insisted.

"Cut the crap, Mama. Wild and I are always going to have stuff going on. She's got a big career and I'm going to have three foals and a career of my own to worry about. Now stop stalling," Rosetta said firmly.

"Rosetta!" Wild growled. "Don't talk to Mama that way!"

Rosetta leveled a glare on her sister and pointed at their mama. "She'll keep putting this off until she's put on the spot and made to talk about it. If I have to be firm I will. I have a fiancée dealing with being raped, three foals on the way, and other stresses to deal with. This talk is getting done now so we know what all is going on."

"Funny thing for you to be going on about; getting things out in the open," Wild said tersely.

Rosetta got right into her sister's face. "Don't go there right now."

Wild held the glare for a moment then backed down, turning her head to glare at the floor.

"Girls, please don't fight. I'll talk about it with you now," Jean said. She looked like she was getting ready to cry.

The two ponies looked at each other for a moment then hung their heads in shame.

"Sorry, Mama."

"Sorry, Mama."

Jean took a moment to collect herself before continuing. "It's okay. I know you two have had a lot of stress lately. I don't blame you both for being a little high strung."

Jean patted the sides of the bed to either side of her and the two ponies hopped up on either side beside her. She then put an arm around each of them.

"I have been having problems on and off for the last year; trembling in my hands, sudden bursts in anxiety, periods of depression. Your father started taking me to the doctor to try to find out what was going on. We went through a lot of different medications trying to treat things. Eventually one of the doctor's looked at our family history and asked if he could run some tests on my levels for certain body chemicals. When they came back exceedingly lower than they should have he diagnosed Parkinson's."

Rosetta hadn't been around much, so she hadn't had a chance to see this. Wild had been busy with school so it wasn't surprising she had missed it too.

"So, what are you doing for treatment?" Wild asked.

"I was supposed to have a follow up with the doctor, but then all hell broke loose with ETS," Jean said with a sigh. "They were going to run some more specialized tests and then discuss treatment options. Wish I knew at the time I could have just caught ETS myself and this would have gone away. I wouldn't have left Wild's side."

Rosetta looked over to her sister. Wild was just looking down at the floor with her jaw clenched. Wild had been very bitter for a while that she had been isolated from the family while she was transforming. Hearing this might reignite that bitterness. Wild seemed to be holding her mouth shut though.

"Alright, so you aren't sure what your treatment options are yet," Rosetta said calmly. "Now that we know we can see about getting you to see someone again and seeing what can be done. Did the doctor say anything about how this will progress?"

"It doesn't go in a straight line of progression," Jean explained. "Things will get worse, then better, then worse again. There will be times when it is crippling, and other times it will seem like nothing's wrong at all. Like it's turning on and off, but it will get to where it is on more and more as I get older, with worse and worse severity."

"And treatments are to help you keep it off more and limit how bad it gets when it's on?" Rosetta asked.

"Yeah, that's right," Jean said with a nod.

"I'll find a way to fix this, Mama. Call your doctors tomorrow and get things going again. I'll pay for everything," Wild finally spoke up as she hugged their mama gently, like she was afraid she would break her. Given Wild's strength that might actually be something to worry about.

Jean ran a hand over Wild's mane. "Sweetie, there isn't anything you can do to fix this, but I appreciate all the help you are willing to give to make it a little better."

Wild seemed to stiffing up. "No, Mama, I'm fixing this. I just need time, and help. I'm going to make you better."

"You know, she's right, we don't know what kinds of healing might be possible now that magic is an option," Rosetta added in hopefully. "I'll ask Lavender when I'm at the clinic tonight if the Equestrians might have any ways of treating you."

Jean sighed. "Okay, babies, you two do what you can, but don't get your hopes too high."

They sat silently cuddled together for a few minutes until Wild finally spoke up. "You probably should get going. Phobia and her parents are going to be waiting on you. You've got to go take care of her."

Rosetta reluctantly nodded and then hopped down from the bed. Time for a different round of family drama.

Author's Note

There will be a chapter release tomorrow despite my previous blog. Been sick for a week and found writing easier than editing. Any errors found just let me know and I'll go back and catch them.

Chapter 32

There was one thing that Devon was learning about her husband and Tonya, they went together like oil and water. It was a new day, and a new issue.

Paul fumed at his sister as Tonya tried to hide under the table. "Why won't you give me any answers about any of this? You won't talk about why Phobia scares all of you, and you won't talk about why Robby is going on about you have night pony magic. Why's this all so big a deal to talk about?"

"I promised I wouldn't say anything about Phobia, and she'd be really pissed at me if I said anything," Tonya insisted.

"I'm pissed at you now for not saying anything," Paul said as he slapped a hand on the table, making everyone flinch.

"You're my brother, and you can be pretty scary, but you've got nothing on Phobia when it comes to intimidation factor," Tonya said as she looked warily at Paul's hand. "I promised, and I'm not breaking that promise; even if Phobia didn't end up getting mad at me. She's been my only friend for years, I'm not going to betray her trust."

"What kind of friend has you terrified of them?" Paul demanded. "That sounds like an abusive relationship, not a friendship."

"She looked out for me by telling me the things that make me afraid of her. If she hadn't I might have made some serious mistakes," Tonya said as she emerged from trying to hide and looked Paul in the eyes. "And Robby is a hundred percent safe with her. Probably safer with her than with any other pony in town. She's a good pony."

"Yeah, Dad, Ms. Phobia is good. Listen to Aunt Tonya," Robby piped up.

Devon pulled Robby close to her. "Hush, let your Dad and aunt talk."

Paul looked around at the others at the table as if looking for support. Devon shrugged, she really didn't know what to think. Did some of the things she heard worry her? Yes, there was no denying that; they worried her a lot. At the same time Robby seemed excited rather than distressed about all this, and kept insisting he needed Rosetta to teach him how to be a good night pony, something Devon had no clue on. The fact was she had no idea what was appropriate to do with Robby's education because she wasn't a night pony. She had already decided she was going to go to Tattered Wing to see what she thought, and if this was normal for night ponies.

Amanda shrugged her shoulders as well. "Don't look at me. It sounds as crazy to me as it does to you. Teaching a foal that they are dangerous and need to learn all this stuff so they won't be dangerous? Talking about fear like it's the best thing ever. That's insane!"

Tonya bent forward into a pleading position. "Just talk to the other night ponies, talk to the Equestrian one, Lavender Mist, at the clinic if you want one with an outside opinion. Lavender has helped me with understanding things before. I'm not an expert on night ponies. I just know Phobia won't hurt Robby."

Devon saw that this wasn't going to go anywhere. She had already made up her mind to talk to Tattered Wing, and now she'd add Lavender Mist to that list. It was time to move on from the subject.

She looked at Tonya while still hugging Robby. "Can you please explain why Robby is insisting you have night pony powers and what those are? He was going on about your singing."

Tonya laid her ears flat. "Oh...um...can you please not tell Phobia about that."

"She already knows, and to hear her and Rosetta talk about it so does every night pony in town," Devon answered.

"Oh fuck me," Tonya said as she looked around. Tonya froze as she spotted a night pony on the far side of the cafeteria. Devon realized that the night pony wasn't socializing with anyone, which was strange, and he was in a position where he had a unobstructed view of Tonya.

Devon leaned forward and whispered. "Tonya, what did you do? Why do you have night ponies watching you?"

Tonya shook her head with rising panic. "This is bad, this is really bad."

Paul looked over at the night pony and got up to walk over to the stallion. Devon Immediately released Robby and hurried after him, fearing that he was about to cause a scene.

"You there, night pony, why are you watching my sister?" Paul demanded as he pointed back at Tonya.

The night pony calmly looked up at him with just a small twitch of an ear. "Because I was told to watch her. Not my job to do anything else involving her. Easy job, just watch the crazy pegasus."

"Who told you to watch her?" Paul demanded.

"Tattered Wing of course, she's my boss. She got told from higher-ups to have Tonya watched, so she tells me to watch Tonya. I'm watching Tonya now. End of story," the stallion said with a shrug.

"And who are the higher-ups? Is it Phobia?" Paul asked as he clenched his fists.

The night pony stallion went wide eyed for a moment and glanced around. "Careful what you talk about, human. Some names should not be said in public in regards to what night ponies do. For the record, I don't think it was her that gave the order. Though if you have an issue with Tonya being watched you can go to her about it."

"Is every night pony in town involved with whatever this thing is involving rules?" Devon asked in exasperation.

"Every night pony in town for sure, probably every night pony in the world very soon. The higher-ups move quick," the stallion explained.

"And Phobia is one of these higher-ups?" Paul asked.

The stallion seemed torn on what to do. "I can't say, it's against the rules. Just take your best guess on that."

Devon touched Paul's shoulder. "Come on, we're not getting any more out of him. Phobia already extended an invitation to talk to us tomorrow. Let's focus on finding out why your sister is freaking out so when we talk to Phobia we can address it."

Paul gave the stallion another glare, which the stallion seemed indifferent about then nodded back to her.

They returned to the table where Robby was trying to cuddle and soothe his aunt and Amanda was carefully guarding both fillies.

"Get anything?" Amanda asked as they sat down.

"Just a referral to talk to Phobia, and that every night pony in town is involved with whatever this is," Devon explained with a sigh.

"Every night pony everywhere from what he said," Paul added in. "It's like some worldwide conspiracy. Whatever it is, Phobia is one of the ponies at the heart of it."

Tonya wrapped her wings around her head and whimpered.

"What did you do by singing? We're going to talk to Phobia and try to help you, but we need to know what is going on first," Devon asked.

Tonya slowly brought herself to a regular sitting position and took a few deep breaths. "Okay, you have to promise you won't tell anypony. Maybe it's not so bad, and Phobia will be okay with it." She then glanced at the stallion again and then jerked her head back. "Then again, now they've got ponies watching me."

"We promise to keep this between us, just tell us what's going on," Paul said in a soothing tone.

Tonya took a few more deep breaths then let out one final long one before continuing. "Earlier today, I might have kind of...sort of...used mind magic to help get everypony involved with the song. Just kind of encouraging it to happen. I can do things to other people's minds, it's a night pony thing normally, but somehow I can too. It's just part of me, I can't help it."

Devon blinked. "Why?"

Tonya tapped her hooves together nervously. "Wild needed encouraging, and with a pony of her power I didn't want to go messing with her mind. Plus, I wanted her to know the whole town supported her. They wouldn't have responded to my magic if some part of them didn't want to sing along."

"So, instead of messing with just one pony's mind you thought it would be better to mess with the entire rest of the town?" Amanda asked incredulously.

"Well, when you say it like that it sounds pretty bad."

Paul rubbed his head. "And that's why you suddenly have all the night ponies concerned about you. They don't like that you used that magic on everyone?"

Tonya went back to trying to compress herself as small as possible. "Phobia warned me not to do that kind of stuff. I suppose they aren't too mad, otherwise I wouldn't just be watched. I don't even know how they found out."

Robby shuffled in his seat. "Sorry, Aunt Tonya. I didn't mean to tell on you."

Tonya looked at Robby. "You told the night ponies about me? You're getting demoted to second favorite nephew or niece, Jessie's my new favorite."

"Aww," Robby whined. Jessie stared at Tonya with her head cocked to the side, likely recognizing her name being mentioned, but unsure what was being said.

"So, what else have you done?" Devon asked.

Tonya started to visibly sweat, a very impressive feat for a furred creature. "A little here, a little there, some of it was a complete accident I didn't mean to happen." She shook her head and fluffed her wings, then held up the medallion from around her neck. "But this thingy here blocks my powers, so I can't have any more accidents. The Equestrians gave it to me."

Paul gave her a flat look. "But you can still take it off and do something on purpose, like you did today."

Tonya bowed her head. "Yeah, I can. I thought I was doing something good this time. I really want to do good things with my magic. I just can't seem to get it right, and I have a hard time resisting the urge."

"I don't think what you did today was bad," Amanda said thoughtfully. "And as you said the night ponies are only watching you, not coming for your head. We all heard about what they did in Charleston. I figure if they were really out to get you they'd do it quick."

Devon looked at Amanda in confusion. "What did the night ponies do in Charleston?"

Paul answered instead. "It was on the news after you left. The night ponies in Charleston had gone full vigilante justice. They would attack in swarms for even minor crimes, breaking bones and things like that. They even killed one guy; he was a rapist caught in the act, but they were still excessively violent. The whole city was terrified of them "

"They were just protecting. They weren't doing anything wrong," Robby insisted.

Devon whipped her head around to look at her son. "Did Rosetta tell you that?"

Robby's ears sagged. "Well, actually she told me they were being bad, but I don't understand how. They were stopping the bad guys. Why is that bad?"

Devon let out a long breath. Maybe there was something to Rosetta's night pony lessons and teaching how to be a proper night pony that she could understand.

She laid a hand on her son's back. "You have to do things the right way. If you stop the bad guys the wrong way you'll turn into a bad guy yourself. Think of it this way, say you stole a cookie from the cookie jar. You'd have done a bad thing. Now, what if I decided because you stole a cookie from the cookie jar I'd throw away all your toys?"

Robby's ears flattened. "No, that's unfair. Stealing a cookie from the cookie jar isn't that bad."

"But you weren't supposed to do it, and I'd need to punish you. Why not just throw all your toys away?"

"Because that's not fair! I'd need to have done something way worse to get my toys thrown away," Robby insisted.

Devon smiled. "And that's why what they were doing was bad. They were giving too much punishment for what happened."

Robby blinked. "Oh, that makes sense. That's just like Ms. Rosetta was saying about how easy it is to become a bad guy or monster. About how we needed to fear what we do, and we're the scariest things. Do you think you're a scary thing sometimes too?"

"Uh..." Devon was taken aback by the logic. Suddenly the whole night pony philosophy seemed to make more sense. It was a weird way of teaching responsibility, fairness, and restraint, but that was what this was about; with an extra focus on what wrong they could do if irresponsible.

Looking to her sides she saw Amanda had a thoughtful look on her face as she looked at Robby. Both Tonya and Paul looked stricken, like what Robby had said had struck a chord with them and they felt that fear that he talked about.

Paul finally laid a hand down on Robby's back right atop of Devon's. "Yeah, I understand exactly what it feels like to think I might have done something that makes me a scary monster."

Tonya nodded solemnly in agreement. The pegasus was blinking her eyes and seemed near crying. Whatever chord Robby had struck with her was really upsetting to her.

It was time to drop this conversation for right now. "Paul, we're going to just talk to Phobia and Rosetta about what they're teaching our son tomorrow. I think there are clear signs we're misinterpreting some things. Maybe it's just a failure to communicate how night ponies think to how we think, and I believe we're jumping to conclusions."

"I'm still not sure about them," Paul said. "The fact they have Tonya so scared and how they bathe everything in secrecy is wrong."

"Which is why we're having a going to have a good talk with them," Devon said firmly. "I don't like all their secrecy either; it just doesn't sit right with me, not even going into terrorizing your sister. Maybe if we make it clear we aren't going to run off and tell all their secrets they'll be more open. We can't be the only parents, human or pony, dealing with a night pony foal when we aren't night ponies. Some type of accommodation so we can understand what's going on has to be made. How can we raise our son if we don't know their rules and what he is dealing with?"

"When you go over there, I'll come too," Tonya said as she stared down at the table. "I need to talk to Phobia and both of you about something, something important. I want all three of you there so I can get it out all at once. Hopefully neither you or Phobia will kill me."

"Stop being over-dramatic," Paul scolded. "I can't imagine you've done anything that bad."

Tonya brought her forelegs over the table and laid her head down in them. "I hope you and Phobia feel that way tomorrow night after I tell you."

Patience was a virtue. By that measure Rosetta felt she should be considered one of the most virtuous mares on Earth.

Rosetta, Phobia, and Sunset Blessing had been waiting patiently in one of the clinic's many rooms for close to an hour now for Lavender to return with the test results. Pregnancy tests should not take this long, especially when you already knew what the result was going to be anyway. Phobia was in edge about being out of the house, and Sunset Blessing was headache inducing by virtue of being Sunset Blessing.

"What on God's green Earth is taking that damned Equestrian so long? Did she have to run back to Equestria to get the results?" Sunset Blessing fumed. The fact that Rosetta's thoughts were in line with her future mother-in-law's just dampened her mood further. The idea that she could see eye to eye about anything with Sunset Blessing made her want to be sick.

Phobia had her ears flattened, and was laying on the hospital bed with her head on her hooves. "Mom, less yelling."

Sunset then seemed to calm down and switch to her other mode for the evening. "I'm sorry, baby. I shouldn't be doing anything to upset you. I know this must be very scary for you. Especially after all you've already been through. Maybe I should stay at your house tonight."

"Sunset, we are fine without you being there. I'm taking care of her," Rosetta said with a roll of her eyes.

Sunset humphed and glared at Rosetta. "That's all well and good, but I'm her mother and my baby needs me."

Rosetta narrowed her eyes and flicked her tail. "I'm her fiancée and I'll take care of her. She doesn't need you smothering her with attention that you only bother to show now that she's pregnant."

Sunset narrowed her eyes back. "Are you calling me a bad mother?"

Rosetta advanced towards Sunset. "Maybe, you managed to miss that she was trans through her whole childhood. You've only come by twice since she was raped; well, three times if you count tonight. You also don't show anywhere near this level of affection normally that I've seen."

Sunset bared her teeth. "At least I'm not some stupid tramp that got in a relationship with a damn rapist and inadvertently caused Phobia to get raped."

Rosetta spread her wings threateningly. "Nope, you just rob the cradle and sleep with a mare that's not even half your age. Tell me, when Phobia and Tonya we're kids did you fantasize about undressing and fucking Tonya even then?"

Sunset lit her horn up. "You fucking bitch!"

"Mom! Rosetta! Will you two please calm down!" Phobia screamed. She then pushed herself up to her hooves and shot glares at each of them while swishing her tail violently about. "I'm trying to keep it together and you two insist on antagonizing one another. I know you're both stressed and taking it out on one another. I need you to sit in opposite corners of the room and chill out!"

"Are you going to let her get away with calling me a tramp?" Rosetta demanded.

Sunset pointed at Rosetta. "Are you going to let her get away with how she talked about my relationship with Tonya and calling me a bad mother?"

Phobia's smacked a hoof to her head and shook it. "Fine, both of you apologize to one another. Mom, you will not talk to my future wife that way. Rosetta, my mother is not a horrible mother and both she and Tonya are consenting adults who are free to have a relationship."

Rosetta and Sunset looked at each other briefly then both looked off to the side rather than look at one another. Both of them had their ears laid back and tails twitching.

"I apologize, you aren't a tramp," Sunset all but mumbled.

"You aren't a cradle robber, and I suppose there are worse mothers out there. I'm sorry, I was out of line," Rosetta said stiffly.

They then went back to waiting in silence for several more minutes. After another half hour past by the door finally opened and Lavender Mist and Rudra Patel entered the room.

"We apologize for the delay. There was some complications getting the equipment for testing together," Lavender apologized.

"So, is she or isn't she pregnant?" Sunset asked.

Rudra came forward with a tablet clenched in one leg and held it up to read. "Yes, Ms. Remedy is definitely pregnant. There is no question on the test results in this case. Multiple tests run consistently produced the same result."

Sunset rushed over to Phobia and wrapped her forelegs around her. "My poor baby, having to carry that monster's foal!"

Rosetta rolled her eyes. Damn drama queen.

Rudra coughed into his hoof. "We'd like to sit and discuss their pregnancy with the two future mothers, in private."

Sunset stared at the two clinical ponies in shock then pointed a hoof at Rosetta. "Why do I have to leave and she gets to stay?"

Rosetta looked at the unicorn as if Sunset was stupid. "Maybe because I'm pregnant too, unless you somehow forgot, and Phobia and I are co-parents for all these foals."

She was surprised when Sunset blinked as if that was just registering. The damned bitch had forgotten in all the stress and yelling. It made her want to buck the mare straight out of the room.

"Go on outside to the lobby to wait. I'm sure your husband will want to hear the news. We won't keep these two too long," Lavender said calmly.

Sunset looked unhappy about her removal, but accepted with a nod and exited out the door. Rudra shut the door behind her and to Rosetta's surprise he held his ear to the door to make sure Sunset actually did exit out to the lobby. After he was satisfied she had done as expected he nodded to Lavender.

Lavender looked at Phobia nervously. Rosetta felt a tightness build up in her chest. Was something wrong with Phobia's pregnancy?

"Is Rudra required to give you Oaths even though we aren't in the dreamscape? We weren't clear on that, and didn't want to offend you," Lavender asked.

Oh, that's what was going on. Phobia being a Dreamwarden was already having ponies treat her different while awake.

Phobia shook her head. "My authority is strictly in the dreamscape. In the waking world I'm just another night pony. If I have a reason to address you as a Dreamwarden in the waking world I'll let you know."

Rudra and Lavender let out relieved breaths. Lavender then smiled. "That's a relief. I was scared that we would have to watch every last thing said to you. Rudra had a rough time with Sha'am."

Rudra shivered. "I will never cross a Dreamwarden again."

Phobia smiled. "Please, you don't need to be so tense around me in the waking world." She then narrowed her eyes. "Though if you do get deliberately rude with me, that I might take offense to. You don't have to tip-toe around me or worry about the Oaths, but keep in mind that I'm still to be treated with at least a minimum level of respect you'd treat any other pony with. In the dreamscape I do expect you to be on point with your Oaths and full respect. Understood?"

Rudra gulped. "Understood, Dreamwarden. By the way, Sha'am Maut is Warden of Death, Krik is Warden of Silence; what are you Warden of?"

Phobia looked him in the eyes. "Isn't it obvious? I'm the Warden of Fear."

Rudra shuddered. "Of course, Dreamwarden."

Phobia gave a comforting smile. "Just call me Phobia while we're awake. You're my doctor and I'm your patient. That's all you need to worry about right now."

Rosetta walked over to Phobia and placed a wing on her lover before turning to face Rudra. "Rudra, stop worrying about her being a Dreamwarden. Right now she's being brave about it, but she's the one who's scared at the moment. She needs her doctor to tell her everything is going to be alright, not some pony who's scared of her."

That seemed to snap Rudra out of his funk and back into normal action. After a quick blink he went back to reading over his tablet for a moment and then looked back to Phobia without fear.

"Everything seems to be perfectly good at this stage. It is far too early to tell much about how your pregnancy is going though. I would have you return in four weeks for another appointment unless you note some sort of problem before then. I'll have Scott assign you an appointment time."

"Is there anything I need to do before then?" Phobia asked.

Rudra shook his head. "Just make sure you are eating right, getting enough sleep, and getting a small amount of exercise, avoid any narcotics or heavy alcohol, all things I would recommend for all ponies--even if they weren't pregnant. You shouldn't have to do any major lifestyle changes at this stage."

Rosetta looked to Lavender and braced herself to ask a question that may make her look stupid. "Phobia brought up a point to me that might not be a big deal, but wanted to ask about it. She didn't have a period from what we could tell before the rape, and never has had a period in her life since she's only been a biological mare for a month. I haven't heard any other ponies talk about having periods either."

Lavender looked confused at the question. "I don't understand your question. What're you talking about when you're talking about periods?"

Rudra cleared his throat. "I believe she is asking about menstrual periods, Lavender."

Realization dawned on Lavender's face. "Oh, that! From what little I learned about humans you might be confused by the differences. Actually, I was kind of shocked when I learned the way human menstruation worked. It isn't too different from pony menstruation to tell the truth, but the big difference is when an egg fails to get fertilized with ponies we reabsorb it into ourselves, while humans purge it from their bodies."

Rosetta blinked. "So we don't bleed during our periods? Are you serious?"

"No bleeding," Lavender confirmed with a nod. "Most of the time you won't even notice you've gone through your monthly cycle, unless something is wrong. You might notice a very small uptick of sex drive for a day or two when the egg is at the absolute best point for fertilization, and you'll give off a very faint musk that can heighten sex drive in males at that point, but nothing else."

"Wait...are you saying we go through heat every month?" Rosetta asked with dreading.

Lavender's eyes went wide. "What? No! Where do you ponies on this planet get these weird ideas? I said a slight uptick, not turn you into a raging sex monster. If you've already got a moderately high sex drive you won't even notice the uptick, only lower sex drive mares typically do. Even then, it's just their thoughts drifting to lewd subjects a tiny bit more than they typically would. It's a small encouragement to have sex, not some gripping need."

"What about the stallions responding to the musk thing?" Rosetta asked. Would every mare just have to avoid going out when at that point to avoid every stallion trying to roll in the grass with her?

Lavender looked at her like she was crazy. "You have to pretty much go out of your way to get them to smell it. I said it was a faint smell and I meant it. They have to either have their noses already in your dock or you to be deliberately fanning the smell on them with your tail. Otherwise they aren't going to smell it under normal circumstances. You ponies on this world need to get your minds out of the gutter."

"Maybe we should do community informational courses on this kind of thing," Rudra suggested. "You have to remember that our biology is still very new to us, and most ponies are ignorant about much of it."

"Yeah, a good sex ed course seems like a good idea," Phobia chimed in. "Mix in some other health stuff too: how to preen your pegasus, horn care and you, protecting your eyes as a night pony, properly washing your hooves and mouth, everyday stuff."

Lavender frowned. "I suppose in a sense you're all like foals that need these things explained to you. Fine, I'll talk with Sunset Blessing and see what can be arranged."

Rudra cleared his throat again. "Now that we've discussed Ms. Remedy and menstrual cycles I would like to follow up on your progress, Ms. Stone."

Rosetta ran a hoof over her belly and nodded. "I had my first case of waking up sick today. I felt better after everything was out, and feel fine now, but earlier I vomited out in my hallway before I even made it to the bathroom."

Rudra nodded. "That would be about right for the timing. This should go on for about another nine weeks or so, with varying severity. We might be able to moderate it somewhat with diet, crackers, toast, lemons, tea. Also, eat earlier in the morning before going to bed. Those should help limit the severity of morning sickness."

"Should I be eating more, since I'm eating for three?"

"You do need to eat more, but I would recommend eating more often rather than gorging in single sittings. Try to get some nuts and beans into your diet for extra protein, make a habit of having snacks throughout the day," Rudra said.

Rosetta scrunched her muzzle up. "I'm going to get fat doing that."

Lavender giggled. "You're carrying twins, getting fat is a given. You can work the weight off after they're born."

"It just means I get to admire your growing bubble butt," Phobia said with a smirk.

Phobia must have been really struggling with this a lot. Phobia only started cracking jokes, getting snarky, and making sexual comments when she was nervous or afraid. It was a coping mechanism. Phobia was very serious most of the rest of the time. Much as Rosetta wished she could get some more of that lighthearted nature to bleed into her regular behavior she knew what was going on right now. It was best to play along.

Rosetta looked at Phobia's butt and smirked back. "Good thing you're pregnant too, you barely have an ass on you. Now that will be remedied."

Phobia turned and tried to look at her own rear. "Am I really that small?" The Dreamwarden asked self consciously.

"Yes, you are. I'll enjoy seeing you develop some sexy mare curves back there."

Phobia looked at Rosetta with a few light twitches of her ears. "Do you think I'm not really feminine?"

Great, now Phobia was getting self conscious about her femininity. Not the reaction she was hoping for.

"You're a mare, that's all you need to be feminine. You're plenty feminine enough for me," Rosetta assured her.

"Ms. Stone, I believe we have gone off subject again," Rudra said with annoyance.

"Rudra, do you think I'm not really feminine?" Phobia asked, undeterred from the subject.

Rudra looked like he was caught in a trap. On one end he could say that Phobia was very feminine and risk having a Dreamwarden question his sincerity. On the other he could say she was not very feminine, which aside from her delicate features she wasn't very stereo-typically feminine, and risk offending a Dreamwarden.

Rudra chewed on his lip and then answered. "It's not my place to say."

Rosetta suppressed a groan as Phobia visibly started to give into stress and hormones and began to cry. The rest of the year was not going to be much fun.

Author's Note

Will be posting another chapter update tonight. But 99% sure I won't have an update next week. Next week is when my job is shutting down and I'm going to be occupied.

Chapter 33

Dan sat waiting patiently. He had been up for hours and sitting more or less by himself for the majority of that time. It was coming up on nearly four in the morning and still no sign of Melissa, and he was long past worried. Lavender didn't keep a strict overnight schedule, in fact it was kind of hard to tell what her sleep schedule was, but she was in another room sleeping right now, and Rudra was in the front lobby acting as both doctor and receptionist at the moment.

He wished he could easily turn the television off. It was playing The Last Unicorn yet again. Wasn't the world tired of this stupid movie yet? He knew why they were playing it; the movie was to encourage ponies think about rehumanization. Fuck the networks and their damn anti-pony agenda. He didn't want that kind of think put in his face constantly. If ponies hadn't already lost their interest in watching television this damn movie playing constantly would certainly give them the extra push to abandon watching the tube.

His ears went erect as he heard the sound of a door opening nearby. It could be Rudra or Lavender, but hopefully it was finally Melissa.

A moment later his door opened and Melissa walked in. She looked at him with a look of pure exhaustion. "Sorry I'm so late. It's been a very long day. Felt like the longest day of my life."

"I was worried about you," Dan replied. He stopped himself from saying he was worried she had chosen not to come back.

Melissa came over and sat down on the bed next to him. "Yeah, I really didn't plan on being out that late. Tattered was giving me an orientation to what I needed to be doing. I'll be starting work this afternoon, so I can't stay up too much longer."

"Oh," he said in disappointment. "I guess you won't have time to talk then."

Melissa suprised him by climbing into the bed with him and wrapping her large body around him. "I have a few minutes. Do you want to hear about my day?"

He shuffled over so he was cuddled close to her and she pulled him in for a hug. "I'd love to hear about your day."

She kept hugging him as she began talking. "We'll, after I left you I met Tonya and Megan and spent time with them for a while. Tonya is a pegasus and she's odd, it's hard to tell if she is just carefree and ignorant or if it's all an act. I'm leaning on it's just an act. She behaved like the world was some technicolor wonderland most of the time, but a few times that dropped and she was suddenly a completely different pony for a moment or two."

"What about Megan?" Dan asked.

"Megan seemed okay," Melissa said as she rubbed Dan's belly. "She's ambitious from what I can tell, one of those go-getter types. She seemed really protective of Tattered, and didn't like that Tattered kept secrets from her." Melissa paused in her rubbing. "Speaking of which. Tattered said you were going to see about whether you were able to dreamwalk into my dreams. How did that go?"

Dan wanted to flip over so he could look Melissa in the eyes, but he didn't want to give up being held close to her; instead he just stayed still as he answered. "I was told that it was possible, and that I would be allowed to do it. You have to consent and be in charge of the dream, otherwise I'll be punished."

"Any chance you can tell me who will punish you?" Melissa asked hopefully.

Dan frowned he hated denying Melissa anything. "I can't, it's a rule."

"Damn fucking night ponies and their secrets..." He heard Melissa mumble. It was bad enough that he was disappointing her, but it felt worse hearing another reminder that she wasn't a night pony anymore.

"I'm sorry, if I could tell you I would," he said quietly.

"You can tell me, you just aren't," Melissa said with a slight snap that made him flinch. He then felt her sigh. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be angry at you. I don't know anything about the situation, and I'm just frustrated."

"It's okay, I understand," he said quietly. "But on the bright side, I can dreamwalk into your dreams...if you want me to."

"I do want that, don't doubt it for an instant," Melissa said as she hugged him tight again. "I have control of how the dream goes, you say?"

"It has to be you. I don't know how much of a lucid dreamer you are, but you're the one who has to dictate how things go once I come in," Dan said. He was enjoying the warmth of her against him. He could almost forget she was a human.

"I am really tired, and I'm supposed to report to work at noon to relieve Tattered. Care to try now?" She asked with a hopeful tone.

"It's still too early for me to fall asleep yet, but you get your rest and I'll join you as soon as I can," Dan said, cursing the fact he was wide awake and it wasn't yet dawn to make him sleepy.

"Oh...well, I guess I should let you go then..."

As she was moving to release him he cut her off. "No. Please, just keep holding me. I'm not going anywhere. I like feeling you there, it's comforting."

He heard and felt her giggle. "You'll be my misshaped teddy bear? Guarding me from monsters as I sleep?"

"Always. I might not be as physically up to things as others, but I'll always be here to guard and protect you while you dream."

He felt her yawn. "Then stay with me, and I'll see you when you fall asleep after the sun rises."

"Good night, Melissa."

"Good night, Dan."

Within another minute her breathing slowed down and he could just barely make out a small snore that would have been undetectable to human ears. The only way his pony ears could pick it up was he was so close to her. She was sleeping contently, probably for the first time in the last month.

As he listened to her and felt her warmth and breath on him he felt content himself. Melissa was happy, and she was happy holding him. He'd never let any human hurt her again, nor any pony. If there was anything he was going to commit himself to doing going forward, that was what he would commit to.

He felt a warmth on his flanks and saw a brief flash. He gently turned his head to look at them, careful not to disturb Melissa. On his flanks now sat a cutie mark, a teddy bear sitting the on the hook of a crescent moon.

Sarah Tanner laid in the guest room of her father-in-law's house looking mournfully at the latest rejection letter for sponsorship of her digs from a university. With a sigh she gently levitated it over to a box that held several other such letters, as well as rejection letters from the government saying she couldn't visit Equestria to access their records.

Harold walked in, and she had smelled him long before he appeared at the door, despite him doing everything he could to be quiet.

"You're looking pretty down, another university turn you down?" Harold said as he walked over to her.

"Yeah, they did," she said as she laid her head down. She flattened one ear and looked at Harold out of the corner of her eyes. "And you better take a shower before you think of laying down next to me. You're covered in sweat and other things and smell terrible."

Harold raised a hoof to the back of his neck and rubbed it. "Sorry, was just eager to get back to bed after helping fix that water heater. Still can't believe it was that loud to wake us all up."

"Go take a shower and then come back to bed. I'm going to try to get some sleep. Tomorrow I have to start trying again to find a sponsor."

"Sarah, I know how much you want to get back to doing what you were doing as a human, but the economy has taken a big hit and these universities just aren't going to have the money to fund you, even if they are willing to work with a pony."

She already knew that, but hearing it said out loud still made her feel worse.

She resisted the urge to cry and spoke with resolve. "All I can do is keep trying. This is my life, Harold, it's what I have always enjoyed doing. If becoming a pony isn't stopping me from continuing my passion then I'm going to find somepony that's able to fund me."

She waited for him to suggest she try going off and doing digs without funding again, despite how many times she had explained that wasn't going to work. There were permits, equipment, and workers to pay. Things like carbon dating and so on cost money to do. There were permissions to dig she had to obtain from tribal leaders and others who owned the land, and getting those typically required her having a lawyer negotiate on her behalf. Plus, after what had happened on her last site she was going to get security from now on, because that kind of thing would not be allowed to happen again if she could prevent it. Someway-somehow, she needed to find a sponsor.

"Alright," Harold finally said. "By the time I'm done showering it will be nearly dawn. I might just stay up and get an early start. I'm going to do one last check on Jenny and Bob before I do that, just to make sure they got back to sleep alright."

Her ears perked up and she sat up and looked at her husband. "I've been busy and distracted, how are they doing lately?"

The question was left unsaid that she really wanted to know, but Harold picked up on it.

Harold's ears dropped. "Jenny is still set on rehumanizing, and Bob still seems like he isn't in any hurry to give any answer on that."

She looked at him with sympathy. "How are you taking Jenny's decision? I know you were hoping she'd come around."

He shook his head. "It isn't the fact she wants to rehumanize that bothers me, it's the fact that if she does she most likely won't be able to stay with us. I'm literally losing my little filly. Not just in a sense of her changing back to human, but her not being here at all anymore."

Sarah's own ears sagged. She didn't like that fact either. Eileen had already agreed that she'd take legal custody if Jenny went through with this, and she trusted her sister to do right by Jenny. Eileen had really done a lot to turn her life around in the last few weeks. The ETS pandemic may not have turned Eileen into a pony, but it had still indirectly changed her, and for the better. Sarah had a newfound empathy for how her sister felt about Bob now. It was for Jenny's own good that Eileen take custody, but it didn't mean it didn't deeply hurt.

She bit her lip then put on a brave face. "Whatever Jenny or Bob decide to do, I'll respect their wishes. Eileen will make sure they visit us often. All of them will still care about us and will want to visit us. She trusted us with Bob for a long time, we can trust her with Jenny--and Bob too if he also ends up deciding the same. We were never going to have them forever, this is just them leaving the nest a little sooner than expected." She brought a leg up to wipe her eyes as she finished speaking. Secretly she hoped Jenny would change her mind, but she was going to support Jenny no matter what.

Harold looked down at the floor. "That's true I suppose. I'm just not ready to let go. We were finally starting to connect and now she's going to be leaving. I'll smile and support her, but it's going to break my heart. Laura is already out on her own, soon we won't have any of them with us."

Sarah could only agree. "Laura wants to be called Sunrise Storm, or Sunny now; try to remember and respect that. We might not have done a perfect job raising all of them, but I'd like to think we did a good enough job they're ready to be without us if need be. I'm going to cry like a newborn foal when Jenny leaves, but we'll still be here if she needs us."

Harold nodded and started making his way to the door, sniffling as he went. "Get your sleep, I'll make sure you're awake well before noon." He did one final look back at her though. "I love you."

Sarah smiled at her husband. "I love you, and we'll always have each other. Now get a shower, my strong pungent stallion."

Harold left and she laid back down to try to fit in a few more hours of sleep.

Sarah was dreaming, and she knew it. From a young age she had always been a bit of a vivid dreamer. That didn't really detract from the dreams though.

She was sitting very contently in a nest in a tree, like some giant four-legged bird. She sometimes wondered if pegasi had birdlike thoughts that encouraged dreams like this, but she would never dare ask her daughter about something like that. Being a unicorn just made the situation odd if not for the fact it was a dream.

Sunny was flying around the tree from branch to branch like she was some giant bird. The weird part was Jenny was doing the same thing, and Jenny was in her human form flapping her arms like they were wings--because this was a dream that somehow worked, even though it was comical to look at. Upon further looking around she saw both of them had their own nests off in other branches.

Empty nest syndrome was already taking effect on her dreams it seemed.

As she thought of that she suddenly found a giant egg in the nest with her. She wanted to laugh at the implications, but honestly the thought of having a new foal had crossed her mind since it became increasingly clear Jenny was probably going to rehumanize. She'd dismissed the idea each time. She was too old to be having new foals, there was a moderate likelihood that sometime in the next ten years she'd become a grandmare, scary as that possibility was to contemplate.

Maybe she could just talk about it with Harold. There was no harm in just talking about it, right?

A voice startled her as it began talking from somewhere above her. "You know, I didn't expect to find you in a bird's nest in a tree; an ancient temple, a dig site, something more mundane and domestic, not a tree."

Sarah looked up at the source of the voice. There was a midnight blue night pony mare smiling down at her from atop a different branch.

The mare winged her way down to Sarah's branch and looked around some more. "I had thought for a moment that I had just transitioned over to some other dream of Sunny's after coming here. I wasn't sure I'd be able to track you down based on just her thoughts about you. I'm Rosetta Stone, I'm your biggest fan."

Sarah blinked as she recalled the name and connected it to a pony rather than the object which graced the mare's flanks. Sunny and Luna both had mentioned a night pony named Rosetta Stone. Sunny said that pony had visited her dreams, which meant the Rosetta Stone in front of her was probably not just part of her dream.

"Um...hi, I'm glad to hear that somepony appreciates my work," she said slowly. She wasn't lying, she loved hearing that her work was respected. That didn't make this less weird though, or less an invasion of privacy. "Why are you in my dream?"

Rosetta grinned like a filly getting candy. "I was hoping that I could help you somehow. I'm a big history buff myself and I've been excited about your work since I first learned of it. I really am eager to see what you'll do next since it was confirmed you were right."

That hit her hard. She shook her head. "I don't know to tell the truth. Every single avenue to continue my research seems to be blocked at the moment. Short of doing trespassing and unpermitted work I can't find a way of continuing my work. I have the magical capabilities to continue working, but I don't have the money or political clout. You'd think humans would be eager for me to continue to find out what went on with that first contact centuries ago, but the economy says otherwise."

Rosetta's ears perked. "It's money you need then? I might be able to help with that."

Sarah frowned at the night pony. "I've already gone to most of the universities that sponsor these kinds of things. I've been told there's no money. The same thing from the government, with an extra hint that they aren't excited to help out a pony. Unless you're rich I doubt you can do much to help."

"Well, I'm not rich..."

Sarah nodded at the expected answer, letting her posture slump some more.

"But I do have family members who are rich who I could convince to help you," Rosetta finished.

Hope suddenly reignited in Sarah, and she tried not to let herself get too excited as she looked back up at her fan. "How rich are we talking? These kinds of things are not cheap. I have to pay a crew of workers, order expensive tests, buy equipment, pay for permits, it all adds up to a huge bill really fast."

"My sister makes several million dollars a year," Rosetta said with a smile.

Sarah's ears dropped again. "That might not be good enough for the scale I need. I might run a cost of several hundred thousand dollars myself for the amount of things I will have to pay for. Not only am I paying for people and equipment, I have to pay lawyers to negotiate things on my behalf if I don't have a university that has their own legal team and reputation to back them."

Rosetta's face fell and she looked down at her hooves. It was a nice gesture on the night pony's behalf, but it likely wouldn't be enough.

The night pony chewed on her lip and flicked her tail a few times then took a deep breath. "I do have another option, that has more money than my sister. She is probably vestedly interested in your research too, at least she will be once she hears about it. I don't want to go to her, but she'd fund you with whatever you need, she could fund millions a year if it came down to it."

And just like that hope blazed right back to life. "Who is that? How can I get in contact with them?"

The night pony looked like she had in a bad taste in her mouth. "My future mother-in-law, Sunset Blessing. She's got the resources you would need, and she has some pull with the government that could be useful. I would be cautious with her though."

That name stank of being a Shimmerist. Any pony that held Sunset Shimmer in high regard immediately put Sarah on edge. Sunset Shimmer had done so much damage to her family. Sunny might have mixed feelings about the pony, but Sarah's feelings were clear.

Still, it was a chance of getting money for her digs. This Sunset Blessing might be a Shimmerist, but she wasn't Sunset Shimmer herself. There was no requirement that Sarah like her sponsor. She could also see where a rich Shimmerist would be interested in her work.

"If she's a Shimmerist I won't be thrilled about her help." It then occurred to Sarah that for all she knew this night pony was one too. Hoof was already in her mouth for that though. "I'd still be willing to take it if she's willing to offer a sponsorship. I'm not in a position where I can be picky about those kinds of things. I just don't have options."

Rosetta nodded. "I have a hard time trusting that mare, so I'd be cautious with her. She's a Shimmerist and a plotting, conniving bitch, but I do think she'll take interest enough to see that you're funded. I can act as a go-between." The night pony let off a bitter chuckle. "She's likely going to gloat about me coming to her asking for help, I kind of accused her of being sexually attracted to foals a little while ago."

Sarah laid her ears back. "Is she?"

Rosetta shook her head. "I doubt it. I was angry and just screaming insults at her. She'll listen to what I have to say though, if only because my fiancée will guilt trip her into it if she doesn't."

"You said she has pull with the government. How does she manage that if she is such a blatant Shimmerist? Just being a pony gets me roadblocks from them. I don't see how a Shimmerist would do better."

Rosetta shrugged. "Don't ask me. I just get told that it's because she's effective doing what they want. She's actually got human soldiers at her beck and call. They keep on handing her more and more power too. She's probably the most politically powerful pony in the southeast at this point."

That made her realize another thing she was worried about. "There is another thing I need. Once I get working again I need somepony to keep copies of my research and reports safe. With what I'm doing I could run into the government trying to suddenly erase my work. I need security for my sites as well."

The night pony laughed. "I'm sure Sunset Blessing will be all too overjoyed to keep copies of your work safe from the government. Problem will be getting her to let it go if you need her to. I can help with that though. I'm more than willing to keep copies of your work if you need backups. Sunset Blessing will have to pay for the security though."

"And you're sure she has the money for this?" Sarah asked.

"I have no idea where she gets all of it, and don't want to know, but she has it in spades. Money doesn't seem like an object to her." Rosetta confirmed.

Okay, best not to look a gift horse in the mouth. There was a lot to be wary of with this Sunset Blessing, but this was her best chance to continue doing what she felt she was born to do.

Time to work out the details. "When can you get back to me about her? Where even are you?"

"Riverview, South Carolina. It's the back end of nowhere," Rosetta answered. "I can get to you again tomorrow or the next day. Just sleep in each day so I can catch you. If you get up too early I likely won't be able to fall asleep early enough to dreamwalk to you. If you don't see me tomorrow, I'll be here the next day for sure."

Two days at most and she could have a sponsor. Maybe not the most desirable sponsorship, but a sponsorship none the less. Hopefully within a month or so she could be making arrangements for her next project. She could barely contain her excitement.

She walked down the branch to the night pony and grabbed her up in a hug. "Rosetta, I can't thank you enough. You have no idea how much this means to me. You're welcome in my dreams whenever you want, provided you don't overdo it."

Rosetta grinned again like a filly. "So, does that make us friends then?"

Sarah smiled back. "We're good friends, and I look forward to spending time with you and working with you."

Sometimes all you needed to turn around your luck was some good sleep.

Chapter 34**

Chapter 34**

Wild pulled herself from bed. Today was going to be a long day, longer than even yesterday.

First thing today, she had to be put on display for the leader of the incoming ponies from Augusta. Ideally she was going to be learning how to deal with these ponies and get involved with the inner workings of the collective pony south. When she asked why she needed to learn Sunset Blessing had explained that Wild would have to eventually deal with government officials herself, and it was better to start learning what went on behind the scenes now. If she was going to be brought into the inner circle, she needed to be able to contribute more than just money. Sunset actually seemed indifferent about Wild's money, focusing instead on her image.

Speaking of image, after dealing with meetings with pony leaders Wild would be meeting Number's husband and the designer that was working on pony clothes. They were going to take measurements and show her different designs for outfits that were supposed to make her look more professional. She was also getting a much needed mane cut. They promised she'd be the very image of a corporate business pony after they were done.

After dealing with that her day still wouldn't be done. She had to spend time going over investment options with Number, and getting an education on how to judge different investment opportunities. Number apparently had a few pony related test products that she was receiving today that the companies were interested in having Wild invest in the production of and help promote.

And this was just the beginning. Sunset and Number had her schedule packed with things all the way till she began doing shifts at Westvaco, and they were talking about giving her homework to do even while dealing with that.

She was very happy that Number said at the end of the night they could have a few drinks, and just unwind. Number had apparently found some weaker alcohol that they probably could drink more of before intoxication set in, and if they misjudged it again, at least it was the end of the day. Getting just a little intoxicated at the end of what would be a stressful day didn't seem like that bad a thing. She had a friend coming over to play cards with them, so Wild was getting introduced to poker night.

For right now she just had to get up and get ready for the day.

She got out of bed and went over to the window. She pushed the window up with ease with her hooves and took a moment just to smell the backyard and the morning air. She never had appreciated how good that smelled as a human. Then again, she had a much weaker sense of smell as a human. The greater sense of smell was a double edged sword though, things like car exhaust made her want to gag. She was getting a little better dealing with the smell of them, but she felt the car industry seriously needed to invest in more electric cars.

After a few moments just enjoying the morning air she shut her window again and trotted out into the hallway and towards the bathroom, which she found occupied. She perked her ears up and listened to the house. She picked up the voices of both her brothers and her papa downstairs, and she heard some movement in her parents room, that meant Abuelita was the one in the bathroom. That meant it could take a while. So much for a morning shower before she started the day off.

Not willing to have this dampen her start of the day she just trotted down the stairs. Once reaching the bottom of the stairs a smell struck her nose that made her want to throw up.

She looked into the kitchen and saw her papa cooking on the stove, he was cooking sausages, and the scent of roasting meat was strong in the air.

"Hi Wild, want to come eat breakfast with us," Miguel called out to her from within the kitchen, apparently ignorant about her stomach's potential rebellion.

She silently shook her head and waved a hoof in their direction then put more distance between herself and the kitchen. She wasn't upset with her family for cooking meat. Meat was part of a balanced human diet after all, but she just couldn't take that smell.

With a hoof up to her muzzle she made her way to the front door slowly on three legs. Walking on three legs wasn't that hard, but it made her go slow, and she debated just going back to four so she could escape outside away from the smell faster.

Her papa hurried past her to the door and opened it for her, and gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry, should have waited till you were up and out for the day before I started cooking. Me and the boys were just all really hungry."

She quickly hurried past him to the outdoor air, and took a deep breath. She could still smell the sausages from here, but the outdoor smells muted them somewhat. "It's alright. Can you do me a favor and get me my purse? I'll probably just pick up something from one of the restaurants today, since they should be reopening again."

"Sure thing, sweet pea," Roger said as he retreated into the house to find her purse. She was thankful enough not to have to go fetch it from the kitchen that she wasn't even going to complain about the nickname. That kind of worry likely didn't matter anymore anyway. Every pony in town could now recognize her and knew her name.

A moment later her papa returned with her purse and slipped it over her head for her. She smiled up to him gratefully.

"I'm going to be back late, or possibly in the morning. I have to deal with town stuff all day long, then talk about investing, and all kinds of other boring stuff. I'm going to end my day over at Number Crunch's playing cards," Wild explained as she adjusted the position of her purse for comfort.

Roger frowned down at her. "You aren't planning on drinking again are you."

Wild flicked her tail in annoyance. "That's my personal business, but to be honest, yes I am. That's why I said it might be morning when I get home, just in case I'm not good to walk back tonight. It's going to be a long stressful day and I intend to end it having fun."

"You don't need to drink to have fun."

Wild laid her ears back. "You're right, I don't, but tonight I am going to. It's my call, Papa, don't get on my case about it."

Roger shook his head. "Fine, but please, don't overdo it. Also, don't let your brothers see you drunk, and don't discuss drinking in front of them. They look up to you, and I don't want them getting a bad example from you. Better yet, just don't come home drunk, wait till you're completely sober."

She glanced past him to where she could see her brothers through the hallway still in the kitchen. They likely couldn't hear this conversation and didn't show any signs of trying to listen in.

She looked back at her papa. "I'll keep it out of sight. I need to be able to unwind though from time to time. I'm far too dangerous if I get to stressed out. I've never really pushed myself to my limits or even close to my limits when it comes to my magic. I don't want to find out what those limits are because I lost control while too stressed. You saw what happened with me in the backyard the other day. Can you imagine me doing that with my full power? I can't let that happen."

"It might not be as bad as you're thinking; your powers are for growing plants, not ripping apart the ground," Roger answered.

Wild shook her head. "I think it can be that bad." She turned her body and pointed at her mark. "See this mark? Everypony pays attention to the big tree on it, but they don't pay attention to the fact that tree is sprouting out of a big fissure in the ground. If I can split the Earth with the same power I can use to grow things that means I'm potentially very dangerous if I lose control--well, even more potentially dangerous than just what the plants can do."

Roger crossed his arms. "There are better ways of coping with stress than going and getting drunk. Considering getting drunk drops inhibitions that might actually be counter-intuitive to be doing if you're concerned about losing control. You're right that with the fact the family is dependent on you we can't tell you what to do, but I really need to stress how this is can be harmful. That's me speaking as someone who cares about you."

Wild sighed. "Look, I'm just choosing for tonight to do this, not as my go-to way of dealing with things. I promise I won't do any other drinking this month."

"I'll hold you to that. Please be careful, Catherine, this can easily spiral into a problem if you aren't careful. Even if you weren't a super powerful earth pony I'd be concerned."

"I'll be careful, and I'll see you tomorrow. I'm not sure when, because they're probably going to have me busy with other things," Wild said as she turned to get to walking.

"Just as long as you check in sometime early on to let us know you're safe and you come home tomorrow night I'll understand," Roger said, he seemed to still be disappointed and unhappy.

Wild's ears sagged. Maybe she should tell Number that she'd reschedule for a different time. She was going to be pretty exhausted by the end of the day anyway. When night came around she'd see how she was feeling.

Waiting for the Augusta leaders to arrive was not happy-fun times for Tonya.

Sunset had gathered together every single pony officially important pony in town. Sitting waiting were Sunset Blessing, Tonya, Pale Oak, Tattered Wing, Wild Growth, Amber Flowers, Rudra Patel, a crystal pony stallion named Garnet Cut, Number Crunch, and a crystal pony Tonya knew named Calvin. In addition she had brought in Megan, and a human town councilman named Walter Smith. It was a pretty even spread of the town's demographics. Tonya didn't know of Sunset did that by design or by accident, but it did send an inclusive message.

The group was all subdivided into groups that we're talking among themselves. With Tonya we're Sunset, Megan, and Mr. Smith. Tattered, Rudra, and Garnet Cut we're talking among themselves. Wild, Number, Calvin, and Pale Oak formed another talking group. Amber was hovering in the air getting reports from pegasi on and off, though she would occasionally come down and chat with ponies at random.

Tonya spotted that Amber now had her cutie mark, a cloud with two suns--one above and one below. Tonya had no idea in the least what that was supposed to mean. She'd have to ask about it sometime. Garnet Cut had a jeweler's eyepiece as a mark on his garnet red flanks. The only pony unmarked was Calvin.

The crystal ponies' presences here were actually mystery to her. She vaguely remembered Calvin, but was completely unfamiliar with Garnet Cut before meeting him today. She hadn't thought the crystal ponies' had any leadership in town with their low numbers. She wasn't going to ask Sunset about it in their earshot though. Maybe they were here just to round out Sunset's perfect two of each group, but from the little exchange that Sunset and Garnet had when he first arrived she wasn't sure that was true. Garnet, at least, seemed to be here for a reason.

Amber flew down by Sunset and gave an update. "My pegasi report that the delegation should be reaching town in about three minutes, so expect them here at town hall in five. Two large military vans. Our flyers have been spotted by them and are escorting them now."

Sunset nodded. "Good, let everyone else know. Cloud cover is good to stay in place right? We don't want to be upsetting Shadow Dancer."

Amber gestured with her head up at the clouds. "Won't be any direct sun coming down on y'all today, don't worry."

"Good," Sunset said with a smile. She then flared her horn to cause a flash to get everypony's attention. "Listen up, everyone. It's almost showtime. I want everyone on their best behavior, we want to put on a good show that we have everything well under control here. Making sure Shadow Dancer and his delegation are cooperative is our goal. We have a lot of work to do in order to get these Augusta ponies settled here without problems and we have to make a good impression with their leadership. God is giving us a great challenge, but we are ponies and we shall meet it. Can I count on you all?"

Calls of affirmation came back in response, some louder than others. Tonya noted the less vocal ponies, Tattered Wing, Rudra Patel, and Calvin. Tattered and Rudra weren't surprising, and Calvin was a little shy from what Tonya recalled. Still, they did respond that they would give their best. It was in their own interest to do so.

After another minute or two two army vans drove up and parked in front of town hall. Director Baker and another similarly dressed man exited out the passenger side door of each of the vans, and several soldiers exited out the back of the first van. Baker and the other man made their way to the back of the second van and opened it and several ponies got out.

It was very easy to pick out which one was Shadow Dancer. He was a night pony stallion with pitch black fur and a dark grey mane and tail that seemed almost black themselves. On his flanks was a cutie mark of a full moon partially darkened. With him were a pair of unicorn stallions, an earth pony mare, a pegasus stallion, a crystal pony mare, and another human man.

The crystal pony mare, who had light blue fur and a white mane, quickly got close to Shadow Dancer and seemed to almost glue herself to his side while the others kept more distance. Perhaps indicating the pair were a couple. The mare's cutie mark was a simple red heart without any further design; yet another cutie mark that could mean anything. Cutie marks were so hard to interpret sometimes.

Director Baker and the other human went up the stairs to Sunset Blessing first. Baker gestured to the other human. "Sunset Blessing, meet Director Maxwell of Georgia. Director Maxwell, meet Sunset Blessing."

Maxwell frowned at Sunset. "I've heard a good deal about you. While it concerns me I'm having so many Shimmerists in power between you and Shadow Dancer, I'm told you are fairly reasonable to work with. I hope you are the organizational miracle worker reports say you are."

"She doesn't need to be a miracle worker, she just needs to make sure she doesn't get in my way," Shadow Dancer said as he walked up the steps. Great, starting off on a pretty sour note. Nopony from Riverview had even opened their mouth yet and the Augusta ponies were already stirring up trouble.

The crystal pony mare gave Shadow Dancer a hard punch on his shoulder and glared at him. "Shadow, you promised you wouldn't be like this. We talked about it and you promised."

The stallion grimaced. "Alright, Crystal, I'll be nice." He turned back to Sunset and gave her the fakest smile Tonya had ever seen. "I hope something can be worked out where the Augusta ponies can properly settle here with no trouble."

Sunset narrowed her eyes and Tonya could see her lover's jaw clench. This was not the way things needed to start off. Worse, there was nothing Tonya could do to smooth things over this time around. There was no way she could use her powers in this situation, even if she risked trying. Shadow Dancer was a night pony and likely would figure out something was up right away, and if he didn't that crystal pony mare at his side would definitely catch her. That didn't even take into consideration that Tattered and Rudra were both close by and watching her too.

Tonya took a deep breath and laid a hoof on Sunset's shoulder. Sunset turned and looked at her and let her jaw unclench. When Tonya removed her hoof Sunset turned her attention back to Shadow Dancer.

"Well, welcome to Riverview, Shadow Dancer. As you may have heard I'm Sunset Blessing. We've done a great deal of good work here in Riverview and have great plans for the future. We hope that your ponies, and you, can be included in our future accomplishments."

Shadow Dancer sneered at her. "I've heard you have practically given yourself over to trying to act all human, that you're trying to drag out ponies back to behaving like the substandard species they used to be. That doesn't sound like progress, it sounds like regression to me."

Okay, this guy wasn't just a Shimmerist, he was a radical Shimmerist with an extreme nasty streak.

Sunset clenched her jaw again briefly then forced a smile. "Haste makes waste, Shadow Dancer. Some foolish ponies want to try to change the world faster than is possible, and who risk everything in doing so. The path to a brighter future is a long one, and will be taken side by side with humans. I hope you're not one of those foolish ponies that who sacrifice everything thinking we shouldn't try to work in conjunction with humans."

Tonya heard Tattered muttering about having to listen to this 'Shimmerist bullshit' off to the side and Shadow Dancer glanced briefly at the Enclave leader and flicked his tail. Tonya sort of agreed with Tattered; this was not the type of argument to be having in front of humans, or in front of non-Shimmerist ponies for that matter.

Shadow Dancer gave a sinister looking smile, and gestured back at the human man that had exited the van with him. "Of course the humans should work with us. Our humans are ready to embrace working the pony way, not the old tired ways. They've been enlightened."

Things suddenly clicked in Tonya's head, terrible things. She was pretty sure that those same terrible things were clicking in Sunset's head as well.

Tonya leaned over to Sunset's ear, held up a wing to block her talking from view, and whispered as low as she could so Shadow Dancer wouldn't hear. "We need to get Lavender Mist out here and have her check his party, especially the human, for mind magic being used on them. I can go get her, just keep our night ponies and crystal ponies close to you so he doesn't try to pull anything on you."

Sunset kept her eyes on Shadow Dancer through the entire time Tonya whispered and gave a silent nod to Tonya once she was done whispering. Tonya immediately started making her way over to Tattered Wing as Sunset began speaking again. "I appreciate your desire to make a better community, but I think you'll see that that isn't a sustainable or advisable thing to try to do. I hope that today we can show you that we here have a plan to make this soon to be city a model for how ponies and humans can get along in benefit to one another."

Shadow gave some sort of response but Tonya didn't pay it any attention. This stallion was dangerous, and he would almost certainly try to use mind control on Sunset and others in town. Not some gentle nudge that Tonya would give, but pure overriding of freewill. He had to be stopped before he tried to do that kind of thing to Sunset or anypony else.

She reached Tattered and Rudra and started whispering to them. "I'm pretty sure this pony is going to try to use mind magic to get his way. You need to watch him and stop him if he tries it. I'm going to go get Lavender and see if she can find evidence he has done it already."

Tattered went wide eyed and draped a wing over the two of them and pulled her into a tight hurdle to speak in private. "Are you sure? This isn't just to distract from us watching you? That's a very serious accusation to make."

"I'm can't be absolutely sure, but I'm almost positive," Tonya asserted.

Tattered looked sickened by what was being said to her. "Okay, here's what's going to happen. I'm going to send Rudra to go get Lavender, I'm going to stay here and watch Shadow Dancer and let the glitter bombs know to watch him also, and you're going to go get Phobia. If what you accuse him of is true then this is for her to deal with, not us."

Tonya really didn't want to be the one going to Phobia if they were going to have her pulling out whatever justice there was involved in mind control. "Um, maybe we should reverse those..."

Tattered hissed at her. "You will go get Phobia. I don't care what kind of guilty conscious you have. You're time is coming, but it's clearly not yet. It might even make things go better for you if you're the one appealing to her about this."

That was a very strong argument for her to go fetch Phobia.

Tattered turned and whispered a few words to Rudra behind a wing and then turned her attention back to Calvin and started whispering to him as well. Sunset and Shadow Dancer were still doing a bit of verbal exchange, though it seemed to have toned down a little bit. Sunset was very good at talking ponies down, but Shadow Dancer might just be waiting till he caught her with no ponies that would be able to catch him in the act. The crystal pony mare who was with him was watching the activity going on between Tonya and the others though and had her ears flattened. She clearly knew something was up.

Tonya decided to not waste any more time and took to the air the same time Rudra did, and the two of them took off in opposite directions to find their respective targets.

It only took a minute of flight for Tonya to reach her best friend's house. She came to a landing on the front porch and started knocking loudly on the door.

"Just one minute, don't break the door down. I'm coming," she heard Tom yell from somewhere in the house. A moment later she saw his magic aura envelope the door and after a brief clicking sound it opened up to reveal the green unicorn.

"Is Phobia up and awake? I need to see her now, like right now," Tonya said urgently.

"I'm pretty sure she turned into bed early, her and Rosetta both," Tom said as he gave her an appraising look. "If you come back tonight I'm sure she can see you "

Tonya hurried into the house. "No, it has to be right now. This is urgent, really urgent."

Tom let off a aggravated snort. "Whatever problem you've got with the night ponies because of your magic can wait till tonight."

Tonya shook her head. "This isn't about me, there's another night pony in town and I'm pretty sure he is doing the no-no stuff that is a big deal to her. I need to talk to her before he does something really bad."

She tried to take flight for the staircase and was stopped in midair by Tom's magical aura. The unicorn pulled her back towards him and set her down on the floor. "What is this pony doing that won't let you wait?"

Tonya groaned. Why did Tom have to act like such a gatekeeper? "He hasn't done anything here yet, but I'm pretty sure he'll try to. He mind controls ponies and humans into doing things his way. If we don't put a stop to him now he's going to cause all kinds of harm to this community and ignite open hostility with the humans. I understand why the humans were so hostile to ponies in Augusta now if he was the one leading the ponies there."

Tom blinked. "And my daughter can do something to stop him?"

Tonya stomped a hoof. "Yes, she's Phobia Remedy. She makes ponies who do this kind of thing shit themselves. That's what she's around to do, kick flanks on ponies that abuse night pony magic."

Tom sighed. "Fine, go wake her up and tell her about this pony."

Tonya didn't even wait to say thanks. Immeduately she took to the air again and went flying through the house and up the staircase to the bedroom. She opened up the door to their bedroom and hurried inside.

She found both the night ponies sleeping inside and started shaking both awake
"Wake up, I need you, the town needs you. Time to be a scary pony."

Phobia woke up with a gasp and took off like a blur to a corner, gasping for breath as she crashed into a wall. She then wrapped her wings around her head and started crying, as the gasps went into full on hyperventilating.

Before Tonya could try to calm her friend down a hoof collided hard with her face, sending her staggering back, and a second later a lot more than a single hoof collided with her side and knocked her down on the floor. The next thing she knew all the air was knocked out of her chest as a full pony's weight came crashing down on top of her with her belly up on her back.

"Don't you dare do something like that again to her! If you do you won't walk out of here without some broken bones!" Rosetta screamed straight into Tonya's face from atop her.

Tonya blinked and felt an irony taste in her mouth; something was bleeding. Her vision seemed a little blurred and her head ached. Perhaps it hadn't been the best thought out idea to come in and try to shake Phobia awake. Rosetta hit really hard.

"Rosetta..., I can explain..." Tonya said in pained tone.

Rosetta had her muzzle right up in front of Tonya's face. "Phobia is having a panic attack because of you. I was actually making progress with her before you woke us up. Do you think you can give me any explanation that doesn't end with me kicking you out of this house?"

"There's a night pony using his powers to make humans Shimmerists. Much as I like the idea of Shimmerist humans, I don't want it because of mind control," Tonya explained. "He'll probably try to pull some stunt with his powers on Sunset to make her do what he wants."

Phobia's crying and whimpering came to an abrupt halt and Rosetta stepped off of Tonya as the night pony looked at her lover. Tonya took a few deep breaths and rolled over so she wasn't belly up any more.

"Are you sure?" Phobia said in a frighteningly dead calm considering she was in a panic just a moment before.

"Lavender is going to verify, but I'm pretty sure. He claims he has five thousand human Shimmerists and the way he said it makes me think he did it through forced mind altering. He said he enlightened them. The guy has no charm or people skills to him. He opened his mouth and Immediately started antagonizing. There is no way he just convinced them without magic," Tonya explained as she stood back to her hooves.

Phobia sat and watched Tonya for a moment with an unblinking stare and Tonya took a few hesitant steps back. Phobia then frowned and stood to her hooves. "I would need to have what he has done verified, but even if it's verified there isn't much I can do about it at the moment since I'm not finished with my training yet. One of the others like me will have to be informed. I'm sorry, but I can't personally help you."

Tonya blinked. "Lavender is going to be going to see about verifying it today. How long will it be till one of the others like you can take action?"

"He'd need to be asleep, and we'd need to have received that verification from Lavender about the humans, and we'd check the minds of any supposed pony victims in their sleep too. Once he is asleep and Lavender is asleep for us to get verification from we can move fast," Phobia explained.

"But what do we do about him right now!" Tonya demanded as she pointed in the general direction of town hall. "He's here now, and probably going to try to pull something before he goes to sleep. He's also being a general ass that is going to make getting the ponies from Augusta moved here turned into a disaster for sure. It was already going to be a huge problem, but if the first five minutes dealing with him is any indication this is going to ruin the lives of thousands of ponies and wreck things with trying to get along with the humans."

Rosetta gave Phobia a worried look as she held a hoof up to her mouth. "I know you aren't supposed to exert any authority in the waking world, but maybe you should put in an appearance and suggest to this stallion he should be more cooperative."

Phobia looked back at Rosetta. "I don't even know if this pony is dreamwalking yet and therefore aware of who I am. I could possibly put in a suggestion to try to get along, but I can't make him take it, and if he hasn't dreamwalked yet he might not have any clue who is making the suggestion. That's not something we can sit there explaining in front of everypony."

Tonya sat down and put her hooves up in front of her in a begging gesture."I'm sure we can figure out if he has heard of you. Please come and help. If he hasn't heard of you at least you can sit by and watch him to verify if he is a danger on your own. If he has heard of you then maybe you can apply a tiny bit of pressure to help fix this for the good of everyone."

Phobia looked between Tonya and Rosetta and then took a deep breath. "Alright, take me to see this night pony."

Chapter 36**

Chapter 36**

"Is she going to be alright?" Tonya asked for about the twentieth time.

Rosetta groaned. Seriously, did Tonya expect the answer to change in the short amount of time since her last time asking about it? It was understandable that Tonya was worried, but some duct tape over Tonya's mouth would really make this whole experience more bearable.

Lavender looked up from her treatment of Sunset to glare at Tonya. "Just like the last however many times I told you; she may have a mild concussion, and I'm busy detail checking her horn over for any possible cracking and weakening of structure. It's a very painstaking examination that's very important I get right. If you don't shut your muzzle and sit quietly so I can do it without distraction I'm going to have you wait outside."

Phobia pulled Tonya into a hug and Tonya gripped her friend tightly, and started crying again. Phobia gently patted the pegasus's back with a hoof and laid her head on Tonya's shoulder. Phobia was also crying.

Rosetta felt a pang of guilt that she wasn't feeling more distressed about Sunset's health. She and her future mother-in-law could be very caustic with one another, and she didn't like Sunset at all, but both Tonya and Phobia cared very deeply for the unicorn. Rosetta was sitting here like this was an inconvenience and her future wife and one of her friends were both worried sick. It made her feel heartless.

She walked over to the two and then reached around the two as best she could to give them a brief hug. This earned a tiny bit more crying from them, but the crying was just a further release of emotion, not a negative reaction to her. After a moment she she released them and spoke softly. "Come on you two, we need to wait out in the lobby. Lavender will tell us when she's done. We need to make sure she isn't distracted."

Rosetta was fairly sure that Sunset was going to be fine anyway. Crystal Dreams strike didn't look like it had come near Sunset's horn. Getting bucked in the face by a crystal pony certainly wasn't a good thing since they were just as strong as an average earth pony, but ponies were built sturdier than humans and could take more of a beating as a result.

"But I want to be right by her bed when she wakes back up," Tonya whined. Rosetta stiffled another groan. Tonya was nothing if not devoted to Sunset.

Phobia, likewise, didn't seem too thrilled about the idea of leaving her mother's side. It was easy to forget how much Phobia really did love her mother, and the fact that she was as ardent in defending Sunset Blessing as Sunset Blessing was ardent in defending Phobia.

The mother and daughter didn't see eye to eye on many things, but if Rosetta was being grudgingly honest Phobia's personal beliefs weren't that far off from Sunset Blessing's. It was just Phobia had a passion for fear and no real passion at all about her Shimmerist leanings. It was like having a person who said they were Christian but never prayed, never went to church, never cited God about anything, and didn't even own a Bible--much like Rosetta or Phobia. That was about Phobia's level of Shimmerism, and that made it so it wasn't a point of contention between Rosetta and Phobia.

Rosetta decided to reprompt the two. "Phobia, we need to be going to sleep soon. I'm pretty sure that stunt you pulled out there makes it so you have to follow through with what you said. We need to break that nightmare shell of yours and get you training again."

Phobia looked up at her and just stared for a moment before releasing Tonya and wiping her eyes. "You're right. I need to get that done as soon as possible. I also need focused training with as little interruption as possible. If Luna isn't available to train me constantly while I sleep then one of my counterparts will do just as well."

From what Rosetta had seen of the Dreamwardens and Luna she thought the the other Dreamwardens taking up Phobia's training might be for the best. The Dreamwardens were rough in how they did things, but they were effective. Luna took far too much time and unneeded care with her methods. It might be because she wasn't a night pony and didn't think like one, despite dealing with them more than any other non-night pony. She was also over a thousand years old and probably trapped in routines, or was just used to taking her sweet time with things since months didn't seem as long to her as everyone else. Her experience was valuable, and she likely would have dealt with the situation earlier today far better than Phobia did, but that didn't mean the Dreamwardens couldn't be more effective at other things.

Tonya sat where she was and sniffled. "Can't I just wait here without you two? I really don't want to leave Sunset's side."

Phobia touched a wing up to Tonya's side and spoke. "No, I need you to help me. Rosetta's right, I need to follow through with what I said would happen to Shadow Dancer and I'm going to have to beat this nightmare to do so. I want you to help me put what happened behind me."

Tonya stiffened and Rosetta did as well. Was Phobia serious? Was Phobia really going to have Tonya mess with her mind just to overcome her nightmares?

"I'm not sure that's a good idea...," Tonya said slowly. "I don't know what I'm doing. There could be side effects because of that. I'm not even sure it lasts. Even if I did know what I'm doing, aren't you supposed to be judging me for doing exactly this kind of thing?"

Rosetta wasn't thrilled with this idea either. She had made progress today after leaving Sarah. Today she had actually penetrated past the mass. With some more time she could help Phobia get this under control without resorting to something like this. The idea that there could be some nasty side effect from Tonya doing this was also a serious matter to consider.

Phobia seemed undeterred. "From what I've heard you've done so far I don't think your judgement will be too severe. My mom was consenting, and the singing thing had some consent--even if it wasn't informed consent--fix that in the future. The matter with your human family is the issue that earns judgement, but considering that you did it on accident, have repented it, and have taken steps to prevent it happening again since it happened the punishment for it'll be far less severe than you might think." Phobia paused and gave Tonya a raised eyebrow. "Is there anything else I should know about? Now's your chance to tell me and earn some mercy for those things."

Tonya sat quiet for a moment. "When Sunset was doing all her organizing for the food drive I kind of made the humans less worried about the fact she's a Shimmerist. They were already wanting a pony that could take charge, so I didn't impact that; I just made them less worried about ponies that understand that ponies are superior to humans. I didn't even take all the worry away, just made it less of a big deal to them."

"Which is probably why a pony like Shadow Dancer was even given the time of day by them," Rosetta said slowly. She wasn't going to even comment on the fact ponies weren't strictly superior to humans, only different; she already knew there was no way she was changing Tonya's opinions, and only a little chance of changing Phobia's. It wasn't worth the time to argue about right now. The point was Tonya had set the stage for ponies like Shadow Dancer to come to power.

Phobia nodded. "That will be taken under consideration as well as you having been honest with me about it. Do no more of that. It borders on mind control. Is there anything else?"

Tonya sat still staring at her hooves. "No, nothing else." She said quietly.

Both Rosetta and Phobia raised skeptical eyebrows at that. Tonya had done something else and she didn't want to say what. Rosetta thought back to her earlier time asleep today. Right before her finally succeeding she had learned from Luna that John--she still couldn't automatically call him Swift Strike in her mind--was dead and Tonya had something to do with it. She had told Phobia about that after getting into the dream as a means of trying to make her feel safer. Did Tonya somehow kill him with mind magic? If that was so that could mean a severe judgement, even if John deserved it in Rosetta's opinion.

Phobia looked at Tonya sadly and shook her head. "Tonya, if there is something else, something worse, it's better if you tell me now."

Tonya just shook her head. "There's nothing else."

Phobia sighed. "I hope you're telling the truth. If there's something else it'll come out sooner or later and it will be bad for you."

"There's nothing else," Tonya repeated, she didn't look Phobia in the eyes.

Phobia and Rosetta shared an reserved look between them. They didn't know what it was, but they both knew Tonya was lying. Rosetta's heart went out to Phobia; she didn't want Phobia to be forced to be in this kind of position with her best friend. She felt herself getting angry at Tonya for putting Phobia in this kind of position. This was going to hurt Phobia a lot.

Phobia turned back to Tonya. "Very well...since you insist you've done nothing else we can focus on what needs to happen now. Shadow Dancer's justice has to come to him, and since I declared it's coming I need to be there for his judgement or the Dreamwardens will lose credibility. Use your powers to help me get past the rape. You have my consent."

Tonya gave a nervous wiggle where she sat and looked at Phobia. "Are you sure about this? I told you I'm not sure what I'm doing."

Phobia nodded. Rosetta wanted to scream an objection. She didn't want Tonya messing with Phobia's head. If Sunset Blessing's temperament was any indication this could go very wrong. She didn't want Phobia to resemble her mother in any further ways. The only thing stopping her was the time table. Phobia needed every moment of training she could get. Not getting enough training meant Phobia could die while being bound. Phobia's possible death was not something she was prepared to face.

Tonya looked dubvious about it, but accepted it. "Alright, if you say so." She stood to her hooves and pulled the medallion off from around her neck, dropping it to the floor. "Now, look me in the eyes and let's talk about what you want to leave behind you."

Chapter 37

Despite the fact she was supposed to be doing things with Number right now Wild had decided she needed to to just walk around and process what she had just learned.

Number had mudered Swift Strike.

Her sister had insisted that Number was dangerous, and Phobia had cautioned her about Number as well. Until today she had a hard time believing Number was capable of doing anything so horrible. There were extenuating circumstances in this case, but it was still a murder in the end. Ponies weren't supposed to do things like that, it went against their nature. Just hearing about it made her sick to her stomach.

Worse, there was part of her that was glad it had happened. That fact made her even more sick to her stomach and made her question whether she was a good pony. On the one end Swift Strike had domestically abused her sister for a long time and had raped Phobia, he'd even done these things after becoming a pony. Becoming a pony should have made him less inclined to violence.

Of course, there were plenty of examples that wasn't completely true; Sunset Blessing had gotten violent with both Number Crunch and Swift Strike, Crystal Dreams had attempted to hurt Phobia, and the night ponies were more violent than they had been as humans--her sister included. All of these could be tied to protecting though in some way, Swift Strike had just been senselessly violent.

On a whim, and not really having any destination in mind, Wild walked into the restaurant that she had a few weeks before given the tip of a lifetime to. It was pretty busy, and a brief glance around showed there was nowhere to really sit and have a meal. With a sigh she turned back towards the door.

"Catherine Martinez...Wild Growth? I'm so happy to see you again!" Came a familiar voice.

Wild turned around and saw the owner, Wendy, hurrying over to her. She gave the human a smile even though she wasn't really in the mood to smile. "Hi, Wendy. It looks like everything is going well for you here."

Wendy came over to her and smiled down at her. "Thanks to you, twice over actually. Not only did you provide for the bills for this place, all the food that I'm serving today you grew yourself. Granted, I'm still new to cooking straight vegetarian meals, but the clientele don't seem to mind if everything isn't perfect yet. For the first time in years I'm excited about the future of this place. I can't thank you enough for all you've done for us."

Wild gave a slightly more genuine smile hearing that, but her ears were still limp. "I'm glad to hear that. You were very nice to us when we first came to town. You deserve to succeed. I see you've got a full house though. I'll just be going. I'm just out trying to clear my head."

Wendy's smile slipped as she looked down at Wild with a concerned expression. "What's wrong? Is there anything I can do to help?"

Wild didn't want to be dismissive, but there really wasn't any help for this particular problem. "A pony I considered a friend admitted to doing something terrible, and I don't know what to do or how to feel."

Wendy put her fingers to her lips briefly then turned around to a unicorn, a yellow mare with a short pink mane, behind the main counter. "Caitlyn, can you take care of everything out here for a few minutes? I want to step into the back with my friend to have a private talk."

The mare waved with a hoof. "Go right ahead Wend. I have no problem being hostess for a few minutes."

Wendy smiled at the mare. "Thank you." She turned back to Wild. "You have no idea how great it is to actually have some hired help around here, another thing that's thanks to you. Anyway, come with me to the kitchen and we can have a coffee and talk about whatever it is that's bothering you."

Wild didn't know what to do. There was no way on Earth she was going to say what Number had done, but it would be rude to refuse Wendy's offer. The absurdity that those two felt like equally pressing concerns crossed her mind briefly and almost made her want to laugh.

Wild made a quick decision. "Alright, I can't talk about what's bothering me, but I wouldn't mind sitting and talking for a few minutes."

"Come on," Wendy said as she gestured for her to follow. "There's a small table in the back of the kitchen we can sit down at."

Wild followed Wendy into the back. There was a big kitchen back here, as big as the actual dining area. There were two grills, two ovens, a regular stove, and a large prep area. There was also a coppery colored unicorn stallion with blue mane working on several different things at once. The unicorn glanced quickly at them as they came back and turned his attention back to the food.

"Is everything going alright with the food Savory?" Wendy asked.

The unicorn didn't even turn to answer he kept focused on the food as he talked. "It's a lot, but I've got it. Are you hiring on more help? I wouldn't mind another set of hooves in the kitchen, or hands for that matter. A constant full house doesn't leave me much room for breaks."

Wendy looked around at all the dishes Savory was cooking and then back to the unicorn. "It does look like we need more help. I'll see about hiring in a few more people. I definitely underestimated how much help we need. It had been years since I had done any hiring when I brought you and Caitlyn on."

"I'd recommend a staff of at least twenty, and I'd consider opening new locations. I've been in the restaurant industry for a long time and I couldn't imagine a restaurant this busy running on such a skeleton staff," Savory said as he set a pair of dishes aside on the table. The yelled to the door. "Caitlyn, orders for the Pumpkin and Thompson up!"

Caitlyn hurried into the room next to the table and grabbed both dishes up in her magic and levitated them close by her. "Wish I had more range on grabbing things so I could just grab them from the door, it would save time."

"We'll figure it out sooner or later," Savory said dismissively, while still attending to several different things he was cooking. "You've seen the Equestrians do it on the news, we've seen they've got longer range. If they can do it there has to be a way we can do it too."

Caitlyn sighed and looked at Savory's flank, which had a salt shaker mark on it. "Hopefully when I get my cutie mark it'll give me some extra magical omph, and then I can be a mage like Twilight Sparkle or Starlight Glimmer."

"Stop daydreaming about being a mage and move those orders," Savory said as he started sauteing another pan of vegetables.

Wild listened to the exchange between the two unicorns and thought about purpose. How much of a pony's life was dictated by the mark on their flank? She was doing other things than just growing things now, she was getting involved with bigger events and plans. Still, she was only able to do that because of her magic giving her a gateway into that. Her purpose was tied to her cutie mark, directly or indirectly.

Wendy gestured to an old fold out card table and a few chairs at the backend of the kitchen. "Sit down here and I'll fetch us some coffee."

Wild hopped into a chair as instructed. She chose one that gave her a good view of the door to the dining area and the unicorn preparing food. Wendy stepped back out into the dining room in the meantime.

From here she could also see a large walk in cooler off to the side, probably packed to the brim with produce. This round of produce had been free, but going forward Wendy would have to pay for it. This seemed a little unfair to Wild at first when she first heard about it, but it was explained to her that the earth ponies needed to make a living, and they couldn't be expected to just give what they produced away for free. There were practical reasons for this for the town too. The town needed sales tax to function, and that required things to be sold instead of given away. She'd just started her civics class in final semester of school before this all started so she wasn't fully familiar with how this all worked yet.

Wendy returned with two steaming ceramic mugs and set one down in front of Wild and another down on in front if a chair the human quickly occupied.

"So," Wendy said as she picked up her mug and blew on it, not taking a sip yet. "How have things been going for you since moving into town? I wasn't there for the crop growing, but I saw that tree sprout up from the the front door of the restaurant."

They were still trying to figure out what to do about that tree. It could be seen from anywhere in town. Most wanted to keep it standing, but there were practical concerns with that. That tree would eat a lot of nutrients from the ground by itself, making it near impossible for crops to grow where it's root system reached. That was if it could even get enough nutrients to begin with due to it's huge size. The other concern was what happened if something like a tornado or major storm knocked it down. The pegasi insisted that they could prevent that from happening, but a lot of ponies were still concerned. Debate would probably rage for weeks about the Sky Tree, as it had started being called since it seemed to extend endlessly into the sky to anypony standing below it.

"Things have been a whirlwind," Wild said after blowing on her own coffee. "My future sister-in-law got hurt almost as soon as we moved in. She seems like she's getting better though."

"I'm sorry to hear she got hurt," Wendy said and then took a small sip of her coffee before setting it back down. "Can I asked what happened to her?"

Wild shook her head. "I'd rather not talk about it, but as I said, she seems like she's getting better. She came out of her house today and helped with some negotiations with the Augusta ponies."

Wendy blinked. "What kind of negotiations?"

Wild carefully lifted her coffee mug up with two hooves and took a small sip. She let off a small shudder at the taste, there was no sugar or anything, just straight black coffee. It tasted worse than the beer. She barely ever touched coffee, but when she did she typically heaped a ton of sugar and creamer into it. She'd still drink this though, just to be polite.

Wild set the mug back down. "The ponies and a lot of humans from Augusta are moving here. There are a lot of them. There will be over a hundred thousand ponies and over six thousand humans here when all is said and done. I think that part of the sign that said pony capital of the south might need to go back up, and you might really want to think about hiring on a lot more help and opening other locations."

Wendy nearly dropped her coffee mug as she was trying to pick it up. "How...where are they all going to go? All the towns around here combined in their best haydays didn't have half that many people."

Wild shrugged. "Going to be a ton of building, annexing land, and purchasing land going on. Expect a lot of multistory apartments and businesses to go up. I'll talk to Sunset about making sure the older parts of town are preserved. I know she already was making plans for tearing down and replacing the most run down abandoned residential houses. Some of them barely qualify as buildings anymore."

Wendy shook her head, still seeming to try to process things. "What about those of us who've lived our whole lives here? I know some people were already starting to mutter about how our opinions on things were going to be drowned out by all the newcomers. Now you're talking about this place becoming a major city instead of a town."

Wild blinked. She hadn't even considered how this was impacting all the long standing residents. They'd wanted to save their town before, but now their town was soon going to be swallowed up into something larger, the neighboring towns too. Something would need to be done to protect their interests.

"I'll talk to Sunset about your concerns. I have a fair bit of pull with her," Wild said.

Wendy exhaled out a long breath. "Please do. We don't want to just be brushed aside after bringing you all here to live."

Wild reached over and touched her hoof to Wendy's hand. "I'll make sure that doesn't happen. You've all been very generous to us by bringing us here. We need to make sure that generosity is repaid with you being respected and listened to."

Wendy smiled at her. "You're a good pony, Wild Growth. Everyone will feel better knowing you're looking out for them."

Wild smiled in return, but part of her felt uncomfortable. This was yet more responsibility that she was taking on. These people needed her to be their voice and protector. She had so many things she had to worry about already. Despite her smile her ears betrayed her.

Wendy picked up on her mood. "I'm sorry, I brought you back here to see if there was anything I could do for you, and here I am asking you to do more for me. Please, tell me what's weighing on your mind."

Wild looked down at her coffee and took another sip, not even noticing the taste as much this time. "A friend of mine told me they did something bad, something that changes how I look at them. They told me in confidence so I can't say what, but I still don't know how I'm supposed to react."

Wendy laid her elbow on the table and laid her head into her hand. "That's a tough one. Why'd they tell you whatever this is?"

Wild shook her head. "I was keeping something from them, and we traded secrets."

Wendy frowned. "That's not really how secrets are supposed to work you know. So, now you know something about your friend you didn't know before. You said it was bad; is it something they're doing now?"

Wild shook her head again. "No, it only happened once as far as I know, and they seem pretty shaken up about it having happened."

Wendy nodded. "So, they made a mistake then and they know they made a mistake. If it's something really bad they must really trust you if they told you about it. I think that means that they consider you a friend."

"This was a really big mistake," Wild said in a low voice.

Wendy sat and thought for a moment. "When I was about your age I made a big mistake myself. I had an older sister and she was engaged to this really handsome army cadet. Long story short, both me and that cadet got a little too drunk and wasted and ended up sleeping together. My sister walked in on us in us screwing around in bed. To this day she still won't speak to me. I regret that mistake and would do anything to mend that bond with my sister."

Wild looked up at Wendy. "You think I should forgive them then for what they did?"

Wendy sighed. "I can't answer that, that's your best judgement. I know that sometimes stupid things happen in the heat of a moment, and those things change everything for the rest of our lives. We then spend the rest of our lives regretting that moment, wishing for forgiveness or the ability to change what happened."

Wild thought back to her first time speaking with Number. From that first day Number was desperate for forgiveness and approval. There was no question Number was filled with regret and wanted to be a good pony.

Wild hopped down from her seat, coffee still unfinished and smiled to Wendy. "Thank you, I needed to hear that. I'm supposed to be doing things with my friend right now, and I better go tell her that I trust her still and she's still my friend."

Wendy reached down with her palm facing towards Wild. Wild placed her hoof up against the palm. Wendy then let off a chuckle. "Still getting used to doing that, it seems so weird. Anyway, I'm glad I helped, and I'm glad you aren't letting whatever this is end your friendship."

Wild needed to get back over to Number now. She didn't know how she was going to move forward knowing that Number had done this. She wasn't sure that she was doing the right thing by keeping it secret either. What she did know was Number was her friend and wanted to do right. It was time to go be that friend and figure out together what to do.

Chapter 38

Amanda did her best to hold her squirming filly in place. Trying to hold Jackie still was proving to be difficult though.

"Come on, my little magic missile, you need to be preened. You'll feel much more comfortable after I get this done," she said as Jackie smacked her in the face yet again.

Jackie let off an incoherent cry of protest and kept crying and trying to get away. This would be so much easier if Amanda had a horn to hold Jackie still, or if she had more practice at this because she had wings of her own. The one thing that she had going for her is her cutie mark actually was coming in handy, if in an unexpected way. The same powers she used to tell what was beneath the soil helped her locate which feathers needed to go--at least if she could get her hooves on Jackie's wings long enough to feel them.

"Are you sure you don't want help with that?" Devon asked from the other side of the tent where she sat with her family.

Amanda took yet another wing slap to the face and shook it off. "I appreciate the offer, but I have to learn how to get this done by myself. Until Jackie gets old enough to do this for herself, or at least gets to the point she allows me do this without a fight, I'm going to have to be able to take care of her struggling on my own."

Jackie let off another wail and another flurry of wing beats into Amanda's face. They didn't hit that hard, Jackie was far too young to hit hard with her wings. They were an annoyance though, and we're making it impossible to get the task done.

Amanda had enough. She did the only thing she could think to do; she lifted herself up and then put her body down on the thrashing filly to pin her body, and used both her forehooves to pin each of Jackie's wings. She was careful not to bring her full weight down in her daughter, and she found herself in a very uncomfortable position between how her legs were spread and her trying to support her body weight like this without falling down.

Jackie continued to squirm, but made no headway on getting free. Amanda gave her daughter a smile in victory. "Now, let's get this done quick so it's all over with and you can get to giving me sullen looks until you remember that you need me for food."

She stuck her muzzle into her daughter's feathers and located the first feather that needed to go. With a quick yank it came out with no problem. Just to be sure she looked over the base of the feather for any signs of bleeding. Seeing no blood she spit the feather out and grinned in satisfaction.

"That's one, a dozen more to go...on that wing," she said before she moved in for the next feather.

There was a lot involved in preening, she had to remove damaged feathers or feathers that were only partially joined to the wing. She had to shift feathers around, she had to search for any bugs that had managed to make a home in her daughter's wings, and she had to remove sheathes from new growing feathers. All and all, it was a completely unpleasant experience to be doing. Pegasi apparently found no distaste for all this and enjoyed doing it to some extent. Jackie certainly didn't enjoy her doing it, and she shared the sentiment. It still had to be done from time to time. If she had her way Jackie would learn to preen herself soon after she started talking in full sentences.

Jackie relented in her struggling about halfway through the first wing. Amanda decided to take a chance and stood up in a more natural position while still pinning down Jackie's wings. The little filly continued to not struggle. Amanda bent down and searched out the next broken feather and pulled it free from the wing and was rewarded with a contented little coo from Jackie. Amanda raised an eyebrow at that. Maybe, pegasi really did enjoy being preened. Jackie just had to settle down and realize that she wasn't going to get hurt.

"If I release your wings and try to do this without pinning them down are you going to fight me?" She asked the filly. She didn't really expect an answer; Jackie hadn't said her first word yet, though she showed occasional signs that she could understand certain words.

Jackie, as expected, didn't answer. Amanda took the risk and released Jackie's wings. The little filly looked at her in confusion and stood up to her hooves. She immediately rubbed against Amanda and started extending her wings out.

"Oh, now you want me to finish preening you?" Amanda said with amusement. She then put a hoof against one Jackie's wings to locate the next feather and quickly reached over and plucked that one.

"Well, that didn't take you too long to master," Paul observed with a laugh.

Amanda pulled three more feathers out in quick succession before speaking again. "I guess not. She just had to get used to it. I'm still making her do this herself as soon as she's old enough...at least most of the time."

As she got back to work on Jackie's wings Devon started speaking to her. "We needed to talk to you about something. Paul and I have picked out a house, but won't be moving into it for a month. We're going to be heading back to our old apartment while the house is being worked on, just to get our things from back there in order."

Amanda finished one wing and spit a feather out in the floor. She looked at Devin with lowered ears. "Oh...I guess I can't fault you for that. You'll need to move all your stuff and settle up your bills. I know that takes time."

Devon looked at Paul and then back to her. "We were wondering if you'd be interested in coming back with us so you can do the same types of things, get your old affairs settled. All you ponies did just kind of leave just about everything from your old lives behind. We figured you have some things you still need to do."

That was something she needed to stop and think about. She hadn't been as caught up in the vision as some ponies because it really failed to sell her on the earth pony experience. That didn't mean it didn't initially have some impact on her. Had she done something foolish while caught up in that early point?

She turned back to Devon. "It sounds really stupid now, but for a little while after I turned into a pony I was thinking about some perfect world where everypony just provided for one another and we all lived simple, happy lives. I think all of us who became ponies did. You're right, it might be a good idea to come back for a few weeks and take care of a few things."

Devon looked at her with slight confusion. "Why'd you all think that everything was going to be perfect, and why'd you change your mind?"

Amanda took a moment to consider while plucking another broken feather from Jackie. After adding that to the growing like of feathers she answered. "When we all got that vision it showed us this perfect idealistic world. I think we all kind of bought into it."

She pulled out another feather before continuing. "As for how my mind changed; first was the fact we didn't all get the same vision. My vision didn't even mention humans in it, though some who finished transforming after me did have humans in it. It was pretty obvious at that point humans were going to still be around, but nothing in my vision accounted for how they fit into everything. Then we come here and everyone is suddenly talking about get a job, get a paycheck again. At that point it became increasingly clear that idealistic world was just a fantasy, and there was no way that would actually work. It was like a pure communism world where no government, crime, money, or greed existed; a nice fantasy, but didn't account for the reality of how the world works."

"And you all bought this?" Paul asked her in disbelief.

Amanda tried to explain it, because she understood how it sounded. "It was like a religious experience for a lot of ponies. And it seemed so simple; everypony just had to be kind, loyal, generous, honest, and full of joy and it would all work out. It seemed like nothing but good things. Even those of us who weren't as enraptured with the vision couldn't deny everypony had gotten it and wanting something about that world."

Devon ran a hand across Robby's sleeping form. "Robby said that the night ponies spread that vision, and he said it was wrong. Or at least that's what Rosetta was teaching him. He said even he did it, even if he is unsure how. He just says the vision showed him when I asked him. I'd love to know where that vision came from to start, and why the night ponies turned on it after initially spreading it."

Amanda plucked the last remaining broken feathers as she waited for Devon to finish and then replied. "Would be nice if they were more open about everything. How're we supposed to trust them with how closed mouthed they are? They say they tried to brainwash us on a scale never before seen, getting right into our heads, and then they backtrack and say they were bad, but now everything is going to be okay, and we should just trust them now even though they cloud everything in secrecy in an almost cult like way. I want to trust them, I really do, but they make it so hard to trust them."

She forced herself to stop. She was getting worked up about it and Devon might take it the wrong way considering her son was a night pony. Tom wanted to trust them too because of his daughter, and Tom was getting to be just as good a friend as Devon. She liked having another pony that understood her, and she wanted him to be right that Phobia Remedy could be trusted.

Devon sighed and gripped her hand into a fist. "Hopefully they'll open up a little to me and Paul tonight when we go talk with Phobia. As I said before, they have to let parents of a night pony know what their foal is being taught. I'm not even getting into agreeing with what's taught, I'm just talking about finding out what he's learning."

Amanda nodded. Even super religious parents that disagreed with evolution and sex education being taught to their children at least knew what was being taught. You didn't just tell them they weren't allowed to know what their children were being taught.

"Our general plan is to head back to Goose Creek tomorrow afternoon," Paul said. "We can hold off if you need more time. We'll get you wherever you lived too, and help with whatever you need too."

"I might," Amanda said slowly. "I haven't done much to really plan where I'm going to live eventually here. I want to talk to Tom and find out what arrangements I really should be making. His estranged wife is the town leader, that probably means he has some clue what I should be doing."

Devon chuckled. "You've been spending a lot of time with Tom since you met him. Do you have a pony crush?"

Amanda blushed. "He's just a friend. There aren't a lot of ponies I'm comfortable opening up to about certain things, and he gets me. He also has problems with being open with other ponies, even more than me. It's just nice for each of us to have another pony to talk to without being afraid of judgement. Plus, he's a married stallion."

"Who is almost certainly going to be divorcing his wife because his wife is very openly in a relationship with Tonya," Devon pointed out. "You don't have to feel like a homewrecker if you're interested in him."

"He's fifteen years older than me," Amanda protested. Despite her protests she suddenly started to wonder if she was interested in him or not. She hadn't really thought of whether he was potential dating material.

"Tonya is ten years younger than you and with a mare in her forties," Paul added in. "You all age very well. Unless a pony is clearly a senior or are a foal I have a hard time telling pony ages at all."

Why'd they have to go and put this idea into her head? Now she was going to be thinking about it, and that was going to make things awkward being around Tom. She just wanted at least one pony that she was comfortable around and she had that with Tom, but this was going to mess with that.

Devon raised an eyebrow at her. "I was just trying to pick with you. I didn't mean for you to take it seriously. I'm a little suprised you're reacting so strongly to the suggestion. Is there something to it?"

Amanda shook her head. "We're just friends."

And I'm not going to mess things up with my one good pony friend by raising my tail at him.

Chapter 39**

Chapter 39**

Phobia, for the first time in many days, entered the dreamscape by her own volition.

She entered the star filled expanse and found Rosetta already waiting for her, with a worried look on her face. The reason for the worry was understandable. Rosetta was worried about what Tonya's meddling might have done other than what was intended. Phobia worried about that too, but it wasn't important at the moment. She had her focus for the time being; to complete her training and get bound to the dreamscape. If Tonya screwed up and left some side effect it didn't matter if it didn't interfere with those goals.

"How are you feeling?" Rosetta asked, then blinked and lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry, I should be giving the Oaths. Psychic Calm..."

Phobia placed a hood up to her lover's lips. "I'm not bound yet. Save those for when I'm bound." She removed her hoof. "To answer your question, I'm feeling really good. It's nice to fall asleep and not get raped in my dreams immediately."

"Any...side effects?" Rosetta asked.

Phobia shook her head. "Nothing I've noticed yet. It doesn't mean there aren't any. If there are any you'll probably spot them before I do. My mind has been altered, so I'm probably the worst judge of any differences, even if I do pick up on anything."

Rosetta nodded in acceptance. "I'll let you know if I notice anything. I really wish you hadn't let Tonya do that. If she hurt you I'll hurt her."

Phobia looked up at the stars. "I didn't let her do anything. I told her to do it. If anything is out of order it's my fault and my fault alone. Don't take it out on her."

Rosetta sullenly bowed her head. "If you say so. I'm just worried about you."

"Good," Phobia said flatly. "If you aren't worried it'll take us longer to catch any problems."

Rosetta sighed. "I know; fear keeps us safe."

Phobia nodded in acknowledgement of her lasting lesson to all night ponies. Then continued. "Let's get started. Time is precious and I've put us on a tight schedule due to what happened earlier."

She looked around at all the stars and called out, "Whoever's acting as Dreamwarden right now is being really slow. I've been here a minute or two and you haven't shown up. I know you know I'm here, so show yourself so we can get to work."

Without so much as a flash an older night pony mare eating at a table appeared above them. The older mare looked down at her with a look of annoyance. "I was trying to give you and your lover a few minutes together, and didn't know if Luna was scheduled to come attend to you. I was having good manners; something you could stand a bit more of, sister."

Rosetta bristled up a bit. "She's in a hurry, she doesn't have time to be perfectly polite."

The older mare raised an eyebrow then raised a wing. Rosetta vanished from sight.

Phobia growled, enraged that Rosetta was getting punished. "That was completely unnecessary, Sha'am! That's my fiancée not some random night pony!"

Rosetta reappeared and was breathing heavily, wide eyed and sobbing, she was soaking wet with water. She spotted Phobia and scrambled over to Phobia and hugged her tightly, still sobbing. Phobia resisted the urge to go buck her fellow Dreamwarden and just hugged Rosetta tightly. The full horror of the experience would fade quickly, just like any other dream.

Sha'am was unfazed. "There's always time for good manners. And despite her ties to you in the waking world she's still just another dreamwalker here, don't let your emotions blind you to that fact. I'd do the same to my own great-great-grandfoal if he was a night pony who dared mouth off to me as a greeting in the dreamscape, and I love him dearly. Rosetta Stone, I believe you should now redo your greeting to me. Oaths, please."

Rosetta quieted her sobs, and still trembling turned and faced Sha'am. "Psychic Calm, we promise ponies shall dream in peace. Yinyu Wu Yan, we shall not allow our passions to lead us to folly. Ghadab, the Wardens' anger is unyielding and just. Phobia Remedy, fear of the Wardens keeps us safe. Tikhiy Krik, we shall keep the secrets of the Wardens. Sha'am Maut, better to die than to face the Wardens' justice."

"There, was that so hard?" Sha'am said as she picked up a berry from her table and tossed it towards Rosetta. The berry just hovered in front if Rosetta unmoving once it reached her. "If you eat that berry the memory of the pain shall disapate faster. You've been punished, and it's over with."

Rosetta glared at the berry then shoved it away. The berry floated away for a few feet then vanished into nothingness.

Sha'am shrugged in response. "Very well, that's a choice you can freely make. It was merely an offer. If you wish to remember the pain longer than you need to that's your choice."

Phobia touched a comforting wing to Rosetta's back as she looked at her fellow Dreamwarden. "Rosetta was telling the truth. I'm in a hurry. We have some things to discuss."

Sha'am picked up another berry and swallowed it whole. "And what matters are those that make you both so ill-mannered?"

Phobia took a deep breath. "There's a night pony named Shadow Dancer, he has forcefully mind controled many ponies and humans. I confronted him and told him that he will get judgement in two days."

The table with all the food abruptly vanished into nothing and Sha'am sat rigidly still. "I see...Rosetta Stone, you'll leave us so my sister and I can talk in private. I don't care where you go, but I do not want you present here. This is Dreamwarden business, not yours."

Rosetta gave Phobia a sad look and Phobia touched a wing to Rosetta's face and spoke softly. "Go do some dreamwalking. I'll be alright. I already suspected that you wouldn't be allowed to be involved with most of what happens today."

Rosetta touched a hoof to Phobia and then went in for a full hug. "You just make sure you keep yourself alive. I'll be very mad at you if you die. Please, just don't die on me."

Phobia hugged her close. "I won't. Sha'am would be just as angry if I died, so I'm pretty sure she won't let it happen."

"I promise I'll keep my sister among the living, even if I have to give my own waking life to do it. I won't lose her by having her die unbound. Eternity is too long a time to go without my fellow Dreamwardens. You have my word as a Dreamwarden she'll return to you," Sha'am assured Rosetta. "Now quit dawdling and go."

Rosetta wiped her eyes and nodded, then she vanished as she shifted somewhere else in the dreamscape.

Sha'am came close to Phobia. "It's good to see you out of your nightmare. It seems Luna was mistaken when she said it would take a long time. You do realize the position you have put us in though, right? You have basically made it so all six of us have to be all bound in a very short time. You and our other two brothers are at very different levels of preparation, Ghadab is even farther behind than you."

Phobia nodded. "I understand. I also understand that Luna has been taking her time. You, Yinyu, and Tikhiy training us might be a faster alternative. Plus, the three of you working together to help bind might minimize how long we actually need to be able to survive."

Sha'am smiled a conspiratorial grin. "I'm glad we think similarly, sister. I had been sitting back out of love and respect for Luna. She has a lot of personal experience that should be respected. Unfortunately for her, she is only the heir of one universe's legacy of Dreamwardens. The six of us are heirs of two, and that gives us insights she lacks. She may be older than us, and more experienced, but her knowledge doesn't go nearly as deep as ours."

That wasn't something that was discussed with her before. "What do you mean by that? Luna is over a thousand years old. I would think that's enough to say she has more insight than any of us."

Sha'am stepped back from her and studied her. "I could explain it to you, but this is something you'll learn anyway when you're bound. You'll understand it then. Luna forgets how old this universe is, and does not know our legacy here. All we can do is the same as any other Dreamwarden, try not to repeat the mistakes of the past. There were mistakes this universe has paid a very heavy price for, and may still pay for many times over. Luna must never learn of what happened to our predecessors here. We must struggle on. That's what life is after all, an endless struggle. To live is to struggle, and we Dreamwardens are sworn to protect life, despite the tragic follies of our predecessors."

Phobia tilted her head slightly, unable to make much of Sha'am's rambling. "Funny things for the Warden of Death to be saying."

Sha'am waved a wing dismissively. "Death is a part of life, an important part. Just like anger and vengence, lust and passion, silent contemplation, peace through compromise, or fear and caution. Sunset Shimmer thought she could build a society on this world free of these things. Such folly, such stagnation, such an affront to living. We know them as virtues though. Those pillars that ponies like to quote are all worthwhile, but we shall not let ponies forget our pillars and become mere mindless shells of themselves."

Phobia grimmaced. "And ponies call me a fanatic about fear. You certainly eclipse me in the fanatic department."

Sha'am snorted. "I'm just dedicated to my work and purpose is all. I understand the struggle against death as a virtue, that struggle is true life. It is just like understanding the virtue of fear is important to you. We aren't the most pleasant of virtues, but we're important."

"You don't need to preach to me," Phobia responded calmly, if slightly annoyed. She was eager to get to training and Sha'am wanted to spout crazy sermons. "I already recognize the importance of these things. I have my mother for a preacher, I don't need another one. It's the regular dreamwalkers that need these lectures, not me."

"Just making sure we are on the same page," the older mare said as she recreated her table with food. "I have already put out a summons for all six of us to gather together and get to work. Considering we have to wait till everypony can get themselves to sleep despite the differing time zones it'll take a few minutes."

A night pony stallion with fur the color of desert sand and a red mane came crashing down between them out of nowhere and Sha'am smiled as she floated herself and the table back upwards. "See they're already starting to arrive. Pick yourself up, Ghadab, Dreamwardens shouldn't look so undignified. And mind your manners; you've the most appalling manners on a pony that I have ever met, brother."

Ghadab pulled himself to his hooves growling. "My manners are perfect, you queen of all bitches. Curse your mother's pussy, your pussy is too large."

Phobia's eyes widened to the size of saucers as Ghadab continued on his curse ridden tirade for another solid minute before finally seeming to run out of insults. Sha'am calmly took little bites of a pastry the whole time Ghadab raged.

Sha'am finished swallowing her pastry. "Well, you're certainly as pleasant to deal with as ever, brother. Now that you have gotten that out of your system I'd like to introduce you to our sister, Phobia Remedy."

Ghadab turned her and spoke politely. "Peace be with you, sister."

Phobia wasn't sure how to respond after just listening to his verbal beating of Sha'am. "Um, peace be with you as well, brother."

Sha'am continued to eat but spoke to them between bites. "You two and Psychic Calm will all be training together today. The training will be very intense. If all goes well when we're done some of you will be ready for binding. Psychic Calm is very close and I'm confident he shall be bound before today is out. I hope you two can rise to the task as well. Krik and Yinyu shall be assisting as well."

As if summoned by name, a pony that bore a passing resemblance to Yinyu--if Yinyu had fins instead of legs--swam into view and gave Sha'am a dirty look. "You'd better have a good reason for having a pony shove a damn tranquilizer dart up my ass, Sha'am! I was in the middle of an orgy and enjoying myself very much."

Sha'am raised an eyebrow at Yinyu. "Since when do you not fall asleep after a heated round of sex? I just hastened the process along."

Yinyu shook her fins in frustration. "But it was an orgy! What don't you understand? I don't get many of those, and you interrupted it!"

"I'll explain as soon as Krik and Psy arrive," Sha'am replied then pointed to Phobia and Ghadab with a wing. "You've met our brother and sister here, right?"

Yinyu glanced down at them then smiled as she swam in a circle around them. "Yeah, Mr. Potty Mouth and Nightmare Moon version two, they're alright. The whole gang is getting together, must be something fun. Missing an orgy might be worth that."

"I'm not a potty mouth, you pussy mad whoring heathen!" Ghadab snapped.

Yinyu giggled "Ghadab, you say the nicest things!"

Ghadab puffed out his chest. "Yes, yes I do."

Phobia now understood Luna's selection process for choosing Dreamwardens. She went out and found the most insane batch of night ponies that she could possibly find and offered them a completely insane job. It all made complete sense now. Phobia was also apparently completely insane too because here she was standing with all these other nutjobs and malcontents that she'd spend the rest of eternity with.

Two more stallions appeared as Phobia was thinking. One of the sat down and just stared with a flat expression up at Sha'am and the other scowled up at her.

The scowling one spoke. "Sha'am, I need to report that I've been attacked. A night pony came at me and jammed a needle into me, knocking me out."

Yinyu flew over to the stallion and patted him on the head with a fin. "That was just Sha'am trying to make sure you're asleep."

The stallion raised an eyebrow and spoke in a flat voice. "I was on my way to bed anyway. It could have waited five minutes."

Yinyu crossed her fins in front of her and gave Sha'am a disapproving frown. "I know! That's kind of what I said. Where does she get all these ponies who are on call to knock ponies out with darts and needles and whatnot anyway? Sister, you should appologize to me and Psychy Wikey."

The stallion looked at Yinyu calmly. "My name is Psychic Calm, not Psychy Wikey. You can call me Psy if you want, but not Psychy Wikey."

Sha'am looked down at the pair from her table. "I needed you both urgently, so I won't appologize. As for where I get these ponies, I get a few ponies here and there who think very highly of me and make it clear they are willing to do me little favors."

Yinyu spread her fins in outrage. "Little favors like shoving darts into ponies when they're in the middle of an orgy?!"

Sha'am waved a hoof at her. "You're more concerned I interrupted your extreme carnal sex than getting darted."

"Of course I am!" Yinyu shouted.

"Well, Yinyu is a mare fucking cock sucking whore so what did you expect?" Ghadab snapped.

Yinyu turned to Ghadab with a big smile on her face. "Ghadab you always know the best things to say about me. Thank you."

Ghadab bowed his head. "You're welcome."

Yep, most completely insane group of ponies that Luna could find. That was definitely the criteria.

Sha'am banished her table and looked down at the collective group. "Now that we're all here we can get on to business. Our sister, Phobia, has gone and decreed that we'll being giving judgement on a stallion in two days. With that in mind, we need to make sure that the three of you who are not bound yet are bound before we have to sit to judge."

Yinyu raised a fin like a student in a classroom. "Um, question. Ghadab too? Psychy Wikey is almost ready and you might be able to force Ms. Nightmares through, but Mr. Potty Mouth is pretty far behind."

Ghadab dug at the empty expanse like he would the ground and looked downward. "My whore sister is right. Luna has not given me much time. I'm ashamed to admit I'm far from prepared."

"I will see that you have the time you need to be trained between now and then if I have to commit suicide and load you up with enough tranquilizer to down an elephant in heat," Sha'am said. "We're going to all be there, one way or another, presenting a united front. If we lose credibility at this early stage it'll take years to undo the damage."

"And where is Luna right now? Shouldn't she be here?" Psychic Calm asked.

Sha'am shrugged. "Either in her own universe or awake. I didn't bother to check which. I'm not about to have a pony try to tranquize an alicorn from Equestria and cause some international incident. She'll just have to accept that we made a decision without her input. It isn't our job to live in her shadow. This is our realm and she'll accept our decisions here. She made us to take charge of situations, not await her approval. If she disapproves she'll just have to live with it. We shall go to her with issues when it's appropriate to do so."

Phobia crossed her forelegs and rolled her eyes. "Yes, because we're clearly the most responsible and stable group of ponies."

Sha'am sighed and put buried her face in her hoof. "We're an eccentric group, that's abundantly clear. You definitely have demonstrated that we have some issues with responsibilities that need to be remedied thanks to your hastily bringing us to have to pass judgement in two days. We're adapting to the situation at hoof. The training and binding shall be done. It may be agonizing for you three, but that's just the way it has to go. It might not seem like it, but we have what it takes to do this."

Ghadab flicked his tail. "I can deal with pain."

Psy raised an eyebrow. "I prefer to avoid agony if you can manage it. As has already been stated I am almost ready now."

Phobia took a deep breath. She had gotten herself into this situation, and her responsibility demanded she follow through. "I will do whatever's needed."

Yinyu swam around them all. "Don't worry brothers and sister. No matter how bad this training is it doesn't begin to compare with the binding. The binding is bad, worse than anything we do to misbehaving dreamwalkers. It isn't even the pain, which is the worst pain imaginable, it's what you see."

Psy snorted. "You're words of encouragement and support are rather lackluster, Yinyu."

Yinyu swam over to pat and ruffle his mane with a fin. "Awe, don't worry Psychy Wiley. I'll make sure you live through this."

"Again, my name is not Psychy Wikey."

Phobia shook her head. This was the group she would be spending eternity with and would have as her closest family of sorts, a twisted dysfunctional family. What did Luna even see in any of them that was worthwhile? Maybe the training would drive her insane and she wouldn't notice anymore how insane this all was.

Chapter 40

Tonya sat by Sunset's bed with her head hung low. Sunset hadn't awoken yet, but the fact she had seemed to stir a few times was promising that she might wake up soon. Lavender sat in a corner casually flipping through a human magazine of some sort, and would check Sunset on and off.

Aside from the occasional sounds Sunset made in her sleep it was silent in the room. Tonya was fine with silence for once. She wanted the next words said to be from Sunset. It called her that more ponies weren't concerned. Amber had come by briefly to check in her and then left. No other pony had bothered to come by.

Rudra had gone away soon after arriving and was asleep in one of the other rooms. Phobia and Rosetta were also asleep in another room.

She still didn't know how to feel about having messed with her best friend's mind. If she was a religious mare she would be praying right now that this time she did good. It galled her to admit it, but the idea of praying to some invisible sky spirit was becoming a more appealing thing as time went on. She needed some higher power to give her a help. If there was a pony that was lost and confused and in need of spiritual guidance that would be her.

When Sunset was better maybe she could ask Sunset to talk to her about God. That would make Sunset happy, and she loved making Sunset happy. She could go through the motions for Sunset. If she went through the motions enough maybe she'd even start to believe in it.

Tonya looked up as the door to the room opened and Rosetta walked in, looking tired.

Lavender looked at Rosetta with confusion. "Shouldn't you be asleep? I thought you were helping Phobia with her nightmares? And you Earth night ponies are usually asleep around this time of day anyway."

Rosetta found a chair and climbed up into it. "The old mare told me to scram while she and Phobia do whatever it is they're doing. I got punished while I was asleep for rudeness and figured waking up would be better recovery than trying to keep dreamwalking. When do you sleep anyway? You always seem to be awake whenever anypony comes over here."

Lavender gave a brief flap of her wings. "You certainly are taking whatever punishment she gave you well. As for my sleep I take naps when there isn't anything to be doing around here. Being an on-call nurse I don't have much that resembles a regular sleep schedule. Two hours here, another three if I'm lucky there. I'm used to it. I'll be happy when I get back to Equestria and get a well deserved vacation. But enough about that, what exactly did the old mare do to you, and are you sure your alright?"

Rosetta shuddered. "She drowned me. I suppose I should be grateful she didn't decide to get creative. She was probably being nice because she didn't want Phobia mad at her. It's my own fault. I knew better than to mouth off to one of them, the old bitch most of all. Being wife to one just further highlights how little excuse I had for making that mistake."

Tonya listened with wide eyes. "You probably hear this all the time, but you night ponies are crazy! Some pony tries to drown you and you just shake it off as if it's your own damn fault? You shouldn't put up with that!"

Rosetta sighed. "I knew better than to do that, especially before doing what I was required to do. The old bitch will probably calm her flanks down eventually. For now they're establishing order. Order we obviously need if there are any more ponies like Shadow Dancer out there."

Tonya shivered as she remembered that she was due up for judgement. "Um, any chance you can tell me what I can be expecting when my turn comes up? I'd really appreciate it if I knew what I'm supposed to do to defend myself."

Rosetta gave her a long look then sighed. "I can't tell you everything, and I'm not sure on all the details myself, but I suppose I can give you some help. First thing to know is the old bitch seems to be the one pulling you to judgement. That means the old bitch is the one that will dictate how your trial will go. That doesn't bode well for you."

Tonya's ears flattened. "Why's that?"

Rosetta looked her in the eyes. "Because she's probably the most punishment happy of the group, and she goes in harsh as possible. If it were some of the others you might have an easier time."

Tonya trembled. "So, I'm just screwed then?"

Rosetta shook her head. "Not necessarily. The old bitch might dictate how the trial will proceed, but they all have to come in agreement about judgement. They also do take into consideration intent and outcome. They also don't like killing ponies if they don't have to."

Tonya hopped down from her chair. "Wait! Death is a possible punishment here? And you and Phobia are not helping me out more?"

"Calm down," Rosetta said firmly. "I don't think there's a realistic chance they'll kill you. I don't know what they'll do, especially since you aren't a night pony, but not kill you. You haven't done anything with intent to harm or deliberately force anypony to do anything, right?"

Tonya kept her ears flat. If they found out about Number Crunch she was so dead. They didn't know though, and it was just a one time thing she'd never do again. She just had to keep that information from reaching them.

She shook her head. "No, nothing like that."

"Then even though I don't know what they'll do, you'll live," Rosetta assured her. "It won't be pleasant, but it won't be a death sentence. Maybe they'll just offer for you to swear the Oaths or offer you take some other compulsion as an option. The fact you aren't a night pony who should know better works in your favor too. Maybe Sha'am will just repeatedly kill you in the dreamscape, which is the equivalent of a spanking from her."

Tonya wondered if she could turn as green as Wild Growth. Killed repeatedly? And that was a light punishment? Night ponies were insane!

Rosetta stared at her and then spoke slowly. "I keep asking and I keep thinking you're hiding something. Did you do something worse? I don't want the worst to happen to you. It would devestate Phobia if she had to hand down the worst kinds of punishments on you, and I do consider you a friend too."

"Phobia wouldn't kill me," Tonya asserted. She hoped she was right about that.

Rosetta's gaze hardened. "Death isn't the worst kinds of punishment. Death is a mercy when the worst kind of punishment is in order. I don't think Shadow Dancer is going to die for what he did, I think he's going to get worse than that. He's going to get their justice, not death. It's better to die than to get their justice."

Tonya tried to imagine what could be worse than getting killed, she wasn't a very imaginative pony though. That might be a good thing in this case.

"Who's going to be in charge of his trial? The same pony as for mine?" She asked.

Rosetta shook her head. "No, Phobia is, she's the one who declared he'd get judgement. This's the first trial of it's kind and an example needs to be made. She's going to have to essentially throw the book at him if he's found guilty, and all signs seem to point to he will be."

"And I'm the second trial, and getting the nasty judge leading it," Tonya said slowly.

Rosetta scratched her ear with a wing. "I would take that as incentive to come clean about anything you've done. Both Phobia and I can tell you're hiding something, and I'm sure the old bitch will know too. Even if she didn't, Phobia would be duty bound to find out and she's still one of your judges."

The room felt uncomfortably hot all of the sudden. Tonya felt herself sweating. They were going to find out. What was she going to do?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a groan from the bed as Sunset finally seemed to wake up. Lavender hurried over to the bedside as Sunset slowly sat up.

"Don't move too fast. You've taken a hard blow to the head," Lavender instructed. Then put the edge of her wing out in front of Sunset's eyes. "How many wing fingers am I holding up?"

Sunset groaned and looked at the wing. "You only have a useless thumb that sticks out, you can't even hold up the rest because they're in the wing. Why bother asking?"

Lavender withdrew her wing with a smile. "It felt like it would be a familiar type of question based on what I read your human doctors do. The fact you were able to give me a coherent response is what I was looking for. My thumb is not useless either, I'll have you know. I can grip things with my wing thumbs pretty well and they also make night ponies better climbers than any other pony type. I was a three-year champion in tree climbing as a filly and two-year cliff climbing champion."

Sunset groaned again and glared at Lavender's wing thumbs. "Good for you and your ability to climb trees and cliffs you could just fly up anyway. Mind telling me what happened to me?"

Tonya couldn't hold back talking to Sunset anymore. "That crazy crystal pony Crystal Dreams bucked you in the head after absorbing your spell."

Sunset's face hardened. "I remember that now. Where is that pony that tried to attack my daughter?"

Rosetta answered first. "Last I saw of her my sister had her pinned to the ground after Tattered and I bloodied up her muzzle. She's not going to be an issue."

Sunset tried to rise. "I need to get back to negotiations then."

Lavender put a wing on Sunset and stopped her from rising. "You need to stay in bed. Number Crunch has everything in order. Once your daughter got involved Shadow Dancer pretty much caved in on everything."

"Phobia?" Sunset said with a shake of her head. "I remember she was there. She was speaking like an avenging angel to Shadow Dancer. I'd never seen her that way before. It was like she was some prophet come down from God declaring a revelation."

"Right..." Lavender said with confusion. "I have no idea what any of that means. You may have more after effects from that blow than I thought. Anyway, he did what she wished after she declared he would be judged."

"Like a prophet!" Sunset said joyfully.

"Um, Sunset, I think you're still a little loopy from the buck to the head," Tonya said carefully. She put her wing on Sunset. "Look at me. What you saw was not Phobia being a prophet. Phobia is a judge...of sorts, but she isn't a prophet. Do you understand?"

Sunset shook her head. "No, I don't. What happened then?"

Tonya took a deep breath. "It's a night pony thing, and apparently a me thing too since I can use mind magic."

Sunset jerked her eyes around to Rosetta quickly and Tonya quickly reached out a wing and guided Sunset's eyes back to her. "They know about me. Every night pony in town knows about me. I need your help Sunset, they're going to judge me. I need you to help defend me, otherwise Phobia might kill me."

Sunset narrowed her eyes. "Kill you?"

Rosetta growled. "I told you, they aren't going to kill you. If you want Sunset to defend you that's all well and good as long as she abides by the conditions they give for doing so. I was already planning on offering to stand in defense of you, but you aren't in that kind of danger."

Tonya looked over at the two night ponies and shook her head. "I am in danger. A lot of danger...I have a confession to make.

She paused and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She opened them and held the gazes of the two night ponies.

"I used mind magic maliciously. I used mind magic on Number Crunch to make her kill Swift Strike, and I need whatever mercy I can get."

Chapter 41

Sunset Blessing considered herself a simple mare with simple wants. What she wanted from life was to do God's holy work. Beyond that she just wanted to be a good mother to her daughter and a good friend and lover to Tonya.

To this point things had been going well overall. There had been some hiccups here and there, but overall she was doing an excellent job laying the groundwork for the pony world that God intended. It wasn't always easy, but serving the Lord wasn't supposed to be always easy, and it had provided her with opportunity after opportunity to further his work. She'd been given many blessings for her hard work, and new opportunities she never thought possible continued to open up before her by God's grace.

But now she was facing a trial of faith that she hadn't expected to face. The two things she loved most after God, her daughter and Tonya, were pitted against one another. For the first time in weeks she was uncertain what God wanted her to do.

Without realizing how it happened she found Rosetta hovering in the air with her muzzle planted right in her face.

"Did you put her up to that? You were ready to try to kill him that night. Did you just wait to have it done out of sight and took advantage of Tonya to do it? How could you take advantage of a mare that loves you as much as she does?" Rosetta demanded.

She heard Tonya speak up. "Rosetta, please, this was all me. I was the one that used my powers by my choice. She didn't ask me to do it. I just did it."

Technically that was true. She hadn't wanted Tonya to use her powers that way. She hadn't wanted poor Tonya to harbor that kind of guilt. Tonya harbored that guilt anyway. Tonya would never have even been put in that position if she hadn't asked Tonya to go to Number Crunch. Tonya's guilt was Sunset's guilt.

"How could you do such a thing...?" She heard Lavender ask in horror. She couldn't see Lavender; all she saw was her future daughter-in-law's judging face.

"I was angry! He had raped my best friend! I wanted him dead!" She heard Tonya yell. Still all she saw was Rosetta's judgemental face.

"I can't believe..." Lavender began shakingly then hardened her tone as she continued. "I have to go to Tattered Wing. A murder is a crime under her jurisdiction. She must be informed."

Sunset wanted to yell out an objection, but she couldn't actually think of an objection beyond the fact she didn't want Lavender to do that. She was stuck just staring silently at Rosetta's still scowling face.

She heard the door open and close, signaling Lavender's departure. She needed to snap out of this. Why was she not taking action? Tonya needed her right now.

She searched for what to do and zeroed in on something she didn't understand. "Why is Phobia going to judge you and kill you?"

"Because I used mind magic to..."

"No," Sunset said sternly. "I want to know why my daughter is going to be the one to do this. I know what you did already."

Rosetta finally decided to remove herself from Sunset's face and she could now see Tonya sitting beside her, tears in her eyes. Tonya sniffled and whiped her nose before answering. "Phobia is one of the ponies that punishes ponies for misusing mind magic. She's not the only one, but she'll be one of the ones that punishes me. She has to do it, it's her job."

Tonya's answer didn't answer all the questions, it actually added more questions. She needed to keep focused and keep her questions focused, short, and to the point. "Since when is this her job? Who gives her the authority? Why have I heard nothing about this?"

Tonya turned her eyes to Rosetta and Sunset followed them. Rosetta looked at the two and sighed. "I can't give you any information on that. These are night pony secrets. Tonya knows some things because she uses mind magic and is getting tried for her actions."

Sunset grit her teeth. She needed answers. "What if I ask Tonya to compel me to secrecy? I need to know. This is my daughter and Tonya we're dealing with."

"Sunset, we agreed no more messing with your mind," Tonya objected. I don't want to hurt you by accident because I keep layering it on over and over."

Rosetta gave Tonya an appraising look. "Always devoted, aren't you? Since she's consenting I don't think they'll have an issue with it. If they do then I'll take the punishment for saying it was good enough. I still won't tell everything though."

Sunset looked over at Tonya and touched a hoof to Tonya's face. "One last time. I'm doing this for you, not for me. I need to know everything I can to protect you. I love you, and I love Phobia too, and I need to know what I can to help make this right."

Tonya's eyes glistened. "You never say that...that you love me. I know you do, but it's nice to hear it from you. You've always dance around saying it. You say I deserve your love, you say you desire my love, you told me once about how I was brave for doing something that might risk your love, you never say you love me--not directly."

Sunset's chest tightened up. "I'm telling you now, and I'll make a point of telling you more often from now on. I might have neglected making you feel loved, and I'm sorry for that. I do love you though. I might also have neglected my daughter yet again. She obviously has had things going on that I failed to see...again."

Sunset choked up as realization hit her. "Despite everything that has changed I'm still a horrible lover and mother. I can't change what I've done wrong already, but I can do better. God is telling me that I need to do better. Right now I need you to help me do better. If me getting compelled to secrecy is what I need to do to help you two then that's what I'm want to happen, and damn any side effects."

Rosetta snorted. "Well, I see some things that Phobia gets from you. When you two commit to something you're both willing to charge in without a thought about the dangers to yourselves." Rosetta smiled. "It's actually very admirable by night pony standards. You get a gold star, Sunset. Pick up a few more and you might get me to begrudgingly call you Mom."

Earning a few more gold stars would be worth it just to have to watch squirm when she finally uttered the word Mom. She didn't actually hate Rosetta. The mare did make Phobia happy, and that was what was important. She also appreciated how fiercely protective Rosetta was of Phobia. What she didn't care for was Rosetta's snide little attitude towards her and treating her like she was some sort of villain. What had she done to earn her future daughter-in-law's enmity? Nothing, that's what. It was completely uncalled for.

That didn't matter right now though. Right now what mattered was Tonya. Phobia was supposedly going to do something terrible to Tonya. Sunset knew that Phobia couldn't be doing this because she wanted to. Tonya was too dear to Phobia for that. Tonya was also the one that had gotten Sunset to start really thinking of Phobia as her daughter instead of her son. It was only because of Tonya that any rift between Sunset and Phobia that had developed over the years had been mended at all. Tonya was only in this position at all because of how much she cared about her friend. Tonya did not deserve this, Phobia didn't deserve this, and she wasn't about to let either of them get hurt by this.

Tonya was looking at her now with sad eyes. Tonya was facing judgement for essentially murder and even now Tonya was still more worried about her. "Tonya, if it hurts me I don't care. There are times for worrying about what might happen so you must consider everything with care and proceed with caution and foresight, and there are also rare times you just have to take action and worry about the consequences later. Protecting you is worth getting hurt for, and this is a time for action because time is not on our side. The Equestrian has already gone to the Broken One. Please, just do it."

Tonya looked down briefly then nodded. She gave a few brief flaps of her wings and joined Sunset on the bed. Sunset scooted over just a little bit to give Tonya some more room. Tonya then took off her medallion using a wing and passed it to Rosetta who accepted it with hers.

"Alright, look me in the eyes and let me think about what I need to say," Tonya instructed. "I want to make sure I can word this right using wants and I'm horrible with words. I really can't afford to mess this up though."

Sunset nodded and did as instructed. She sat there admiring Tonya's violet eyes as the pegaus sat and thought.

"I'm going to be right back," Rosetta informed then. "I'm going to go talk to the front desk pony and have him delay Tattered when she arrives, then I'm going to wake Rudra up and have him watch over Phobia as she sleeps. When I'm done with those things I'll be back "

Sunset did a brief nod of her head while Tonya mouthed a quick okay to the night pony. It hadn't even occurred to her to ask where Phobia was up to now. It should have struck her as strange that Rosetta was here and Phobia wasn't. Why did they need the doctor to look over Phobia in her sleep? Motherly instinct rose up in her and made her want to go rush to her daughter to find out what was wrong. The only things stopping her were the fact that Rosetta wasn't in a panic and Tonya's beautiful eyes still holding her gaze.

Tonya started speaking slowly. "You want to keep the secrets entrusted to you. Whatever happens you don't want to betray the trust Rosetta and Phobia place in you. You don't want to use your daughter's secrets for your own gain. You don't want to use your daughter's secrets to advance any other plan. You want to keep all you learn about how night ponies enforce justice among themselves secret from those who don't know. You do not want to ever take vengence for what decision is given for me. You will comply with Phobia's wishes involving this. You will keep the trust given to you today."

Sunset's mind and vision went fuzzy for a moment, as was common when Tonya used her powers. She heard Tonya speak as her head started to clear. "I love you, Sunset Blessing. No matter what happens, thank you."

Tonya then wrapped her legs around her in a hug and they sat silently as they heard Rosetta and Rudra speaking somewhere close by. A moment later the door opened and hoofsteps could be heard entering before it shut. The two of them released and turned to look at Rosetta.

Rosetta looked worried as her tail twitched and she kept glancing at the door. Rosetta finally turned back to them with tear filled eyes and spoke. "Phobia is suffering in her dream, not normal nightmare suffering. She's in intense physical pain. I don't dare wake her, she said this might happen. It doesn't make me any less scared for her. I told Rudra not to wake her no matter what, and to just try to make sure she stays alive. Let's get this done quick. I want to be in there with her. We all probably want to be in there with her."

Sunset's ears flattened as she jumped to her hooves, nearly dislodging Tonya from the bed. Tonya had to flap her eleings a few times to not going tumbling off. She glared down at Rosetta with full motherly fury as her horn lit up.

"What's wrong with her? You didn't say anything about her being hurt, or possibly dying! Why are we dealing with this if she could possibly be dying right now!" She bellowed.

Rosetta bravely held her gaze. "What's wrong right now will be explained to you if you two are done with the compulsion. And she's doing what she has to do. She chose this and you will respect this. She promised me she would come back to me okay. I trust her, no matter how worried I am. Are you ready to learn what's going on or are you going to be difficult again?"

Sunset grit her teeth and sat down. "I won't betray her secrets. Tonya did what was needed. Now explain what's going on."

Rosetta looked over at Tonya briefly to see Tonya nod and then looked back to Sunset. "Phobia is part of a very small group of night ponies that are responsible for making sure dreamwalking and mind magic are not misused. This group holds an enormous amount of power while dreaming. Every night pony that can dreamwalk knows and fears them."

"And this is why Shadow Dancer complied to her when he was so obstructive to the rest of us?" Sunset asked.

"In part," Rosetta replied as she flew back over to her chair. "He complied because he had used mind magic maliciously and he knew that he was facing judgement from her and her group. He's hoping for some mercy. I highly doubt that Phobia will give him that mercy, but he's still trying for it. They are going to do horrible things to him, and nothing can stop them."

Sunset looked at Tonya who was trembling beside her and then looked back at Rosetta. "And Tonya faces judgement as well for what she's done?"

Rosetta gave Tonya a sad look. "Yes, she does. I didn't think it was going to be that severe till today. But if she really forced Number Crunch to do murder that is likely to be very bad. I hadn't even imagined she have done something like that. I don't see her getting out of this without severe punishment now. Everything else she did she could have gotten off lightly on, but not that."

Sunset tried to think she needed more information. Things looked bad, really bad. Even if Tonya somehow got out of the problem with this group of night ponies she still faced being an accessory to murder at the very least from regular law enforcement, if not being charged with murder herself. That she herself had tried to arrange it wasn't even worth thinking about, it was Tonya who mattered now.

"What about Number Crunch; can we get her to testify on Tonya's behalf?" There was still the issues Number Crunch would be facing with law enforcement too, but Number Crunch was at least not facing these night ponies. Perhaps she could negotiate something with Tattered Wing. They already kind of had a gentlemare's agreement about this. One issue at a time though.

Tonya tapped her forehooves together. "I think Number knows what I did. She was very angry at me. She said I betrayed her."

Sunset blinked. How was that possible? Number Crunch hadn't come to her about any of this, and hadn't shown any hostility to her. If Number Crunch had realized what Tonya had done she surely would have come yelling at Sunset about it, not simply going on business as usual--at least not if she was already venting rage at Tonya. Something felt off about that. That was something to look into.

"What will I be doing to defend Tonya?" She asked. It seemed a silly question, but this was clearly not a normal trial.

Rosetta shook her head. "I don't have any idea. You'd have to ask Phobia. I don't know the full instead and outs of this. Only that the old bitch is going to be head judge and there will be a prosecution, defense, and witnesses are allowed. All the judges, which includes Phobia, will come to some decision."

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Who's the old bitch? Also, who's the prosecution?"

Rosetta frowned. "I have to ask Phobia if I can say who she is, but I don't think I'm allowed. I can say she's pretty damn fanatical about this kind of stuff. They all are to some extent, but she dials it up a level. She's extremely harsh and she won't hesitate to hurt anypony that crosses her. She can be reasonable about things done in ignorance, but if you did something diliberately or when you should know better she's the devil made flesh."

God help me. She needed some favors. "And the prosecution is who?"

Rosetta shook her head. "I don't know. I'll still stand in defense for Tonya. I don't want Phobia to be hurt by this."

That was a small favor at least. It did bring back to mind the pressing issue in the other room.

"What's happening to Phobia right now? Why is she in pain?" Sunset asked as she narrowed her eyes at Rosetta.

Rosetta rubbed her wing and her eyes started watering again. "To be what she is she has to undergo a certain process. It's a process that can kill her if she's not ready for it. With how fast things are going to go with Shadow Dancer she has an urgency to undergo that process sooner rather than later. Luna was helping her get ready, but then the rape happened and everything got put on hold. Now she's forcing herself to get ready at an accelerated rate far faster than what Luna would have done and it's painful, but if she isn't ready the process afterward will kill her. I hate seeing her in pain, but I'm not going to risk losing her. This is what she wants to do though."

The room suddenly felt very cold. This could kill Phobia and Rosetta was letting it happen?! She had to stop herself from lighting up her horn, hurling Rosetta through a wall, and charging over to where her daughter was sleeping. The only thing stopping her was she was unsure if this process that Rosetta mentioned was an inevitability. If that was the case there couldn't be anything worse she could do. She had to do what she was good at, look at the big picture.

Plus, this was what Phobia wished.

Rapid hoofsteps could be heard and the door swung open to reveal Rudra Patel. "All of you come over to Phobia Remedy's room quickly. She's awake and she wishes to speak to all of you."

Sunset didn't need to be told twice. She jumped down from her bedand quickly pushed past the doctor to make her way into the hallway. As soon as she was out in the hallway she picked up on Phobia's scent, which was strangely stronger than usual, yet clearly her. She quickly followed it to the appropriate room with Rosetta hot on her tail and Tonya right behind the two of them.

Her eyes went wide as she saw her daughter laying on the floor. Phobia's fur was soaked in sweat, so much so it actually dripped from her and her tail and mane hung limply with the caught up moisture. She was panting and her eyes were red. Her chest was visibly sucking in as much breath as she could as she sat up on her forelegs with her rump twisted on it's side on the ground.

Her first instinct was to go grab up her daughter, but she needed to be focused. She instead turned to Rudra. "Get her some water quickly you dolt! You see how much she's sweating and how much fluid she's lost! You call yourself a doctor?"

Rudra immediately hurried off as Rosetta zipped by Sunset to grab Phobia up first.

"Is it over? Are you bound? Please tell me it's over," Rosetta pleaded as she gripped Phobia in a tight hug.

Phobia didn't seem to have the strength to return the hug. Instead she just spoke. "No, not done. Psy is done. I'm next. Needed to make sure I didn't thrash. Need to make sure I get fluid. Need to make sure I see you...in case goes wrong."

Sunset couldn't stand this. Her daughter was clearly not in shape for some new ordeal. This was just getting ready for the thing that might kill her and she was planning on jumping right back into it? Was she insane?!

"Can't this wait for a little while so you can regain your strength? A few hours at least? Surely it can wait a few hours," Sunset pleaded.

Phobia looked at her tiredly. "Rosetta been talking to you?"

Sunset came over and put a hoof on her daughter softly. "She has. I had to take a God damned compulsion to keep my mouth shut about everything, but whatever it takes. Please don't do this if it can wait. I want to see your wedding, and my grandfoal, and I can't stand here and lose you. Don't you care about me, your father, or Rosetta? Don't you care you're carrying a foal that will be lost if you die? Why does this override all that? Why is this so important that you'd risk all that? Risk your life?"

Phobia just hung tiredly on Rosetta's shoulder as Rudra returned with a thermos of water and held it up to Phobia's lips with a wing. Phobia sipped slowly from it as they all waited. Rudra would pull back for a second here and there to let her swallow and breath then bring it back to her lips. This continued on until Phobia finally shook her head she didn't want any more.

"You all matter to me, and that's why I have to do this," Phobia explained with a little more strength than before. "You can't defend yourselves against ponies like Shadow Dancer or Tonya or me. I have to make sure you're safe. I have to protect. I'll be okay, I just need you to watch over me and keep me alive while I do this. In a few hours I'll never be able to be taken away from you."

"It can't wait just a little while?" Sunset pleaded one more time.

Phobia shook her head. "If I wait now it will have to wait days. I don't have days. I committed myself to this happening in my haste by declaring two days on Shadow Dancer, but now I have to follow through with what I said. If my credibility faulters now it will take a long time to get back. A long time while ponies and humans are getting hurt by mind magic."

Sunset bit her lip hard, hard enough if bled. She wasn't going to be able to sway Phobia. She just had to accept that. That meant the next thing was making sure Phobia lived through this.

She looked at the other ponies in the room. "Help get her on a bed. Find something to help strap her down so she won't thrash. Get her some tranquilizers and sedatives to make sure she stays asleep and not moving too much. Do whatever she needs, but I'm not losing my daughter today."

Chapter 42**

Chapter 42**

Phobia stood again in the dreamscape for perhaps the last time. After today she would either be part of the dreamscape or she would be dead.

Around her stood four of her fellow Dreamwardens. Ghadab was not present as he was still being trained. Psychic Calm looked at her and she met his eyes. He had just endured this, though his face was unreadable she could see the sympathy in his eyes. Pain was coming, and sorrow, and regret, all like she'd never felt before.

Better to die than to receive the Wardens' justice, but also better to die than become a Warden. The Wardens accepted far more torture in their binding than any punishment they could ever inflict on an individual. If she was only so lucky to get the punishment that Shadow Dancer had coming to him instead. This is what had to happen though.

"The four of us are in agreement, you are well enough trained to be bound. With four of us working to bind you it shall move quickly, but I regret that you won't be able to percieve that," Sha'am said as she looked at Phobia. "Now is your last chance to back out of this. Once you are bound you are one with the dream realm, and you shall know no death here until all dreams have ended. History has shown us that is not eternity, but it is still longer than our wills to carry on can endure. Are you prepared to serve until your will to exist is exhausted?"

"If I don't do this many will suffer," Phobia said firmly.

"That's true," Sha'am said with a nod. "But you shall outlive them all if you do, and you shall suffer for endless ages. We are comparing the concerns of millions over a lifetime to the concerns of one over potentially millions of lifetimes. Who can say in the balance of things which is deserves more concern? You have to make a choice. Only you can decide which matters more to you, no matter how anypony else feels you should decide."

"I choose to be bound and protect our fledgling dream realm," Phobia said just as firmly as before.

"Very well," Sha'am said as she turned her head to Psychic Calm. "I look to you, brother, to give her the Oaths she will hold herself to for all time."

Psychic Calm stepped forward and looked her calmly in the eyes. "These Oaths are not inherient to being a Dreamwarden. They were made so the mistakes of the past would not be repeated. Our power to cause suffering is incalculable if left unchecked. Before the binding we put safeguards in place. Are you prepared to give your Oaths as a Dreamwarden?"

"I am'" Phobia replied.

Psy gestured with a hoof and a small globe with a million points of light appeared. As Phobia watched the globe Psy began speaking.

"We hold the power to extinguish the lights of minds," Psy said as a darkness started spreading through the globe and the lights vanished one by one. "As a Dreamwarden we swear that never again shall a Dreamwarden seek to establish order by using our power to put out all lights. Our job is to protect the dream realm, not to be it's end. Swear it!"

"As a Dreamwarden I swear I will never seek to use my powers in this realm to extinguish it," Phobia said as she watched the last lights within the globe die out. She then felt pressure on her from all around her, like she was being tied by a million ropes at once. She actually dropped down to lay down under the physical force of the compulsion.

Psy reignited the globe with lights again. "Your next Oath. As Dreamwarden you have the power to twist all lights to obey your mind, making them but an extension of your own mind." As he spoke the lights went from twinkling all at random to pulsating in a single orderly way as they slowly converted into one light. "Never again will a Dreamwarden try to force order through sameness. Our job is to protect the dream realm, not make it a reflection of our will. Swear it!"

"As a Dreamwarden I swear I will not violate the uniqueness of the lights, even those I judge will keep their light unique," Phobia said as she watched the last of the lights form into one within the globe. Again she felt the pressure come down on her as the compulsion sealed itself into her.

Psy made the lights diverge again into a million unique points. He then zoomed into one before continuing. "Most lights have no power to impact the dream realm in any way or to force themselves upon the lights of others. Whether the individual be good or bad they are a unique light. We shall reserve ourselves only for taking action against those lights with the power to dominate others. Never again will a Dreamwarden use their power to try to bend their light to our desires. Our job is to protect the dream realm not be a tyrant over the powerless. Swear it!"

"As a Dreamwarden I swear that I will only take adverse action against those that dreamwalk or use mind magic, no matter how much I may wish to intervene I will not bring judgement to those who have no magical power to bend minds," Phobia said as she watched the darkness snuff out the light. She felt the compulsion come again and bring yet another layer of tightness around her.

Psy zoomed back out the globe so it was looking at the millions of lights again. The individual lights among them started trying to dominate the others and the darkness in the center only bound itself into a single light. "As time goes on we all grow weary and neglect for our duties inevitably happens. The dream realm is then at risk as the powerful try to dominate the powerless. Never again shall a Dreamwarden sit and do nothing as this occurs. If you are weary you shall find an heir and raise them up to fight for the dream realm in your stead, binding yourself into eternal dream only afterwards, not before. Swear it!"

"As a Dreamwarden I swear that if I grow tired of my burden of guarding the lights against those who would dominate them I will first find an heir to my legacy and then bind myself into an eternal dream, never to interact with another again. The lights shall always have a Dreamwarden guarding them," Phobia said. The binding into an eternal dream wasn't completely eternal in truth, only until all the lights went out would it fade though, finally releasing her to whatever afterlife there was.

The compulsion applied the pressure to her again. And it felt like her entire body, imaginary as it was, was being crushed in a vise. She would have screamed in pain if she were capable of opening her mouth. It was the worst thing she ever felt, the force of the combined compulsions pressing down on her, crushing her. If this was her waking body she would have been like an orange that had a military tank run over it. There was no good way to describe the pressure.

Despite the pressure she could hear Yinyu speaking. "Sorry about how strong those compulsions are. They aren't much fun. When we finish binding you they'll be kind of baked into you and it won't be noticeable then. They're there for a reason though. Dreamwardens have done some very naughty things in the past. To be honest, when you see the past you'll wish we had more compulsions. These are the ones Luna gave us and we're all going to be equal when it comes to them."

Phobia didn't have any capability to actually respond to that, the force of the magic from the compulsions all but held her in place. It felt like they were trying to condense her into a tight ball.

"But now comes the really painful part," Yinyu continued. "We're about to make you experience everything in the dreamscape at once. Mortal minds are not equipped to deal with all of that at once, that's why we see the dreamscape the way we do. To make it manageable. We'll start working right away to bind you. It will only take a few seconds, but for you it will feel like a lot more than that."

No further warning was given. The entire world just switched suddenly to bright light. There was no more stary expanse because everything was condensed down to a single one demensional point.

Pain ceased to be a thing of the body, because she had no more form in the dreamscape. She had a consciousness and her mind, and every consciousness and mind of every dreamer overlaid hers.

"Come here big boy and give mama a kiss."

"No! Please go away!"

"Why haven't you done your homework Mr. Buchanan?"

"If I hide in this bush no one will see I'm a pony."

"Why won't the humans just leave me alone?"

"And the next billion dollar lottery winner is..."

"I don't want my future dictated to me, but if I change back to human will that ruin everything that's been going right with Dad?"

"Here kitty-kitty-kitty!"

"The greatest show on Earth!"

"The queen is here at my front door for tea!"

"No, no, no, my tail! Where's my tail!"

"Michael? Where are you? Why'd you leave me?"

"The humans hate us so much. What did we ever do to them?"

"Where has the white mare gone? Please, come back!"

"Do-re-me-fa-so-la-te-doe."

"And that's why the lion ride the dumpster truck to Brussels. To get his giraffe a flute."

"No more clowns. I don't like clowns."

"I don't know the answers to this test. I missed every day of class. Oh my God, I'm going to fail."

"Oooohhh, Maud will love this one and...wait...am I getting watched?"

"They'll never find out."

"Mice in my bed! Mice in my bed!"

"Oh, that's perfect. Keep touching me like that Ms. Swanson. You we're always my favorite teacher."

Layer upon layer of dreams and minds flooded hers. There was no sorting them out. She didn't know where they ended and she began, or if she was them or if she was a figment of her imagination. Fragments filled her mind and her mind let off a silent scream that it didn't know what it was. She just wanted it to end, for all of it to go away, and if nothing was left of her at least it would stop.

Then suddenly it did stop, and there was blackness. From that blackness a thousand tiny little lights appeared faintly. Consciousness arose and it felt offended by these little lights because they grew brighter and were unordered. It annhilated all that grew brighter. Time passed, countless years of dim light. The bright lights appeared again and again they were extinguished.

This process repeated itself time and time again and the consciousness grew tired and let the bright lights stay. They would one by one flicker out on their own only to be replaced by new lights. And as time went on they grew even brighter than before.

Finally one of the little lights came to the consciousness and spoke to it. "Great one, you are old and tired. Let me take you your burden and let you sleep at last."

The consciousness did not know what words were said, but it could sense intent. It was so tired from being here so long. It made the little light like itself and them it curled into it's own light and slept.

Time passed, an incalculable amount of time. The new consciousness grew tired and bored. It stared at all the lights and grew annoyed. They moved so randomly about and ceased existing and coming into existence with no feel of order. They needed order.

The consciousness exerted itself and there was now order. Each light glowed in perfect Harmony, each light vanished when it said to vanished, and new lights joined when it said to join. There was order, there was harmony in the lights.

Time passed on and from time to time the lights would try to fight it. It was such an effort in futility to fight against it and its harmony. No light had the power to flicker as it chose while it existed, yet why did they keep trying? Curiosity stirred in it and it let one light resist and do as the light wished.

The light pulled other lights into disorder as well, and it spread like a plague though all the lights. The consciousness let this continue until all the lights were in disorder again and then reasserted itself over all of them, including the original disobedient light. Once again harmony was restored.

Then to experiment further the consciousness released its hold on the original light again and waited to see what would happen. The light flickered back into disorder and it could feel it trying to work against the harmony again. This time it let the light struggle in vain as it kept itself strongly asserted over over the rest of the lights. After some time the light just ceased to be.

Ages past and disorder began to spread again, and the consciousness grew confused. The disorder spread at random, with no light actively fighting against the harmony. What was causing this disorder? It was asserting itself over the lights like, but something else unseen was interfering with the harmony.

The only thing to do was examine the lights closer. It narrowed it's consciousness and put part of it I'm to one of the lights.

It had been so long since the consciousness had experienced anything but the realm of lights. It vaguely remember something from before, so long before. What was it before? It had a name, it had something other than consciousness.

Tregez remembered himself. He was not born in the world of light he was born in a world of rock, fungus, and fire. How long had it been since he had experienced anything but the lights?

This light, he learned, spent much of it's time in a world outside the world of lights and even now reflected it within itself.

The expanse before him was as alien from his old world as the realm of lights was from it. Massive purple structures that glowed softly in the darkness and stretched from the soil far up into the sky surrounded him. In a clearing near him was a small fire which had creatures huddled around it. This was of course only a reflection of the world on the other side, and most of these creatures were constructs of the light, but one construct held consciousness. One of them was an avatar of the light.

Tregez observed the constructs and the avatar from a distance. They stood on two ridgidly solid legs that bent at a few joints. They had two additional limbs that they used separately for reaching and grasping. They had another strange appendage at the top of their bodies that held their ears, mouth, and eyes. Two of each, except one mouth. There faces were expressive, and their bodies were covered in a short dark fur.

Tregez looked at himself and compared himself to them. He had many appendages, over a hundred, and there was no difference in which appendages were used for moving or for grasping. It had but one eye, one mouth, and one opening from which to hear from, all on it's main body. He remembered all things had similar such bodies as his when he last moved through the world. Why were these things so different? Why was everything so different than he remembered? How had he even forgotten that there was more than the world of lights?

He tried to remember when he last was elsewhere than the world of light. It had been so long ago. He had found his way into the world of light while he was resting. He had heard there was a great being, greater and older than anything he could imagine there. He had been great and respected in his own world, but word of this being had captivated his mind, and he had hungered to rise to be like it. That being had made him like itself, and tucked itself away in response to his desire.

And so he had stayed in the world of light after, and with time forgot what came before...until now.

They were eating some four legged creature at least half their size. This was but a reflection of this particular light's world, but it was likely this was what it was like. Tregez wished to find out more about the other world and how it had changed since he was last in it. He approached the fire.

As he got close the avatar of the light looked on in fright at him. He was curious why...she, the avatar was a she, was afraid. The constructs carried on as if nothing was out of the ordinary rather than reflect the avatar's mood. A curious reaction indeed.

The female stared at him in shock and fear. "A grah, all the grahs are supposed to be dead. You can't be real."

He paused as he considered what she said. She didn't actually speak words to him, just concepts and ideas. The language she actually used was foreign to him with alien sounds, yet he understood it anyway. He even understood the term grah as a reflection of his physical species though he had never used any term at all for it in the past. There had been no need to identify themselves.

"I live on in the world of lights and watch over it, we're in one of those lights now and you're the avatar of it," he said.

The female's eyes narrowed as she looked around. "World of lights? Do you mean dreams? This is just a dream then?"

"Dream?" He said curiously, finding meaning in the word. "Yes, a dream. This is a dream."

Her eyes focused on him then widened. "You're the Dreamwarden! The one our ancestors worshiped and our elders hand stories down about. You were the one who forced all to be of one mind, before the fire lizards came."

"Fire lizards?" He asked. He reached out with and felt the other lights looking for something to connect the term with. He found echoes of the term but could not find a light that identified as a fire lizard. "What is a fire lizard?"

She looked at him in shock again. "You're supposed to be some great god, Dreamwarden. How do you not know what a fire lizard is?"

"I have been...tired...and not paying much attention to the lights," he explained, feeling strangely chastised. "The lights have been behaving strangely for some time. I only now became curious enough to look into them."

"Only now!" The female shouted as she stood up quickly. "They have terrorized our people for centuries now, and you only now become curious? What kind of god are you to be so blind?"

For the first time in many aeons Tregez felt shame. He still did not know of these fire lizards and the female did. She knew things he did not, yet he was the one who was in control of all, or so he thought.

"I have been...tired," he repeated, as if that was a satisfactory answer. "I am named Tregez, and it has been so long since I have spoken to another consciousness."

The female sighed and sat. "I am Kir'ta daughter of Kir'sa sister of Kir'ji mother of Kir'pe, and I speak to many every day. And not a day goes by that I don't hear stories of another family attacked by the fire lizards. If I were a god I would at least visit my people and try to give them hope. Not just ignore them as you have Dreamwarden."

"I have grown tired," Tregez repeated. He could think of nothing else to say. He was ignorant, and he was telling the truth.

"How old are you that you are so tired, Tregez the Dreamwarden?" Kir'ta asked as she tossed a stick on the fire.

"I'm not sure. I lack a reference to give an answer," Tregez answered. "I know the feeling of how long your light has existed in comparison to me. How old are you, Kir'ta?"

Kir'ta took another stick and poked the four legged creature hanging over the fire. "The next coming of the cold season will be my thirtieth. If I don't die to a fire lizard as well. I have made it longer than most. I must find my daughter a mate soon so our family may survive another generation."

"I can only estimate my age based on what you say, but I estimate I have lived four-hundred thousand of your cold seasons," Tregez said slowly.

"Truely the age of a god," Kir'ta said absently as she continued to poke at the animal. "I didn't know that anything could be so old, not even the world."

"I'm tired, and only now realize how long I have been here," Tregez said as he remembered. "There was a great one before me that was around even longer, but I seemed to have tired faster. I asked to let him rest and he gave over his mantle to me."

Kir'ta stopped poking at the beast and looked at him. "And do you want me to do the same now for you? Is that why you are here? To pass your mantle and let me bring hope to my people as the new Dreamwarden?”

He looked at her. "I'm so tired and wish to rest. Please, watch over the lights for me so I can dream."

Time passed. Endless ages more.

She was Kir'ta , the Dreamwarden, and she was tired. In ages past she had tended to the dreams with care, being ever vigilant, and calming the fears of her people. She had been happy and she had been proud. With her people's newfound resolve they were able to push back against the fire lizards and many threats after. They had gone from simple wandering nomads to creators of great cities and wonders of magic. The world had seemed so promising.

Now her people were gone, and the great cities did not even have ruins to give testament to their existence. The world had shifted and changed many times. New creatures rose to fill the void left by her people. New creatures that built great works of their own, only for them to pass away and get lost to time as well. Time marched on, but only she survived ongoing. The time took its toll on her as it had taken its toll on her predecessor, and his before him. Nearly two million years she had endured, but she was tired now.

She looked out into the dreamscape and examined the dreams. There were now so many types of creatures that gave off magical dreams. She had much more understanding of what things were than either of her predecessors. Those grass eating beasts that had once roamed the land that her people had eaten as food had grown, evolved, and diversified. Now they were the strongest of the dreams and the strongest welders of magic. Now they were the builders of great works, these ponies.

She watched the dreams with disinterest. These ponies were divided into tribes by features and magic and the tribes fought incessantly. There were the earth ponies that grew food, the pegasi that controlled the weather, and the unicorns that did great works of magic. Those were the primary tribes, but there were others. There were the crystal ponies that even now made a great city in the frozen north. There were the kirin that hid away in sheltered valleys. There were taller ones that made their home in desert lands. Lastly, and most interesting to her in her boredom, were the nightborn ponies that tread not only in their realm, but also in hers.

She watched them and she could only be surprised at their proficiency in moving from dream to dream, and in dominating minds. They used the other ponies to make war for them after dominating their minds, and they grew strong. A single one of these nightborn ponies could take control of a whole village of ponies and use them as weapons against others. The other ponies fought back of course, and so many lights flickered out of existence. She had seen conflicts before. These nightborn ponies, though powerful, would eventually lose this war and be just more dust left to the ages.

"Dreamwarden! I dost demand your presence!" Came a haughty voice from within the dreamscape.

She turned her attention to this insolent being that called out to her. It was yet another pony, of a type so rare she didn't even count it as one of the tribes, an alicorn. This one was dark furred and female, with a moon upon her flank. Kir'ta searched for a name to put to her and found it, Luna.

Out of shear boredom she made an avatar of herself to speak with Luna. The alicorn seemed to be seething with rage.

"You called to me, alicorn Luna?" She asked.

"Yes, I did summon you," the alicorn said with the same infuriating haughtiness as before. "Why did thoust abandon your duties? Are you not charged with guarding the realm of dreams? Why then do the night ponies invade the dreams of others so brazenly with diabolic intent while thou sits and dost nothing!"

Kir'ta yawned. "I've grown bored with the endless rise and falls of creatures. What do your night ponies really matter in the great scheme of things? What does anything matter? Soon your other ponies shall exterminate them and they will be just another failed creature."

Luna stepped back in shock. "They art living beings! That tis why they matter. They art living beings that deserve to continue living, but canst continue to be an ailment upon the land. Thou must bring them back to order!"

Kir'ta raised a claw dismissively. "They are as pointless as all other things. I have long since lost interest in the doings of mortal creatures."

Luna's eyes narrowed and blazed with an angry light. "Mortal beings are the foundation of thy very realm. Has thou grown so sedate that thoust care not about thy own very home?"

"Yes, I have," she said in low voice. "Perhaps it is time for me to go to dream forever and let the universe spawn some new Dreamwarden that will clense itself of dreams and let me finally join my people in the beyond."

Luna stepped forward and spread her wings wide. "Give us the mantle, Dreamwarden. If thou shall not do thy duty then thou shall allow us to take up that duty in thy stead."

Kir'ta laughed. "You wish to be Dreamwarden? You're an immortal if I understand alicorns correctly. You will never reach the point you can spend all your time here in the dream realm. You shall always be only half here."

Luna smiled. "Perhaps tis better that way. One who must always live in a world tis less likely to lose interest."

Kir'ta chuckled at the alicorn. "You're foolish if you believe that. I shall indulge you though. You want to be Dreamwarden, you shall be Dreamwarden, then I can be put to dream. Prepare yourself, foolish Luna, for I'm about to bind you, but first some Oaths."

Luna stood in a dream realm not her own and looked about dejectedly. There were so many dreams here. She had the power to split herself many times, but even at her greatest extent she couldn't possibly keep up with this. She was also cut off from her own dream realm by the portal. It seemed that the world of dreams on both sides could not cross that universal barrier. To pay attention to one would lead to the neglect of the other, and she lacked the power of her mantle here.

This world needed desperate attention though. It had just spawned over a billion magical minds, only half those actually ponies. Each of those partially transformed was here as well, many with magic that made their dreams stand as strong as the fully transformed ponies.

Beyond them there were now many human minds here, so faint the average night pony would never find them, but they could be felt with her Dreamwarden senses. Many humans had been exposed to the ETS virus and had been hit with the counterspell before the actual transformation could begin. That may have stopped the transformation, but the seeds of magic had been planted still. They were weak now, formless and seeking purpose, but those seeds would grow with time and generations. The magic would find purpose and form in time. Humanity's magical awakening had just been given an enormous boost.

She couldn't leave her own universe unattended to give this universe the full attention it needed. If she did it was only a matter of time before it spawned a replacement for her. And anything the universe spawned itself would not have the experience of prior Dreamwardens to keep it in check. It would be like her earliest predecessor all over again, order through death.

The same would happen here as well though, perhaps at a quicker pace thanks to the strong ambient magic and the countless magical minds it now possessed. That could not be allowed to happen.

There was only one choice. This world would need a Dreamwarden of its own.

She sat and considered what she needed to find in an ideal Dreamwarden. Compared to those that came before her she was fairly fresh to this job herself. A thousand years counted very little against the millions her immediate predecessor had been around before her. In many ways she was still growing into the position and learning wisdom. To raise a new Dreamwarden would be like a foal raising a foal.

She thought of Twilight and her friends and felt a bit of inspiration blossom. She would not make one Dreamwarden, but six, and they would learn and help each other. One of the greatest weaknesses of her and those that came before was their loneliness. This generation she would rectify that.

Her path was decided, all that remained now was to choose her six Wardens, and take care to choose a group both dedicated to the task, but also one that had unique personalities from one another that could counter each other's weaknesses and shortcomings.

She smiled as she already had a few ponies in mind.

Again the vision switched places and Phobia was aware of herself again, but was still watching the past play out. She had watched the secrets of Luna's universe and now her universe would divulge itself to her. Since she had no direct ties to the lineage and the history here, she only had the impressions that the universe could give her.

It began just as the other, with nothing. Only this nothing was much farther back in time than what she had just witnessed. Instead of millions of years back in time she looked back billions.

Things went just as before in Luna's universe. Magical minds came into existence over the years and the universe spawned a Dreamwarden to deal with them. This actually happened perhaps a hundred times in a row. With each time a new Dreamwarden being created because the last destroyed itself when destroying all those minds. It made it clear the cataclysm that typically followed the universe birthing its own Dreamwarden into existence, and it made Phobia wonder how many Great Ones there had been in Luna's universe before the one Tregez had taken the mantle of Dreamwarden from.

It took forever, but eventually there arose a primordial Dreamwarden that let at least the faint lights stay, thus not destroying itself. From there the history of the Dreamwardens here continued much like it had over in Luna's universe. Only there were many more generations of Dreamwardens.

Phobia knew their names, each that had names anyway. Most had names that were impossible for her physical form to pronounce, or would take forever to say because they were so long. Her universe had a thing for long names it seemed. They followed the same path. They took up the mantle, ages past, they grew tired and neglectful, they took a replacement, they bound themselves in dream.

Until the one she observed now. He was much like Luna was, immortal in the waking world and divided only spending half his time in the dreamscape. He reminded her of a dragon the way he looked. A scaled creature with salmon colored scales and wings. His name, like many of those that came before him, was far too long and complex to say. She shortened it in her mind and the universal language of the dreamscape shortened it to her perception when the memory played out.

The name she gave him was Joss, and his was a great civilization, greater than any that came before or after. It was still billions of years in the past from her, and she marveled at the seemingly impossible feats they accomplished with magic and science--though primarily magic.

There was another immortal there as well, not a Dreamwarden, but something that touched into some plane beyond the dreamscape. This one had white scales and was female, with a name just as long and unpronounceable. The shortened name that came to Phobia for her was Triss, and Triss was the greatest of her kind, perhaps the greatest being that ever lived. Joss and Triss didn't seem to get along though.

She watched a moment play out between them in The Hall of the Teachers.

"Joss, clearly you must see that this is what life should all be moving towards," Triss said to him. "You waste your talents not becoming something more. I can lead you to ascencion and you could understand so much more than you do now."

Joss snarled at the great teacher that walked beside him. "What you're doing is trying to invalidate life with your ascending, why can't one with so much knowledge see that? Life is struggle, and through struggle growth. You would take away everything's struggle and have us all stagnate."

"There has to be a highest point that can be reached, and I have found it," Triss insisted. "Once I have reached the next plateau of my power I will become something greater. All of us should aspire to become that, and finally reach a point that we can forever live in peace without struggle."

"My first plateau was good enough, I have no desire to push on further. This is filthy, Triss," Joss said as he pointed a claw accusingly at her chest.

Triss looked down at his claw and looked back up at him sadly. "No, this is the purest of all things. Haven't you as Dreamwarden seen the passage of time and how it can rip down all things? This is the chance to finally make us something that will endure without madness and corruption. You won't have to watch everything crumble ever again."

"All things must come to an end, Triss," Joss repeated, before flying off.
.
Time marched on and for an immortal that was immortal in both worlds it took a heavier toll on Joss than the passage of time had done before to Dreamwardens. Joss as a result grew to hate his immortality. He didn't just wish for the endless dream, he wished for oblivion. Oblivion seemed impossible though.

Then an answer presented itself. A pathway to oblivion.

A civilization of high science arose that was devoid of magic. They came to fear magic users and as years went by came to believe that magic must end. Joss watched their progress on trying to find a way to end magic from afar. They had created a great machine, a Devourer of magic, it was so perfect in its destructive capability, but it was flawed.

That could be rectified.

Joss went down into the workshops of the Devourer's creator and stepped inside. A dozen alarms went off instantly declaring his presence to the owner of the workshop, and Joss quickly found a weapon pointed in his face.

"You're one of those perversions come to destroy my work. If it weren't for the fact it would destroy my work I would unleash it upon you now," the scientist said as he held a long rod up to Joss's face.

Joss looked down upon the small armored creature. "Peace, thinker, you and I share a goal. I too desire the end of the perversions. Do you know what I am? I'm the Dreamwarden, and I wish an end to myself, and an end to magic."

"Why should I believe you?" The thinker said without lowering it's rod.

Joss smiled. "Because I know how to perfect your creation. As it stands it would only wander aimlessly and hope that it might stumble on a magical being. You understand too little about magic to give it a proper guidance system so it can seek out magical beings. Magic is everywhere so it can't home in on what's important, the users."

The thinker still did not lower his rod. "And why should I believe you would give me this knowledge?"

Joss hung his head. "Because I'm so very tired. You cannot slay me because I am tied to all magical minds. Please help me bring a final end to me. I shall perfect your work, and then I shall finally know true death."

And true death came. The universe was purged off all magical minds by the Devourers. The great teacher Triss fled to her higher plane without having reached her goal for others. And the magic of the universe grew cold and still.

Time marched on. New magical minds came into existence and more often than not were purged from existence before the Devourers could even reach them because a new primordial Dreamwarden arose and destroyed them and itself in the process. Sometimes things would begin to advance beyond that with new generations of Dreamwarden coming into being and magical minds beginning to flourish again, but these soon ended as the Devourers found them. Triss would try to touch and encourage those with magic along from her ascended plane, but nothing ever came close to what had been achieved in those early days. There was so much death, trillions of trillions of lives snuffed out by chance, primordial Dreamwarden, or Devourers. It grew so bad that the universe itself had the mourning for the loss of life imprinted on it.

Time marched on, and it was nearly the present. Faint lights appeared in the dreamscape once again. Such a small few, but they were there. Phobia awaited a Dreamwarden to appear as they always did, but before the lights could grow in brightness and number enough to spawn a Dreamwarden something else happened. ETS happened, and now it was no longer the past she was looking at, but the present, and she was Dreamwarden.

She reached out with her senses and felt the dreamscape as it was now for the first time herself. It felt much as it had from her memory from Luna. She felt over a billion minds and could feel night ponies dreamwalking among the minds. She could feel which of those had the Oaths on them and which did not, and it would be no effort at all to create her own avatars of herself to go converse with any of them. She observed her other Dreamwardens doing that right now even as they were finishing the binding.

There was something else though. Her binding was not fully done. She sensed something alien and familiar. Something that liked to meddle.

"Why did you show me that?" She asked the other consciousness.

She felt Triss's touch upon her mind. "Because I am tired of watching the death and destruction. You Dreamwardens and I are opposed on many things, but we share a common interest. We all want to protect and undo the sins of the past, and end the ongoing cataclysm. So as you were getting bound I let you see what happened here before. Please, heed my plea Dreamwarden and add another Oath to those you have already taken. Swear that what happened with Joss never happens again."

Phobia didn't even need to consider she just gave oath for it. "I swear that I will never seek to end all magical life by any means."

She felt something she thought might be a smile from Triss. "Good, please help and encourage your world to where it can bring an end to the Devourers. I shall leave you to your duties, Dreamwarden."

The presence departed and Phobia returned her current focus to her avatar that sat among her brothers' and sisters' avatars.

Sha'am smiled. "It is done. It is good to have you fully with us at last. Now let's have the five us focus on completing the training of our final brother so we can finally stand together as our predecessor Luna intended."

Chapter 43

"What do you mean your hands are tied? There has been a murder!" Lavender yelled at her.

This wasn't how Melissa was expecting her first two hours on the job to go at all. She certainly didn't expect to be seeing Lavender in her office demanding she arrest Tonya.

"I can't arrest Tonya on brainswashing, there's no law for it. What I can do is bring Number Crunch in for questioning since she has just been implicated in murder," Melissa said calmly.

"But Tonya made her do it! It's Tonya you should be going after," Lavender said as she stomped her hooves. "Is this some weird human thing? I don't understand human things well, but if this is I don't like it."

Melissa ran her fingers through her hair and then set her hands back in the desk. "I will see what can be done about bringing Tonya to justice if it's true. First I have to establish the crime. Tattered stressed to me that I need to do everything as close to by the book as I can. I haven't had time to figure out what by the book entails, but I know I can't go arresting Tonya when there isn't a law to charge her with breaking and I don't even have a body for a murdered victim. I'll bring Number Crunch in for questioning and then move from there."

"This is ridiculous, I'm going to go get Tattered Wing," Lavender said as she turned and exited.

Would it be bad if she quit on her first day of the job? She was already having ponies, Equestrian ponies that she knew well, question her actions because she was human. And they were demanding she arrest for murder one of the first non-night ponies she had actually made friends with.

This sucked so much.

She didn't want to think that one of her first friends had done something like this either. It was hard to deny a full confession though. Her job came before her friendship and she needed to start investigating.

She walked out of the office and up to the desk. She was a little suprised to find Megan watching the desk. The other woman was typing something up on the computer while simultaneously doing some other search on her phone. Megan didn't even notice her tell she was right up to the desk.

"Hi, Mel. How's your first day on the job? I know mine has gone pretty weird since Ms. Blessing went to the clinic."

Melissa shook her dead. "Two hours on the job and I have a murder case. Can you do me a favor and call Number Crunch over to my office? I don't have any contact numbers, Tattered doesn't have the ability to easily use a phone so she doesn't keep any contact phone numbers."

Megan started pulled out a manilla folder and started flipping through it. "I can give her a call for you, or you could just walk next door and get her. I'm pretty sure I saw her taking a smoke break outside. Didn't realize any pony actually smoked till I saw her doing it."

Having been a pony herself she was pretty sure smoking would be downright detestable to most ponies, far more than humans. The smell of it and the messing with air quality hit pony noses hard. Peer pressure might push a pony to smoke since they were very easily drawn into what others were doing, but there wasn't a large peer group for it that Melissa knew of. That Number Crunch was smoking might be a sign of extreme stress or nervousness, as Melissa couldn't see a pony picking the habit back up for the pleasure of it. Number Crunch did have a lot of responsibilities that could cause a lot of stress, but so did other ponies. Maybe she was feeling stress from her guilt?

"If she's just next door I'll go get her myself," she said as she made the decision to go. "Could you get me copies of the pertinent contact phone numbers around town still? Tattered might not be using the phone, but I need to be able to get in touch with people. I don't have wings anymore to go flying anywhere in town within a minute or two."

Megan raised an eyebrow at her, probably for the callback that she used to be a pony. "I'll get you the numbers. I'll probably have them to you by the end of the day, or sometime in the afternoon tomorrow. Right now I'm focused on my work for Ms. Blessing. I'll see if I can get some of your Enclave ponies over to your office. I'm sure that I heard mention they had a few that weren't night ponies "

She nodded her thanks as she stepped outside. She quickly went down the steps of town hall and was about to hurry inside the bank when she caught the familiar whiff of tobacco. She didn't need hightened pony senses to smell it. The air around here was clean enough that the smell could travel farther, and it was close enough she could catch it. If there were any ponies nearby it was probably annoying them.

The smell was coming from around back of the bank and she walked around the building and found Number Crunch, and to her mild surprise, Wild Growth, smoking behind the bank. Well, she had said ponies would give in to peer pressure easily and Wild Growth was younger, so it wasn't that much of a surprise.

When she stepped into view the young earth pony mare did a shocked gasp and proceeded to do the most slapstick hiding that she was smoking that Melissa had ever seen. First the young mare tried pulling the cigarette from her lips with her forehoof, which of course burned her forehoof because there was no way she was gripping a cigarette with a hoof and not touching the burning embers. She tossed it down in pain and then just as foolishly tried to stomp it out with her again very much exposed and not fireproofed hooves. This caused her to dance around in pain.

Melissa and Number Crunch both just calmly watched this play out, and despite the fact she was here to take Number Crunch for questioning about murder she couldn't help suppressing laughter at Wild Growth's expense.

"Fire is hot and it burns," Melissa said as she walked up to them. "Take it from someone with a lot of experience getting burned. You don't want to touch it."

Wild Growth finally stopped her hopping about and gingerly took a few steps about with a blush on her face. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Aren't you only seventeen? You shouldn't be allowed to be doing that anyway," Melissa said. She really didn't care to tell the truth, but she was the law enforcement, and it was a law.

Number Crunch calmly floated her own cigarette out of her lips, breathed out a final plume of smoke, and snuffed out the cigarette. "We will pay whatever fine you give us, Ms. Rivers. Is there something you needed, or were you just stomping out juvenile delinquency?"

That killed the moment of mirth. "I need to bring you over to the office for questioning, Number Crunch. You aren't be charged with anything, but I need to have you answer a few questions about a potential crime."

Number frowned. "Is that so? And which potential crime are we discussing?"

Melissa glanced briefly at Wild Growth. She didn't want to blurt it out and have pony tongues waggling. Then again, Number Crunch might go to Wild Growth with that information right away anyway. Melissa was just not trained for this, and it was showing. They needed an experienced police officer out here, not her. An experienced, or at least trained, officer would know exactly how to handle this situation cleanly with no fuss.

"It's a potential murder, of Swift Strike," Melissa said finally, not knowing what else to do.

Wild gasped and Number held a hoof out at her, still looking at Melissa. "I'm not being charged with any crime you said?"

"No one is being charged with anything. We haven't even confirmed there was a crime yet. I just want to ask you some questions since your name came up," Melissa said calmly.

Number nodded. "I can go to your office and answer a few questions then. We certainly want to clarify things quickly with this, and I can help out however I can," Number said as she turned and smiled, giving a small bow of her head as she did. The unicorn then looked back at Wild. "Why don't you go check on Sunset Blessing for me while I'm gone. We want to be sure she's alright after that crystal pony bucked her. Amber gave me an update earlier, but I've heard nothing since then. I'm pretty sure your sister, Phobia, and Tonya are with her. Be sure to let them know where I am if they need me."

Wild gave her a curious look. "Tonya, why would you want Tonya to know...never mind, I'll just go."

Okay, if it weren't for Wild so obviously drawing attention to it Melissa might have missed it. Number had a huge falling out with Tonya recently, she was close by when the unicorn all but exploded on her calling her a traitor. Tonya was the one who implicated them in this, was Number aware Tonya was going to do that and that was what the flare of anger was about?

Maybe she should speed up getting someone to bring Tonya in to discuss her claim. How was she supposed to handle this? Maybe she should have started by bringing Tonya in first to question. The reality of her ineptitude for her position was undeniable. She needed proper training in a police academy. She'd speak to Tattered tonight about how she was going to get that training.

Wild trotted off towards the clinic and Number looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. "We were going to your office as I recall?"

That snapped Melissa out of her thoughts and she did a hasty nod before turning. "Yes, follow me."

"Of course, Ms. Rivers," Number replied. As they started walking Number continued speaking. "This must be very trying for you, dealing with such a such an extreme crime just the day second day after being back on your...feet. If I recall from your file you have no background in police work either."

Melissa stopped walking. "My file?"

Number stopped and answered. "Every pony in town has a file. If they were on a list the file is more extensive. You're one of the Broken Ones, you're on a list. The government provided copies to Sunset Blessing and Sunset Blessing gave me copies of files of ponies that were worth knowing about immediately, you Broken Ones are among those."

Melissa's eyes narrowed. "That's a pretty big invasion of privacy."

Number shrugged. "The government wasn't really concerned about ponies rights to privacy. Pony rights in general are still kind of a grey area."

"There should be no grey area, ponies are still American citizens. Regardless of that, I'm back to being human," Melissa countered.

"What are the rights of non-human citizens?" Number asked. "I'm sure they'll figure it out soon enough, but those have yet to be canonized. Tennessee and North Carolina at least seem to have very different ideas than the feds. They say we're citizens right now, but will they change their mind? As a human your rights are clear, though I believe you have specific rights as a rehumanized human that have been spelled out, for now."

"Is there a point to bringing this up?" Melissa asked.

"Just getting a feel of what you think pony rights are," Number answered. "I'm not a fool. I know how the Enclave you helped form worked in Charleston. This is only the second time it has had to do any action since coming here and I'm sure Tattered Wing is still angry about how the first limited action went when restraint was used."

Melissa wasn't sure what Number was implying, but she got a vague feeling that Number was worried they'd do something to her. They weren't going to do that though; they were going to be a legitimate law enforcement group.

"You will have the same rights as if you were a human dealing with humans. Don't worry," Melissa said after considering her answer.

"Thank you," Number said with a smile. "In that case the walk back to your office won't be needed. I wish to confess Swift Strike attacked me and in self defense I killed him. Any questions you may have you can wait until my lawyer arrives before I answer them. I will not resist arrest."

Chapter 44**

Chapter 44**

Rosetta continued to watch over Phobia even though she was exhausted. It was getting to be mid-afternoon and she still hadn't slept. The urge to sleep was not just biological right now, she wanted to find Phobia in the dreamscape and find out what was going on.

The thrashing in bed, whimpering, sweating, and occasional cries out in pain had gotten bad for just a minute an hour or so ago, and everypony watching over her had panicked when it started. Surprisingly, it had been Sunset Blessing that had stood her ground and refused to let anypony wake her. Whatever had happened subsided quickly, and Phobia had been sleeping with no more signs of distress since that moment.

Waiting with her were Tonya, Sunset Blessing, and an equally tired Rudra. Lavender hadn't returned with Tattered Wing or anypony else, which was surprising because she had been gone a while.

She looked at Tonya. What was going on in Tonya's mind was probably the biggest mystery out of those waiting. On one hoof this was Phobia, Tonya's best friend from childhood that they were all waiting to see wake up. Tonya had to be worried about her best friend. On the other hoof this was Phobia Remedy the Warden of Fear, and Tonya was guilty of crimes using mind magic.

Sunset presented a similar set of conflicting views. One one hoof this was her daughter, on the other this was one of the ponies that would punish her lover. This had to be playing havoc with Sunset's emotions. The fiery preacher was doing a remarkably good job keeping her emotions in check for once though. Perhaps it was just shock.

Rosetta turned to Rudra. "Doctor, go get some sleep. We'll fetch you if there seems like there's a problem. What I really want to ask you to do is check on her in the dreamscape and then let us know what you see before going back to sleep again."

"That's one way of making that request," Rudra said with a yawn. "I'll do exactly that. I'm tired enough that I should be asleep as soon as I wrap a wing around my head."

"If you can, can you tell her what I said I did? If you are able to find her that is," Tonya said as she looked at him with her ears flattened.

"I'll do so, and I'll check to see if Tattered Wing is somehow still asleep and Lavender has just failed to find her," Rudra said. He then just went over into a corner instead of somewhere private. Within a few seconds he was laying down with his tail wrapped close to his body and his wings wrapped over his head.

"This waiting is going to drive me insane," Sunset said as she watched Rudra fall asleep.

Rosetta nodded. "Me too. Just to distract from the waiting, I did have something that I needed to discuss with you."

Sunset kept glancing between Rudra and Phobia. "Can't say I'm in the mood to discuss anything right now, but what is it?"

"There's a pony that could really use your help with funding her archaeology work. She's made some big discoveries about possible pony contact with our world a few centuries ago and has been hitting roadblock after roadblock on continuing her work," Rosetta explained.

Sunset's ears perked up a little and she turned to look at Rosetta. "Would that happen to be Sarah Tanner?"

Rosetta flicked an ear in confusion. "Um, yes. You've heard of her already?"

Sunset glanced at the two sleeping forms again and then back to Rosetta. "I have done some reading on a number of ponies elsewhere that are notable for various reasons. Her family is a fascinating one that I'd hoped to contact and be on good terms with, though I hadn't gotten around to it yet. Her oldest daughter and her nephew were the most interesting ponies in that family, but all three did seem to be the ones worth developing a business relationship with. I'm a simple mare of God, it doesn't hurt to make friends with more notable and capable ponies."

Sunrise Storm had been friends with Sunset Shimmer so of course Sunset Blessing was interested in her. Sarah's work wasn't exactly secret, so it wasn't too surprising that Sunset was also interested in it if she had heard about it. Rosetta knew nothing about Sarah's nephew so she couldn't guess what Sunset found interesting there. What was interesting, and a little disturbing, to Rosetta was the fact that Sunset Blessing was making plans to contact ponies on the other side of the country though all her efforts seemed to be based in the south. In any case, if Sunset was already interested in Sarah's work it would be easier to convince her to help fund Sarah.

Rosetta smiled. "Well, I have spoken with Sarah via dream and she is still looking for funding to continue her work. It can get very expensive and without government funding or any university funding she has been stuck doing nothing. I told her that I would ask you if you were interested in funding her."

Sunset rubbed a hoof to her chin. "I can't deny the fact her research could be invaluable. How much money are we talking about when we say she needs funding?"

Rosetta's ears sagged a little. "She was saying that between paying for all the workers, equipment, lawyers, permits, and security it could easily pass a million a year. She'd be willing to give you exclusive access to her research findings though."

Sunset's eyes widened just a bit. "I hadn't realized how expensive a career archaeology was. Let me think and I'll give you an answer in a minute. I'm not saying no, but her research alone might not be enough repayment for that kind of bill. Plus there is the matter of how I get the money to her without broadcasting I have the kind of money to casually give such projects."

"Of course, take time to think it over. I told her I'd get an answer to her in about two days, but if you need more time to think it over..." Rosetta began before Sunset held a hoof up to cut her off.

"I do intend to make her an offer on funding. I just have to consider how much and what conditions I want attached to it. This is a big investment on my part. I want to be sure I get a good return on it. I'll let you know in a few minutes," Sunset said quickly. The red unicorn turned her attention back to looking at Phobia's sleeping form again, but Rosetta could tell that Sunset was deep in thought.

And that left them back at waiting in silence for several minutes. Only having it broken when Rudra stirred from his brief time asleep with a groan.

"What's the news, doctor?" Sunset asked before Rudra had even finished pulling his wing back to his side.

Rudra shook his head as if clearing it and then glared at Rosetta. "You could have warned me not to try to find Phobia Remedy the same way we find any normal dreamwalker or dreamer. I eventually got in touch with her, after I got temporarily blinded."

Rosetta clopped her forhooves together excitedly. "Yes, yes, yes, you got blinded; that's great news "

Every pony in the room stared at her like she'd gone insane. She smiled sheepishly then coughed into her hoof. "Well, not great for you that you got temporarily blinded, but it means she succeeded in what she was doing. She's going to live!"

Sunset let out a long breath. "I'm very relieved to hear that, but can you please explain that a little better."

"I'm kind of limited on what I can say," Rosetta explained. "I guess what I can say is if Phobia became what she was supposed to become the dreamscape would react badly to anypony that tried to track her down in it the way they normally would."

Rudra snorted. "You could have told me that before I got my vision fried by every dream in the dreamscape flaring to blinding light. I assume you want to know what she said, right?"

"Please," Rosetta said as she settled back down.

Rudra gestured towards Tonya. "She was very distressed to hear of what young Ms. Middleton here confessed. She said that when Ms. Middleton is brought to trial this will now be the primary charge she is facing judgement on. As for when that will be she must consult with the others, partially the pony directing Ms. Middleton's trial. It won't be until after Shadow Dancer's trial still, so she has time to prepare a defense."

"And what about Tattered Wing? Did you find her?" Sunset asked.

Rudra nodded. "We were interrupted by her being presumably woken up, but we did speak briefly. Tattered Wing will take no action against Tonya until her trial is settled. Tattered Wing also said that she would be requesting to be a prosecutor."

"Great..." Tonya muttered. "We both get to prosecute Shadow Dancer together then she gets to turn around and prosecute me. Maybe Tattered is trying to change careers."

"What's Phobia doing now? Why hasn't she woken up?" Rosetta asked.

"She says she is attending to her brother's training and dealing with some fresh dreamwalkers. She'll wake up on her own around the time the sun sets," Rudra answered. "She also said you should get some rest, Ms. Stone. She was concerned you weren't asleep when she checked on you."

"Brother?" Sunset said in confusion. "She doesn't have a brother, she's an only foal. I'm her mother, I'd know if I have given birth to more than one."

Rosetta rolled her eyes. "She means brother in a figurative sense. I've heard some of the others like her talk that way, like they're siblings. The old bitch even calls Phobia her sister."

Sunset didn't reply to this, she just sat and seemed to consider it. Rosetta was personally glad that there was not more demands for explanation. What was Phobia going to do about ponies like Tonya, Wild, and Sunset that knew at least some things about the Dreamwardens? Rosetta also hoped she wasn't going to be personally punished for taking initiative to tell Sunset some things just to make her cooperate. If a punishment was coming she hoped Phobia wouldn't have to be the one to inflict it.

Rosetta made her way over to the bed and started using her teeth to unstrap Phobia from the restraints they had her in. A moment later Sunset walked over and started helping using her horn. After they were done Rosetta curled up close to Phobia to sleep with her.

"Before you go to sleep I have an answer about Mrs. Tanner," Sunset said before Rosetta could bring a wing up around her head. "As long as I have access to all information in her research, I can have one of my unicorns at least look over any artifacts she might find, and I choose how much security she has and who is on the security teams I will be willing to do whatever funding she needs."

Artifacts? Of course Sunset would want access to any artifacts found, Rosetta hadn't even thought of that. Equestrian artifacts were most likely magical tools, and Sunset would have access to learning Equestrian magic she might not otherwise have access to through them. The security team thing sounded fishy too, but the artifact requirement was clear.

"You promise you won't try to take any artifacts for yourself?" Rosetta asked with her eyes narrowed. "That could be a deal breaker for her."

"I don't need to have them if one of my unicorns can just look them over. There's no guarantee she'll even find any more," Sunset said as she flicked her tail. The unicorn then took on a serious expression. "I know both of you aren't stupid ponies, so I won't deny why I want them looked over. You know why I want them looked over, and she'd figure it out herself quickly since she's a unicorn. Once my unicorns get a good look at the runes we have no need to actually have the artifact and she can deal with them as she wishes. I doubt there'd be any Earth shatteringly strong spells on simple survival equipment, but every little bit of knowledge helps."

"And if the government steps in and does anything with the artifacts? They'll be on guard for that type of thing," Rosetta asked.

"As long as Mrs. Tanner keeps any artifact discovers from reaching public ears I'm sure the government won't do anything, especially once they learn from me than I have the situation already being watched," Sunset said with a proud smile. "It isn't that they don't want magic to be learned, it's about control of what gets out and when. If Mrs. Tanner can be responsible about that she has no need to fear."

"That's why you want control of who's on security. Big sister Sunset Blessing is watching on the government's behalf," Rosetta said as she resisted gritting her teeth.

"Among other things, but yes," Sunset grinned. "Those are my terms you can take to her. If she agrees I'll have a representative contact her about the financial details. Her location was already being tracked by the government as a pony on a list, so I can find her."

Rosetta had honestly only brought this up to distract from the waiting. She hadn't actually expected Sunset to take the time to consider it right away with everything she was worrying about with Tonya and Phobia. Sunset apparently couldn't stop herself from trying to advance her agendas when given an opportunity, no matter what else was going on.

Rosetta grunted and put her wing up over her head. It only took a few seconds to fall asleep.

Rosetta found herself in her own dream and didn't wait to find out what she was dreaming about before exiting it into the dreamscape.

Once into the star filled expanse she did a quick glance around as if something might have changed about it since Phobia was now officially a Dreamwarden, but it was just like it always was.

"Phobia? Can you hear me? I wanted to check to see if you were alright," she called out.

Almost instantly the dreamscape shifted and she found herself in the little clearing where she and Phobia had first made love beneath the old oak tree, though the star filled expanse of the dreamscape still was overhead. She smiled at Phobia's choice of setting and her smile got larger when Phobia stepped out from behind the tree.

Phobia gave her a smile back. "Now it's appropriate for you to give your Oaths."

Rosetta dipped her head into a small bow. "Psychic Calm, we promise ponies shall dream in peace. Yinyu Wu Yan, we shall not allow our passions to lead us to folly. Ghadab, the Wardens' anger is unyielding and just. Phobia Remedy, fear of the Wardens keeps us safe. Tikhiy Krik, we shall keep the secrets of the Wardens. Sha'am Maut, better to die than to face the Wardens' justice."

"Good," Phobia said. She then shook her head and sighed. "Would you believe I've already had to punish a pony over trying to avoid giving the Oaths? Couldn't get through the full first day without having to be firm."

Rosetta's ears flattened out. Given what Tattered described Yinyu and Sha'am doing she wasn't sure she wanted to hear what Phobia did. "You didn't hurt them too much did you?"

Phobia shook her head. "Nothing too severe. Just made her worst nightmares come to life and intensified them a bit. She was much more compliant after that."

Of course, Phobia was the Warden of Fear, nightmares would be her thing. Hopefully she wouldn't scare any pony to death in their sleep.

"How bad was the binding?" Rosetta asked, not wanting to dwell on the fact that Phobia was already having to discipline ponies.

Phobia looked out at the stars and her eyes went distant. "I saw terrible things. The casual way that my predecessors in each universe would just end lives...the monstrous things that they did...you have no idea how many have died by the Dreamwardens over the ages. Whatever nightmares I might have had before I think will be permanently replaced now with the memories of what they did. We're talking about complete extermination of magical life...done repeatedly on a universal scale."

Rosetta laid her ears back. "But.. I thought the Dreamwardens were supposed to defend the existence of dreams."

Phobia still had that distant look in her eyes. "Now we are, because we've imposed rules and restrictions on ourselves over the ages, but it wasn't always so. We're supposed to maintain an order in the dreamscape, that's why magic spawned my earliest forbearers; more often than not that order was achieved by simply eliminating the dreamscape--which meant eliminating the dreamers. It just took a single thought to kill an untold amount of magical beings, effort wasn't even put into it."

"And you have that kind of power now?" Rosetta asked wide eyed.

Phobia shook her head. "Yes and no. Technically I have the power to end everyone who is dreaming's life at once with only a whim. We imposed our own Oaths on ourselves, baked them in as Yinyu said to me, and those stop us from doing that kind of thing. There's several restrictions in place, not nearly enough. When I get old and tired I'll probably have had plenty of time to think of more to bake into the next generation. Progress through increasing restrictions, it's strange but true."

Thinking about that kind of thing was not what she wanted to associate Phobia with. She had other reasons for needing to talk to Phobia here anyway.

"Phobia...what are you going to do about Tonya?" She asked, worried about what kind of answer she was going to get.

Phobia shook her head. "She'll be tried. We won't kill her if that's what you're worried about. I'm not sure what kind of judgement will come down, but not death."

"Sha'am said that Krik killed somepony," Rosetta pointed out.

"Really?" Phobia asked with a frown. She then paused and seemed to be listening to something, an action Rosetta had recognized both Luna and Sha'am do when checking information. She assumed waiting for some other split of their consciousness to find something out.

When Phobia turned her attention back to her Phobia was wearing a small frown. "That changes some things."

Rosetta's heart dropped in her chest. "Your mother is wanting to defend Tonya when Tonya's trial comes, I do too. Will we be allowed?"

Phobia raised an eyebrow at her. "And my mom knows there is even going to be a trial because...?"

Rosetta looked down. "Because first we were having to tell her something about what happened earlier, then Tonya started freaking out and confessed to what she did to Number Crunch, then I had to give some explanation, then your mother took a willing compulsion to secrecy from Tonya in order to get more out of me. She's your mother, what was I supposed to do when she wants to know why I'm worried about you dying and Tonya's insisting you're going to kill her? I had to give her something."

Phobia sighed then looked up at the stars again. "Sha'am, Psy, Krik, Yinyu, Ghadab can you all come speak with me and Rosetta a moment?"

The collective group, thankfully all in their forms that reflected their mortal bodies, came into the clearing.

"We need to make a decision about an ongoing problem. Ponies and humans that for whatever reason need to or should ideally know about us," Phobia announced.

"What kinds of situations would prompt them needing to know before we left our vow of secrecy?" Sha'am asked.

Phobia glanced at Rosetta then back to the assembled group. "First we have the trials where we are already planning on allowing non-night ponies to participate as defense, prosecution, and witnesses. We need to have them clearly understand what's going on. I've also had parents of a night pony foal become very insistent on knowing what their foal is being taught. I know there are more night pony foals already in wombs of non-night ponies and elsewhere. In fairness we need to have a plan for these parents."

"Agreed, our vow of secrecy is important, but under certain circumstances it can be our undoing. A clear procedure for dealing with such circumstances is needed," Psychic Calm said.

"A modified Oath just for secrecy?" Yinyu suggested. "We can go to the ponies dreams and give it to them. Explain that if they want to know they need to do this. We don't even have to be all mean to them if they refuse, just tell them they aren't finding out anything if they refuse."

"Human parents with no connection to the dream realm would be a problem in that case," Sha'am said thoughtfully. "We wouldn't be able to lay a compulsion to secrecy down without seeing them in the flesh. That could be difficult."

They all looked at Krik for a long moment and then they collectively nodded. Rosetta never heard Krik utter a sound. They must have some other method of speaking with him.

"I suppose that could work in most cases, brother," Sha'am said thoughtfully. Then looked at Ghadab. "And what're your thoughts on the matter?"

Ghadab snorted. "I don't fucking care. I just want the rules enforced. If the rest of you determine a rule I shall see it's kept and punish if it isn't."

"We're in agreement then. An Oath of secrecy, no attempts to force them to say the Oath, just the ultimatum that it's the only way they shall learn," Phobia said with a nod. "If it's human untied to the dreamscape we shall find an agent or go ourselves to administer the Oath."

"Agreed," the rest chorused back, with the exception of Krik who simply nodded.

Rosetta was surprised. It was a surpisingly gentle and quickly resolved decision.

The rest of the Dreamwardens quickly departed leaving her alone with Phobia once again.

"What did Luna have to say about all of you forcing the binding through?" Rosetta asked as she realized Luna had been absent still.

"She still hasn't found out. Not sure if she's off world or..." Phobia stopped and her eyes widened briefly. "Never mind, she just came into the dreamscape. You might want to excuse me for a little while. I have a feeling the six of us are about to get a lecture on being reckless. I'll catch up with you when Luna runs out of things to yell about."

"You're going to get a spanking from your other mother?" Rosetta giggled.

Phobia snorted. "She is no more capable of spanking us than we are her, she's going to have a lot of words to say though. Best to spare you dealing with angry Luna."

"Have fun with that," Rosetta said with a smirk. "If she keeps you listening to lectures the rest of the day I'll see you when you wake up. I'm betting she isn't going to run out of steam for a little while.

Phobia flattened her ears. "That's a pretty safe bet so I won't take you up on it."

Author's Note

No new chapter tomorrow since there is a Pandemic: Aftermath chapter currently scheduled.

Chapter 45

Wild hurried over to the clinic as fast as she could go. Number was in trouble, big trouble, and she needed Sunset Blessing to help her out of it.

The Enclave second in command Ms. Rivers hadn't realized that Wild had stayed close by in earshot after leaving. Wild had heard Number confess to killing Swift Strike. She had barely gotten any details out of Number about what had happened yet, but she knew that she didn't want Number to go off to jail.

She reached the clinic and hurried inside. The crystal pony waiting at the desk looked up at her in suprise as she hurtied over to him.

"Is Sunset Blessing awake yet? I need to see her right away, it's urgent," she said hurriedly as she proped her forehooves up on his desk.

The stallion blinked. "I believe so, but I'm not sure if you're allowed back to see her yet. Doctor Patel is asleep and Nurse Mist is out at the moment. I'm the only staff here at the moment and I'm just clerical."

Wild tapped her hooves anxiously on the desk. "What about Rosetta Stone, Phobia Remedy, or Tonya Middleton? Are they here? They aren't patients. Can you get one of them if they're here?"

The door heading to the back opened up and revealed Sunset. "Don't worry about whether the doctor is going to approve her. I'm good to go. What is so urgent, Wild?"

"I need to talk to you in private, right now," Wild said as she hurried for the hallway door. The stallion at the desk held up a hoof like he was going to object, but just lowered it with a grumble as Wild reached the doorway.

"Come on back to where we all are, I guess," Sunset said as she indicated a particular door.

Wild went where indicated. When she got in the room she spotted three sleeping night ponies, two of which were her sister and Phobia, and the third she assumed was Doctor Patel. Tonya was also present looking at the floor and didn't even look up when Wild entered.

Sunset came in after her and looked briefly at Tonya. "Tonya, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Tonya replied in a low voice.

Sunset shook her head and gave the pegasus one last worried glance before turning back to Wild. "What's the matter? What's so urgent it has your tail wound up in knots?"

"Number just got arrested for killing Swift Strike!" Wild said, near tears.

"What?!" Sunset exclaimed as she took a step back.

Tonya broke out of her daze and looked up in wide eyed shock. "No! I didn't mean for that to happen. Why are the arresting her and letting me go?"

Wild turned to the pegasus and narrowed her eyes. "Why would they arrest you? What did you have to do with it."

"I..." Tonya got out only a single word before she her mouth was clamped shut in Sunset's magical aura.

"Don't imcriminate yourself to even more ponies!" Sunset ordered as she looked the pegasus in the eyes.

Wild stepped towards Sunset with her eyes still narrowed. "What did Tonya have to do with this Sunset? Did Tonya screw with my friend's mind?"

Tonya may have had her mouth clamped shut by Sunset's magic, but the rest of her head was mobile. The pegasus squeezed her mouth shut and whimpered as she nodded. Sunset let off a groan as she released her hold on Tonya's muzzle.

Wild stared at Tonya. "You mind controled Number Crunch into doing murder?! How could you do something like that? What kind of monster are you? This isn't even a pony thing or a human thing, no one should do something like that! You should be the one jailed right now, not her."

Tonya just shook her head while crying. "I was just so angry, and wanted him to pay. I know that's no excuse. I just had the power to do it and I did."

"Nopony should have that kind of power, it's just evil," Wild said as she was stopped from advancing on Tonya by Sunset's magic. She turned and faced Sunset. "And you knew! You knew the whole time didn't you. Number trusted you and believed in you and you let that...that monster right there do that to her."

Sunset frowned. "Watch your tone, filly. Don't call Tonya a monster. Swift Strike was the monster. He deserved to die, and didn't deserve to be called a pony. No, I didn't want Tonya to do what she did, but from the moment that creature laid a hoof on my daughter I wanted his head on a stick. I would have found a way too. Even your sister wanted his blood for what he did."

"My sister didn't mind fuck somepony into doing her dirty work for her. A pony that more than anything else wanted to be better than what they were before," Wild said as she stepped forward.

Sunset's eyes went wide as Wild continued to advance despite her magic and the unicorn visibly poured more magic into holding her back. It didn't do much good, as Wild continued advancing. She knew Sunset couldn't hold her back, she wasn't just any ordinary earth pony. She was Wild Growth, and that meant there was no pony short of an alicorn that had the strength of magic to stop her.

"Wild, stop!" Tonya yelled. "I'm sorry, I didn't know they were going to go after Number and not me. You're right, Number doesn't deserve this, I do. We'll fix this somehow. You have to keep control of your temper."

Wild's temper was indeed ready to blow. Tonya had ruined Number's life with her mind magic. The more she thought about it the angrier she got.

"Fix this?!" Wild exclaimed as she stopped walking. "How do you plan to fix this? With more of your mind magic? I hope Phobia shows you no mercy for what you've done to my friend."

Tonya looked at her while still crying. "I'm sorry for what I did. Number was my friend too. I tried to help her."

"What kind of friend uses their friend like that?" Wild demanded.

"I made a mistake. I'm sorry," Tonya sobbed.

"I'll make you sorry!" Wild said as she reared up. The magic gathered in her hooves and both Sunset and Tonya's eyes went wide with terror. As she saw that she suddenly realized what she was doing, but it was too late. She'd pulled forth her magic and it was about to strike. She couldn't stop it now.

Her forehooves both came down on the ground, and as with many a time before the silent sound of magic echoed in their wake like a bell. For a moment there was just stunned silence between the three of them as they held their breaths to see what was about to happen.

Sunset started thinking first. "Wake them up quick and let's get out of here. I don't know what's about to happen, but I can feel the magic still moving. Everypony needs to get out of here now."

A small tremor was felt that broke Wild and Tonya out of their stupor. They immediately sprinted into action to rouse the night ponies, though Rosetta and Rudra were already stirring due to the tremor.

"Sis, we need to get you and Phobia out now," Wild said urgently to her sister as a second tremor followed the first.

Rosetta looked at her blankly for a moment as the door swung open and the crystal pony from up front came in.

"What's going on? I felt a crazy huge surge of magic back here and now there's tremors," the stallion said as he gasped for breath from his quick sprint back to them.

Sunset ignored him and turned to Rudra. "Doctor, if there is any other pony in this building we need to get them out now. Wild just lost her temper and I don't know what's about to happen, but it's not good."

Rudra snapped awake. "The third Broken One, he is still back in his room."

"Get him out of here if you need to carry him," Sunset said in a rush as she turned back to the still somehow sleeping form of Phobia. "Move now, don't wait." She looked at Rosetta then. "Why isn't she awake, we have to get her out!"

Rosetta shook Phobia frantically, panic rising. "I think it's the sedatives we gave her. They have her completely out. I can't get her to wake up."

Sunset was quick to adapt. She quickly grabbed Phobia up in her magic and deposited Phobia on her back, still keeping her aura on Phobia in order to steady her and lighten the load. She then turned to Wild and pointed to a wall as a bigger tremor rocked the building and made a light fixture come tumbling down from the ceiling out in the hallway.

"I can tell right now that whatever you did, this building isn't going to survive it. Break down that wall and get us a quick entrance out of here," Sunset commanded.

Wild didn't even think about other alternatives, she just did as ordered. She ran head-on towards the wall and jumped towards it with her shoulder going into it. The brick wall shattered as assuredly as if she was trying to smash through a wall of empty cardboard boxes.

A full on earthquake began as her hooves touched the ground. She turned to see Rosetta and Tonya flying out, followed quickly by the crystal pony and Sunset with Phobia on her back. The earthquake intensified and the group put more distance between them and the building. A second later Rudra came hurrying out by hoof with a night pony draped across his back.

No sooner had he cleared the threshold an ear splitting crack went out and they all watched in horror as the entire building literally snapped in two. On one side the ground was sinking into the earth at a fast pace, taking it's side of the building with it. The other half had it's ground rising up at a fast pace, taking it's part of the structure with it.

As the brick crumbled, bushes and other plants started trying to grow from the side if the newly risen earth. Then it all stopped, and all that remained that gave any indication a building had stood there was the broken bricks and remains of paneling and light fixtures mixed among the new plant growth.

Luckily the building had no immediate neighbors that were caught up in it's sudden demolition. Part of the street had been caught up in it though, and the two lanes of the street in the immediate area near where the clinic had been were now only only one--with a similar split of the earth extending out halfway across the road.

Wild could only stand staring in horror at what she had done in a brief moment of anger, one that she had desperately tried to rein in far too late. Tonya wasn't the only monster in town. Wild knew that it was a miracle she hadn't killed anypony just now. This wasn't the first time she'd been given that miracle either. It made her feel like the biggest hypocrite ever staring out at her magical devestation.

Sunset carefully set Phobia down on the ground and did a quick visual survey of the situation before relaxing her posture. "It doesn't look like anypony got hurt, thank the Lord. I'll come up with some excuse for this; I don't know what, but I'll think of something."

Wild just gazed at the damage she had done and felt a tightness continue to grow in her chest.

Suprisingly, it was Tonya who stepped over to Wild and laid a comforting hoof on her. "I know you didn't mean to do it. Pony or human, we all sometimes do things we regret when we get angry." Tonya looked at the damage again with her ears laid back. "I'm going to go see what I can do to try to repair the damage I've done with Number. Will you come with me? I can't fix everything, but I can try to do the right thing now."

Wild sat and looked back and forth between the pegasus and the broken remains of the clinic. She finally just gave a silent nod. She was still angry at Tonya, and would probably never forgive her for what she had done, because it was unforgivable. However, she could understand doing something terribly wrong when angry.

Tonya gave a sad smile. There was none of her normal playful mirth about her right now. She was as serious as Wild had ever seen her. The pegasus looked back at Rosetta. "My human family is coming to see you and Phobia later to talk about Robby. If I can't be there can you tell them what I did to them...that I got mad and used mind control on them to make them think the way I wanted, and that it was an accident. I wanted to tell them myself, but I might be locked up."

"You're not going to be locked up, and I'll figure out something with Number Crunch as well," Sunset insisted.

Tonya turned and looked at Sunset. "Sunset, let me do the right thing. I know you've got my back, and will fight for me, but I'm not letting Number take a fall for what I did to her. I'm just like her; I want to be a good pony. That means facing up to what I've done. I'm tired of worrying about everypony finding out. I'm tired of the constant feelings of guilt. I need to do this for me. You put a lot of stock in the Bible; well the Bible says I need to confess my sins and make an attempt to do right by who I've sinned against."

"You don't need to go announcing what you did," Sunset said firmly.

Tonya blinked. Then held up a hoof like she was saying a pledge. "From Proverbs...um...unsure about the verse number...Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. I did read the Bible and some things did stick." She lowered her hoof and looked tenderly at Sunset. "You want me to believe in this stuff, right? Well, let me follow through on what I believe is right from it."

Wild looked at Sunset. "Let her do this. You know it's the right thing to do."

Sunset looked at Rosetta as if looking for backup from her. Wild's sister kept silent and stoney faced though.

Sunset stomped a hoof. "God damn it, why'd you have to choose now to go trying to be more Christian. I don't want anything to happen to you. I've already got one trial for you to worry about, why make it two?"

Tonya shrugged. "Maybe it won't be two. Tattered might look at whatever the Dreamwardens do to me and say justice is served. Number needs her justice though, and whatever punishment I get from the Dreamwardens doesn't get her out of the law looking at her like she's a murderer."

Wild signaled to Tonya to follow her as she set a course around the rubble. "Come on. The sooner we get to town hall the sooner we can get this straightened out."

Before leaving Wild turned back to Sunset Blessing. "And don't try to pass what I did off as anything other than me. I did this, I'm taking responsibility for it. I'll find a way of making amends for it somehow."

Chapter 46

Tattered sleepily walked into town hall after having Lavender Mist all but drag her out of bed. It was way too early to be up, and the only thing keeping her awake was the fact she had a huge problem to deal with.

"Ms. Wing, welcome back," Megan said from the information desk. Tattered did a double take at being called Ms. Wing instead of being addressed as some variation of her name, even her human name. "Ms. Rivers is expecting you. Number Crunch is being held at the far end of the hall and has crystal ponies watching her. I'm unsure of Ms. Blessing's status since it was just reported that the clinic building collapsed, but no one seems to have been hurt."

All thought of why Megan was addressing her so strangely went out if her head as Tattered's ears flattened and wings began to quiver. "The clinic collapsed?! How?"

Megan shook her head. "I don't know. Ponies reported a huge magic surge and then an earthquake. Ms. Donahue has already gone out to check for more information."

Ms. Donahue would be the dark furred pegasus named Joy that Tattered had hired on as part of the Enclave. She had some serious attitude problems, and was a blatant Shimmerist, but she was thorough with her work. She could be trusted to get all the facts about what happened.

"No pony was inside when it happened?" Tattered asked.

"They all were seen exiting the building before it collapsed, though some were carried out. I just got this information and haven't even gotten to tell Melissa...I mean Ms. Rivers yet," Megan explained. The slip let Tattered know that whatever this was with the names Megan was doing it on purpose.

Tattered nodded, "Let me know when more information comes in. I want to know everypony is alright. I had friends there...and you don't have to refer to us all by last names. I'm your sister, not some random pony you've never met before."

"Just trying to be professional when on the job, ma'am. I take my job very seriously," Megan asserted with a hint of annoyance.

Tattered briefly closed her eyes, wishing she could just go back to sleep. She just wanted to know that Rudra and Dan were alright and here was Megan with some sort of bug up her butt playing cold professional. She wasn't in the mood for this right now.

She took a deep breath and decided she'd play along with this. "We can discuss this more at home later on, Ms. Rutledge. Send Joy straight to me when she gets back, or if any other information comes in...and find some pony to track down Tonya and have them insist she come here. I need to have a long talk with her ASAP."

"Yes, Ms. Wing," Megan said as she went back to typing something.

Tattered flew over on top of the desk, startling her sister and looked Megan in the eyes. "Seriously, Megan, what the hell is up with treating me like I'm not even your sister?"

Megan glanced around then brought her head close to Tattered's. "Number Crunch is my new employer's friend. I've got nothing against you, Tat, but I need to distance myself from you in public or Sunset Blessing might decide she'd rather not have the sister of the pony in charge of arresting Number Crunch working for her. It's a good position, I don't want to lose it over something like that."

"Do you know anything about this whole thing with Number Crunch and Tonya?" Tattered asked.

Megan shook her head looking annoyed at the question. "Of course I don't. I've been on the job just today. If I did know anything about a crime I'd tell you. I didn't even know Tonya was involved until you just said something. You should do a better job at keeping your mouth shut about things until it's time to talk about them. Now let me work."

Okay, Megan had a point. Though Megan didn't know about her biggest blub on the day...hopefully. Her loud mouth had gotten her into trouble badly today, and she was dreading when Phobia got around to discuplining her for it. She didn't even know how many ponies now knew something was up with Phobia because of her. Best to get better disciplined about what she blurted out for anypony to hear.

"Alright, just let me know when when anypony arrives with word about anything," Tattered said as she flew down from the desk with a few short flaps.

"Of course, Ms Wing," Megan said as she went back to business mode, then looked over at her with a slightly kinder look in her eyes. "And good to see you can fly again."

Tattered gave her a brief smile. "Thank you, Ms. Rutledge."

She walked down the hall and into her office and found Melissa with her head down on the desk. She could tell her friend was awake and that she had been heard entering. Tattered took the seat opposite Melissa and tapped a hoof on the desk lightly.

"You know, you said I'd get my own office," Melissa mumbled without looking up. "Not having my own office is one of a dozen different reasons I seriously have considered walking out in this job today."

Tattered sighed and slumped where she sat. "Here's another one, the clinic just collapsed and I haven't heard confirmation that Dan is okay yet."

Melissa's head shot up and then she stood to her feet and slapped her hands down in the table. "What do you mean the clinic collapsed and you don't know if Dan is okay?" Melissa pointed towards the wall. "Why aren't you beating your little pony wings to fly over there and find out?"

Tattered looked at the outstretched arm. "For starters, you're pointing in the completely wrong direction. As for why I'm not flying over there right now, the reason why is because my little pony wings are still gaining their strength back and I'm not supposed to overexert them by flying more than a few feet and I have to keep low to the ground in case they suddenly cramp up. I'll find out information faster by sitting here and waiting for a report because I'm sure somepony will be coming here with a full report."

Melissa lowered her arm and sat down. "Oh."

Tattered decided it was better just to move on to why she was awake, focusing on work was a good distraction. "What's going on with Tonya? Lavender had Alex wake me up and she went on for a while and since I was only half awake I only caught half of it."

"Tonya apparently used mind magic to convince Number Crunch to kill Swift Strike," Melissa said as she poked at the keyboard of the computer. "At least that was what she claimed. I went to question Number Crunch about it and she claims she did it, that it was self defense, and she isn't answering any questions till her lawyer gets here."

"And have you ordered Tonya brought in for questioning? Who's out looking for her?" Tattered asked.

"No one right now, but..."

Tattered's mouth fell open. "No one? Why no one?"

"Well, no official charges were filed against Shadow Dancer..."

Tattered slammed a hoof on the desk. "Melissa! Shadow Dancer convincing a bunch of humans to believe in something people don't like is not the same as Tonya convincing a pony to do murder! And we still have Shadow Dancer under lock and key with crystal ponies watching him all the same. Why would you let Tonya walk around free?"

Melissa put her face into her hands and started crying. "I don't know what I'm doing, okay? I'm not qualified for this job. Not even a full day on the job and I'm fucking everything up."

Tattered's anger evaporated as she looked at her crying friend. "Melissa... I'm sorry for yelling. You'll get better and learn. You screwed up, but it isn't anything that we can't deal with. I'll just have somepony bring Tonya in and we can hold her until...some things happen, and we'll go from there after that."

"We aren't even official law enforcement," Melissa mumbled.

"Tomorrow, if things go through right, I will be," Tattered said. She hoped everything went smoothly and no hiccups happened. "In the meantime we need to do what makes sense to do so we aren't questioned about it later."

"And we don't even have a body to confirm it happened. Crazy as it sounds, even with a confession we kind of have to have proof it happened, don't we?" Melissa continued.

Tattered grimmaced. That body, or what was left of it, was ashes out in the middle of the closest lake right now. When she had made the decision not to pursue this after the feds had pressured her about it she had the body disposed of as best she could. There would be no body. If Number Crunch tried to take anypony to where she had initially disposed of it she was going to be in for a big surprise.

"Even without a body there is still ways of prosecuting," Tattered finally said. "I did some reading up on the subject. There just has to be enough evidence that the crime happened, enough to convince a jury."

"What kind of evidence?" Melissa asked.

"Um, let's see. Bits of Number Crunch's fur or mane at the crime scene would be an example," Tattered offered up.

Tattered knew that wasn't likely to happen. Those woods were going to be cleared tomorrow, completely removing all evidence of any type of struggle or either pony having been there. Number could confess till she turned even bluer in the face than she already was, if there was no evidence there was no conviction or charge to be made.

And since she wouldn't be an official officer of the law till tomorrow there was a high likelihood that she wouldn't be able to stop those woods from being cleared in time. Number and Tonya were both going to walk free. Number knew those woods were coming down too and that the lawyer couldn't even talk to them till tomorrow. Maybe she was expecting the body to come up, since that would have definitely been found while clearing the woods, but there was no body.

"Right now we don't have a crime scene though, and we won't have one till Number Crunch talks to us," Melissa said with frustration, not knowing that Tattered had already thought all that through and more.

"We'll see what..." Tattered was cut off by a knock at the office door. "Come in, the door is unlocked."

To the suprise of both the Broken Ones the door opened to reveal Tonya, being flanked by Wild Growth of all ponies. Both of them looked like they were feeling like crap.

"I'm guessing you're going to want to talk to me," Tonya said in a low voice with her head bowed. Tattered did a quick visual check for Tonya's medallion, and was relieved to see her wearing it.

"As a matter of fact, yes," Tattered said as cool as she could. She tried to keep aggression bout of her voice. What Tonya had done disgusted her. When she had just heard about it she could put that disgust to the back of her mind, but seeing the pegasus in person pushed that disgust to the front.

"And I need to let everypony know that I destroyed the clinic," Wild said in a voice that said that she was trying to be brave but was trying to resist bolting away. Wild shook herself then pointed a hoof at Tonya. "I lost my temper at her and my magic split the place like an egg. I'm here to take responsibility for my actions and face whatever consequences that come from them."

"Did everypony..." Tattered began.

"Sunset made sure everypony got out safely. Your friend is safe, everypony is safe. Nopony got hurt," Tonya answered before Tattered could finish the question.

"Oh, thank God," Melissa said with relief.

Tattered relaxed as well at hearing that everypony was safe. Now she had to figure out what to do with these two. She could hold them here in town hall, but she really didn't have the crystal ponies to spare to watch them.

In Wild Growth's case she had no idea how to hold her. She'd asked Garnet Cut how strong Wild was earlier today out of curiosity, since reading that kind of thing was part of his talent. Garnet had gone wide eyed and said that it might take fifty ponies like Wild Growth to equal the magic of Twilight Sparkle. Tattered had thought that wasn't that impressive, until Garnet had told her how many average ponies it would take to equal the magic of the alicorn. Wild Growth might be a mouse compared to Twilight Sparkle, but the average pony was a microbe on the back of a flea living on the mouse in that case. There weren't enough crystal ponies in town to hold Wild Growth, she had more power than every other pony in town combined.

"Tonya, I want you to stay here and I will have some questions for you. After that you will be held here until we can confirm some things," Tattered said as she looked first at the pegasus. She then looked at the demigod earth pony. "Wild, I don't have any way of holding you that you can't escape with ease. I have to trust you to just stay where I can find you. I'm going to question you after I'm done with Tonya and then I'll be having you go to your home and stay there until we figure out if any criminal charges are going to come of this and what they are."

Both ponies nodded their acceptance to her. She was the only pony in the room that knew how this would play out. Tonya would face whatever justice the Dreamwardens laid down, but that would be all. She might not survive the Dreamwardens justice anyway. Number Crunch would walk free due to lack of evidence to charge or convict her of murder, despite her confession. Wild Growth would likely have to pay for a new clinic because there was no prision on Earth that could hold her against her will.

The motions for everything would have to be done though. It made Tattered feel small and helpless knowing how powerless she was to do anything more.

Chapter 47

"Still no sign of her?" Devon asked as Paul walked back into the tent.

Paul shook his head. "My vision isn't the best, but it doesn't look like any of those pegasi flying around are her. The night ponies are starting to join them. She said she'd already be here by now."

Maybe his sister had just bailed on them. It wouldn't be the first time Tonya had chickened out and hid herself away. With the night ponies watching her she was probably trying to keep a low profile. He could get frustrated about it, but he couldn't really get angry with her about it.

"You two should just head on over there without her," Amanda said from where she was sitting entertaining the fillies with a game of catch the tail. She was actually speaking around a stylus gripped in her mouth and was reading texts on her phone. Cell signal in the area had recently improved, probably due to malfunctioning towers being fixed.

"I just don't want to miss her if she does come," Paul said as he glanced again at the tent flap.

"If she comes by I'll let her know you already headed out to the night ponies' house. She can reach there in under a minute by wing," Amanda said and then dipped her head to tap-in a message on her phone.

"Are you still chatting with Tom? Can you let them know we're coming now?" Devon asked as she set the brush down.

Amanda nodded. "Chatting with him, but also chatting with my brother and my mother. I'll let him know."

"You haven't mentioned anything family to this point. Since you're chatting with them are they still human?" Devon asked.

"My brother is, my mom's a unicorn. Neither of them live near here," Amanda said as her eyes remained fixed on the little phone screen for a brief moment more. She then carefully set the stylus down next to the phone. "They knew what was going on with each other for a while, but they just heard from me for the first time since ETS broke out. They knew I had come down with ETS, but that was back when I was still mostly human."

"Want us to send them a picture of you before we go?" Paul asked.

Amanda looked up with excitement. "Yes, please. I sent a picture already, but all I could manage with the phone laying on the ground was a blurry picture of my face. They still haven't seen Jackie."

Paul walked over and picked the cell phone off the ground. He did a few quick brushes with his hands to make sure the camera was clear of any dirt that might be on the lens and pulled up the camera app.

Amanda meanwhile stood up and tried to get her daughter's attention. The two fillies had descended into rough and tumble play again and Devon had to walk over and remove Jessie from the area. Paul heard his daughter let off a whiny of protest and visibly reach out for her playmate as she was taken out of the way.

The earth pony mare pulled Jackie in front of her and sat down. She then did some coaxing with her hooves before Jackie finally sat down in front of her in a similar position. The little filly gazed up in curiosity at the phone in Paul's hand after that.

Paul sat there and did his best to get a good shot of the two. "Say cheese!"

"Cheese!" Amanda said with a smile.

Paul took a few steps to the side and held the phone up for another pic. "Let me get a picture of you're cutie mark too. I know those marks are big deals to all you ponies."

Amanda frowned for some reason. "Yeah...okay. Probably a good idea."

Paul lowered the phone. "If you prefer I not take a picture of it I won't. I just thought..."

Amanda waved a hoof and sighed. "No, you're right. I just have kind of a love-hate relationship with my mark. I love it because it shows I have a special talent, and I enjoy using that talent, but kind of hate it because ponies think I should be focusing on that talent and it's a purely earth pony type talent."

"Oh, I don't really get it, but guess it's a pony thing," Paul said as he scratched the beginnings of a beard on his face.

Amanda shook her head. "It's not a pony thing, it's a me thing. Go ahead and take the picture. The rest of my family should see I'm marked. It will head off awkward rehumanizing discussions about me. My mom, she said she's thinking of rehumanizing--she's got nopony else near her and she feels so alone. They haven't gotten around to asking me what I want to do yet."

Paul really had no idea what he was supposed to say to all that. Instead he just nodded along in agreement because he had no clue what the else to do. "Okay."

The earth pony stood up and presented her flank and put on a smile that said I'm okay, don't worry about me.

Paul took the picture, saved it, and then put the phone back down on the ground in front of Amanda. The mare nodded her thanks and repicked the stylus up with her teeth and got back to her text conversations.

"Come on, time for us to get going. We don't want to keep Ms. Phobia and Ms. Rosetta waiting much longer," Devon said as she motioned for Robby to follow.

Robby gave a little twitch of his wings as he stood up. "Am I spending the night there? I want Ms. Rosetta to teach me more night pony stuff."

Paul was still very undecided on Robby's future education or association with other night ponies. He gave the best answer he could give under the circumstances. "We'll see. You're mom and I are going to have a long talk with Phobia. How that talk goes decides what we're going to do."

"Oh, okay. Ms. Phobia said she was already expecting us and that she was ready to talk to you too," Robby said with excitement.

Paul felt a small chill at those words. He'd learned enough about night ponies to know where Phobia had spoken to Robby. For Robby that might be the most natural thing in the world, but to Paul that was hearing that a pony he had feared was dangerous had open access to his son's mind while he slept. Worse yet, he had no way of stopping it from happening.

"Well, I'm...glad...she says she's ready to talk," Devon said in an uncomfortable tone. Paul knew she was thinking the same kinds of things. How were they supposed to defend their son from ponies that could just go into dreams?

Paul bent down and got his daughter's attention. The little filly hurried over to him with a happy smile on her face.

"We have to leave you here with Amanda for a bit, little girl. Are you going to be a good girl for her?" He asked the filly as if he were talking to an older child. There was no way she understood him, but Devon insisted that they talk to her like she would understand.

To his utter shock her smile dropped straight to unhappy frown at the mention of being left behind. She glanced back at Amanda and then at him, and tears started to form at the edges of her eyes.

Maybe foals really do start understanding language at a very young age. Paul thought to himself. This meant he really did need to talk to her like she understood him.

"Don't cry, little girl. We'll be back soon. Mommy and Daddy love you," Paul said with as soothingly as he could, hoping to avert the incoming tantrum.

Averting a tantrum from a foal her age was just as impossible a task as averting a tantrum from a human child her age though. The crying increased and the filly let off a high pitched wail to let the world know she was unhappy and they'd share in her unhappiness as the world listened to her protests.

The ponies didn't take the high pitched wail well. Robby laid down on the ground and wrapped his wings around his head. Amanda flattened her ears then covered them with her forehooves. Even Jackie tried to bury her head into her mother's fur. Paul and Devon even both winced as their daughter demonstrated her very healthy set of pipes in all their angry glory.

Devon looked over at him and yelled. "I think she's winning this battle. We'll bring her along. I am not subjecting all our neighbors to that. If it's hurting our ears it has to be much worse for them."

"You have no idea!" Amanda yelled just loud enough to be heard through the screaming.

"Make it stop! Make it stop!" Robby yelled from beneath his wings.

Paul took action and picked his screaming daughter up and cuddled her close then picking her in his arms. "Calm down, calm down. You can come with us. We aren't going to leave you. Shhhh...shhhh."

Jessie's wailing abated to just normal crying. The rest of the ponies started uncovering their ears, giving their heads a good shake, and flucking their ears as their hearing recovered. Paul continued to rock his daughter and the crying died down as she seemed to grow content again.

The wailing must have been exhausting, because within a minute Jessie had fallen asleep.

Devon unclipped the keys from where the hung on Paul's belt. "I'll drive this time. Just keep holding her and keep her happy. I hope this doesn't become a new habit with her every time we tell her we're about to leave."

Paul frowned. "Well, she's smart, and she just learned that worked the first time pulling this. Probably not our best parenting moment, but I'm not sure what we should have done instead. Robby, don't get any ideas from your little sister."

"I'd never yell like that, Dad. It hurts too much," Robby said as he kept his ears flat and tail twitched.

"Come on, let's get going," Devon said as she starting walking out the front of the tent.

Paul and Robby followed after. Once outside they found a few nearby ponies glaring at them due to the noise disturbance. Paul ignored them, but wanted to give them some dirty looks back.

They got out to the car, which was parked on the side of the road near where the tents began. They were about to get in when a pegasus stallion flew down near them.

"If you folks are planning on driving into town you might need to walk. Road's blocked at the moment. We're going to have some ponies trying to fix it as soon as possible, but their's no way you're getting a car through that way right now," the pegasus explained.

"Blocked how?" Paul asked as he looked off in the distance and saw a lot of pegasi and night ponies clustering in the air some distance down.

The pegasus seemed uncertain how to explain as he glanced in the same direction. "You'll have to see it to believe it. Somepony had a big magic surge down that way and it really did a number on everything immediately around them. Nopony got hurt, but there's a lot of damage down that way; a collapsed building and good chunk of road destroyed. Everypony is still trying to figure it out and clean up. If you're going that way you'll definitely see it."

Devon let off a groan as she looked off in the distance. "Thanks for letting us know. I guess we're walking."

And so they walked. After about twenty minutes of walking they reached where the magic surge had happened and gaped at it. Where before this had all been flat ground it now had what appeared to be a small steep raceface running a few hundred feet across and perhaps fifteen to twenty feet high at it's highest point. It ended at the road, but half the road was gone and the rest was covered with debris. Ponies were working hard to clear the debris out if the way and many others could be seen hotly debating what to do about the rest.

"A single pony did this?" Devon said as she looked wide-eyed at the change in topography.

Paul found his eyes being drawn to the broken remains of the building on the side of the road. He knew what that building had been from his exploring town before, that had been the town clinic and impromptu hospital. They said no one was hurt, which meant they must have had time to evacuate it, but if things had gone just a little differently people--ponies included in that term--could have died. As he looked at it he found himself being more supportive of what Rosetta and Phobia had been saying before. Pony magic could be dangerous, and strict rules and oversight needed to be in place so people didn't get hurt.

They walked around what was going on as best they could, though they still had to step over some debris as they went. The ponies were apparently already hard at work trying to make a temporary dirt road that wrapped around the upraised earth and reconnect the two halves of the road.

They walked on for another twenty-five minutes and finally reached the night ponies' house. They knocked on the door and after a moment a haggard looking Tom opened the door and gestured them in.

"Phobia is just waking up," Tom said as they came in. "Scared me half to death today. Both of them upstairs, my wife, and more we're all out at that clinic today when it came crashing down. They got out safely, but...I could have lost them all."

"What happened?" Paul asked.

Tom flicked his tail and laid his ears back. "They won't tell me! They said there'll be a public statement about it soon, but they weren't going to talk about it till that was ready. Why does my entire family have to be so secretive?"

"You look exhausted," Devon said with sympathy.

Tom sat down and glanced back at his hindquarters for a second before looking back at them. "Ever since Rosetta returned with Phobia on her back I've been practicing my shield spell. Damn thing is exhausting to try to do. I never wanted to be able to do it, but it's what I've got available to defend my family with. I've almost lost her twice in just a week. I need to stop being stubborn and make sure that if needs be I can protect them with what I can do."

The sound of hoofsteps coming down the stairs made them all turn in that direction. Rosetta and Phobia looked tired as they came into view and walked into the living room.

Tom sighed. "I guess I'll make myself scarce if you're going to be wanting to have more secrets."

Phobia shook her head. "No, please stay. I've discussed some things with Rosetta and with the others, and decided if you can be sworn to secrecy you have a right to know everything about me...or at least enough about me that you have some idea what's going on. You live with us and would be caught up in anything bad if our secrets got out." She looked at Paul and Devon. "The same goes with your son's education as a night pony. You can't be expected to know what's right for him if you don't know what's expected of him. There's a reasonable explanation to let the night pony only rules be lifted for you."

"And if we don't promise to keep this a secret?" Paul asked.

Phobia shook her head. "Then you simply won't be allowed to know. This is done to protect night ponies. We don't intend on keeping these things secret forever, but the world is still coping with the implications of what has happened in the last month and a half. Humans are scared, and they don't need another thing for them to be scared of right now or it will be bad for everyone, night ponies in particular."

"We have to let you know there will be a small compulsion to keep the secrets safe if you agree. It's mind magic used to do that, and mind magic needs to have informed consent to be used... it's one of our rules," Rosetta cut in.

"Please do it," Robby pleaded. "I want to be able to talk to you about my night pony stuff."

Phobia looked at them. She seemed different than before, a cold authoritarian now. "His education will continue whether you choose to accept this or not, nothing can stop that. It's easier for him and you if you make the promise to secrecy. I can't promise you peace of mind about everything involved, but I can promise you'll at least know."

Paul looked over at his wife. He didn't like this cloak and dagger stuff, especially when it was being applied to his son's upbringing.

"I want to know, Paul. This is our son we're talking about. Whatever it takes to find out I'll do. If you don't swear, I will," Devon said with firm conviction as she gripped his hand tightly.

Tom stood up. "If that's what it takes to finally learn the things you've been keeping from me I'll swear to it."

Paul took a deep breath and nodded back to the night pony couple. As he did he heard Robby let off a happy squeak.

"Very well, so you will all keep what you're going to hear today secret from non-night ponies, swear it," Phobia said in a slow emotionless tone.

"I swear not to reveal anything I hear today to anyone but a night pony," Paul said as he looked the mare in the eyes.

Phobia nodded and turned to Devon and Tom who both swore in turn.

Phobia seemed to relax a little after that and actually smiled. "Now that's done we can finally talk. I'm going to tell you all about who the six Dreamwardens are, the rules we enforce, why we enforce them, and the consequences we enact upon those who don't obey the rules. Let me start by reintroducing myself. I'm Phobia Remedy, the Warden of Fear. There's a lot to discuss so make yourselves comfortable."

Author's Note

No chapter tomorrow. We will resume Friday.

Chapter 48

Number was a little surprised as she was led back to the Broken Ones' office. She was even more surprised when she saw Tonya sitting in a chair as she walked in. The dirty little traitor was staring down at the floor.

She turned to the two Broken Ones and kept her eyes away from Tonya. "I said I wouldn't answer any questions until my lawyer arrived."

Tattered walked up to her and gave her an appraising look. "Tonya made a serious claim that could impact how you are dealt with. I was seeing if you would corroborate what she says in any way."

"Oh! Is the little bitch trying to ease her conscious? Let's hear what she has to say. I can't say I'll confirm or deny anything, but I want to hear this, it should be rich," Number sneered as she turned towards the pegasus.

Tonya chewed on her lip. "I'm sorry for getting you into this Number. You'd never have done this without me forcing you to."

Number raised an eyebrow at the pegasus. "You don't even know what you did, traitor."

"I used mind magic to force you to kill him," Tonya said in a low voice.

Number's eyebrows shot up and she stopped and gaped. "What're you talking about? I wasn't intending to kill him. What happened was self defense."

Tonya's brow furrowed in confusion. Of course it did. She had no clue what she had actually done. Number wanted to scream at her what she had actually done. She could almost wish that Tonya had mind controlled her into doing murder.

"I don't understand. I thought you were mad at me for having used my powers on you," Tonya said in confusion.

"What do you think happened that night?" Tattered demanded. She needed a cigarette. Every time she saw Tonya she got madder than Sunset Blessing at her worst.

Tonya sat back in her seat and looked at the two Broken Ones. They looked to her expectantly.

Tattered looked at Melissa. "There's an option on that computer for voice recording. Can you find it?"

Melissa looked startled and started working on the computer. "Sure, give me one sec. Here it is. Let me check to make sure it's working." Melissa clicked something with the mouse. "Testing, testing. One-two-three. Someone say something for the computer."

"Tonya is a bitch," Number said crisply.

Melissa clicked two more things.

"Testing, testing. One-two-three. Someone say something for the computer. Tonya is a bitch." Came the clear recording from the computer.

Tonya grimaced. "Thanks for that. I just love hearing that repeated over and over again."

"Just making sure we have a good recording device," Tattered replied. "Now, if you wish to tell us what happened that night from your point of view we'll be happy to take your statement now. I will not ask questions until the end. Melissa, start recording."

This should be interesting. Time to see how much the little traitor was going to blab.

Tonya looked over at Melissa then looked back down. "A...person...who was angry with Swift Strike spoke with me the night of Phobia's rape. After that I went to Number Crunch and discussed the matter with her."

Great, I'm sure they can't guess who you're person was. Number thought sarcastically.

"I met Number Crunch in town hall and we talked for a while," Tonya continued. "Number was really hesitant about doing anything to Swift Strike. She wanted to leave him for the authorities to take care of. She said that if the person wanted Swift Strike dead then she wasn't going to be involved with it."

True enough. Number thought to herself. So far no actual lies out of the little traitor. That didn't bode well for how things would go though. Tonya would do her no favors with the full truth--even if Tonya didn't know everything.

"I have mind magic, and I used it to pressure her into being involved. She was much more resistant to it than most ponies," Tonya continued. Number's eyebrows rose at this, but she kept her mouth shut.

Tonya continued. "A sign that I've used my magic on ponies is typically they get a little lightheaded or fuzzy in the head right after I've hit them with it. I'm sure I saw Number Crunch feeling those effects."

Number remembered that. She remembered the feeling of lightheadedness essentially, the feeling like she couldn't think straight. Up until now she hadn't really thought about it at all. Those things could have been explained away as stress or something. It had been a very stressful night.

Tonya continued. "Number Crunch used her magic to loosen the screws of the vent in the room that Swift Strike was being held in. He managed to escape out the vent and we followed him as he tried to flee town on foot through the woods."

Now Tonya was implicating her in helping a prisoner escape custody. It was true, but it was a crime that they hadn't known about before. Even if she was able to convince them this really was self defense she now had another crime hanging over her head. The little traitor just kept on betraying.

"When we were deep in the woods I confronted him while Number sat in hiding," Tonya continued. "I questioned him about why he did what he did, and I used my magic to try to draw honest answers out of him. He fired back saying that Phobia deserved it, and a lot of other nonsense. It was clear he was irredeemable at that point. I left at that point and let Number finish him off. That's what happened."

Number grit her teeth. What Tonya had gotten out of him was not good enough to justify murder. The little pegasus honestly thought that Number would kill a pony based on that little bit that he said? He was disturbed for sure, but not to the point that he shouldn't have been killed over it.

Just as she had thought; Tonya still didn't know what she was guilty of doing. Tonya's mind magic might have impacted the whole jailbreak thing, but that was the extent of it. The traitor still didn't know exactly what had happened.

Tattered walked over to Tonya. "And you certify that this statement you just made is true, made under no duress?"

"I do," Tonya answered. Well, it was as true as Tonya understood it. Couldn't yell at her for that.

"And who was this person that put you up to arranging this whole thing to happen? Was it Rosetta Stone? Sunset Blessing? Tom Gilmore? Phobia Remedy? They all had motive and you were near all of them that night," Tattered questioned.

Tonya leveled a steely gaze at Tattered. "I'm not answering that question."

Tonya might have already given it away, but had to credit her for trying to be loyal to at least one pony.

"What time at night did this all happened?" Tattered questioned.

"I don't remember. It was late, maybe around midnight," Tonya replied.

"And where did you go after you left the scene of the crime?" Tattered asked.

"I went flying around for a while and went home," Tonya answered.

"How long is a while?" Tattered kept on.

"Not sure...an hour? Why does it even matter?" Tonya asked in return.

"Just getting all the details together," Tattered explained. "And do you remember where you confronted Swift Strike?"

"Yes," Tonya said in a low voice.

"And are you willing to show us that place if asked to do so?" Tattered asked.

Tonya bowed her head low and cupped her forelegs around it. "Yes."

"Good," Tattered said. "I have no more questions for you at the moment except one. Do you have a lawyer or need to have one appointed for you?"

"I don't have a lawyer, and I don't want one," Tonya said as she raised her eyes back up.

Get a lawyer you stupid little pegasus! Number thought so loud she was surprised no pony heard it. She needed Tonya's case to go a certain way to help with her own, and that wasn't happening if Tonya didn't have a lawyer. Much as she wanted Tonya to suffer for what she had done she needed Tonya to be found innocent.

This wasn't about escaping punishment. There was far too much that needed to be done in town to make sure everything went right or there could be disaster. Number was the only one who actually had the financial know how to get those things done. She couldn't do those things sitting in a maximum security jail cell. If she didn't have to worry about that she wouldn't even be bothering with a lawyer of her own. She'd take her punishment as she deserved if it wasn't so important she be free to work.

Tattered turned back to her again. "Number Crunch, do you wish to confirm, deny, or add anything to what Ms. Middleton has said here after having heard it?"

Number looked the night pony in the eyes. "I'm not answering that or any other questions until my lawyer gets here in the morning."

Tattered nodded and turned back to Melissa. "You can stop and save that recording, Melissa. We're going to listen to the whole thing through. Tonya will confirm that's unaltered in any way. Then we're going to make a written transcript of it and have Tonya read over it and confirm that is what she gave as a statement by signature."

Number waited impatiently as they listened to the entire statement again. This wasn't her first rodeo with this kind of thing. The fact that the Broken Ones were handling this part as well as they were was a bit of a shock, even if they weren't doing everything correctly. Tattered Wing had definitely done some research. She had done this several times as a human, though no convictions had ever come from them, and this wasn't the least professional interrogation she'd ever experienced.

This wouldn't go well for her though. At the very least she expected a conviction for helping a suspect escape custody this time around, if not a full murder charge. She might escape the murder charge, but there was possibility of reasonable doubt being established. Especially if Tonya led them to the body tonight--or what was left of it anyway. She had really done a number on it in her panic after the fact.

She'd been so stupid that night. She should have just gone to Baker and explained what had happened. Instead she went home and cried like a foal. She was just so muddled in the head that night and not thinking straight, then questions about the fact she hadn't gone to the authorities right away became something that would be damning to her. The town, soon to be city needed her, she couldn't risk prison.

She looked at Tonya. No matter what any jury decided, she wanted to see the look on Tonya's face when the pegasus finally learned what she had actually done.

Author's Note

Short chapter today, but productive.

Chapter 49

Devon had wanted answers. She had gotten answers. Now that she had answers she had more questions.

Paul and Tom seemed just as stunned by what they had learned. Tom was staring at his daughter as if staring at a stranger. She could see Paul turning things over in his head as he looked at Robby. Robby, for his part, seemed pleased as punch about this whole thing.

She looked over at Phobia Remedy. Phobia Remedy was a complicated pony to know how to feel about right now. In part, Phobia was a kind and caring pony that cared about the well-being of others. Phobia had been the first kind face she had seen when everything had been bleakest.

But as Devon had just learned, Phobia had another side to her. Phobia was willing to inflict unspeakable punishments on ponies for percieved crimes, even go so far as killing them, all without batting an eye about it. She did this by her own authority, answerable to no one, and night ponies apparently firmly believed that she was more than capable of doing anything to them and they were helpless to stop her.

Even worse, even slight indiscretions could lead to torture of ponies. Slight indiscretions like being rude or refusing to accept her authority could lead to inhumane acts being inflicted. Phobia made it very clear, the Dreamwardens maintained their authority over night ponies with exceedingly brutal methods.

There were some things that were positive. There was a blanket ban from them on other night ponies doing the same types of things. There was zero tolerance for night pony vigilante activity using dreams. They didn't care how justified the night pony was or thought they were, they would not allow it. The same went for mind magic.

But again, it was impossible to ignore the sheer brutality or the fact they were answerable to no one. They made the rules and no one else had a say. They made the punishments and no one else had a say. They made the judgements and no one else had a say. They were in charge by the simple fact they were stronger. It was the strong dominating the weak and no one was even allowed to object. It flew in the face of everything she understood about fair governance.

There was a chance this was all bluster and they weren't actually that powerful, but the night ponies in general seemed to believe it.

There were still some pertinent unanswered questions though.

"With as much authority as you claim you and the other five like you have are you going to try to dictate my son's life?" Devon asked in as calm a tone as she could manage.

Phobia smiled despite everything. "What your son does with his life is of no concern or jurisdiction of the Dreamwardens. What we have jurisdiction of is the rules we laid out. We might sometimes encourage ponies to do something, but the choice to follow that suggestion is completely up to them. They'll receive no punishment if they disregard our suggestions. They're only punished for breaking the rules. The only exception to that being if they're already on any kind of provisional probation from us and they do things that make us regret giving them mercy."

"Can you give an example of that exception?" Devon prompted.

Phobia nodded. "Speaking in hypotheticals. Let's say Robby grows up and does something extremely bad with mind magic. For whatever reason we decide to show mercy to him after considering him and his situation. Then Robby goes out and gets drunk and does things that are against regular human laws. We might take this as a sign he wasn't worthy of the mercy that was afforded him, and take action against him as a result."

"I wouldn't do that. I'm a good pony," Robby protested.

"Hush. She's only giving a made up example," Paul said to their son.

Phobia continued as if no interruptions had happened. "Now let's say he wasn't already in trouble with us for breaking our rules and he went out and got drunk and broke human laws. In that case we don't care as Dreamwardens. What the average night pony does in the waking world is none of our concern. I might be disappointed in him as Phobia Remedy the pony, but that has no bearing on me as Phobia Remedy the Dreamwarden. Understand?"

"And can't order him to do something in the waking world?" Devon asked just to clarify.

"I can make suggestions just like any other pony, but that's all they are, suggestions and advice. If he disregards them then that's his free choice, and he'll see no consequences for it from us," Phobia said kindly. "Even if his choices annoy me they aren't breaking any rules. It is not disrespectful to me for him to make his own choices."

Paul coughed. "And what kinds of things are disrespectful?"

Rosetta lifted a hoof and Phobia allowed her to answer. "Mouthing off to a Dreamwarden in the dream realm, physically attacking a Dreamwarden in the waking world, refusing to say your Oaths to a Dreamwarden, not greeting a Dreamwarden in the dream realm with the Oaths, trying to leave a Dreamwarden's presence while in the dream realm when they're in the process of talking to you. That's not an all inclusive list since there might be some obviously rude things that somepony can do that I didn't think of, but you get the idea."

"And what kinds of punishments do those earn?" Paul asked.

Phobia shrugged. "It depends on who he disrespects and to what degree. In my case I would give a single warning to immediately correct his action. If he refuses I would typically toss him into his worst fear and dial the intensity up."

Rosetta's ears went flat. "I disrespected Sha'am Maut earlier today. She's the same pony that took your son's Oaths when he dreamwalked for the first time. Sha'am is very unforgiving if you should already know better. She gave me no warning. I just found myself in a room full of steadily rising water with no way out. She kept me there till I drowned, then released me back. That's her idea of light punishment."

"Drowned?!" Devon exclaimed in horror. Did this pony just shrug off a pony drowning her?

Rosetta shrugged. "It's only a dream, it can't actually hurt me. It's still terrifying though. On the plus side, I can call her..." She glanced at Robby. "...something very uncomplimentary in the waking world and suffer no consequences. Though she'd probably do worse than drown me if I tried calling that to her face or in the dream realm."

Devon shook her head in disbelief and stared at Phobia. "How can you be like this to your own tribe?"

Phobia's face hardened as she pointed a wing towards the center of town. "Because my tribe can do incredible harm to others. There's a night pony stallion in custody in this very town that brainwashed over five-thousand humans in Augusta. One pony did that to five-thousand humans. Do you think he was even an unusual case in terms of his capability? How long could you keep your mind intact if a night pony started invading your dreams every night? Controls have to be in place, controls they won't dare try to violate. It's for the good of all."

"But the government...they should be dealing with this," Devon tried to reply.

"Which government? We have night ponies all over the world. Plus, governments can't do crap short of exterminating every single night pony," Phobia snarled. "This has happened before, a long time ago in Equestria. Do you want the government coming for your son because they are that scared out of their wits of night ponies? They'll do it, if they're scared enough."

Who did this pony think she was to be saying things like that in front of Robby? Devon balled her hands into fists. "Don't say things like that. You're scaring my son."

"Does he look scared to you?" Phobia asked as she pointed a wing at Robby.

Devon looked over at her son. To her surprise, he actually didn't look scared. He looked a little uncertain, but she could tell that was because he was being put on the spot.

"Robby is this upsetting you?" Devon asked. "It's okay to say your scared."

Robby shook his head. "I'm not scared, Momma. The Dreamwardens will keep us all safe. They'll make sure we aren't bad and nopony will be mad and want to hurt us."

"Aren't you worried the Dreamwardens might hurt you?" Devon asked.

Robby looked confused. "Why? I'm a good pony who follows the rules, Ms. Sha'am said so. They only hurt rulebreakers, it's a rule, and every night pony knows the rules."

"I'd like to point out most of the time Robby isn't even going to deal with a Dreamwarden in the dream realm," Rosetta said. "There's six of them, once they've gotten their Oaths they don't have the time to stand around holding every pony's hoof. Unless Robby is trying to hurt a pony they'll pretty much ignore him."

Paul cut in. "But he is going to be encountering Phobia if we live here. So, he is running into a Dreamwarden often."

Phobia sighed. "And I will not be acting as Dreamwarden when awake. I doubt Robby is going to do anything that is going to invite my wrath as Dreamwarden in the waking world." She paused and then looked over at Robby. "I am acting as Dreamwarden at the moment though. Can you say your Oaths for me?"

Robby nodded vigorously and when he spoke Rosetta said them along with him. "Psychic Calm, we promise ponies shall dream in peace. Yinyu Wu Yan, we shall not allow our passions to lead us to folly. Ghadab, the Wardens' anger is unyielding and just. Phobia Remedy, fear of the Wardens keeps us safe. Tikhiy Krik, we shall keep the secrets of the Wardens. Sha'am Maut, better to die than to face the Wardens' justice."

Phobia smiled at him. "Very good. You've done a very good job learning those. There are some tricky words in that for a colt your age."

"Ms. Rosetta taught me most of it, and Ms. Sha'am helped me get all the hard words right. She even told me all about what each part means and why each part is important," Robby beamed.

"Well, you're a very smart and talented little colt," Phobia complimented, then turned back to Devon and Paul. "And I do want to stress he is a very talented colt. Most night ponies can't dreamwalk at his age. Him dreamwalking at five years old shows he's likely going to be a remarkably talented dreamwalker. Your son is gifted."

"How old would night ponies normally be when they start dreamwalking?" Paul asked.

Phobia flicked her tail. "We're still establishing a median age to expect those powers to develop. I can only go by what I have observed so far. I'd say the median is closer to ten years old."

"He's doing things that foals twice his age would have just started doing then," Devon said as she looked at Robby. She should be proud for having a talented son. Every parent liked being told their child was gifted and special, but all this stuff was unnerving. "Can he just...not do those things?"

Phobia shook her head. "It'd be like telling a unicorn not to use their horn or a pegasus not to fly. They're going to do it one way or another. You don't even have a way of stopping him from doing so."

"I like dreamwalking, Momma. Don't make me stop," Robby insisted.

"He does need to get a little training in that so he knows more of what he's doing," Rosetta cautioned. "I don't think a five year old should really be dreamwalking unsupervised, or even the older foals for that matter. He could hurt somepony without meaning to...or stumble into some adult dreams he really shouldn't be seeing at his age."

Devon hadn't even considered the possibility of what kinds of dreams her son could get into if he was unsupervised. There was no stopping him from dreamwalking. Robby could disregard her telling him not to and she'd have no way of telling. She actually started to consider whether she should be pressuring him to rehumanize rather than have him exposed to all of this. She had no way of watching or protecting him if he was going to be going around different dreams.

She looked at her son. He was upset now, and she knew it was because he was afraid that she was going to take this away from him. She had promised him that she wasn't going to force him to do anything just a few days ago. That promise still stood. That meant she had to accept all this as part of the package.

"Paul, I think it's best that we keep letting Rosetta look after Robby," she said after thinking everything through.

Paul looked at her in shock. "What about..."

"Robby's a good boy, he won't have to deal with the Dreamwardens," Devon said, knowing what his objection was. "He's going to end up dreamwalking no matter what. I just want someone to keep him out of trouble when he's dreamwalking."

Paul looked sullen, but nodded after a second. Devon sighed with relief, she didn't want to have to argue about this. She was already uneasy as it was.

Phobia wasn't done though. The night pony looked at them with unease. "There's another matter that I need to talk to you about, one that I'd rather your son didn't overhear. Do you mind if my dad and Rosetta take him for a walk or something?"

Paul frowned. "Does it involve him?"

Phobia shook her head, looking unhappy. She looked far less confident than she did just a moment before. What could possibly make her so uneasy?

Devon looked over at Tom. "Do you mind?"

Tom had been silent through the entire discussion. All this was new information to him as well. He had to have a million questions of his own.

The unicorn looked at Robby then looked at Phobia. "You and I are going to have a long talk later on, but I'll take the boy out if this is something that might upset him."

Phobia nodded. "Understood. Thanks Dad."

Rosetta went and grabbed her purse from the desk and looped it over her neck. She then went over to Robby and nudged him towards the door with a wing. "Come on, we'll go down to the restaurants in town and get you an ice cream."

Robby looked at his parents uncertainly. Devon just gave him a smile. "Go on, it's okay. Just remember to thank Ms. Rosetta for the ice cream when your done."

Phobia waited a full minute after the other ponies exited before she began speaking again. "Sorry for the silence. I just want to make sure my Dad and your son were out of earshot. Tonya wanted this for your ears only."

"This is about my sister?" Paul asked in confusion.

Phobia nodded then sighed. "Yeah, Tonya's gotten herself into trouble, a lot of trouble--Dreamwarden trouble. I'm still shocked at her admissions of what she's done."

"Tonya isn't a night pony, how has she gotten into trouble with the Dreamwardens?" Devon asked. "I can't even imagine her doing anything seriously wrong to begin with."

"Before I tell you just let me remind you that this is what came from Tonya. I'm not accusing her of anything. I'm just going by what she's admitted to doing," Phobia cautioned them. "She's my best friend. I don't want to have to be the one punishing her for these things, but we can't let these go. She wanted to make sure she came clean to you."

Paul sighed and sat down at the chair for the computer desk. "What did my sister do?"

Phobia backed up, moving into a corner. "She did two different things, one is far worse than the other." The night pony laid down and wrapped her tail around herself and lowered her ears. "If you aren't aware, I was raped a few days ago by another night pony. Tonya...Tonya went out and did something with mind magic to take vengeance on him. He's dead now."

Devon's heart about stopped. "Tonya murdered a pony?!"

Phobia lowered her head so it was laying on the floor. "Not directly herself...but he's dead because of her."

Paul stood up, knocking the chair over. "My sister would never do something like that! She might have a lot of failings, but she is not a murderer!"

Phobia raised her head and looked at Paul sadly. "She's the one who came forward telling us what she did. We still have to examine some things, but it isn't something she'd lie and say she did if she didn't actually do it. I was shocked when I heard it too. I actually feel guilty for it. If I had been more careful, and didn't end up getting raped, then she wouldn't have gone off seeking revenge."

Paul balled up his fists. "And now your going to be the one to punish her for it? What are you going to do to her?"

Phobia laid her head back down. "She is getting a trial. That will determine what happens to her. Rosetta and my mom will be defending her. Tattered Wing is prosecuting her. I don't know what my mom and Rosetta are going to be able to say to get her out of severe punishment though. I hope they come up with something, but I just don't see it. I'm not the only judge, and Sha'am Maut is in charge of the trial. Sha'am is the strictest of us."

"So... there's no hope for her?" Devon asked as she held a hand up to her mouth.

"There's always hope, but it seems pretty dim," Phobia said mournfully.

Paul started pacing around the room and Phobia cringed back whenever he got close to her. Devon just sat in shock. She'd only known Tonya for a little while, but she couldn't picture the fun loving pegasus she had met as a murderer. And Paul...he hadn't been close to Tonya...well since they were young kids, but they were still siblings.

Paul stopped his pacing and turned to look at Phobia again. "You said she did two things. What's the other thing."

Phobia looked even more unhappy, if that was possible. "Do you two remember any point in the last few days you were both together with Tonya and no one else?"

Devon thought about it for a moment, there was only one time that it was just her, Paul, and Tonya together alone, that first day Paul had come back.

"Yes," Devon said with a stuff nod of her head.

"Did anything strange happen?" Phobia asked.

Paul frowned. "Yes, both Devon and I had this wave of...something...come over us, like nausea or vertigo." He paused as realization could be seen in his eyes. "Tonya got really upset and took off right after."

Phobia sat back up slowly and turned to each of them before continuing. "That feeling you felt was her hitting you with a heavy dose of mind magic. From what I understand she didn't mean to do it. She lashed out unintentionally because she was angry and upset."

"And what did she do to us with that mind magic?" Devon asked, afraid of what the answer might be.

"She..." Phobia began before Paul stopped her with a stomp, making the night pony cringe back and whimper.

Paul stomped towards Phobia. "I don't care what she did. It doesn't matter. Whatever she did can't be that bad because Devon and I are fine. We're fine! You hear me! We're fine!"

Devon got to her feet and rushed over to them. She then pulled Paul back from where he was lurched over Phobia.

"Paul stop! You're scaring her. She's just the messenger. Don't take this out on her," Devon pleaded as she pulled Paul away from Phobia, who was now starting to hyperventilate.

Paul shook her off and rounded on Devon a cold glare. "I still don't want to know. We're fine and that's all there is to it. I don't want to hear whatever she claims Tonya thinks she did to us."

Devon stepped back. "There's no need to get so hostile over it. Think of what you're doing. You're charging over and making threatening gestures to someone who was raped only a few days ago. She didn't do any of this and your giving her a panic attack because she has a huge man looming over her making violent gestures."

Paul looked down at Phobia, who was still shaking and breathing rapidly, and then he turned and headed for the door. "I'm going out and clearing my head. The great and powerful Dreamwarden can deal with feeling a little small and powerless for a few minutes."

"Paul!" Devon shouted in outrage.

The shout fell on deaf ears as he stormed out of the house.

Chapter 50

Sunset Blessing sat in her office trying her best to busy herself and focus on tasks that needed to be done. In the past whenever she was stressed about something and couldn't just go off on whoever was the source of her stress she'd throw herself into work. She'd done it that way through all of school and as an adult. More than once when Tom had raised her temper she had locked herself into her room and started working on Sunday school lessons.

That's probably what Phobia was doing too. Sunset was ashamed of how little she knew her daughter, but the more she learned the more she realized that she and Phobia were alike in a lot of ways. The fact Phobia had forced herself into intense training to reach her goal might have been the exact same coping mechanism at work.

She didn't know if she should be proud or sad that so much of herself was reflected in her daughter. There were some differences between them; Phobia had not inherited the same passion for doing the Lord's work, but she also thankfully didn't seem to have inherited a short temper. That burning temper got Sunset into more trouble than anything else. No, there was no burning temper in her daughter. Phobia was cold where Sunset was hot, always had been that way.

Phobia got that from Tom. Sunset was the only one that could ever got a rise out of him. No matter how angry he was it was only her that he would actually get in a yelling match with. Tom's temper was icy and so was Phobia's.

The air would surely freeze with that cold temper when Phobia sat in judgement of Tonya.

Sunset shook her head. There were tasks to do, and she needed to focus. There wasn't anything else she could do for Tonya at this very instant. They weren't even allowed to see each other without a pony standing over them watching. Other things needed to be focused on or she'd drive herself crazy with worry.

She floated out a manilla folder from the dozens that she had been provided by the government. This one was dedicated specifically to the Tanner family. A basic psychiatric assessment of each one. She flipped through it, ignoring several of the files as completely inconsequential--such as the youngest daughter Jenny, the human Mary, or the completely unremarkable Harold. She finally found the ones she wanted: Laura, Sarah, and the nephew Robert.

These files were most likely out of date already, but they gave her the file codes to search them up in the main database which would give her more up to date information. She was going to start with Sarah since divine providence had already provided her with a method of getting access to Sarah's research and ensuring it would continue. She said a silent prayer of thanks to the Lord for providing her with such an excellent opportunity.

She brought up Sarah's information from the main database and started reading the updated information, making a few notes as she did. Sarah Tanner did not profile as a pony that would likely go over to a Shimmerist point of view. It wasn't out of the question that Sarah might eventually be convinced of pony superiority since all things were possible, but it wasn't something Sunset could count on. Circumstances made it so that wasn't particularly important though; making sure Sarah would comply with her conditions for aid and reaping the benefits of Sarah's research were the important things.

After reading and note taking for a few minutes she began drafting her formal offer much as she had informed Rosetta it would be. She sat out an additional few allowances, including letting Sarah choose who was actually supervising the provided security. That security would be an excellent way of funneling Sunset's own agents into the west--even if she wasn't going to tell Sarah that--and we're going to be one of her sticking points. Giving Sarah control of who their supervisor was would make Sarah more amendable to having ponies Sarah hadn't hoof chosen on site. Hoof picking her team was typically an important thing to the archaeologist and was one of the areas she'd have to be mollified on.

With the proposal drafted she turned her attention to writing up a letter to the government explaining what she was doing with Sarah and how this would help advance research. She made promises to keep the government abreast of Sarah's findings and to make sure that if Sarah did find any artifacts that had unauthorized runes that the general public would be kept in the dark until approval was given to release that information. The runes would of course only be used to advance their own private research. If Sarah learned them as well the archaeologist could be pressured to keep them secret. This would be kept well under control.

Satisfied with what she had written up she got to work making arrangements for a courier to reach Mrs. Tanner at her most likely location. She was well underway when Megan came in looking frazzled.

"Um, Ms. Blessing... there's some Equestrians here to see you," Megan explained with a hesitant looks back at the door.

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Equestrians you say? Is this the rehumanization team and Lavender Mist?"

Megan shook her head, wide-eyed. "No, it's an alicorn. One of the Equestrian princesses is here. She seems to be unhappy..."

Sunset scowled. There was only one of the princesses that she had any dealings with, no matter how minor. "Show Princess Luna in and I'll see what I can do to help her. If anyone shows up looking for me tell them it has to wait, no matter how urgent it might seem. If it's urgent make a decision in my place and catch me up to speed when I'm done here."

Megan nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

The human then went out the door again and could be heard telling Luna that Sunset had agreed to see her. Sunset put the files away while this was going on. It was best Luna wasn't aware of her work.

The door opened again and that blasted Tempest Shadow walked in first, flanked by Lavender Mist. What the hell was that cripple doing back on this world? The broken horned mare did a quick glance around the room and she and Lavender both stepped aside with heads bowed as the alicorn herself entered.

Luna was much as Sunset remembered her from her dream. The initial shock she had when having the princess showing up in her dream had been dulled by their argument after. Now she wasn't particularly phased by a frowning alicorn walking into her office. She was curious why it was happening though.

"Princess Luna, what brings you to our humble town? In fact, how did you even get here without me being alerted you were coming?" Sunset said while pressing her hooves together in the desk.

"You're not one I would expect to speak about humility, Sunset Blessing," Luna said as she continued to frown. "Teleporting here was a bit of a challenge and took a few jumps, but I have urgent business here."

"I would expect so," Sunset said, then glanced at Tempest with narrowed eyes. "What's that menace doing back on Earth? I thought she was good as gone after she demonstrated how dangerous to public safety she is."

Tempest scowled back at her but didn't say any retort. Luna in turn lit up her horn and a magic field surrounded the room.

"That will keep our discussion private," Luna explained. "Tempest Shadow is here because your daughter needs protection and a pony to talk to that has endured her own traumatic experience. Phobia has done some things behind my back as a result of her trauma I'm not pleased about, and only highlight the need for a more active approach to dealing with her issues. The fact that she has acted so hastily makes me somewhat concerned that she has exposed herself to danger from others. Tempest shall be here to address both concerns. I have faith Tempest will not disappoint me again."

Sunset bit her lip. She had been concerned about what that crazy crystal pony might try to do to her daughter. With that in mind she really didn't object to Phobia having a bodyguard around, even if it was an Equestrian. Tempest was at the very least far more qualified for the position than any pony she'd find to fill that need. There was no need to like Phobia's bodyguard, only to be sure Phobia was safe.

"About Phobia's hasty decisions," Sunset began, unsure how to proceed. "What am I supposed to tell the government when they come to me asking questions? I only found out today that she had the authority she does. I've only gotten bits and pieces of information on everything involved, but I need to know what to tell those that come looking for answers."

Luna actually sat down and sighed. "At this point authority over what you know and don't know I leave in Phobia's hooves. Those kinds of decisions are now in the control of her and the other Dreamwardens. I hope they will continue to consult with me, but I can't make them do so. I'll do what I can to downplay the incident, though it won't be easy. She has put me in a difficult position as well."

Sunset softened her gaze. "Just protect my foal from this however you can. I don't know what I'd do if I lost her. I'm already beside myself with worry about Tonya."

Luna went back to frowning. "Phobia briefed me on that situation after I was done telling her what I thought of her reckless behavior. You have my sympathy for the hardship you must be feeling, but that matter is not in my control. The Dreamwardens are now active and I shall be limiting my interference going forward."

"You can't do anything to help Tonya?" Sunset said, and she found herself crying even though she didn't like showing weakness in front of anypony. "I'm desperate for anything that can help her."

Luna gave her a firm look. "Her crimes are very serious. No matter how much you care for her there is no denying she has done something evil and vile. If you wish me to suggest a defense to you I would suggest a crime of passion. That doesn't excuse her actions, but it might lessen the judgement against her if you can properly make the case. I hope that the worst won't happen, because she doesn't seem to be one with evil intent. It is always my hope that those that can be reformed are given that opportunity. I myself once fell into darkness, going so far as to attempt to kill my own sister, and was given another chance."

Sunset swallowed as she brought her crying under control. "I'll take that advice under consideration. I can empathize with you about having a past that I regret."

Luna stood back up. "You are still a long way from being a reformed individual. You've simply traded one blackness for another. You aren't as vile as some, but I can't bring myself to call you good."

Sunset grit her teeth and did her best to hold her temper in check. "I may not be perfect, but I'm far better than I was. My actions are for the greater good."

"As you see it," Luna said flatly. "I did not come here to debate your heavily flawed and misguided beliefs with you yet again. You clearly have no intention of listening to me about why they are wrong. I'm here to help your daughter."

"If you're here for only Phobia why are you in my office?" Sunset snapped in annoyance.

Luna snorted and then chuckled before answering. "Because, my little self important little pony, I don't know exactly where in this town she lives and I need you to direct me to her. That and making sure you didn't interfere with Tempest yet again. You're very small and insignificant in terms of my concerns on this world. Now kindly direct me to your daughter."

Chapter 51

Devon wanted to go chasing after her husband and give him a piece of her mind. She knew he was just upset and angry, she was bothered by what she'd learned too, but that didn't make what he had unintentionally done easier to stomach.

She looked over at Phobia. The pony was still hunched in a corner, refusing to leave it. The crying and whimpering had stopped, and she'd even gotten back to speaking a little, but she was far from alright. Devon couldn't even come near her without Phobia's panic starting to rise again. She wanted to go find Rosetta and Tom to see what they could do, but she didn't want to leave the terrified pony by herself.

So she was just stuck here, keeping a healthy distance between herself and the mare, and trying to put the pony at ease. It was a sad bit of irony that the pony every night pony in the world feared was the most terrified pony that Devon had met. Some part of her wanted to say there was some sort of lesson in that, but the cynic in her just wanted someone to come deal with this for her.

She sat down at the computer desk and faced the night pony. "You've told me about yourself as a Dreamwarden. What about when you're awake? What kind of work are you planning on doing when you're awake? What kind of hobbies do you have?"

"I'm not really sure, for either of those," Phobia said slowly. "Things have changed so much in the past month and a half. I was always kind of a closed person, and I didn't get too into anything. Rosetta was trying to get me interested in going to college for psychology or sociology. Those are things that could help me be a better Dreamwarden."

"Okay, but that's still things that revolve around your career as a Dreamwarden," Devon said. "That's not the whole of your life. I'm a mother and a teacher, and those take up a good chunk of my time, but there is more to me than those things."

Phobia finally sat up instead of cowering on the floor. The night pony put a hoof on her belly and looked down at it. "I'm going to be a mother. I'm about a week along. I was like Tonya, transgender, though I didn't actively realize it till I was deep into transforming. The idea that I could be a biological mother is still very new and scary to me. Not to mention how I..."

Phobia started breathing heavy again and a clear panic attack was about to begin again. "Phobia, look at me and try to control the pace of your breathing. You're safe right now. It's just you and me here. What happened is in the past and isn't going to happen again. You're safe, you're alright."

Devon waited while Phobia did as instructed and tried to level out her breathing. The breathing was so fast and heavy but it developed a rhythm to it and slowly came back in line with regular breathing. Phobia shook her head when it got close to normal and looked apologetically at Devon.

"I'm sorry...this is hard. I've been avoiding thinking of this, trying to just focus on my Dreamwarden duties. Beyond the fact that I care a lot about fear I haven't really gotten a chance to even figure out who I am since becoming a biological female, and now I'm going to be a mother. I don't even know if I'll be able to look at my own foal and not think about what happened," Phobia said mournfully.

"It's okay," Devon said soothingly. She then took a deep breath and decided to talk about something that was always difficult for her to talk about. "You're not alone in feeling that way about a pregnancy that happened due to rape. A lot of women would choose to abort it because they didn't want it and they have the same types of fears you're having right now about what they'll remember when they look at their child. You can be a good mother still, I know it for a fact, because my mother did a good job raising me."

Phobia looked up at her in shock. "You're a child of a rape?"

Devon nodded. "My mother was a victim of drugged date rape back when she was in college. She didn't even tell me until we had the talk after my first time getting my period. There was a point she considered aborting me and admitted that early on after I was born she considered giving me up for adoption because I did remind her of what happened. She would have her own panic attacks when I was just an infant. She still has them sometimes; rape isn't something you ever get over."

"But, she did end up raising you?" Phobia asked.

Devon smiled. "She loves me, and is still to this day my longest lasting best friend." She then frowned and felt a sharp stab of guilt. "I really should call her. She's probably worried about me. I don't even know if she's still human or a pony. Amanda was getting in touch with her family earlier today and I didn't even think about doing the same. I feel like such a terrible daughter now."

"I'm sure she'll understand," Phobia said. Then smiled for the first time since Paul left. "And I can probably guess whether she's a human or pony for you without even checking the dream realm."

Devon looked confused. "Um, how are you going to do that?"

Phobia's smile got bigger and Devon got the sense that Phobia knew she was about to pull something clever. "Have you used your phone at all in the last month?"

"Yeah, just the other day, to call Paul," Devon answered, wondering where this was going.

"And you had no messages from her and haven't heard a word?" Phobia prompted.

"I just said I haven't found out anything about her situation," Devon said, still confused.

Phobia gave a now triumphant smile. "Then my bets are on she is a pony and probably not a unicorn. Humans would have been eager to get any word about their loved ones after ETS. Ponies just kind of went with the flow and got so caught up in learning about all the new things we could do that we kind of just forgot to check in with relatives more often than not. If she were a unicorn she might have tried still, but other types of ponies just didn't go through a lot of effort to try to use gadgets not built for them."

Devon blinked. That actually made sense to her. That left her still unsure how to even get in touch with her mother. If this much time had passed and her mother wasn't inclined to keep her phone then that could make things really difficult.

"Does Robby know her?" Phobia asked.

"Yeah, she visits for every one of his birthdays and holidays, and sometimes just visits just because," Devon said as she considered where her mother likely was and how to get in touch with her. "For all I know she's in town here; she didn't live that far from me. I would have thought she'd have noticed me though by this point. Humans tend to stand out in town."

"If she's here there might be plenty of reasons she hasn't run into you yet," Phobia said knowingly. "But I can track her down for you if she's a pony, no matter if she's here or not. I can get an impression of her from Robby and then find her dreams...Rosetta could do the same if you prefer not having a Dreamwarden do it."

Devon didn't really need to think about it. "Are you sure that isn't any trouble? I know you must be busy when you're asleep."

Phobia took a stood up and took a step or two from her corner. "It's no trouble. I'm not like a normal dreamwalker. I can literally be multiple places at once in the dreamscape doing completely different things. I couldn't begin to describe what that's like, but it's no big deal for me. I can make well over a hundred avatars of myself there at any given time, and only need at most a few dozen at a time for dealing with night ponies. I can spare one to go find your mom, if she is a pony and asleep."

Devon wanted to say yes, but then she thought of Paul and wasn't sure how he'd react to Phobia getting involved with another family member. There was no guarantee that her mother was a pony either, just a educated guess that she was.

"Paul might not be happy with you doing us favors," she said after consideration. "You said Rosetta could find her too, right? I think it might be better if she did it."

Phobia didn't seem upset about being personally declined in favor of Rosetta. "I'll talk to her and let her know. She won't be able to go looking till morning at the earliest, but I'm sure she'd be happy to help. I think Robby would be more comfortable with her anyway. He trusts me, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't be afraid of putting a hoof out of place."

Devon was about to answer back but was interrupted by a knock at the door. The knocking sent Phobia back into cringing in her corner. That made Devon want to tell off whoever was knocking at the door. She had been making real progress on getting Phobia calmed down and less tense.

It wasn't her house, but it was probably best for her to go answer the door. Phobia wasn't going to move from her corner. Maybe Paul had come back. Rosetta and Tom would have just let themselves in.

She got up and went to the door. She spared a quick glance at Phobia to see if it was alright. The night pony was sniffing at the air with a confused look on her face. Phobia's lack of answer was hard to read, but she took it as not objecting to her opening the door. She opened it and then froze as she saw who was on the other side.

Standing on the front porch were four ponies, two of them were the tallest ponies she had seen; one slightly larger than average, but the tallest one was the first pony she had seen that was actually taller than her. Devon was short on average, but she still typically towered over adult ponies--but this time she was the one having to look up just slightly to meet the pony's eyes.

"Who the hell are you, and what are you doing in my daughter's house?" One of the more normal sized ponies snapped.

She was about to answer the disagreeable pony when Phobia spoke up instead. "Mom? That is Devon, she's a friend of mine. Please don't be rude to my friends."

The red furred unicorn that had snapped looked a little embarrassed. The gigantic one spoke up before anything else was said. "If you're able to curtail your mother being rude you are a more talented mare than I thought, Phobia Remedy. Speaking of friends, am I going to be invited in or am I going to be treated as a stranger at your door following your headstrong behavior today?"

"Luna?" Phobia gasped with excitement. The night pony then finally got out of her corner completely and went to the center of the room where she could see out the door. "And Tempest! Come in! I thought I smelled Tempest a second ago, but was sure my mind was playing tricks on me."

Devon stepped out of the way to let the group of ponies in. The second tallest was a unicorn mare that had a broken horn, and the mare gave Devon a look over as she entered. The shorter unicorn that had snapped earlier gave her a quick glance but didn't say anything more. Devon assumed that was Sunset Blessing, and wondered what Tonya saw in the pony based on her first impression. Another night pony mare stepped in and looked curiously around the room as she did.

The tallest one, Luna, Devon realized was a type she'd only seen one example of before this, and then only on the news. This was an alicorn like Twilight Sparkle, those were like Equestrian royalty. What was she doing here in Riverview of all places?

Luna's demeanor softened as she approached Phobia. Devon was prepared to see Phobia flinch back at this giant of a pony coming near her, but to her shock Phobia seemed to trust Luna enough that there was no sign of fear in her at all. The night pony simply smiled.

"It is good to see you in the waking world at last," Luna said tenderly. "It's been a regret of mine that I have not been able to actually spend any waking time with any of the six of you. Perhaps if I did the group of you would not have staged your insurrection against my teaching you."

Phobia's smile dropped. "We already discussed this. I did something stupid that made us have to do what we did. You can be mad at me for it, not the others."

"I was more worried about the jeopardy you put yourself in, not your reasoning," Luna said firmly. "It was dangerous doing what you did. Psychic Calm not so much, but you, and especially Ghadab, could have died. Not just when the binding was happening either; the stunt you pulled with that highly intensified training could have been the end of you. We haven't even discussed the fact you suppressed your nightmares rather than properly deal with them."

Phobia sighed. "You've already chewed me out, chewed all of us out, at length. Did you just come here to continue to chew me out while awake?"

Luna shook her head. "No, that was merely my frustrations speaking. The matter is finished, but it might take a few days before the fear and anxiety I felt completely fade."

"She's like me, she does what needs to be done," Sunset chimed in proudly.

Luna turned to the unicorn and scowled. "Your daughter did indeed inherit a number of very good traits from you. It's a shame that while she is a great mare you continue to sully yourself. You have all the tools and skills to be one of the truly great ponies, Sunset Blessing. Unfortunately, your insistence on clinging to your bigotry will keep you always as a shell of what you could be, just like your namesake before you. I pity you for that. Now keep your muzzle shut while your daughter and I speak."

Devon watched Tempest smirk as Sunset scowled. The night pony she didn't know had her head down and was seemingly just trying to blend in with the wooden floorboards.

"Luna, that's my mother. My mother should feel welcome under my roof. I understand you and her don't like one another, but can you please not do this here," Phobia said calmly.

"I was not..."

"You were," Phobia said flatly.

Luna grimaced. "Apologies, Ms. Blessing. This isn't the time or place for me to be speaking my mind about you. Out of respect to your daughter I will refrain from denouncing your many failings under her roof."

Sunset said nothing, but after Luna turned back around so the red unicorn was behind her Sunset did the highly mature thing and stuck her tongue out at the alicorn. Tempest caught sight of it and scowled. Phobia gave her mother a hard look which made Sunset withdraw her tongue and look embarrassed again. Devon wondered if there was some sort of weird motherly jealousy going on between the town leader and the Equestrian princess.

"On to business," Luna continued and gestured at Tempest. "Because you were somewhat exposed today, and are in need of real aid with dealing with what happened to you, I have decided to have Tempest Shadow be stationed for the time being as your personal bodyguard."

Phobia looked at Tempest then back to Luna. "Don't you think ponies will ask why I have an Equestrian standing around me all the time? One dressed in armor at that?"

"Officially she is here to observe one of the first built pony settlements, to ensure ponies are not being mistreated," Luna explained. "Such an official capacity will explain her presence. Who she chooses to spend her time with is not something that should be an issue. She won't be wearing her armor around here either, she is acting as a civilian, not a military official."

Tempest's mouth dropped and she shook her head. "Princess, you did not inform me that I would be here naked."

Luna raised an eyebrow at her. "Did I not recommend that you bring a few dresses and other clothes with you?"

Tempest flicked her tail nervously. "You did...and I packed one dress thinking that you might expect me to attend some occasion it would be appropriate to wear, but I brought nothing else. I barely even own a wardrobe."

Luna frowned. "I understand your nervousness about going uncovered, but I did recommend you bring other clothes. Perhaps I should have been more clear in my intent. Despite that, I suggest you accept you will have to go naked or get used to wearing that same dress around until pony tailors are available locally."

Tempest looked down at the ground. "As you wish, princess. May I be excused for a few minutes to go fetch my bags from the town hall and change clothes?"

Luna nodded. "As you wish, but be prompt. I don't wish to tarry here too long and want to see you again before I must leave."

The broken horned mare bowed her head then quickly exited out of the house.

The purple night pony watched the mare depart and then turned to Luna. "Um, princess, is she?...you know...I...I don't want to really say it."

Luna gave the pony a steely gaze. "Break your taboo and say it, Lavender Mist."

Lavender gulped and nodded. "Is she a blank flank, highness?"

"She is indeed, and that does not make her less qualified for her position," Luna said firmly. "You are not going to give her a hard time about it, do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal clear, my princess," Lavender said as she looked down at the floorboards.

Devon couldn't keep her confusion contained. "What's the big deal about being a blank flank? Does that mean unmarked? At least half the ponies around here are unmarked still."

"It is unjust bigotry, common in my culture," Luna said with a snort. "Many ponies ascribe adulthood in some form to having their cutie mark, regardless of age. If a foal who has not yet reached puberty has their cutie mark and a grown adult with them does not it is not uncommon for the foal to be treated as the more mature of the two and given more freedom and privilege. Not having your mark as an adult causes a great deal of interpersonal problems. There are a lot of factors that carry into this involving deep rooted fears among ponies that they see reflected in those unfortunate to not ever earn a cutie mark, and it would take some time to go into them all. It's one reason I wanted Tempest to come to this world, so she could experience life where she didn't need to live in fear of ponies learning she's unmarked."

"That's if that didn't carry over here," Phobia said grimly. "You know we've seen evidence that it may have been implanted into our instincts. Sunset Shimmer seemed a strong believer in cutie marks make the adult. Even though I try to resist thinking that way I know even I'm inclined to think that way."

"Will it be a problem?" Luna asked.

Phobia shook her head. "I recognize the instinct for what it is. We don't need to be slaves to instinct."

Luna looked sad as she nodded. "Indeed, hopefully it will be several years yet before that kind of prejudice will arise in force. I hope you encourage ponies away from that path."

"I will do what I can, but I can only do so much. Fighting an instinct in half a billion ponies goes well outside my jurisdiction though. There isn't much I can do but try to encourage ponies to not fall into that trap, but encouragement is all I can do," Phobia said with a downcast look.

Devon guessed that it was a good thing Amanda got her mark then. Her friend didn't seem really driven to rehumanize, so this meant she was avoiding being socially shunned. Did that mean she should be trying to encourage her own foals towards getting their marks as soon as possible? There was still so much she didn't understand about ponies.

"Sunset Shimmer's various prejudices are the ongoing bane of my existence," Luna grumbled. "Getting back to matters at hoof, do you have proper accommodations here for Tempest to be housed?" Luna asked Phobia.

"We have an extra room that we'd originally planned to make a study... it's the room...it happened in," Phobia said, and visibly trembled as she spoke. "I don't think I want to go into that room anymore."

"I suppose that shall do then," Luna replied. "I plan on her staying here for quite some time. At the very least months, perhaps years with some intermittent breaks to return home to Equestria."

"And she's going to be okay with this?" Phobia asked. Devon was curious about that too. She understood Tempest was a soldier of some type, and soldiers didn't have full control over where they might end up stationed, but telling her that she might have to be away from home for years was a lot to swallow.

"Tempest Shadow knows her duty, and has not made much progress on making friends on Equestria. A change of scenery may do her good," Luna said dismissively.

The alicorn and the Dreamwarden continued to speak together after, mainly discussing Phobia's health--both physical and mental. Devon sat quietly as they did, and Lavender and Sunset kept quiet as well, just listening along. She wondered how long until her son or her husband returned. She also hoped that Luna finished and left before Paul came back so he didn't get in trouble for causing Phobia a panic attack.

She frowned. Despite everything she still hadn't learned what Tonya had actually done to them. She didn't want to interrupt two beings that we're basically demigods, but if she waited too long Paul would return and trying to find out could start a new commotion.

"Excuse me, Phobia," she spoke up. "I'm really sorry to interrupt your conversation. I needed to know what you were going to tell me and Paul earlier, before he gets back and makes it impossible to have that conversation again."

Phobia looked around the room at the other ponies before looking at Devon. "I think all the ponies in this room are already aware of it, or will become aware of it soon if they aren't already. So I supposed discussing it in front of them does no harm."

The night pony took another deep breath before continuing. "Tonya forced you and Paul to end your fighting and forgive each other. She also forced Paul to accept your foals the way they are, and she forced him to accept that Tonya is his sister--not his brother. While these are all good things to want, the fact you didn't have a choice in the matter makes this a grievance worthy of trial."

Devon stood there stunned for a moment before slowly walking over to the chair by the computer and sitting down. The ponies all looked at her with sympathy. She sat for a moment and then just laid her head down in her arms on the desk and cried.

Everything that had been going well since Paul had gotten back into their lives was a lie.

Chapter 52

Wild Growth took a deep breath and lightly tapped on her parents' bedroom door. It was a light tap for her anyway, it likely seemed a hard knock to her parents. Her family had gotten used to the fact she had a hard time being gentle with things so they weren't going to be mad about the loud knock.

What they were going to be upset about was that Tattered Wing had her under house arrest. No pony had even escorted her here. She was under house arrest completely on the trust system. As had been pointed out, there was no way to confine her against her will--not when walls could be broken down with little effort by her, teams of crystal ponies couldn't drain enough magic off her to make even a small dent in her power, and unicorns magic just couldn't apply enough force to keep her still. They could have the military stand armed guard over her, since bullets likely still worked, but no pony was comfortable putting her under armed guard.

"Come in," Jean called out.

Wild gently pushed open the door to her parents' room and stepped in. They were both sitting on the bed and looked like they had been speaking to one another before she arrived. The room was completely in order, as was most of the house except for her room. The family had done a good job getting everything unpacked and moved in over the course of the last week.

Her papa looked at her with concern. "Something wrong, sweet pea?"

How was she supposed to have this conversation? How do you tell your parents you've just personally leveled a building and only by luck and other's quick thinking did no one get seriously hurt, or worse, died?

She lowered her head and her tail hung limply behind her. "I did something really bad today. I'm supposed to stay at the house till somepony figures out how to punish me."

Her parents looked at her in shock and confusion. Her papa got up from where he had been sitting and walked over to her, then kneeled down beside her and put a hand gently on her shoulder.

"What are you talking about?" Roger asked. "What could you have done that is so bad? While I don't like some of the things you've done lately they aren't as bad as all that."

Wild started tearing up as she worked herself up to where she could say what she did. "Papa, I lost control today. I lost control of my temper and lost control of my powers...it was bad."

"What happened?" Jean asked fearfully from the bed. Wild felt worse hearing that fear in her mama's voice. How many times could she do something she didn't intend with her power before her parents started to fear being around her?

"I lost my temper at Tonya at the town clinic..." She said slowly, still not sure how to say this. She decided to skip to the end result. "There's no more clinic now. I brought the entire thing down. I lost control of my power and completely split the earth around where the clinic stood. It only took one hoof stomp to completely demolish a building. If there were other buildings right next to it they'd probably be gone now too."

She felt her papa's hand tense up on her and it made her want to cry. He was scared.

"Like what happened in the backyard the other day?" Roger asked.

Wild nodded. "Exactly like that, only bigger this time. I even realized what was happening at the last second and tried to hold it back."

"Did anyone get hurt?" Her mama asked, still sounding fearful.

Wild shook her head. "Everypony is alright, no thanks to me. Sunset was able to figure out what was happening and got everypony to safety before the building came down. I just stood there like a scared little filly and if they were relying on me they'd be dead now." The last part came out bitter on her tongue.

"You are a scared little filly, Catherine," Roger said. There was no anger or fear in his eyes as he looked at her. It was the same type of look that he would give her when she was little and she'd come home with a skinned knee. "You try so hard to be grown up and to try to shoulder everyone's troubles. The truth is, even though you have all this power, wealth, and a promising future...you're still just a seventeen-year old girl."

Her automatic retort was already on her lips. "I'm a grown..." Her papa cut her off with a finger placed on her mouth.

"You are full grown, that's true," Roger said. "Being full grown doesn't mean you're an experienced adult. It isn't something that just happens overnight because you've reached some arbitrary age. Thinking back I don't think I actually count when I started being an actual adult until I was done with my bachelor's degree...maybe not even then."

"I'm not a foal," Wild said, more snappishly than she intended.

"You're in between adult and child, it's a transition period," Roger said softly. "Like a fruit that's hanging on a tree that isn't ripe yet. Your mother and I are watching as you start to transform from our bookish little teen girl into a young woman...or young mare if I'm using pony terms. We're a mix of proud, excited, wistful, anxious, and scared to watch that happen."

"Scared because of my powers?" Wild asked as she stared at her papa's feet.

"Not as much as you think," Roger answered. "What scares us most is the fact that you're not the little girl we could take care of everything for, we're also scared because you've taken so much on yourself and keep taking more on yourself and it's more than an experienced adult would be able to handle and you're just getting into your adult life."

"You don't think I can deal with it all?" She asked as she looked up at him with her ears laid back.

"I think you might be able to, but we worry about the cost," Roger said as he raised his hand up to brush the side of her face. "You can't be responsible for everyone and yourself. You barely have had time to figure out who you even are and you're trying to take care of everyone else. This should be a time in your life when your really discovering yourself."

"I'm trying to make my own way, make my own decisions. You and Rosetta fuss at me for everything I do though when I try," Wild said as she started to cry again.

"We caution you because we want you to do well," Roger corrected. "Your sister is just finished stabilizing who she is and who she wants to be. She just went through the stage of her life that your diving into now. She worries because she has regrets that she'd like to do over, and doesn't want you to have regrets. I'm your father, I'm just going to worry no matter what."

"You get on my case about Number Crunch, and imply I'm turning into a drunk or something," Wild muttered.

Roger gave a reserved chuckle. "I wish you having friends I didn't like and me worrying about my college-aged daughter drinking were all that I need to worry about with you. Those are the kinds of things I expected to have to worry about once you graduated and went off to college. You were going to go to my Alma Mater which I know has a reputation as a party school. I would have been shocked if you didn't end up passed out drunk at least once if not more times over the course of your time there, if I'm being honest. I fuss about those things because I already had those discussions planned out in my head, and already went through them with your sister."

"Um, Rosetta's never been drunk," Wild said skeptically.

"No, you've never seen her drunk because when she tried to come home drunk I took her to a hotel and told her to sleep it off and be sober before she even thought of setting foot into the house," Roger said with a smile. "I wasn't about to let you see your big sister in that state. Believe me, she prepped me for all kinds of possible situations I might expect from you when you went off to college. I had my lectures ready to go if needed. Want my lecture about safe sex and making sure he's wearing a condom?"

"Aaah! Papa, no! That conversation will just feel weird to have," Wild protested wide eyed.

"Good, because I honestly don't know anymore now that your a pony what that entails," Roger said as he sat and slumped forward slightly. "I had this whole set of things to say for advice and cautions and now I just don't know anymore. Now you aren't even human."

"That's just the start of it though," he continued on as he looked at her sadly. "You worry about controlling your powers and I don't have any point of reference to even begin giving advice. Instead of making sure your making good grades you're worried about whether you'll personally be providing jobs for thousands of people. You're getting involved in things bigger than any college kid ever had to think about in secret meetings with powerful people. I don't have those lectures. I don't have the right kinds of advice for that. I don't have any answers, and that makes me so scared for you."

Wild didn't know what to say to that. Instead she just pushed herself forward and carefully wrapped her hooves around him in a hug. Her papa hugged her in return, and a moment later her mama was there too, joining them in a group hug. There was crying, a lot of crying, but it was good crying. It was the kind of crying that said I love you.

The hug was eventually interrupted by a knock on her parents' door.

"Wild? Are you in there? There's a pony here to see you. She's really big and her mane is really weird," came Miguel's voice from the other side of the door.

Really big with a weird mane? She couldn't really place that description to any pony she could think of.

"I'll be right down. It's probably somepony from the Enclave wanting to ask me some questions about something that happened today," Wild called back as she untangled herself from her parents.

her mama said softly in Spanish.

Wild replied back as she gave them both one last hug.

her papa said as he wiped away a tear.

Wild quietly left the room and trotted down the stairs. When she reached the bottom she didn't see any other ponies around. She did see both her little brothers trying to inconspicuously peak out the front window at something.

She demanded, forgetting to switch back to using English.

"She said she wanted to stay outside," Jose said as he pointed out the window. "She's not a normal pony."

Wild chastised as she walked towards the door.

Jose crossed his arms. "You're being rude. You're speaking in Spanish when there's a guest. Mama said we're not supposed to do that."

Wild rolled her eyes as she opened the door and stepped outside, pulling it closed behind her as she went. When she turned around to see who was waiting for her she let off a gasp.

"Wild Growth, we meet again, though for the first time in person," Luna said as she approached from the side of the porch. "That other language you were speaking, Spanish, seems a very pretty language. Is that your native tongue?"

Wild opened and shut her mouth twice before she could bring herself to answer. "I grew up learning both English and Spanish. My family came over to the mainland a few generations ago from Puerto Rico and most people speak Spanish there."

"I see, a carry over of cultural heritage then? I will have to see about learning that language sometime soon," Luna said with a smile as she sat down in front of Wild. "I'm not here to learn about culture and languages though. I wanted to speak to you after all I've heard. You seem like a pony that cannot help but make great waves."

Wild's shock finally completely broke and gave way to bitterness. "If by great waves you mean almost hurting ponies because I can't control my magic when I lose my temper then your right."

Luna looked sympathetically at her. "Sunset Blessing told me about your incident today. I don't care much for that unicorn, but her concern for you seemed legitimate. It is part of why I decided that I would take the time to see you while on errand here. Do you wish to speak about the incident?"

Wild laid down on the porch and put her head on her forelegs. "What's to talk about? I lost my temper and it ended up destroying an entire building and part of the area around it. And that was with me pulling some of my power back. It was lucky that nopony got hurt."

"And now your afraid of your power?" Luna prompted.

"I'm afraid of my temper, of losing control like that. I'm not a normal pony, I can't afford to lose control," Wild said. She didn't know how she still had tears left, but she found herself crying again.

"You are a very powerful pony. I've not seen an earth pony of your power before, only heard tales from before even my time, and a tale or two from when I was...indisposed," Luna said thoughtfully. "An earth pony such as yourself isn't a once and a generation thing, it is far rarer than that. Those who are most gifted often bear some of the heaviest burdens."

"So there's no pony that can understand how to help me?" Wild asked.

"I didn't say that," Luna said calmly. "I know most on this world are now familiar with Twilight Sparkle. She wasn't always an alicorn you know. Once she was an extremely gifted unicorn. Do you know what she did as a filly that made all realize how gifted she actually was?"

"Probably didn't level a clinic to the ground," Wild muttered.

Luna ignored her mutters. "She was taking an entrance exam for my sister's school. The test was a magical strength test. She was supposed to try to hatch a dragon's egg, something that ponies shouldn't have been able to do, but the amount of effort the foals put into the task gives the instructors an idea how powerful the foal's magic is even though the foal will fail."

"A test they can't pass? That seems a little cruel to give to foals," Wild said with a frown. "Let me guess, she managed to hatch the egg where no other pony could even though she was just a foal."

Luna grinned. "She did indeed, and at the same time turned both her parents into potted plants, restrained all the proctors of the test magically--despite them all being among the most highly skilled magic users, and then made the dragon hatchling grow to an enormous size in seconds--shattering the ceiling. It was a wonder the building didn't collapse."

Wild stared. "She turned her parents into potted plants!?"

Luna waved a hoof dismissively. "They got better."

How do you get better from being turned into a potted plant? Wild might grow plants and humans would cheer, but if she actually turned a human into a plant they'd probably form a mob with pitchforks and hunt her till she was dead.

"The point is that Twilight started off with a wild display of magic but rose to be one of the most skilled and precise magic users I have ever met. Just because your powers are hard to control now doesn't mean you can't learn to control them with precision in time," Luna explained.

"But I can't do anything with them without strong emotion," Wild explained. "I can do little things now, sure, but the big things I am almost always angry when I do. I'm so scared of getting angry. Look at what happened today."

"I think perhaps you spend too much time trying to bottle up or suppress strong emotion out of fear of the outcome and create your own downfall," Luna said as she reached over and ran a hoof over Wild's mane. "And you said your almost always angry. That means sometimes you're not."

Wild couldn't help letting a small smile form on her lips. "Yesterday afternoon, I grew the crops for town without getting angry. Tonya...Tonya got the whole town singing for me and I just felt so much encouragement; I felt so loved. I was able to pull on my powers with no problem."

Luna nodded in acknowledgement. "Love is a very powerful thing to feel. I noticed you tripped saying Tonya's name though."

Wild scowled. "She made my best friend into a murderer. I'll never forgive her for that."

"Why?"

Wild stood to her hooves and felt her anger rising again. She drew back her lips to bare her teeth as she glared at the alicorn. "Why? What kind of fucked up question is that? She made my friend into a murderer, that's why."

Luna looked at her with a stoic calm. "Are you angry that the pony is dead? I've spent time with your sister. I know the blood lust she had for Swift Strike. If given the opportunity I can't say she wouldn't have attempted to end his life. Would you have been as upset if she sated that blood lust by murdering him?"

Wild unbared her teeth. "I don't know. It's different."

"How so?"

"Because Number Crunch didn't want to do it! Tonya made Number betray who she is."

Luna kept her stoic calm. "It is my understanding that Tonya's powers require some part of the pony to want what she makes them do it think. By that reasoning Number Crunch wanted to kill Swift Strike."

Wild took a step back. "Not enough to actually go through with it."

"Not under normal circumstances, but the seed to do it was there if Tonya made her do it," Luna said calmly.

Wild took another step back. "Why are you defending her? She's a monster!"

Luna shook her head. "I'm not defending her, I'm asking you why you will never forgive her."

"I just told you why," Wild said as she narrowed her eyes.

"No, you didn't," Luna said with that same irritating calm. "You explained why what she did was wrong. That wasn't the question you were asked though. I asked you why you will never forgive her."

Wild snorted and then took another step back, shaking her head. "Are you trying to make me angry. Didn't I just tell you what happens when I get angry? Stop this, please, before I hurt somepony."

Luna raised an eyebrow at her. "Wild Growth, you're one of the most magically powerful ponies from this planet, perhaps the most powerful for all I know. However, I'm on this planet at the moment and you're not stronger than me. I'm an alicorn and I have already prepped myself if I need to counteract something you do. If you must yell, and scream, and rage I'll still want the answer to my question."

Wild started taking deep breaths. "I don't want to forgive her. She may have ruined my friend's life. She betrayed Number's trust in her. I trusted Tonya and then I found out she had done this."

"And do you feel this is representative of who Tonya is?" Luna asked.

Wild licked her lips. "I don't know...it doesn't seem like it, but she's already shown she can't be trusted. Why are you making me answer all of this?"

Luna sighed. "Because this is resentment and anger that you're holding on to and not letting go. These things can fester in the best of ponies. In a pony like you that could lead to great tragedy. If you don't want to be a monster then you must learn not to hate and open yourself to forgiveness."

Wild sat down and stared at the grains of wood in boards that made up the porch. Was she hateful for not being open to forgiving Tonya when Tonya regretted what she had done?

"You destroyed a clinic today," Luna stated softly. "Ponies, as you said, could have died in your moment of rage. Tonya had a moment of rage as well. A pony did die. It was luck and chance that yours did not end the same way. So much can happen in a moment. Do we let it define our lives? Should we never forgive those who had the worst of moments?"

Wild sniffled. "I don't know."

Luna stood up and walked off the porch then looked back at her. "Tonya will face the consequences of her moment soon enough. Whether you forgive her or not those consequences will come. The choice to personally forgive her is still yours. As is the choice to personally forgive yourself for your own moment. Consequences always come, and must be faced, but that doesn't mean we must hold on to resentment and anger. I leave you to consider that. Take care, my little pony."

And without another word said Luna teleported away, leaving Wild deep in thought on the porch.

Chapter 53

Melissa sat staring at the messenger service on the computer. She'd sent a message to her dad earlier in the day, but had gotten no reply yet. She'd tried calling, but again no answer. His social media had been inactive for weeks as well. It was starting to dawn on her that her dad might not be human. She'd thought with him being in the army that he would have been protected from ETS, but now she was having doubts.

Of course, he could just be under orders not to be using social media, or be somewhere where he didn't have access to calls. There was no way of really knowing. She wouldn't be upset if he was a pony, she'd been one up to recently after all, but she just wished she knew something.

She wasn't alone in not knowing what was going on with family. Her social media feed was packed with people posting up messages asking for anyone to provide word about relatives that they hadn't heard word from. There were a lot of scared people out there who didn't know if their family was human or pony now. Some made pleas begging to be told that their loved one was still human, others made pleas saying they didn't care if their loved one was now a pony they just wanted to know they were safe and alright. It had been nearly forty days since the counterspell and so many still didn't have answers.

On a whim she checked her mother's profile. She actually felt disappointed when it came up with plenty of activity. It was probably bad of her to think it, but her mother might have been better off as a pony. Becoming a pony broke all those old addictions, and it would have finally broken her mother's alcohol abuse. She might even be able to reconnect with her mother if her mother had gone pony. Fate wasn't kind though.

Her mother was looking for word about her based on the messages, no requests for information about her dad. There was an urge to just ignore the request. Every day of her life growing up she'd woken up to her mother cussing and berating her; she never needed to set an alarm because she'd always be woken up by her mother shouting somewhere in the house about how worthless she was. Nothing ever pleased her mother growing up, and avoiding her was impossible. Her mother never hit her, but there was never a kind word--only a never ending string of insults. If she sat in front of her mother silently for hours while her mother berated her the second she opened her mouth she'd be cussed out for interrupting and be told how she never let her mother speak her mind. The second Melissa had turned eighteen she moved out of the house to go live with a friend.

Melissa sighed and typed out a reply to her mother's request for information. Just letting her know that she was rehumanized, safe, and well; no other details were going to be given. If she refused to let her mother know she was alright she'd feel spiteful for doing so.

She left a message up on her Facebook wall letting everyone know the same things; that she was rehumanized, safe, and well. She also put up a request for any information about her dad.

Tattered walked back into the office looking apologetic. "Sorry for keeping you here so long. I finally tracked down where they took Dan to. He's over at the old YMCA and I've already made arrangements for you to get moved in there."

Melissa got up from where she was sitting. It'll had been a long day and it would be good to finally get out of here and go curl up next to Dan. "Thanks, I appreciate the help."

"Megan did most of it. You should give Megan a thank you tomorrow when you come in. She stayed past when she was supposed to go home tracking down the information," Tattered said as they walked by one another.

"Will do," Megan said as she reached the door and looked back into the office where Tattered was taking the vacated seat. "Tomorrow should be another long day. I'm worried that Number Crunch's lawyer is going to eat us alive because we aren't experienced at any of this."

Tattered frowned for a moment then looked up at her with a forced smile. "I think we won't have much to worry about with that lawyer tomorrow. I have a feeling that the whole situation will resolve itself before you even come in."

Melissa frowned. "You know something. What are you not telling me?"

Tattered shook her head. "I'll tell you tomorrow when you come in. Trust me, this whole thing will be resolved and we won't ever have to worry about it again."

"If you say so," Melissa said uncertainly. "Good night, Tattered."

"Good night, Melissa."

Melissa walked down the hall out towards the main lobby. There were three night pony mares standing around socializing and another night pony mare sitting at the desk doing the cleric work. The mares all quieted as she walked out of the hall and studied her.

She looked at them all. "Is something the matter?"

A younger grey mare, who still had a bit of filly to her features shook her head. "No, Broken One."

"More like Broken Two," another one with brownish fur muttered then giggled at her in joke. The third of the social group, a black furred mare with a purple and red mane and martini glass cutie mark, gave the brown one a slap with a wing.

Melissa gave them all a hard stare then focused her look on the black one who was the only marked of the group. "Your friends seem to have a problem with me, care to explain it to me?"

The black one gave the other two a quick glance then looked back at Melissa. "You'll have to excuse our behavior. You make us...uneasy, Broken One."

Melissa felt a lump in the pit of her stomach. "Uneasy? Care to explain that better...I didn't catch your name."

"Nocte Bellatrix, or you can just call me Nocte," the mare answered. "We don't fault you for your reasons, Broken One, but seeing a rehumanized night pony makes us uncomfortable. We have no issues with humans, but seeing rehumanized ponies walking around disturbs my unmarked companions."

The name sparked a memory. "I recognize your name; you're the pony that led the charge on that rapist a few weeks ago."

Nocte smiled. "I am indeed. I don't have any regrets about what happened. That human was scum for what he did to that poor human girl, and he deserved what he got. I'm sure you would want to do the same to those humans that hurt you and killed your friends. Again, none of us blame you for rehumanizing with the extent of your injuries. I'm sure my friends will be less uneasy once they've earned their marks."

Melissa kept looking at Nocte. "But you aren't going to have anymore incidents like that, right? We're a legitimate law enforcement group, we don't brutalize criminals. We follow the law when dealing with things now."

Nocte kept smiling. "Of course, if we didn't follow the rules then we'd be probably letting that unicorn go. Swift Strike deserved to die for what he did and who he did it to. But passing judgement isn't for us."

Who he did it too? We're they upset that Swift Strike had raped another night pony? She wasn't sure that was what they meant. Maybe it was the fact she wasn't a night pony anymore that she didn't understand, though she felt like she should still be able to pick up on that kind of thing.

"Well, good," she said, hoping she sounded confident--she doubted she sounded confident. She then turned to the brown furred pony. "And you, chuckles, what's your name?"

The mare lowered her eyes. "Amy, ma'am. Sorry about the Broken Two crack, didn't mean anything by it."

Melissa gave her a smile. "Actually, I kind of like it. It makes it so there is less confusion about who's being talked about, and it shows a chain of command. Keep on calling me Broken Two, and let other ponies know that's how to address me from now on."

"Yes, Broken Two," the mare said quickly.

Melissa left without saying anything else to the ponies. She felt a little satisfied with herself, having asserted herself a little bit--maybe not that much, but a little bit. She also had the general knowledge that the Enclave didn't resent her decision to rehumanize they just felt uncomfortable with the idea if it. Knowing that made her feel a little better.

Nocte made her a little uneasy though. Not only did that pony have a bloodthirsty streak, but she gave her that that feeling night ponies were keeping things from her again. She hated being in the dark about things because she was now human. Tattered seemed to be secretive again too. It made her want to scream.

After heading down the stairs of town hall she did a quick look around the street. Most the day ponies were back where they were going to sleep for the night or eating, so there weren't a lot of crowds about.

There was a small group with a two unicorn stallions, a unicorn mare, a night pony mare, a night pony colt, and a human speaking together in front of a restaurant. It looked like they were just socializing after the place had closed for the night.

Looking up at the tops of the buildings she spotted several night ponies about. One building had three mares sitting on it, another a single stallion, yet another two more mares and a stallion. Tattered said the night ponies tended to gravitate towards the center of town at night for socializing. It wasn't that late yet, so it those numbers she saw now would likely grow in the next few hours.

She started walking down the street, keeping her eyes on ponies as she went. She had always been wary of walking around at night, and the instinct to watch everyone else for potential danger was still in full effect. She was the only human out walking around, but there were a fair number of ponies in the air and some scattered ones about on the street.

She past by an older earth pony stallion that was working late trying to paint the door of an old shop. Inside the window she could see crates of produce stacked about. He was painting the door a bright yellow that matched his fur.

She looked up and saw a pegasus stallion hovering over head speaking with two more night pony mares. She couldn't hear what was being said, but by the body language she was pretty sure that the two mares were flirting with him and he wasn't used to the attention.

After another minute or so she came upon another human. An older man who was working in a garage on an old red pickup truck. An earth pony stallion sat beside him and passed him tools occasionally, a pegasus filly was laying a few feet away and looked ready to just go to sleep where she was at.

As she walked by that she saw four more night ponies fly overhead towards the center of town, three mares and a stallion. They were quickly followed by two more mares and another stallion who all seemed a little slower.

She came by another red brick building that had day ponies up working late trying to prepare it. There was a unicorn mare and stallion working. The mare was using her magic to paint three red dots which typically indicated a place that sold liquor. The stallion was trying, and largely failing, to try to weed a small patch of grass next to the building. He really should have just ask an earth pony to help out. On top of the building was another night pony mare who was just chatting away at the unicorn mare and didn't seem really concerned the painting mare wasn't chatting back.

She spotted the school and the neighboring YMCA building just ahead of her. There were a few humans talking outside, one or two of them she spotted hair colors on that indicated they were partials. On top of the school building she saw more night ponies, six more mares and a stallion.

She frowned as she looked up at them, noticing a disturbing trend. There seemed like there was a severe gender inbalance with night ponies. The other tribes seemed more balanced in their gender ratios that she had seen, but from what little she had observed so far mares far out numbered the stallions when it came to night ponies. It could be chance that she just kept happening upon far more mares than stallions, but she had a feeling if she looked over the census information it would confirm the same thing. There was only a little over a hundred night ponies in town and she had observed about a quarter of those in the last few minutes. That was a sizable cross section of the population observed.

Why was there such an inbalance with just the night ponies? She wondered if there was a tribe that had more males on average. More importantly, was that going to cause any sort of problem?

These were not questions she was qualified to really figure out. She would talk to Tattered since Tattered was more or less in charge of every night pony in town save a few. She walked up to the old building and let herself in.

Inside the lobby there was an information desk with, of course, another night pony mare sitting at it. She walked over to the desk and the mare sat to attention.

"Broken One, we were expecting you much earlier," the mare said, seeming a little flustered for some reason.

Melissa frowned. "Go with Broken Two when referring to me from now on. How do all of you know me on sight anyway?"

The mare spread her wings slightly. "Ponies like to gossip. There aren't that many night ponies in town so word filters through all of us fast. It's pretty much the same as in Charleston where we would spread word of who we were watching, only more social and less patrol oriented now."

"Makes sense," Melissa admitted. She should have figured her description would have passed to every night pony in town quickly.

"You need to hurry to the cafeteria, the other Broken One is really getting irritated with the humans," the mare explained. "We have a pair of ponies in there watching, but I think you'd do much better at calming him down."

Dan, what are you doing? She thought with a groan.

"Where's the cafeteria?" She asked quickly, looking down both hallways.

The mare pointed towards the door she just walked in. "Next door, at the school. It serves food for here and there."

Melissa left and hurried next door. Inside the school she was greeted by yet another night pony mare and quickly pointed in the direction of the cafeteria. She hurried through a pair of hallways and went in a pair of large double doors.

"All of you humans need to stop staring at me! You never seen a crippled pony before!" Dan's voice rang out.

Dan was in a wheelchair, parked at the end of a table, and he was jerking his head left to right in an aggressive manner as he tried to stare down every human in the room. The humans for their part looked just uncomfortable and confused as he glared at them, though a few looked like they were ready to get hostile back. The only reason they likely weren't already was they didn't want to pick a fight with someone in a wheelchair.

Time to defuse this as best I can. "Daniel Castillo! Behave yourself!"

Dan actually flinched at her voice and slowly turned around to look at her. His ears picked up as he saw her and she hurried over to him and grabbed him into a hug.

"I was so worried about you when they said the clinic collapsed.They said you weren't hurt, but tell me your alright, please," she said as she hugged him. She saw the other humans in the cafeteria look even more confused now, but the hostility dropped in the room.

"I'm alright, now that you're here," Dan said as she released him. "I don't like it here, the humans keep staring at me."

"I'm staring at you now, are you going to yell at me for doing that?" She asked in her best serious tone.

Dan went wide eyed and shook his head. "No, I'd never yell at you. You aren't one of them."

She took a seat at the table. "In case you haven't noticed, I am. Try not to let people looking at you bother you so much. Can you do that, for me?"

Dan looked down at the table. "I can try...for you."

Not the most enthusiastic response, but she hadn't expected much. She knew that he was generally hostile to humans since the night everything had gone to hell. She couldn't help feeling he might resent the fact she rehumanized. She could deal with any of the other ponies feeling that way in the end, but not him.

She decided not to press the subject. "What happened today? I got the reports, and Wild Growth showed up confessing to losing control of her magic, but I want to hear from you what went in."

Dan shrugged. "Your reports probably can tell you more than me. I woke up to this crazy magic surge going off. You know it's huge when you can feel it going off all through your body and you still know that's not from you. Then everything started shaking, a tremor or two to start, but it got worse. Rudra suddenly rushed in and just ordered me to get on his back. I didn't even argue or say a word, I just climbed off the bed on to his back. He took off running and then the shaking dialed itself up to ten and the entire place started breaking apart. We got out just in time before it all came crashing down."

Melissa balled up a fist and hit the table. "Damn that pony. I want to give her a good punch in the face. She could have killed you with her temper tantrum."

Dan looked up at her. "You know, if you tried punching Wild Growth in the face I think it might do more damage to your fist than her. That pony is built. I pretty sure she punches much harder than you considering she just KO'ed the clinic in one blow."

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I know. She was even pulling her punch when she did that, if you believe her. No telling what she could have done if she had unleashed her full force on it. I was just so scared for you."

"It wouldn't be the worst thing if I had..."

She leaned over angrily and shoved a finger against his nose. "None of that! I won't have you talking about how it's not a bad thing if you died. Do you know how much it would hurt me to lose you? Do you think I'm trying to have a relationship with you and not care deeply about you? Do you think I would care deeply about you if you didn't matter?"

"I'm just a cripple though; a burden," Dan said quietly.

"You've got some baggage but you aren't a burden," Melissa said firmly. "Want to talk about being a burden? First day on the job and I about fucked up a murder investigation because I don't know what the hell I'm doing. Tattered chewed me out for it. She said it wasn't a huge deal after that, and I'll learn to do better, but that doesn't make me feel better about it. Only reason it's not screwed up now is everyone involved came forward and confessed on their own. The universe had to toss me the biggest bone ever to fix my screw ups."

"Well, at least it's fixed, and you can get better," Dan offered.

She crossed her arms in front of her and laid her elbows on the table. "Yeah, and Tattered is apparently going to have everything dealt with before I come back to work tomorrow. Not even bothering to tell me how. She's probably afraid I'll find some way of fucking it up in the meantime if she tells me how she's dealing with it."

Dan gave her a flat look. "I'm sure it's not that."

She really did have no clue how Tattered was going to deal with everything before tomorrow afternoon. Number Crunch's lawyer might not even be there until afternoon if he ended up running behind schedule. It was strange, Tattered went and talked to Sunset Blessing and the unicorn stopped pushing for Tonya to get a lawyer. Tattered clearly had something in the works.

She shook her head again and stood up. "I don't know. I'm going to just get something to eat and then you can direct us to what room we're staying in."

"You're staying with me?" Dan asked wide eyed.

She looked at her boyfriend like he was stupid. "Yes, where else would I be staying? I need to cuddle up with my teddy bear after a long day."

Dan looked down at his cutie mark. She had noticed it when she woke up, but she wasn't going to wake him up to ask him about it. It actually made her a little sad because if things worked out there had been a possibility that he might rehumanize too and it would make some things easier. She'd never have pressured him to do that, and she felt selfish thinking about it, but she had still been a little sad all the same.

She really wanted this to work. Hopefully he'd find her dreams when they slept together this time. He clearly hadn't last night.

She headed over to the serving line and got in it. Woman in front of her did a quick glance back at her and then did a startled jump.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," Melissa apologized.

The woman shook her head. "It wasn't you standing there. It was your eyes. I haven't seen a partial with just the eyes changed."

"I'm not a partial," Melissa said, feeling annoyed.

The woman looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry, it's just that they are so yellow, and they caught the light, and... I'm going to just shut up now."

Yeah, do that. Stupid human. Melissa grumbled in her head.

Chapter 54

Paul sat in the tent waiting for his wife to return. Amanda and Jackie were sound asleep in their area of the tent. Jessie was cuddled up close to him asleep and he tried not to move too much for fear of waking her.

He was dreading Devon returning. His running away from Phobia when she was going to explain what Tonya did was just another in a long line of moments of cowardice on his part. Looking back at it he felt pretty bad for scaring the mare. Phobia's position might bother him, but that was no excuse for him being a total dick and leaving her cowering where she was. Maybe he could apologize to her when tomorrow on the way back to Goose Creek.

That was if they went to Goose Creek first thing tomorrow. There was still no sign of Tonya anywhere. With all the trouble she was potentially in he didn't want to take off and leave her without support again. She was right, he should have at least given her a bed to sleep on when their parents kicked her out instead of leaving her homeless. She had a right to be angry with him about that. They were family, and family shouldn't leave each other in those kinds of situations. Tonya needed him now, and he wasn't going to leave her hanging again.

He looked up and saw Devon walking into the tent, without Robby. She probably left him with the night ponies so he wouldn't be exposed to the argument that was surely coming.

"Hi," Devon said in a low, tired voice as she walked in. "Figured I would find you here. Had hoped you would come back, but..."

"I should have. I'm sorry," Paul replied quietly. He ran a hand over his sleeping daughter as Devon came towards him and sat down.

"You missed the Equestrian princess showing up," Devon said with an empty laugh. "I'm not even joking. One of the Equestrian princesses just showed up out of the blue to talk to Phobia. It's been a crazy night."

Well, if even a quarter of what Phobia said was true then she was pretty important, important enough foreign royalty probably did want to talk to her. He really didn't care though.

"How's Robby?" He asked, still keeping his voice down.

Devon pulled herself close so they could talk low and be understood. She ran her own hand over Jessie before answering. "He was little worried about you when you weren't there when he got back. I had to assure him that you weren't going away again. Had to assure myself as well, to tell the truth."

He shook his head. "I'm not going to abandon you and the foals again."

Devon looked at him with an expression he could read and then looked down at the ground. "We need to talk about Tonya. I had Phobia tell me what Tonya did; took a while to do, she was pretty shaken up."

He started feeling that defensive anger for his sister again. "I already said it doesn't matter. We're fine."

Devon sighed. "If it doesn't matter then you shouldn't be getting so worked up about it. Unfortunately, after hearing it I think it does matter. Are you going to let me talk to you about it or are you going to storm off again? Just to let you know, if you storm off again I might not be here to come back to."

Paul jerked his head up to look at her. "I know what I did was wrong, but not that wrong. We've been doing really well the last few days. I thought we were past giving ultimatums."

"Are you going to listen to what your sister actually did to us or not?" Devon asked. She looked at Jessie and started to tear up. "It changes some things...maybe...I don't really know. I do know though that it's important for us to talk about if we're going to have an open and honest relationship."

There was no getting around discussing this it seemed. He really didn't want to know what Tonya did, all it could do would make him upset with her and there was clearly no damage done so why make an issue of it?

"Fine, what did she do?" He asked in defeat.

Devon didn't answer right away, instead looking briefly at Amanda to make sure the mare really was asleep. When she looked back at him she looked a little watery eyes.

"Tonya used her mind magic to forcibly fix both of us," she said as she looked into his eyes.

He raised his eyebrows. "Fix us? What do you mean by that? What needed fixing?"

Devon chewed on her lip a moment before answering. "She made me accept you back. She forced you to accept her as your sister rather than your brother. She also forced you to see our foals as foals rather than transformed children--I know that sounds odd, but it's an important distinction."

So Devon hadn't accepted him back on her own. That hurt to know. He didn't know how to feel about the rest because those were how he felt now about things. He tried to think back to how he felt before and couldn't make himself agree with it. If anything trying to do so made him start to feel angry with himself for how he had felt before.

Devon kept looking at him while he thought things over. When the silence persisted too long she spoke up. "How do you feel about what I just told you?"

He shook his head. "It's hard to think those are bad things because that's how I feel now. Sure, that might be just because she whammy-jammied my mind, but I can't see how feeling those things is bad no matter how much I try." He paused then took a deep breath. "How do you feel?"

She looked down at the ground again. "I feel like the last few days I've been living a lie. That all the improvements our family has had with you and me haven't been legitimate. We didn't actually grow and change, we had our minds forcefully changed for us."

"I don't see where what was done was bad though," Paul insisted. "As I said, we're fine. Tonya didn't hurt us. We're better off than we were before."

Devon looked him in the eyes again. "I actually spent some time trying to think of scenarios where this could go badly on my walk back here. What would you say if Robby said he wanted to rehumanize?"

"That he should stay a pony for his own good," Paul answered immediately. "You heard them, he's extremely talented. He shouldn't be throwing that away."

Devon nodded with a sad expression. "And just a few days ago you were saying he should be rehumanized."

Paul nodded. "See, thanks to Tonya I can better see what's good for him."

Devon shook her head. "All you've done is switch which course you are pushing. You aren't thinking about what Robby wants still. No, Robby hasn't turned around and said he wants to rehumanize, but you just showed you can't be counted on to respect his wishes if he chooses the wrong thing in your opinion. You're programed to think of him as your foal and only your foal. What Tonya did sounds good intentioned, but it could lead to problems."

Paul crossed his arms. "Well, if Robby wants to stay a pony it won't be an issue. If that changes then we'll figure something out. There is no reason for us to be mad at Tonya for this. Tonya didn't do this on purpose so of course there are some things that might not be perfect, but it's still better overall."

"You're right, she didn't do this on purpose. I'm not mad at her for this," Devon said slowly. "I'm concerned about how this impacts us though. I want to know my husband is doing things because he legitimately wants to and not because he's a puppet to some commands."

"It isn't a big deal, we're fine."

Devon shook her head in frustration. "And have you noticed how fiercely you defend her? You went from barely being able to tolerate her to all but declaring her sainthood. You got so mad earlier when her actions were called into question. You standing up for her was one of her commands."

"I...it isn't...," He shook his head. "She's my sister. I'm supposed to fight for my family."

Devon crossed her arms and glared at him. "Which is yet another one of her commands. I want to give you a chance." Her eyes went wide and then she put a hand over her face. "Fuck it...which is yet another one of her commands. Do you see how screwed up this is? We don't know if what we're thinking is even coming from us or if it's coming from Tonya making us do it. I want to know I'm dealing with you and not what Tonya made you."

Paul slumped forward where he was sitting. "So what are we supposed to do about it? Whatever Tonya did is set now."

Devon took a deep breath. "An Equestrian who knows about mind magic just arrived in town. They've apparently known what happened for days now and were just trying to find someone who could deal with this. We can see them before we leave tomorrow. They don't want to be here too long anyway, they're apparently very busy."

"That Equestrian princess?"

Devon shook her head. "No, pretty sure she's already gone. She said she wasn't the best pony for the job anyway. She can detect mind magic with ease, and can counteract it if it hasn't had much time to sit, but we've had this for days. She brought someone she felt was better qualified for dealing with this kind of thing. They're in the town hall now."

Paul carefully got to his feet, trying not to disturb his sleeping daughter. "Why wait then? Let's go see this pony now."

Devon looked up at him then stood to her feet. "Alright, they want to be done and out of here fast anyway. Let's go have a talk with this Starlight Glimmer."

Author's Note

Short chapter, but it does what it needs to do.

Oh, and look! New cover art!

Chapter 55

Devon stepped out of the car with Jessie cradled in her arms. As Paul was getting out of the car she looked around the rooftops and noticed a large amount of night ponies about; there had to be at least forty or fifty of them scattered across the rooftops in the immediate area. Some kept a close eye on her and Paul, but most seemed to be just socializing.

"Guessing this is just the central hangout for night ponies. Think half the night ponies in town are here," Paul said as he followed her gaze.

"Well, ponies are highly social creatures. It figures the night ponies would pick a place to gather and socialize. This is where all the shops are and they like to keep guard over things so right here makes sense," Devon said as she reasoned out the presence of so many night ponies in one place. "Tattered Wing's office is here too, so this keeps them close to her if she needs to have them go deal with any crimes that are called in."

Paul glanced around. "Still kind of creepy having this many night ponies watching us."

Devon didn't respond, but she definitely agreed. The night ponies had a reputation for aggressive behavior, and the fact they all answered to the Dreamwardens reminded her how uncomfortable she felt about the Dreamwardens still.

The night ponies suddenly grew silent and
as a group turned to look down the street. Devon and Paul turned to look as well, curious what had caught their attention. For about half a minute they saw nothing. Then large vehicles came into view, hauling construction equipment. A full convoy of construction equipment was being hauled into town.

They watched as it passed by, going deeper into town. It was a stready stream of vehicles passing them for over five minutes, while they all silently watched. A few of the night ponies departed their perches on top of the town's red bricked buildings to follow after the convoy by air, though most stayed where they were at. Towards the end trucks carrying large amounts of sewer pipes, large metal girders, huge rolls of electric cables, eighteen-wheelers containing who knew what, and then a number of vans for carrying workers rounded out the caravan of construction.

"It might be even better we're getting out of town for a few weeks. I have a feeling it's about to get very noisy around here. The ponies aren't going to be too happy with the noise," Paul observed.

Devon nodded, but was happy to see that construction and expansion was about to start in earnest. The ponies had said it was coming, now it was here. That was a lot of construction equipment.

The remaining night ponies on top of the buildings resumed their socializing and Devon and Paul turned and started walking up the stairs of town hall.

After going through the large double doored entrance of town hall they found several more night ponies in the front lobby of town hall. Most looked liked they had just been socializing as well, though one was watching the information desk. All the conversation ceased as the two humans walked in though.

Okay, my son is night pony, night ponies aren't creepy. They're just on alert, that's all. Devon reassured herself as she found four sets of night pony eyes on her and Paul.

"Devon? Paul? What are you doing here?" Asked a familiar voice she definitely wasn't expecting to hear today.

She turned to a pitch black night pony mare with the purple and red mane. The mare had a mark, a martini glass.

"Mom? Is that...you?" Devon asked increadulously as she looked at the mare.

"Ms. Townsend?" Paul asked wide eyed as he looked at the mare.

"Yeah, it's me," the mare said in a bemused voice as she spread her wings out slightly. "I've been meaning to find out what happened to you, but things have been really busy." She raised an eyebrow at Paul. "Never could get you to call me Mom. No more of that Ms. Townsend business though. If you aren't going to call me mom then call me Nocte, Nocte Bellatrix is my new pony name."

Devon tried to think back to her Latin classes from school. "Night Warrior?"

Nocte beamed. "Very good, but keep it in Latin--it sounds better. I'm glad you haven't forgotten your Latin. I spent way too many hours trying to help you pass those classes for you to forget."

Devon couldn't believe it. Here was her mom, and her mom was a night pony. "Have you been okay? Phobia had said she'd try to track you down if you were a pony, or at least ask Rosetta do it for us. I wasn't expecting to see you so soon."

Nocte went a little wide eyed. "You've been talking to Phobia Remedy? I don't know her personally, but she has a... reputation with night ponies."

Devon nodded. "I'm well aware. Robby is a night pony and Phobia sat down with us and explained everything. We know all about her and what she does...even though we aren't supposed to talk about it."

Nocte turned and glanced back down the hall behind her then back at Devon. "Yeah, best not to talk about that here. Never know who is listening. As for me I've been doing great. Joined in with the Enclave the day I was done transforming. I kicked around some misbehaving humans in Charleston for a while and then they moved us all here. Word is the Enclave is opening up a few officer slots in the future and I'm aiming for one of those."

"That doesn't seem very much like you," Devon said uncertainly.

Nocte waved a hoof dismissively. "Becoming a night pony opened up a whole new world to me. I always felt so helpless and afraid. Now I'm the one creeps are afraid of, and I love the fact I can finally make a difference."

Devon shook her head in mild disbelief. It was hard to equate this rather fearsome night pony to the woman that had raised her. Nocte sounded like her mom, but the personality was greatly changed. Robby had gotten much more protective and tried to show a fierce nature since becoming a night pony. Her mom showed that far more, and seemed to have fully embraced every aspect of it.

Her mom's eyes fell on Jessie and widened. The pony beat her wings and brought herself into a small hover while holding her hooves up to her mouth. "Is that little Jessica? She transformed too? Is she healthy? Where's Robert?"

Devon cradled Jessie into one arm so her mom could get a better look. "Yeah, this is Jessie, and she's definitely healthy. She's all done with surges, walking on her own, and even seems to be getting a grasp on what's being said to her. Robby also got ETS, and he's a night pony like you. That's how we got to talking to Phobia. Robby can dreamwalk already. Phobia and Rosetta are foalsitting him right now."

Nocte brought her hover close to Devon. "Can I hold her? My only regret about this last month is I didn't know what was going on with all of you. I really should have taken the time to find you."

Devon carefully put Jessie into her mom's forlegs and Nocte cradled Jessie while smilingly happily.

"She's such a pretty little foal," Nocte said lovingly. "It's a shame you two didn't transform as well. It must be rough taking care of foals while human."

Devon felt uncomfortable with that statement. "Do you think we were better off transforming?"

Nocte bit her lip. "Yes, I do, but I don't love you any less because you didn't. I think you would've been happier as a pony, and I want the best for you. It's not your fault that the Equestrians stopped ETS. We just have to make due with how things turned out, and find ways for humans and ponies to work together. I'm sure you'll do a good job raising your foals, no matter if you're a human still."

Her mom was one of those types of ponies then. At least her mom wasn't going to reject her because she was still human.

"Speaking of Equestrians, Paul and I are here looking for one," Devon said calmly. "We were told that there was a pony named Starlight Glimmer that was here to help us."

Nocte's eyes narrowed and Devon saw her mom briefly grit her teeth. "What do you need to do with that one? Equestrians in general I don't trust, but that one I have a particular dislike for."

Devon's eyes widened slightly. "Why? What's so bad about her?"

"She was one of the ones at the forefront of stopping ETS. She's a villain, and I'm disgusted she's even here now. I'm shocked Sunset Blessing let that pony into town," Nocte all but hissed.

Devon doubted Sunset Blessing had much choice in the matter since Luna brought her here. When Luna had been telling her about Starlight Glimmer the red furred unicorn had looked ready to blow a fuse.

"Paul and I had some mind magic used on us from his sister, Tonya. Starlight Glimmer is supposed to help see if anything can be done to dispell it," Devon explained. Sunset and Devon's mom seemed to share a lot of opinions and would likely get along great.

"Tonya is Paul's sister!?" Nocte said in shock as she looked at Paul. Paul gave her a nod. "I had heard her last name, but there are a lot of ponies and humans with that last name around these parts. I didn't even know you had a sister."

"It's complicated," Paul said flatly.

"I guess so," Nocte replied. She then chewed on her lip again and glanced back down the hallway once more before turning back to them with a defeated look. "If that's the case I guess you should see what that damned Equestrian can do. I can forgive your sister for wanting to nail Swift Strike to a wall for what he did, but the way she did it with mind magic disgusts me. Some lines shouldn't be crossed."

"So where do we find her?" Devon asked.

Nocte gestured with her muzzle down the hallway she hadn't been glancing down on and off. "She's in with Tattered Wing right now. Feel free to just go walk in on them; I don't think they're really talking. The two of them are both just glued to their respective computers."

"Do you mind sitting right here with Jessie?" Devon asked. There really wasn't much question to it, but it was general politeness.

"Jessie will be safe here with her granny. Do what you need to do and I'll be right here when you come out," Nocte said, then frowned. "If that Equestrian hurts you I'll charge in there and break her horn off."

Yep, she's definitely picked up that night pony aggressive protectiveness. Devon thought with a frown. She doubted that Starlight Glimmer was going to do anything to incite her mom to go charging in anyway. Her mom's new instincts were going to take some getting used to. Much as she hated to admit it to herself, it might be best to limit Robby's time with his grandmother or she might become a bad influence.

They walked down the hall to the appropriate door. Devon did one last glance back towards her mom and saw her mom tenderly rocking Jessie on her forelegs, smiling happily. With a deep breath she turned and knocked in the door then turned the handle to let her and Paul in.

Inside Tattered Wing sat in her normal office chair casually clicking away at the computer. She didn't have anything in her mouth to type with so she must just be browsing through links. On the opposite side of the desk a purple unicorn mare with a mane that was a darker purple with aquamarine highlights sat working on a laptop.

Tattered Wing looked up from her clicking and smiled. "Well Ms. Glimmer, it seems you're patients have arrived on their own and you won't have to wait till morning to see them."

The unicorn looked up at Tattered. "I told you, just call me Starlight. Ms. Glimmer is just so formal. Why do you all insist on so much formality here?" The unicorn turned to them and smiled. "I'm glad to see you. In case you didn't catch it, please call me just Starlight. I was told you needed specialized services for dealing with mind magic."

"Yes we do, Starlight," Devon said as she came more fully into the room. Paul followed beside her and didn't look as confident.

The unicorn hopped out of her chair and approached them. "Well, you've got the right pony for the job. I have a lot of experience with mind control. "She blushed and coughed into a hoof. "And having to dispell it. I got the short explaination of the situation, but needed to ask a few questions before I start."

Devon spread her hands. "Ask away."

Starlight looked at each of them, and took on a more businesslike expression and tone. "Have either if you been experiencing any headaches?"

The two of them shook their heads.

"Any strange or erratic behavior you can't explain, or periods of blackouts you can't remember anything from?" Starlight continued.

Both of them shook their heads again.

"Any extreme flare ups of temper that don't seem reasonable?"

Devon looked over at Paul. Paul crossed his arms and shook his head. Devon frowned at him. "Paul, you know that isn't true."

"It was perfectly reasonable for me to defend my sister," Paul said flatly.

"Because she commanded you to," Devon said as she gripped her hand into a fist.

Starlight looked between them and gave a forced toothy grin. "I'll take that as a strong maybe. How about telling me how long it's been since the incident occurred."

"Three days, I think," Devon said as she looked to Paul for verification. He wasn't helpful, as he just shrugged.

"I think that's enough for me to work with," Starlight said with a more legitimate smile. "If the two of you could just come sit down in front of me I can get to work finding what was done and finding out what I'm capable of undoing."

Devon and Paul did as instructed, though Paul looked reluctant about the entire thing.

"This shouldn't hurt at all, though you might feel some tingling and see a few spots in your vision," Starlight explained. "I'm not actually going to do anything to try to unravel anything yet. I'm just finding out what I'm dealing with for right now."

They nodded, not really knowing what kinds of questions to ask. Starlight lit her horn up after they accepted and Devon felt a slight buzzing sensation in her head.

"Do you mind if I talk while I work?" Starlight asked. "I wanted to find out some things about your town. Luna was very cryptic when she said she had business here tonight."

"Um, yeah, ask away," Devon replied as the buzzing got more intense.

"Are all the ponies and humans getting along alright?" Starlight asked. "I noticed a few of the ponies seemed fairly hostile to me. While I'm intrigued that I'm finding ponies here that aren't as passive as the ones that came from Lazy Pines I was concerned about it."

"I think it's the Shimmerists that were hostile to you. They don't seem to like Equestrians much," Devon replied. "They don't seem very hostile to humans from what I've seen though. Everyone seems to get along fine."

Starlight narrowed her eyes. "That's interesting...speaking about the spells you two have on you, not what you just said....though that's interesting too. You said this was done about three days ago?"

"Yes," Devon said, head still buzzing.

Starlight flicked an ear. "You each have a different mind magic spell that was set clearly by a different pony sometime more recent than that. If I had to guess it was within just the last few hours."

Phobia had said that there would be a compulsion. "We know what that is, we don't want to have that one removed."

Starlight raised an eyebrow. "Oookay, I still need to check it over to see how it is interacting with these early compulsions that are here. Overlaid mind magic can do crazy things. I once overlaid a few different mind magic spells on some friends of mine and...well it didn't go so well. Twilight had to sit there untangling it for a while even though they were rather fresh spells and it left my friends kind of hung over even after that."

"You mind controled your friends?" Devon asked in shock.

Starlight grimaced. "Not my proudest moment. I was still kind of new to being Twilight's student at the time, and had some not so well thought out logic going on. Call it extreme social ignorance. Don't worry, I'm a much better pony now and can laugh at how incredibly ignorant I was back then."

How ignorant did you have to be to not know mind controlling your friends was a bad thing?

Starlight's horn stopped glowing, and she continued. "That was quick and easy to look over. I can say with certainty that I can remove the primary compulsions."

"Primary?" Paul asked.

Starlight coughed into her hoof. "Okay, I should explain that a little better. There is magic in you that forces you to think or do things a certain way. It won't let you consider other alternatives than what it says to do. I can remove that, no problem. The thing is, you've had this in you for a few days and your thoughts have fallen in line with it. I can't just make your thoughts go back to what they were before, not without wiping your memory of the last few days in the process."

"So you can't fix it then," Devon said with frustration. "I definitely don't want to have my memory of the last few days wiped."

"I'd have problems with wiping your memory anyway if you want to keep that compulsion that was set more recently. That's tied into your recent memories so I can't wipe them and leave it in place," Starlight explained. "What I can do is remove what is forcing you to think a certain way. That leaves you open to outside ideas again and the possibility of not thinking that way eventually. It's a strong set of compulsions that were laid down, but they are pretty simple ones that are poorly applied. An amateur clearly did this--an amateur with a lot of power, but still just an amateur. That other one was much more finely done and I'm not sure if I could break it if I tried. Whatever pony did that spell knew exactly what they were doing. I'd love to find out how any pony on Earth got that skilled with mind magic in so short a time."

Probably a Dreamwarden thing. Devon thought to herself, though didn't say that out loud.

"I suppose that's better than nothing," Devon said resignedly. She looked over at her husband. "Is that alright with you?"

"I can live with it," Paul said, looking unhappy.

Starlight nodded and flashed her horn brightly. Spots appeared in front of Devon's vision and she rubbed her eyes.

"Sorry," Starlight said in an embarrassed tone. "I tend to just do things without thinking to warn others sometimes. I'm trying to work on that. But those compulsions are gone now."

Devon looked at the unicorn in confusion. "That's it? I was expecting something more...I don't know...more. Luna couldn't do that?"

"Luna's really good at a lot of mind magic, but she's also extremely cautious about it when it's had time to sit," Starlight explained. Then scrunched up her muzzle. "She also wanted to distance herself for some reason. She wouldn't explain why. She told me that she was going to take me and Twilight to observe some sort of trial...in a dream...or something in a day or two and I'd understand then."

Phobia had told her that another pony was being tried for using mind magic the day after tomorrow, that must be what Starlight and Twilight were going to see. Devon kind of wanted to see that too, just so she knew what Tonya was going into. She'd been told that because she had no magic of her own it wasn't possible.

Every night pony that would be asleep at that time and could dreamwalk was going to be there as an audience though. She'd already planned on keeping Robby awake extremely late that day so he wouldn't see that. Maybe she could ask her mom to tell her what happened. Her mom seemed to be in on all the night pony secrets so she'd probably be there.

Devon looked at her husband. He was still being quiet and unhappy about everything. Time would tell how he ended up reacting to all this now that the compulsions were gone.

The two of them stood to their feet and Devon smiled down at the unicorn. "Well, thank you for your help. We really do appreciate it, and we're glad we didn't hold you here too long."

Starlight yawned. "No problem. I'll probably just take a nap and then start working on getting back to the base camp. It will take me a lot more teleport jumps than it took Luna, and me looking over Google maps some more to get locations for the teleports, so I need to get some rest."

It was time to head back to their own base camp. Though she had a feeling that they weren't going to be leaving first thing in the morning as planned.

Chapter 56

Tattered Wing sat on the steps of town hall shortly before dawn. On the street before her construction equipment rumbled by. The first round of equipment had arrived late last night and this was now the forth round of arrivals since that first one. There would be more arriving again for the next two days, and more over the coming weeks. They had a city to build and they had very little time to do it.

Off to her side some humans were posting up signs on the walls of town hall advertising the need for construction workers and promises of good pay. The main meeting hall in town hall now had an army of architects laying out the plans for construction and there were blueprints everywhere you looked when you walked in. Suprisingly there were a few tired earth ponies, unicorns, a lone pegasus among those architects--all up early along with the humans laying out plans.

Some of the plans made her raise an eyebrow. One of the signs that was now hanging on the doors of town hall was a request to buy shit...literal pony shit. They even had positions for full time shitters where all they wanted a pony to do was eat and shit all day long. At first she had thought this was for farming, but this was for building materials. They were going to use pony shit as a building material. She had no idea how they were going to do that, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

All of this was things that might spark her interest normally. This place was her home now for better or for worse, so of course she wanted to know how it was going to be built. The thing that weighed on her mind though was the first clearing of land that would happen in just an hour or so. In a few hours there would be no physical evidence that Swift Strike had been murdered or any evidence beyond Tonya and Number Crunch's testimonies. They were going to escape justice and there wasn't a thing she could do to stop it.

Sure, she could probably get enough evidence together that they had helped him escape. The problem was that at the time he was being held she technically had no legal authority to hold him prisoner. She had no legal authority to hold Number Crunch and Tonya right now to tell the truth, everypony...everyone-she was trying to stop herself from ponifying everything when humans were included--just went along with it. The confessions she took she had taken with no legal authority either. They didn't stand up in court. Well, they could be used as evidence, but they didn't hold the same weight as they might have.

By noon the paperwork to give her legal authority would be signed, but by noon it would be too late; clearing of those woods started at dawn, and dawn was almost here. She'd told Melissa that everything would be resolved before noon, she just hadn't said how.

She looked around at the tops of buildings at all the night ponies that she was responsible for. She was supposed to give them legitimacy as law enforcement, but this whole thing was rotten. Technically the only illegitimate thing that she had done was the disposal of the remains under pressure from the government, a crime in itself, but that like everything else was going to have a blind eye turned to it.

The government was right. If she went out of line and did the right thing she risked everything that was being built here; which would hurt thousands of ponies. There was more to it than that too. Number Crunch was as much a victim as Swift Strike, perhaps more of one since Swift Strike was a legitimate wrongdoer without having anything be done to him to make him so. If she did what was right Number Crunch would be treated as a criminal. Doing the wrong thing was clearly wrong, but doing the right thing felt wrong too. She just wanted to protect. Why couldn't it be simple and there was just a clear right thing where the guilty were punished and those that were innocent didn't get hurt any further?

At least justice would come to Tonya. Tonya would escape justice from law enforcement, but she wouldn't escape the Dreamwardens. Scary and disturbing as the Dreamwardens could be, there was something comforting in knowing that they would be there to punish the guilty and no legal loopholes or government interference could stop them.

"That was a good few hours sleep. Could do with a little coffee though," Starlight's voice came from behind her.

Tattered turned to see Starlight come up next to her. The unicorn looked a little bleary eyed, but otherwise in a good mood.

"You know, I don't know why this town is called Riverview if the thing everyone can see from everywhere in town is that big tree," Starlight said as she pointed with a hoof over at Skytree.

Tattered smirked. "The tree is a recent addition, hasn't been here as long as even the ponies."

Starlight raised an eyebrow at her. "I've done a lot of reading about your world. I didn't read anything about trees that grew that big that fast or transplanting trees of that size."

Tattered chuckled. "Because there aren't trees that grow that fast and we wouldn't have a clue how to transplant a tree that big. No, that tree was grown with pony magic. I would thought you have heard about it."

Starlight looked back at the tree and frowned. "That's pretty impressive. It probably took a lot of earth ponies working in conjunction to do that. I didn't know any of you knew how to pool your powers like that, and that would have taken a lot of earth ponies to do even that way."

"Um, one earth pony did that," Tattered said while still smirking. "She also grew miles of crops at once in the same go. Right now I have her under house arrest for causing a localized earthquake that leveled a building. Can't hold her anywhere and crystal ponies look at me like I'm stupid when I suggest getting a large team of them to try to keep her under control. Told me flat out that the idea of a team of crystal ponies making a dent in her is a joke."

Starlight went wide-eyed and didn't look sleepy now. "You're joking, you have to be joking. There hasn't been an earth pony that strong since... it's been at least six hundred years and probably at least another eight hundred before that one. And a lot of what they say about them are believed to just be exaggerations."

Tattered looked out at the tree and pointed at it. "Seeing is believing. There's your evidence right over there. That damn filly has more power than the rest of town combined. Think we have a sense of pride that an Earth pony can do that and no Equestrian pony can."

"A filly?! You mean she hasn't fully come into her power yet?" Starlight said in shock.

Tattered shrugged. "She's seventeen so she's basically full grown. Can't have much growth left. Her name's Wild Growth by the way; green earth pony with a purple mane. Don't think we'd have so many businesses ready to invest in us without her around. They're counting on her to supply us with pretty much unlimited trees."

Starlight blinked and went back to staring at Skytree again. Then seemed to go deep into thought. "Well, I suppose statistically that it isn't unlikely that some pony would come out as the next Starswirl, or in her case, Mountain Crusher. There is a huge amount of ponies on this planet now."

"Mountain Crusher? That's the name of the last earth pony you had like this?" Tattered asked.

Starlight nodded. "Yeah, allegedly he was capable of doing just that, leveling whole mountains--the power of earth at his hooves. I always thought they were foals' tales."

"What kinds of stories are there about him?" Tattered asked out of curiosity.

Starlight kept looking at the tree while she spoke. "There's this place back home called the Ghastly Gorge. There were apparently some caverns there a thousand years ago instead of the gorge, and there are still plenty of caverns down in the gorge. I always thought that erosion just carved it out but my friend Maud told me that erosion doesn't work that fast. He did it way back when. He just split everything for miles on end with one mighty stomp of his hoof."

Tattered felt a mild sense of dread. Wild Growth had said that she had held back when she leveled the clinic. Could she have done the same thing as that legendary pony? Something would have to be done so that couldn't happen.

"Wild leveled that clinic in one short bout of temper..." Tattered said slowly. "I think as part of her punishment I'm going to highly recommend some anger management classes, for the good of the town."

Starlight nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. Having your town leveled because a filly threw a temper tantrum is not something that would help with human-pony relations."

"Ya think?" Tattered said with a shake of her head. "Screw human-pony relations, I'm concerned about who could be killed."

Starlight blushed with embarrassment. "Yeah, that should have probably been my first thought instead of how it could impact relations. I've been on kind of a single lane mind for the last week."

Tattered looked at the unicorn. "It's called one-tracked mind."

"That's essentially what I said," Starlight replied.

"It's a common phrase, people with look at you funny if you say it like that," Tattered explained.

Starlight looked up at the night ponies perched on the buildings. "They are looking at me funny now. The Middletons said they think it's the Shimmerists who don't like me much. Is there that many Shimmerists in town?"

Tattered looked up at the ponies and the dawn that was now slowly breaking. "There's a lot of them, and the number keeps growing. The town leader is a Shimmerist. She is also a preacher. One of her big planned projects is a huge church so she can spout off her Shimmerist views to a larger audience all at once. Think the only reason she isn't doing that now is she doesn't have the venue for it."

"But there's no friction with the humans? I figured that would increase hostility," Starlight asked in confusion.

Tattered shook her head again. "Naw, humans are their primary targets for winning over to Shimmerist views. They treat the humans better than they treat other ponies. Sunset Blessing will do all kinds of crap to ponies, even those working with her, but she'll just smile sweetly and act like the most helpful pony ever for a human. I hate that unicorn's guts."

"Because she's cruel to ponies and nice to humans?" Starlight asked with a frown.

Tattered grit her teeth. "Because she is just so duplicitous and two-faced. I honestly couldn't care less about her stupid drive to make humans want to be ponies; what does that really matter anyway? She's a racist, but that's nothing new around here--even if it's been repackaged. No, it's the fact that behind closed doors she's filthy and she puts herself up as God's special pony. She does things that should have her in jail but the government keeps letting her get away with...with all kinds of crap."

"So do you think there are a lot of Shimmerists here because of previous racist views? " Starlight asked. "Sorry just trying to understand how it takes hold and grows."

Tattered sighed. "Racism is maybe part of it, but it's bigger than that. The thing you need to understand is Us versus Them mentality. It can take a lot of forms, racism is one of those forms, but hardly the only. My family was really into politics and they played to that Us versus Them line--most the big politicians do. You can play it about political beliefs, religious beliefs, race, gender, nationality, sexuality, level of wealth, even fucking sports teams you like. The basic thing is always the same though; what we--whoever we are--are right and proper and them--anyone who doesn't fit our whatever--are inheriently wrong and less than us. There's simply a new us and them now with humans and ponies. Of course ponies are going to flock to Shimmerist thinking, it reaffirms that they are better and right, just like they've always been taught and reaffirmed when they were human. It's the same crap it's always been, just with new us's and thems."

Starlight gave her a long look. "You've clearly been thinking about this a lot."

Tattered chuckled sadly. "Not really. I thought all this stuff years ago when watching my dad play to it as a politician. I was so disgusted by all of it I told him he could fuck off and I'd never follow in his footsteps."

"Yet here you are in a position that holds political power," Starlight observed.

"I just want to protect everypony...everyone. I don't want to be involved with all of that political bullshit, yet I keep getting pulled in," Tattered said as she looked out at the sun peaking over the roofs. In the distance she could hear the first sounds of the woods being felled to the ground, probably waking a lot of ponies in the tents nearby. Only minutes now and things would be settled.

"Sometimes you don't get a choice if you care," Starlight said quietly. "That's why I'm even on this world. Something wrong was happening and something needed to be done."

Tattered looked down. "A part of me wishes you hadn't. If the whole world had been consumed by ETS and all the brainwashing had stuck with everypony there might not be any more us versus them. I don't think ponies are superior, or what the vision gave us was a necessarily better way of life, but at least that us versus them mentality might have finally stopped."

"Do you hate me as well then?" Starlight asked sadly.

Tattered shook her head without hesitation. "No, you were just trying to protect and do right. I understand and respect that. Sometimes the right thing can end up doing harm though. Sometimes there just isn't a clear right thing to do and you just have to make a decision and live with it."

"I think the right thing to do was pretty clear cut in this case," Starlight asserted. "It's been my experience that there is always clearly a right thing to do after observing for a while."

Tattered looked at the unicorn with a blank expression.

"Well then, welcome to Earth, where we will give you plenty of new experiences not having a right thing to do."

Chapter 57

Sunset Blessing made her way past the tents towards the woods. Ponies sat outside their tents glaring back towards the woods. They no doubt had been abruptly woken up by the initial clearing. She felt some sympathy for them, but they'd better get used to this fast. There was a lot of work to do and it was being done for them. In just a few days this particular stretch of woods would all be residential housing, fit for both ponies and humans. It would be tightly packed, but they only had so much space to work with and had more residents on the way as well as businesses and industry to build.

She hadn't slept well at all. Not having Tonya there in bed with her, and knowing that Tonya was being held in town hall had made the night restless for her. That might be rectified tonight though. Tonya would be free again, but she might be mad enough about it to sleep in another room.

Tonya wasn't aware yet that she wasn't going to be facing any legal repercussions for what she had done. Tonya also probably wasn't going to be very happy about the fact she was going to walk free. These things had been set in motion well before Tonya's sudden need to confess her sins though. Sunset might have to endure Tonya's anger later today, but at least she wouldn't have to worry about Tonya being charged with anything by normal authorities. It was a fair price to pay.

She reached where the beginning of the woods had been. They had already made a large clearing. Sitting at the front was a human man and earth pony stallion who were looking over plans on a fold out table that had been set out, with the earth pony stallion using a fold out chair as a step stool.

"Good morning gentlemen, I'm Sunset Blessing," she announced herself as she came up to them. "I have already seen the plans back at town hall, but wished to see how things were going as you start. Any early difficulties or problems?"

"Good morning to you as well, Ms. Blessing," the human answered. "Everything has gone well so far. We had one group that arrived a little too late last night to be of much use today, but we have plenty of men to begin. Would you like me to go over the plans? I know the blueprints for this development are not typical."

"I have the gist of it," Sunset said as she glanced over at the table. "Grid streets with buildings packed closely together. Residential buildings are all four stories with each story extending over the street slightly more and the roofs will create essentially a new street level covered with dirt and grass with secondary entrances on the roofs."

"Exactly," the foreman answered. "Craziest designed places I've ever had to work on. On the plus side every one of these residential buildings is pretty much copy and paste. The bottom street won't be very appealing, but from the air it will look beautiful."

Pony designers thinking outside the box and drawing on various inspirations had worked hard on these designs. The design for each building was a product of practicality. There simply wasn't enough space to provide comfortable housing for the amount of residents that she was expecting to have.

Each building was designed to leave as limited a footprint as possible. The bottom story would be brick and would be where the bathroom would be, as well as where they received deliveries--no tubs, just showers. The next story up would overhang over the street slightly and have the kitchen area, the next story up would overhang farther over the street and would have the bedrooms, the next story up would have the living or family room and would overhang the street even farther. The roof would be flat and covered with soil which would be deep enough for grass and a small flower garden. Each roof you would be able to walk from one to the next by a connecting path and bridges to cross the street would be placed every ten houses as well as rampways to go back down to street level. An entrance to the house would also be placed on the roof, and be the designed as the preferred entrance.

It was very unorthodox in design but it fit the needs she had while still providing a comfortable living space for the residents, despite their tight quarters. It was well suited for both ponies and humans. The streets would still be usably for human cars and the upper roof level made it so ponies and humans alike could travel freely on hoof or foot without concern about cars in a nice grassy area like God intended.

The commercial areas would incorporate some of these designs as well to a lesser extent. And would be placed close enough to the residential districts that ponies could easily walk to them while humans could still drive if they choose to do so--though she was going to make a hard push for the use of strictly electric cars. The industrial district would follow more traditional city planning, and older buildings and neighborhoods would be preserved as they were.

There were some things done that could hasten construction and reduce the fire hazards. Pony crap was surprisingly flame resistant, and with a few simple added ingredients became an excellent building material that was a better insulator than most products available. The walls of most these buildings would essentially be made of the stuff plastered over a stick lattice where it would harden. A whitewash would be applied over it giving it a nice attractive look, take away the smell, and sealing it against the elements. It was also extremely easy to alter and repair. This actually an old medieval building technique that had been brought out of retirement with them now having superior crap.

All of this was important, but that wasn't the primary reason she was here so early.

She turned her eyes to the clearing that was going on. "How deep into the woods should your clearing be by noon today? I'd need to give some progress reports to the government and will be giving my first around then."

"With the amount of workers we have here we can clearcut about a square mile a day. If you would let us burn it would go faster," the foreman answered.

She was hoping for more with the amount of workers and equipment on site, but it was good enough to past the murder site.

"No, I don't want that much smoke in the air. My pegasi teams would struggle with trying to deal with that much burning. In any case, it's a waste of perfectly good lumber that we can make use of," Sunset said firmly.

"Your right about it being a waste, and I'll take your word about the smoke being difficult to control. I'm just suggesting it because it would speed things along. Even with the amount of workers we're hoping to hire on locally we're going to be struggling to keep up with the deadlines you've set," the foreman explained.

The edge of her mouth twitched toward just slightly. "When you get more ponies working for you then you'll find that the job will go much faster than you originally anticipated. I've already arranged for a large amount of ponies from Augusta to join the construction workforce next week. You'll have twice the number of workers that made the pyramids before this is done. I set tight deadlines, but they're deadlines you can meet. Before the year's out I'll have this city completed and fully operational."

"It may be overly ambitious to think that possible," the foreman replied. "Even with all those workers the pyramids still took a generation to build."

"They didn't have heavy construction equipment and ponies with magic," Sunset said crossly. "Construction shall go from dawn to dusk every day until it's done. You'll get this done in the time I ask or before. You've been given the people, equipment, supplies, and funding to do so. Make it happen; I expect to see those first houses completed in a week's time so I can start moving these ponies from their tents."

"Even if we get the houses done by that point there is no way the power grid will be ready yet," the foreman answered with a gesture of his hand towards the tree line.

Lord, save me from humans! Was I ever this ignorant? Sunset thought to herself. "They have no power now, they can go a while longer without. I promised them shelter and I will deliver--which means you will deliver."

The foreman shook his head, clearly not agreeing. "Whatever you say, Ms. Blessing. I'll do everything I can to try to make it happen."

"Good," Sunset said. She then turned around and walked away, flicking her tail at him as she went.

She walked by the tents again. Most ponies were up now. Some were still glaring towards where the clearing was going on, but most seemed ready to just go on about their day. Many ponies waved at her as she walked by and she waved back at them as her bad mood from dealing with the foreman melted away. Just being out among ponies was nice. She spent so much time cooped up in an office that left her little time to just enjoy being around ponies.

As she got past the tents she came to an abrupt halt. Sitting out on the edge of the road was a black car and Director Baker standing beside it. He gestured for her to come over to him. Why was he here looking for her? She didn't have any meeting scheduled with him today, and even if she did that would happen back at the town hall.

She trotted over to him and the man smiled at her as she got close. "Sunset, you're up early today. I thought we could take a drive and have a little talk away from the office."

She glanced at the windows of the car. There was no one with Baker. He was trying to have a conversation off the record then, with no one listening in.

"Of course, Director Baker," Sunset said with a smile that only reached her lips.

"Please, call me Jonathan. We're familiar with one another to do away with titles in private," Baker said what looked like a warm smile.

"Whatever you say, Jonathan. Did you have a destination in mind?" Sunset replied as she walked around to the front passenger door.

"No destination, just a little drive around for a few minutes and then back to town hall," Baker said as he got back into the car.

She got into the car and shut the door behind her. There was no point in trying to buckle up since seat belts weren't designed with ponies in mind. Baker started up the engine and pulled onto the road.

Baker didn't continue with pleasantries. "I'm not going to beat around the bush with you, Sunset. I'm aware of what happened to Swift Strike, the role you likely played in it, and aware that all evidence of what happened is being destroyed as we speak. Tattered Wing told me all about it right after finding the body the morning after. I figured you would be here making sure that evidence was indeed being destroyed."

Sunset's eyes opened wide in shock as she jerked her head around to look at him. Dealing with the Broken One with this was one thing, but dealing with the federal government was another matter entirely. She decided her best course of action at the moment was to wait for him to continue rather than potentially digging herself a hole by speaking. Silence was damning, but Baker already seemed sure of what happened.

Baker continued. "You don't need to worry about any potential repercussions. I personally pressured Tattered Wing into sweeping this under the rug. Swift Strike was the type of pony that we'd prefer the news media not find out about, and the fact that ponies murdered him is something we'd just as much want to keep under wraps."

"I agree," Sunset said in an even tone.

Baker kept his eyes on the road and his tone businesslike. "My current concern is whether there is going to be another dead body appearing. Shadow Dancer seems very convinced that your daughter is going to kill him no matter how much security is put around him."

This was treading into dangerous territory for Phobia. It was one thing if Sunset herself had to face the government coming down on her, it was an entirely different matter if they came down on her loved ones--especially Phobia.

"I'm not sure what all is involved in that," Sunset stated with honesty.

"But you do know something."

Despite everything she started to sweat. "I'm not in a position I can really disclose what I know. I'm under a magical compulsion to keep my mouth shut about those matters. There's no compulsion stopping me from telling you there's a compulsion though."

Baker took that information at face value without so much as a blink. "Are you able to tell me if you think I'm going to have another dead pony to worry about?"

"I really don't know," Sunset said. "These are night pony matters. I'm not a night pony. You are better off asking night ponies."

"We've tried," Baker said with a sigh. "After Shadow Dancer's claims that he was going to be punished word was sent back to Washington about there possibly being some secret night pony justice system. Night ponies were promptly questioned here and elsewhere. They've either claimed complete ignorance or stayed firm to a line of there are controls in place and not giving us anything else."

"I'm sorry to say I can't provide anything but more of the same," Sunset said firmly.

"Actually, you already have," Baker said, tone unchanged. "You said your under a compulsion to keep it secret. That might explain the stonewalling we have seen in the night ponies. We hadn't heard anything about a compulsion from them."

"Since I'm a unicorn I might be a special case," she pointed out. "I would not take my compulsion as the standard. I don't know if the night ponies use such a thing among themselves."

Baker gave a short nod in agreement then continued. "You also are the mother of Phobia Remedy. Night ponies have been asked about her. We've asked about her and then asked about random other night ponies as well in the same conversation. Almost universally among those saying there are controls in place the name Phobia Remedy invokes an emotional reaction."

"I'm not able to discuss that," Sunset said firmly. "Even if I could I wouldn't do so. I'm not going to betray the trust of my daughter. She's a good pony, she isn't going to do anything that will disrupt the government."

"Any person or organization that takes the law into its own hands...or hooves...is a disruption in itself," Baker asserted.

Sunset sighed. "Look, we're both concerned about the wrongs that can be done with magic and making sure order can be maintained. What's going on keeps order with the night ponies. Consider it them policing themselves. We're just not equipped at this time to combat ponies like Shadow Dancer, but the night ponies are. There are controls in place. I recommend they not be questioned, only accepted."

"The government was not equipped to deal with magic users in general but we're adapting by hiring on crystal ponies to aid us in that. If night pony magic requires night ponies to combat it we could easily do the same with night ponies instead of whatever this is," Baker replied.

"Take that up with my daughter if you wish. I can't be of use to you in this," Sunset said with a shake of her head. Then turned to him and glared. "Mind you, if you try to move against my daughter in any way you'd better have an army of night ponies willing to back the government over her. I have a feeling you won't find that or that it will help. Maybe she'll work with the government if you ask nicely."

Baker pulled the car to a stop and looked at her. "I intend to question her and see where that goes. There is another matter I need to discuss as well. Princess Luna of Equestrians made an unauthorized visit to this town last night. She was seen in your company going to Phobia Remedy's residence. You failed to notify anyone in the government about her arrival or what she was doing in your company. Having a pony that is given as much political power as you are meeting with a foreign power in secret is not something the government can shrug off."

Sunset smiled. "Actually, I have no compulsion about Luna, I say everything about Luna."

"Then start talking."

"Gladly," Sunset said still grinning. She could twist this around great without technically lying. "That alicorn showed up and basically demanded that I escort her to my daughter. From what I gathered Luna had been asserting authority over our world's night ponies in secret. What happened yesterday with my daughter was a sign that our night ponies had rejected her foreign control. She went to my daughter because she was unhappy my daughter and the night ponies had turned against her authority."

She was bending the truth a lot, but it was meant to reaffirm one thing; that Equestria had tried to assert authority on Earth and failed. Phobia might end up telling what actually was happening and Sunset could just claim ignorance in the matter if so. She wasn't a night pony after all, she was just a casual observer. Of course she might have misinterpreted some things when she wasn't partial to night pony secrets. Anything that cast suspicion on the Equestrians and reaffirmed Phobia as somepony that was playing for Earth's team rather than some extradimensional world's was worthwhile. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and she wanted to be clear the enemy was Equestria.

Baker gave her a suspicious look. "I'm still going to need to speak with your daughter. The fact that she and you were meeting with a foreign dignitary is still suspect."

"Jonathan, let's be honest with one another. I have no interest in working with Equestrians and you know why," Sunset said sweetly. "My loyalty is to Earth and Earth's interests, even if not all of us see eye to eye. I want a pony world, but one governed by our world. The Equestrians are not to be trusted. Didn't Sunset Shimmer's vision try to assert pony loyalty to Celestia by using her image? Celestia claims Sunset Shimmer was acting against her wishes, but evidence shows Sunset Shimmer had a clear view of who she thought should rule Earth. Things only went the way they did because Twilight Sparkle acted on her own against Celestia's wishes and Celestia was forced into a position of deniability."

"That's just conjecture," Baker said, "and having the Equestrians gone would definitely suit a pony interested in a new ETS well. As it stands we don't have to worry even if you do figure it out, because the Equestrians will stop it as it starts."

Sunset continued to smile. "I want willing transformations. Popular opinion may one day turn my way, and who's to deny the will of the people? I'm allowed to try to further encourage the world to freely see things as I do. It's part of our blessed democracy that I can, if I'm not hurting anyone or breaking any law. I want a free thinking pony United States that chose to be pony, not a pony principality of Equestria that's been brainwashed to accept Celestia's rule. They would never accept a world of ponies that didn't have obedience through their brainwashing. I'm their enemy as much as humans are their enemy. You might not agree with my views that we're all better off as ponies, but I'm not forcing anyone to accept anything."

Baker scowled at her. "You're a fanatic, Sunset. The government tolerates you, but we trust you less than the Equestrians."

"But I'm a loyal fanatic who is open and honest. The Equestrians are the duplicitous ones that undermine our democracy," Sunset asserted. "We don't have to agree on everything to be on the same team. Our team fights for the sovereignty of our nation. If I'm unsuccessful in convincing humans to be ponies then that's the will of the people which won't be denied. Can you say the same for Celestia who the vision encouraged ponies to bow down to after being transformed against their will?"

Baker frowned. "That's not for me to decide. Though you're trying to distract from the issue I'm still going to investigate your daughter."

"By all means, go speak with her. You'll see she is no Equestrian pawn," Sunset said with confidence.

Hopefully Phobia would have some answer to give them that would satisfy the government. Still, this had a chance to work out in the positive as Luna's appearance further cast doubts on Equestrian benevolence. Every opportunity should always be capitalized on as best she could.

Chapter 58

Tom sat in a restaurant waiting for his food to arrive, but primarily he was waiting for Paul and Devon to finish up trying to see Tonya at town hall. Being here had been a decision he had come to just this morning when the couple had shown up to pick up Robby. He was going back to Summerville and getting it packed and officially put on the market for sale. He'd been suprised when the couple had agreed to have him come along back to the Charleston area.

Across from him in the booth sat Amanda, with Jackie cuddled close against her. Who like him was also going back to pack up her home. The two had agreed to help each other out with their respective homes. His magic was very useful when trying to pack boxes, and her strength made her able to move furniture and appliances he wouldn't be able to budge with his horn. They'd take care of her house first and then move on to his house.

In a booth several booths down sat the two foals Jessie and Robby, watched over by Devon's mother. The mare wasn't going to be coming with them, but had been overjoyed to help watch her grandfoals while her daughter and son-in-law were busy. The mare cuddled Jessie close to her with a wing and enthusiastically recounted her night pony exploits to Robby. Tom didn't feel particularly comfortable around that mare so he was glad they weren't sharing a booth with her. Nocte reminded him far too much of his wife with her regular assertions of how life was better now that they were ponies. Amanda also seemed to be uneasy around the mare.

For about the fifth time since he had met up with them today Amanda turned around and sniffed her butt and sat back up with a frown.

"Why do you keep doing that?" He finally asked, having kept silent about it up to this point.

Amanda blushed and then leaned forward to whisper. "I don't smell right back there. I woke up having this odor and even with extra showering it isn't going away. I'm worried ponies will smell me."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm sitting across from you and I don't smell anything. It must be so faint that no one can possibly smell it. Don't worry about it."

Amanda sat back and frowned. "But I am worried, maybe it's a sign of a health problem or something. I'd go by the clinic to check, but the clinic got demolished yesterday and I don't know where the staff went. It doesn't really smell bad, it just smells weird, and on top of that it has been about a month since Jackie was born and I haven't had my periods start again. It makes me worried if there might be some sort of infection or something."

"You shouldn't get your periods again yet," Tom explained. "It takes about a month and a half to two months after a birth for that to happen. Longer if you're breastfeeding. Don't ask me how I remember that after so long since my wife gave birth, but I remember her freaking out about the same thing back then and the doctor explaining it to her."

Amanda gave a small sigh of relief. "Well, that's good to know. I'm sure I would've known that if I gave birth as a human, but the doctors were all so distracted trying to deal with a pony giving birth they gave me virtually no advice after she was born. It could still be an infection or something though." She then blushed again. "Sorry, probably not the right conversation to be having right before a meal."

"I'm not bothered by the conversation," Tom said, keeping his voice down just in case other ponies were listening in. "If there's something that not quite right about what your body's doing--aside from the fact we're all ponies now--then you have a right to be concerned about it. Maybe we can go to a hospital or clinic when we get back, or worse case a veterinarian, and get it checked out."

"You'd go with me?" Amanda asked in a hopeful tone.

"Of course," Tom said with a nod. "I know going to see the doctor can be intimidating, and someone has to help with Jackie while you're being checked out."

Amanda gave him a grateful smile. "I really appreciate you doing that, and appreciate you agreeing to help me get everything packed. I really wasn't looking forward to trying to do that all by hoof and mouth. You've been the nicest pony to me."

"It's just common decency, and you'll be helping me out as well with my house," Tom replied. Where was their food? If it took too much longer Devon and Paul would be done and ready to go.

"I know, but I'm still happy you're going to be there. I feel more comfortable around you than a lot of other ponies," Amanda said as she glanced around at some of the other pony patrons.

Tom looked at them as well. Most were happily chatting with one another and sometimes would start chatting with ponies in other booths. They all seemed completely content with their changed lives.

He turned back to Amanda. "I'm more comfortable with you too. You're the only other pony I've met who's shown any amount of discontent about what they've become. It bothers me that they all embrace it so readily."

Amanda frowned. "It isn't so much that I'm upset to be a pony. I just wish I hadn't gotten this type of pony to be. Everypony else seems to have gotten a type that fits them well, but me...I don't know what the magic was doing when it made me an earth pony. There's just nothing appealing to me about being an earth pony. I'm ashamed to say it, but I look at unicorns like you or even the pegasi and I get jealous."

"You feel like you've been limited in what you can do. That you've been handicapped," Tom said. "I can understand that a little. I just am unhappy in general that this wasn't any choice of mine. It wasn't hardly anyone's choice, yet despite that they just accept it even though it was forced on them."

Amanda turned and looked at her flank for a second then looked back. "I know, it doesn't seem right. This is what we are now though. I'm marked and so are you, we can't go back to being human. I was unhappy to be a pony just like you at first, now it's just the fact I'm an earth pony I'm unhappy about, and am content with being a pony. I want to feel content with the fact I'm an earth pony too, but it's just slow coming."

"What made you change your mind about being discontent being a pony in general?" Tom asked, curious what had won her over if she had felt like him.

Amanda looked down at the filly at her side and ran a hoof over Jackie's mane. "She did. When I looked at my daughter for the first time ever I saw a pony, a beautiful little filly that came from me. She was born a pony and I can't imagine her as human or wanting her to be. I saw her and I knew that being a pony wasn't a bad thing, because then I'd have to say her existing as what I first laid eyes on was a bad thing. I could embrace the fact I was a pony now for her sake. It didn't come all at once, but that's when it started."

Tom thought over his experiences with his family. "Charlotte...Sunset Blessing seemed so radically different after her change, and with how much she embraced this. Phobia embraced this as well and was even more radically changed than my wife. I look at them and I don't know what to think. These aren't the people I spent most of my life with anymore. Phobia I'm learning I never really knew as much as I thought I did, but her mother..."

Amanda looked at him in sympathy. "You're life as you knew it was taken away, and on top of that you felt like you lost the family you knew. That's a hard thing to take. I felt that way, only it was months before ETS even started...when my husband died."

Tom watched as Amanda began softly crying. He started to feel guilty as he did. Here he was being upset that his family had changed so much and he had been turned into something against his will while here was this person across from him that had lost the person most important to her and had her life turned upside down in worse ways before ponies ever got involved. He at least still had his daughter and things hadn't been perfect with Charlotte even before the outbreak.

He made a decision. He got up from where he was sitting and came over to join her on her side of the booth. He then pulled her into a hug with Jackie sandwiched between them. Amanda leaned into him and just started to openly sob.

"I m-miss him so...much," Amanda said through her sobs. "I keep expecting him to just show up and it was all a bad dream. It isn't fair. He was a good man, and he would have been a good father. He made me feel so special and happy. Everything was perfect. Why'd he have to be taken away from me?"

The automatic response of the Lord works in mysterious ways or it was in God's plan was on his lips, but he bit those responses back. They were hollow answers and they were hypocritical if he wasn't willing to apply them equally to what had happened to him and his family. He struggled for what to say that could give her comfort as he continued to hold her tight, but he couldn't think of anything to say.

Amanda's crying slowly lessened as she continued to lean into him, and she wrapped her forelegs around him and held on tight, tighter than he was comfortable with to tell the truth--she was strong, earth pony strength was not an exaggerated concept. She seemed to realize she was gripping too tightly after a moment and lessened her grip slightly, though she didn't let go. Jackie for her part seemed fully content to be caught between two adults hugging, and put up no objections about her tight quarters between them.

The earth pony finally released her grip and sat back up after some time had passed, and Tom found he actually felt disappointed that the embrace had ended. Amanda wiped her eyes and then gave him a small smile.

"Thank you, I needed that," she said with a final sniffle.

"You don't need to thank me. I didn't do anything. I didn't even know what to say," Tom said in confusion.

Amanda did a quiet chuckle. "You were there for me giving me comfort when I needed it. That was more than enough. Sometimes there isn't anything to say, sometimes I just want a shoulder to cry on. You gave me that, thank you."

She then leaned over and gave him a small kiss on the side of the face, then jerked backwards. "Sorry! So sorry! I don't know what came over me."

Tom laughed. "It's alright. You were just expressing your gratitude. I understand."

"Yeah, that's exactly it," Amanda said with a hasty nod. "Um, do you mind letting me get by you and you watching Jackie for a minute? I think I need to go to the restroom."

Tom got down from where he was in a hurry and then used his magic to float the little pegasus onto his back. Jackie put up no complaint about it and giggled as she was lifted through the air, letting off a soft burble of disappointment when her trip through the air ended.

Amanda hopped down from the booth and came over and nuzzled her daughter. "She enjoys flying so much. I have a feeling she'll be one of those pegasi that never want to keep their hooves on the ground when she actually gets to fly again on her own. Jackie, be a good filly for Mr. Tom until I get back."

After that Amanda hurried off towards the restrooms. Jackie was not pleased with this development, and expressed it with a loud wail. Tom thought quickly and gripped Jackie back in his magic and lifted her up again. The filly immediately stopped crying and let off a gurgle of delight.

He brought the filly up in front of him and gave her a smile. "You want to fly, huh? Spread your wings and let's have you fly a little."

He used his magic to carefully loop her around in the air over his head and the little filly enthusiastically beat her wings and squealed with joy. Some nearby ponies looked on and he could hear them giving awes at them as they watched.

Nocte and Robby were watching him as well. The night pony mare gave him a serious look and hopped down and walked over to him.

He gave the night pony a questioning look and she sighed before saying anything. "The mare that just went to the restroom thinks a lot about you, I can tell. You'd better not hurt her."

Tom's face hardened though he kept Jackie doing her simulated flight. "She's my friend. I'm not going to do anything to hurt her."

Nocte snorted. "She's looking for a little more than a friend I think. I don't really know her since we just met today, don't know you either, but I care what happens to a mare who is trying to trust a male. Way too often that trust gets betrayed."

"We're just friends," Tom insisted. "And again, I won't do anything to hurt her."

Nocte frowned. "You better not. You see this cutie mark? It doesn't mean I enjoy martinis--I don't even drink. I got this the day I beat a rapist to death and got back the power over my life that I lost when a man drugged my martini years ago and took advantage of me; a man I trusted who ended up doing that to me. I've always been on guard for others since then, and intend to protect other mares from bad situations. Took me forever to get to trust Paul to be with my daughter."

Tom growled. "I am not some rapist or a someone trying to take advantage of her. I'm just her friend. You have my sympathy for what happened to you, my daughter was just raped a few days ago and I was tempted to kill the pony that did it."

"We understand each other in that then. Maybe you aren't a rapist, but you're still a pony that could hurt her alot emotionally," Nocte said firmly. "You take care you don't do that, or I'll come looking for you."

The night pony turned and returned to her seat before he could retort any further. At the same time he saw Amanda returning from the restroom with the fur on her face a little damp from where she must have been washing it. She smiled at him as she approached.

"I see you found a way to cheer Jackie up. You're really good with her. Thank you for watching her for me," Amanda said as he gently placed Jackie on her back.

He put on a smile to hide the fact he was still angry at Nocte insinuating he might hurt Amanda. "Let me help you up into your seat so you don't disturb Jackie trying to jump up."

Amanda giggled. "Thank you, you're such a gentlestallion."

She turned towards her seat and he walked behind her and used his magic to lift her. Lifting a full grown pony, and an earth pony who was as a result muscular, was harder than lifting a filly. But he got just enough lift to get her up into her seat. She stood on it for just a moment and faned her tail. For the first time he picked up on the scent that she had mentioned. It wasn't a bad smell, it had a musky earthiness to it. In all honesty he actually liked the smell.

After getting her to her seat she sat Jackie back down beside her and the wait staff finally arrived with their food. He returned to his seat and they ate in silence.

He caught her watching him on and off with a small smile on her lips. He thought about what Nocte had said about Amanda looking for more than a friend. He didn't know what to do if that was the case. He really could end up hurting her by rejecting or ignoring her advances, and he didn't want to hurt her.

As he snuck his own glances he couldn't help noticing for the first time that he did find her attractive. It was slightly jarring to the part of him that wanted to hang on to his humanity that he found her attractive. It was another sign of how his mind had been changed so he could now find ponies attractive in that way.

He snuck another glance at her at the same time she was sneaking a glance at him. She gave him a shy smile. He returned that with his own shy smile and let a little more of his humanity slip away.

Chapter 59

Jonathan Baker got out of his car in front of the Remedy-Stone residence. He briefly considered calling for some crystal ponies. Since learning that they could detect magic being used he had been tempted to bring at least one along on each of his visits to ponies of unknown magical power. That could be construed as a sign he didn't trust ponies though, and fostering good trusting relationships were one of his greatest personal strengths. He wasn't going to sacrifice that, no matter how nervous some ponies might make him.

He didn't think Sunset Blessing was any sort of traitor to the nation secretly in league with the Equestrians. The unicorn had a history of running interference to Equestrian efforts. She also seemed to take far too much glee denouncing them and trying to make them out as the enemy of the people. What she said about Celestia even echoed what some above him had already not been shy in suggesting. He had already sent an email to his superiors detailing his talk with the Shimmerist unicorn and his personal impressions from it. He had cautioned that he felt she was just trying to worsen relations with the Equestrians, but there would be some that would take Sunset Blessing's words as further proof that Equestrians couldn't be trusted.

Sunset Blessing was an effective guard dog of US interests and an effective administrator. As such he did value her input when saying her daughter was no threat. Despite her refusal to give up information, much like the night ponies had refused, she never displayed any sign she wasn't speaking the truth when she asserted Phobia Remedy was no threat to the US government. He still needed to know what was going on and present his findings to his superiors. As well as finding out how to bring her under some sort of jurisdiction.

He walked up onto the old wooden porch and knocked on the door. He frowned after there was no answer for a full minute. Phobia Remedy's location was fairly well tracked since yesterday and she should be at home. She was also typically awake a few hours before noon. He raised his fist and knocked again more firmly.

From inside he heard Rosetta Stone yell out, "Tempest! Are you just going to stand there or are you going to get the door? You're acting like we're under attack or something."

"Whoever is at the door has not identified themselves or their intentions yet," he heard Tempest yell back.

"Of all the...use your nose mare! That's Director Baker out there. Let him in," Rosetta fussed.

"It could be a similarly smelling human. We can't go by smell alone," Tempest explained.

"Tempest Shadow! Please open the door and let him in or let Rosetta get to the door to open it," he heard Phobia yell.

"Is that a direct order, Phobia Remedy?" Tempest asked calmly.

"Yes!" Phobia yelled back.

A second later the door opened up and he saw Tempest Shadow in a black dress that didn't quite reach the ground and left her frontquarters exposed smiling at him in welcome.

"Director Baker, it's good to see you again. Please, enter into this domicile," Tempest said pleasantly.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I had heard of your arrival back. An email was sent to me just moments before I got here clearing your presence in this town. It came as a surprise given your last visit."

Tempest looked down. "I appologize again for my past behavior. I would say that Sunset Blessing brings the worst out of me, but that is no excuse. My princess had to make many assurances to allow me back on this world. I'm ashamed that I have embarrassed her with my poor control of temper."

"I agree that Sunset Blessing can be trying to deal with at times. She's among other things a bit of a politician, and as such she is very good at pushing others buttons. Keep that in mind when dealing with her," Jonathan said as he stepped into the house.

The room inside was simple, with only a computer desk and a lone chair for furnishings. It was surprisingly well lit for a residence of night ponies, due mainly to the many windows the poured light into the room. Rosetta sat a few feet away glaring daggers at Tempest, and Phobia sat in a corner looking frustrated.

Phobia looked up at him as he entered. "Director Baker, I had been expecting you. I was actually expecting you yesterday to tell the truth. Sorry about Tempest not opening the door. She is a little overprotective...and this is coming from a night pony."

"So I gathered from your loud exchange a moment ago," Jonathan said. "Please, call me Jonathan. We have known each a few weeks now and I think we can drop the formalities."

"As you wish," Phobia replied, still tucked away in her corner. "I have a feeling this isn't an informal visit though. You have questions about yesterday, and probably about why I have Tempest here guarding me like I'm royalty or something."

"Those would be two things I would very much like to have explained to me," Jonathan said .

Phobia gestured with a wing towards the desk and chair. "Take the seat then. We can discuss things."

He walked over to the chair and turned it around so he could sit in it properly and face the Phobia. "And Princess Luna will have no problem with you discussing these things?"

Phobia frowned. "Luna has no authority over me or what I say or do. She's a friend, and has been a mentor too, but she's not my boss."

Jonathan noted the lack of title when Phobia said Luna's name. A small detail, but possibly important.

"To the point then," Jonathan said as he took his seat. "Why is Shadow Dancer convinced that you'll kill him, and that no amount of security will stop that from happening?"

"To clarify, I have no intention of killing him, though that might be mincing words. I intend to see him punished, and the result might end with him being as good as dead. I would do it through the dream realm so there is no way you could stop me," Phobia explained

"So you are engaging in vigilante justice with night pony powers then?" Jonathan asked. He didn't raise his voice or change his tone. Becoming hostile caused those being questioned to get more guarded.

"Not vigilante justice. I have legitimate authority to do so. It isn't authority granted by the US government, but it's legitimate authority," Phobia explained.

"Shadow Dancer is almost certainly a US citizen, and at the very least a person living on US soil. If the US government did not grant or allow this authority it's illegitimate," Jonathan said slowly.

"While it's happening in the dream realm it isn't happening on any country's soil," Phobia said calmly. "I have to deal with ponies all over the world occupying the same space at once. Most the night ponies I personally deal with are in this hemisphere; Canadians, Mexicans, Brazilians, Venezuelans, Argentinians, Peruvians, Columbians...you get the idea. Do you know how many night ponies live in Haiti and the Dominican Republic? I didn't realize how hard ETS hit that island before taking this job. I even have to deal with the occasional night ponies from Western Europe and Africa. Any night pony sleeping while I'm asleep."

"Sorry to interrupt..." Rosetta said with an embarrassed look. "What about Puerto Rico? Whenever I try to research what's going on there it says unknown at this point and time."

Phobia looked at her mate. "All the Caribbean islands were hit hard from what I can tell. Similar percentage numbers as out west for most of them, maybe even higher on some. ETS reached them and spread rapidly. Cramped cities located on islands was a perfect recipe for spread."

Phobia Remedy might have better intelligence on what was going on out there than the government did if she was telling the truth. Over a month had passed and some countries, particularly Caribbean ones, still had no firm data on how widespread infection rates had been. If she was right the Caribbean was going to be a bigger nightmare to deal with than they thought. News out of Puerto Rico pretty much matched what she said, even if most mainlanders weren't yet aware--or cared for that matter, since it was hard to get the states to care about what went on in Puerto Rico at the best of times.

"And how many ponies do you have under you gathering intelligence if you can confirm all this? How big is your opperation?" He asked, ignoring it's illegal nature for the moment.

Phobia smirked. "There's me and five other ponies, no others. Most aren't even on this side of the world."

"Six?" He said in disbelief. "You gather this much intel and try to enforce your brand of justice with six ponies?"

Phobia seemed very confident in herself. "We aren't normal night ponies. Normal night ponies wouldn't be able to do the tiniest fraction of what we can do, no matter how well trained. If you had an army of night ponies trying to keep up with what we do it wouldn't be able to match a fraction of our effectiveness."

Jonathan frowned. "How? Is this a pony magic power level thing? Are you six the night pony equivalents of Wild Growth?"

Phobia shook her head. "If you got a magic reading on me you wouldn't find anything particularly impressive. When I'm awake I'm a perfectly average pony, and you'd get the same readings on my body as I slept. The part of me tied to the dream realm is what is powerful. Night ponies aren't tied to the dream realm, nothing is but us."

"Can you explain to me how you get tied to the dream realm then?" Jonathan asked.

"We have to be tied to it by someone that was tied to it already. Once we're tied we can't be untied by anyone, anything, or any event--even death," Phobia said as she looked him in the eyes. "Luna bound the first three of us, those three bound the other three."

Jonathan hardened his gaze. Perhaps there was something to Sunset's claims that Luna was trying to establish dominion over the night ponies on Earth.

Phobia kept looking at him. "I can guess what you're thinking. As I said, Luna has no authority over us. Our creation was a necessity, and keeping the night ponies from getting out of control is only part of that."

"What's the other parts?" Jonathan asked, still suspicious.

Phobia looked sad again. "Magic has rules. One of these rules is that it needs controlling forces. This rule will often act against itself in a kind of magical entropy. It will over time spawn magical users as controlling forces. Then in time it will spawn a controlling force in the dream realm for magical users if there is none. That controlling force more often than not will simply destroy those magical users. Our universe suddenly gained a large number of magical users all at once. It was only a matter of time before it spawned a new controlling force."

Jonathan put those pieces together in his head. "And you six are acting as that controlling force so the universe doesn't spawn one of it's own?"

Phobia nodded, saying nothing.

"And why you six? Why didn't Luna come to us and discuss this with us and let us decide who would serve in this position?" Jonathan asked.

Phobia laughed. "I don't think you understand who your dealing with in terms of Luna, and I'm not saying that in terms of you should fear her or she has more right. I'm saying you don't understand how Luna thinks. I'm not saying what she did was right or wrong, I'm just saying you don't understand her to know her thought process."

"Explain it then."

Phobia got up and cuddled close to Rosetta before continuing. "Luna comes from a world where all major decisions are largely autocratic ones done by basically immortal beings. She and her sister move celestial bodies and weren't chosen by anyone to do so. She also comes from a line of beings that were those controlling forces I spoke about and none of them were chosen by anyone. Luna doesn't think in terms of consent by the governed. She thinks in terms of the powerful doing what's right for the governed."

"That doesn't improve the picture of her. If anything it makes her actions more suspect," Jonathan said evenly.

"I'm just explaining the terms that she thinks in, not defending them," Phobia replied. "Regardless, what's done is done and can't be undone and has to be worked with. Considering we impact ponies around the globe from nations with very different views it would have potentially dragged on for years for some consensus to be reached on who should hold this power. In that time the universe could have well made it's own creation and every pony would die while the world argued about who should save them. Were Luna's methods the best? Probably not. Were they malicious? No, they weren't. We're here now in any case and not going anywhere."

"You haven't explained why Luna didn't at least inform us after the fact, or why none of you have stepped forward to inform us," Jonathan said feeling irritated.

"We don't plan on keeping the world in the dark about us forever. When the time is right I'll personally go to the government and disclose everything," Phobia asserted. "There's no choice in the matter that me and the other five are going to hold justice over mind magic and dreamwalking, but that's all we will do. We aren't getting involved with politics or going to interfer with this government or any other government. I might even make some personal concessions to the government since I've been partially exposed. I'm open to discussing options, though those will only apply to me, not the others. I'm not exposing the others or speaking for them."

"When is the time right?" Jonathan asked, still unsure what he believed out of this or what he was going to put in his report. Phobia was withholding information clearly, but she didn't give off any signs of lying.

Phobia shook her head. "Not sure yet. Within the next five years probably. We'll contact the proper government channels when we're getting close to being ready. Now is not the best time to drop any more shocks on the world. Until then be satisfied that there are controls in place to make it so one of the things you don't have to worry about is night ponies trying to brainwash large swaths of the population like Shadow Dancer tried to do. I promise that in two days time every night pony that can dreamwalk will know who Shadow Dancer is, what he did, and that his actions were completely unacceptable. Any that were thinking of doing the same will be far less inclined to do so."

That part would be easy enough to verify if something ended up happening to Shadow Dancer tomorrow. If this was all true this went beyond what he had authority to make any decisions on. Phobia was right that this kind of news could cause further panic and shouldn't be made public at this time.

He looked over at Tempest. "And she's here why?"

Phobia scowled. "Because Tattered Wing put me in a position where I'm exposed. Things could have been dealt with quietly without having all these complications if not for that. While anything happening to me doesn't prevent me from doing my job; Luna still doesn't want to see me hurt by vengeful ponies or scared humans. So I get a bodyguard."

He got to his feet. He had no idea what his superiors would think or have him do. He had to send a classified report back to Washington and wait for a response.

"I will be back in touch with you soon," he said as he looked down at the pony. "I'm assuming that you're going forward with whatever is going to happen tomorrow with Shadow Dancer?"

Phobia nodded again. "It will be a trial. I can actually offer for you to have a witness to it and have them give a report to you. It would have to be a pony or a partial for me to bring them into the shared dream to watch, but if you can find somepony you trust and inform me of them before then I will make it happen. Crystal Dreams will be there defending Shadow Dancer's actions, though I can't say any answers she gives you about it won't be heavily biased as a result."

"I'll see what I can do. Decisions above my pay grade must be made," Jonathan said. Way above his pay grade most likely.

Chapter 60

Tonya was an uncomfortable mixture of anxious and completely bored. She'd stayed all night with no one to talk to or anything to do, and now she had sat all morning without anyone to talk to or anything to do.

She'd woken up early with the sun and had expected somepony to at least come question her, or ask to her show them where everything went down with Swift Strike, but instead she just sat here doing nothing. She didn't have a good view of the sun from where she was at, and there was no clock on the wall, so she had no idea what time it was now. It had to be at least noon.

She sat and held up her medallion to where she could look at it. It was the only thing in the room with her other than a table. They hadn't even left her a blanket or anything last night. The medallion was perfectly round, and had a bunch of squiggly lines and designs on it. She tried to trace the lines with her eyes but it started giving her a headache trying. The designs didn't remind her of anything in particular, though Sunset said they represented runes of some sort. Sunset had taken a good long look at those runes and seemed really interested. Tonya vaguely knew runes were a big deal to unicorns, like bits of code in a computer program, but she didn't really understand anything about them. They were one of Sunset's things. To Tonya they were just weird looking designs.

Her ears sagged as she spoke to the medallion. "I wonder if they are going to implant you inside my body or something so I can't use my powers anymore. I suppose that would be one way to punish me, better than dying I suppose."

She closed her eyes and wished she was tired enough to sleep. Phobia would be going to sleep soon. Maybe if Phobia noticed she was asleep Phobia would come talk to her in her dreams. She was terrified of what was coming from the Dreamwardens, but Phobia was still her friend, and Tonya could really use a friend to talk to right now. Alas, she was completely awake, and far too anxious to sleep even if she were tired.

She hated having to wait like this; all alone with only her thoughts to keep her company. Ponies shouldn't have to be alone. She'd spent far too much of her life alone, and now being alone felt like torture.

Her ears shot up as she caught familiar scents. She turned to face the door as the door handle began to glow in a red aura that made her want to smile. A moment later the door opened revealing Sunset and Tattered Wing.

"Time to take care of all of this," Tattered said as she gestured with a wing for Tonya to exit out. Tattered was now wearing a law enforcement badge on a chord around her neck. "The three of us are going to have a talk with Number Crunch and her lawyer, so come on out."

Tonya hurried out if the room and stopped to tightly embrace Sunset. The unicorn hugged her back tightly.

Sunset leaned over to speak in her ear. "You're going to be angry about this, but it's just the way it has to be."

Tonya's eyes narrowed as she continued to hug her lover. "Sunset, what did you do?"

"I did nothing," Sunset said quietly. "This was already in the works well before you gave your confession."

"What did you do?" Tonya repeated.

"Nothing," Sunset answered again. "You'll see what's happening in just a minute."

Tonya frowned. She knew what was happening, Sunset was somehow getting her out of this despite her specifically telling Sunset she wanted to face her consequences and trying to do the right thing. She had a confession though, so she didn't know how Sunset was going to pull that off.

Tattered led them into the room next to the one they had held her in. Inside Number sat on in one seat at a table and beside her sat a human man with a laptop open in front of him and a brief case at his side on the floor.

"This will be quick and easy, so no one should get comfortable being in here," Tattered announced as they all filled in.

The man looked at Tattered and frowned. "I don't think so. I have full intention on protecting the rights of my client. I am not going to let you simply dictate how things are going to go under questionable circumstances."

Tattered smiled at the man. "Questionable indeed. That's a good way of putting it. Let's start with item one on our list. The charge of helping a prisoner escape."

The lawyer immediately started into it. "There is nothing other than one person's unfounded testimony that..."

Tattered held a wing up and cut him off. "There was no prisoner escape. At the time of his holding there was no legal authority to hold Swift Strike. That he left here in any way with or without aid is not a crime."

"Um, yes," the lawyer said with confusion. "With that in mind you holding my client here overnight..."

Tattered once again cut him off. "She willingly chose to stay here of her own free will. She had the right to leave of her own volition at any point. She stayed here under the mistake assumption that she was required to do so as led on by me. The city will pay her restitution for her time if she wishes."

The lawyer raised an eyebrow at Tattered and Tonya felt both full of dread and relief at the same time.

"Then I take it you aren't going to be claiming the statements my client allegedly made are valid either?" The lawyer asked in curiousity.

Tattered kept smiling. "Clearly not valid. No body was found at the location that was indicated, and I'm sure with the number of people out there this morning someone would have noticed a body just laying around. I would charge your client with wasting city time with fraudulent information, but again I had no authority when she gave this statements."

"Is any charge being made against my client or any questioning going to be done?" The lawyer asked in bewilderment.

"None at all," Tattered said as she nodded to Number. "If you wish to discuss restitution for being unlawfully held you can do that at this time."

Number leaned into a huddle with her lawyer and the two spoke briefly. Then the lawyer sat back up and looked back at Tattered. "My client has decided it's best just to put this entire matter to rest. She will not seek any restitution."

"Good then we're all done," Tattered said with a nod. "Number Crunch, your husband is out in the lobby waiting for you."

Number's eyebrows shot up. "He's what?! Since when does he bother to give me a moment's time?"

Tattered pursed her lips. "Um, you were facing some serious charges. He must have been worried about you."

Number stomped a hoof as she got down from her chair. "I've faced serious charges before, this isn't my first time in a similar position. What makes him decide now is a good first time to show up to give support?"

The fact Number had such a seemingly screwed up marriage that she was upset her husband was showing support was enough to distract Tonya from her own thoughts for the moment.

The blue unicorn stomped by Tonya without giving Tonya so much as a glance. Number could be heard muttering as she went out into the hall about how her husband had better have brought something to smoke because she was going to need it after dealing with him. She also muttered several extremely colorful insults that made Tonya wonder if Number's husband was gay by the nature of the insults.

Tattered looked over at the lawyer. "You might want to take your time leaving town, get a bite to eat or something. If she assaults her husband I kind of have to charge her with a crime for that, and I do have the authority now."

"I think Mrs. Crowfield will avoid doing anything to land herself in jail for the time being," the lawyer replied. "I'm eager to get back to Charleston before it gets too late in the day. Hopefully we won't be seeing each other again soon, Officer Rutledge."

"Call me Tattered Wing," Tattered replied.

The lawyer finished getting his stuff together and stood to his feet. "Get your name changed and I shall. Until then I am dealing with you in an official legal capacity and I shall refer to you without nicknames."

Dickish human. Tonya thought with annoyance. Only humans ever pulled that kind of crap. Anyone getting on someone about their legal name got on her nerves out of principle, whether the comments were directed at a pony or human.

Tattered didn't rise to the bait and simply let the man walk by her. After Tattered gestured with a wing for Tonya to sit down. "Now to deal with you. Sunset, please shut the door so we can keep this private."

After Sunset shut the door she lit her horn and the room was surrounded by a purple field. Tattered gave her a questioning look, one that Tonya matched.

"I got a good look at what Tom did with his spell, and convinced him to describe the runes to me. It took some practice to replicate, and it's extremely fragile since I'm not that powerful, but I'm a quick study. The shield should muffle a little bit of sound," Sunset explained. "It's off the record I know this spell as far as anypony is concerned. The government knows I know it though."

"I'm personally glad you're a magical lightweight," Tattered muttered. Earning glares from both Sunset and Tonya. Tattered turned to Tonya while ignoring the glares. "All the stuff I said to Number Crunch applies to you as well. You aren't going to escape justice though. In a few days you'll be facing the Dreamwardens. Sunset Blessing and Rosetta Stone might try to defend you, but all those things I couldn't use for you and Number Crunch will be admissable there."

Tonya gulped, she was so screwed. She was ready to face consequences for her actions, but what Phobia painted the Dreamwardens doing went farther than what she was willing to pay. That was her life that was on the line with them instead of simple prision time.

Sunset growled. "I'm not going to let that happen. I'll find a way to get you out of this."

"We shall see," Tattered said smugly.

The damn bloodthirsty night pony was hungry to see the worst done to her. She found herself now sharing Sunset's opinion on the Enclave leader.

Tattered turned to Sunset. "Going into details. You and Tonya I'll be having Lavender Mist give heavy sedatives if the trial will be in the daytime. That should put you to sleep. Don't try to avoid it. Every night pony in town is eager to see this done. If you try to run or pump yourself up with stimulants to stay awake it won't work. We will find you and let the Dreamwardens know what you tried to pull. It's best if you just cooperate."

"I'll try to keep my schedule flexible to accommodate that," Sunset said with her ears laid back. "Is Tonya free to go or do you intend to keep terrorizing my marefriend?"

"She's free to go," Tattered answered. "She has some guests in the lobby; her human brother and sister-in-law. They've been waiting patiently for hours for you."

Tattered paused and seemed to consider something "I've been busy this morning by the way. I discussed Wild Growth with the actual town council. She'll be required to pay for the building she destroyed over the course of the next two years and she'll be required to attend some anger management classes. I'd personally recommend you join her in those classes, just as a concerned citizen."

Sunset looked ready to spit, but restrained herself. "I'll take that under consideration. Congratulations on being official now by the way, instead of just playing pretend. Such a big mare, all grown up with a badge and everything."

Tattered didn't take to the mocking well. "Get out and go what you need to do. Hopefully I won't have to deal with you again until the trial day."

Sunset dropped the shield Tonya exited the room with her. Immediately after exiting Tonya rounded in her lover.

"I told you I wanted to face the consequences of my actions!" She said with anger she wouldn't characteristically have, much less directed at Sunset.

Sunset took it in stride and spoke in a low whisper. "I told you. I had nothing to do with this. The government swept it under the rug days ago without me even knowing. Tattered told me that there was nothing to worry about with it just last night, and Baker told me about the rest today. I was preparing a legitimate fight for you in court before this. You can be mad, but don't be mad at me...please."

Tonya looked at her lover's eyes and saw a pleasing look in them. She let off a sigh and then hugged Sunset. "Alright, I'm sorry for accusing you if doing this, and maybe I shouldn't be so eager to be pushing to be punished. Not when I have the Dreamwardens still to deal with."

Sunset stiffened up. "I really don't know what to do with that. I don't know the rules of how things will go or anything. I can hope Phobia might push for mercy, but she's just one judge of six. I hope you still are open to learning more about God, because I don't have much better answers right now than pray. I'm so scared for you and I feel so powerless."

Tonya's ears sagged. It wasn't like Sunset to not seem confident as of late. Early on that had been common, before all the fiddling with Sunset's mind. It was the same types of things though. Sunset had never needed much help getting confident about her convictions and what actions she would take for them, but when it came to loved ones she could crumble like a cookie. Sunset had sobbed herself sick more than once about Phobia and Tom in those first days. Sunset liked to think that her convictions came even before family for her, but Tonya knew the truth and it was one of the things she loved Sunset for. She also felt warmth knowing her lover now sobbed for her as well.

Tonya broke the hug and looked her now momentarily vulnerable love in her eyes. She then leaned forward and gave Sunset a kiss in the lips, one that Sunset leaned into as their mouths parted. They held it for a long moment while she listened to Sunset let off contented hums and moans. Hopefully no pony was watching, but she didn't really care.

"That's really cute," Tattered could be heard saying. "I forgot to tell you something."

Tonya broke the kiss with Sunset and glared back at Tattered Wing, angry that the night pony had intruded into a personal moment.

"Tonya, tomorrow your supposed to be serving as a prosecutor along with me. You're going to get sedated tomorrow as well," Tattered explained. "Be here around eleven in the morning and don't make me send ponies out looking for you."

"I'll be here," Tonya said flatly, still pissed about the interruption. Tattered nodded and walked off.

"You know," Sunset said thoughtfully. "I don't get to see you get angry much. Normally it's me with the flaring temper. Not that the Broken One didn't piss me off too. Just seeing you get angry is kind of distracting me from it."

Tonya let her go from laid back to sagging. "I'm just really stressed. It's probably a good thing I have this medallion on or I'd most likely be lashing out with my magic."

Sunset ran a hoof over her back, which made her twitch due to some remaining sexual tension she had from the kiss. Sunset noticed it and smiled.

The unicorn leaned over and whispered in her ear. "When we leave here I can take a few hours off so we can have some personal time. We can de-stress a little so we can think more clearly about what to do. Plus, even though I don't want you getting angry all the time like I do, seeing you get angry was kinda hot."

Tonya was more than tempted to suggest they just go back in the room they just left, lock the door. She had a lot of sexual tension in her right now and she could tell Sunset did too.

Sunset hadn't always been this comfortable with her. The first time Sunset had caught her completely off guard when Tonya had been trying to soothe Sunset while Sunset had been struggling with her feelings about Tom. The unicorn had just started trying to make out with her and she was horny enough at the time she hadn't objected at all, that quickly progressed to full on sex. Sunset had initially denied that it meant anything and she wasn't into mares. It was just built up tension.

In the days that followed Sunset had opened up though. She admitted that as a human she had gotten turned on by other women, and she doubled down on her bigotry out of shame. She'd been taught those feelings were wrong, and her having them made her hate herself and she redirected that hate out at those comfortable with having those types of feelings. She felt confused and the entire thing with having a transgender daughter had just made her question everything more.

Sunset wanted to move past it, but she couldn't. Tonya had helped her, and the two of them had gotten close in their regular talks. As Sunset let go of her self hate and thinking she was wrong to feel that way the two of them started screwing for shear pleasure. It had taken days more before Sunset was willing admit publicly to their relationship, but now Sunset fully embraced her attraction for mares and felt no shame about it. There was some attraction to stallions, but it was weak and always had been from what Tonya gathered from Sunset's descriptions. Sunset was better described as a lesbian than bisexual, though Sunset would still insist she was bi. It didn't really matter, Sunset wasn't going to leave her.

"We need to take a few minutes to see my brother and his wife," Tonya said as she looked down the hall towards the lobby. "I'm suprised they came here if Phobia told them what I did."

"I'd take that as a good sign," Sunset said. The unicorn then looked down with a embarrassment plastered on her face. "I might not have made the best first impression with your sister-in-law. I met her last night and snapped at her to start things off."

Tonya sighed. "Well, you can always change someone's mind about you. You did with me."

Sunset looked doubtful, but nodded.

Tonya led the way back out to the lobby and her eyes fell on her human family as she entered into the lobby. They were sitting on a wooden bench and Paul was actually passed out while Devon was watching the large amount of activity going on in the lobby.

As she started walking towards them Devon noticed her and shook Paul awake. He looked around bleary-eyed for a second and then opened his eyes wide when he saw her.

She stopped a foot or so from them and sat down with her ears low. "Um, hi again. I'm surprised you're here considering...you know."

Paul suprised her by getting off the bench, kneeling down, and then hugging her. "You're my sister. Whatever you've done I'm still you're brother who lives you. Of course I'd be here."

Her eyes started watering. "You're just saying that because I made you think that way. You shouldn't think that way. I've done horrible things."

"Maybe, but it doesn't change anything about us being family," Paul said as he pulled back from the hug. "They dispelled what you did to us Tonya, but I want to keep thinking that way. I spent a lot of time thinking about it last night and this morning after the spell was gone. It's the right way to feel, you weren't wrong about that."

"But the stuff with Number Crunch..." Tonya started to protest.

Paul shushed her. "Was really bad, really really bad, but you aren't a bad mare. You had a bad day where you made some really terrible decisions. Your decisions might have been worse than most, but we've all had bad days."

It kinda harkened back to what she told Wild after Wild leveled the clinic. A moment of anger that went terribly wrong.

She started crying and gripped her brother again tightly.

"I'm so sorry. I don't deserve this kind of forgiveness," she cried.

Paul hugged her back and let her cry on his shoulder. For the time being it was just her and her brother, and for the first time ever she felt really loved by a member of her family.

Chapter 61

Melissa woke up on her sleeping mat and yawned. Dan was still cuddled up close to her fast asleep, with a wing draped over his head. He still hadn't found her dreams last night. She knew he had said it would take him a while to do, but it was still disappointing.

She gently got up, careful not to disturb him. Her clothes stank from being worn for several days straight, but she had no alternatives to change into. There wasn't much time to go looking for clothes either with the work schedule that she had taken on. It was embarrassing; ponies likely smelled her and humans probably thought she looked unprofessional. Something really needed to be done so she could at least have a single change of clothes and could rotate washing the sets.

Nothing was happening with that this second though. Right now she needed to just go wash herself and get something to eat, then off to work again.

The two of them didn't have much for privacy here. They were housed in a large gym that had a large amount of other humans and a few ponies. No one really seemed to care that they were cuddled up close together when sleeping. There were plenty of humans and ponies here that did that, mainly parents and their children--or foals depending on whether it was the parent or the child who was a pony--but there were a few other mixed couples about, as well as a few partials with fully pony partners.

Most actually assumed she was a partial due to her eyes. She had been considering what to do about that. Her options ranged from just sucking it up and letting them assume she was a partial, investing in some dark sunglasses, investing more in contacts that would hide her eye color, or just correcting them every single time. At the moment only the first and last options were viable because of lack of money. It was just a matter of which would stress her more.

She didn't even know why getting called a partial upset her so much. In a way it was true, she was only mostly human, which meant still partially pony. The fact that she had mostly human instincts and sense of self was her best guess. Not being acknowledged as human made her sense of self cry out in protest, much as it had cried out in protest when her full ponydom hadn't been acknowledged as a pony. She didn't want to have this kind of thing bother her, but her brain was wired to make it bother her. Things would have been so much easier if they could have healed her as a pony, at least she was all one thing as a pony and hadn't felt like she had some part of her stuck as human.

A call to her psychiatrist was probably something she should add to her list of things to do. Between this, feelings of inadequacy, and PTSD involving fire she probably needed one.

She went to the women's locker rooms, stripped her clothes off and took a shower. She wished she had some shampoo or soap, but those hadn't been supplied. Clean towels were supplied though, and she made sure to dry off thoroughly before redressing.

Next up was the cafeteria next door. It was getting to be lunch time, and that meant waiting in line. She felt a little relief when she had a partial both in front of her and behind her. Partials could be talkative just like ponies, but they never bothered to comment or flinch away from her eyes. She in turn had no problem with seeing tails, pastel colored hair, or pony ears on the partials. Those things were actually nice to see because she could get a better read on their emotions by noticing the movement of ears or twitches of tails.

They'd probably all be rehumanizing soon, and she actually felt a little sad about that. There was nothing physically wrong with many of them, though there were some that clearly had less comfortable bodies than others. She wouldn't have minded ending up in the state of some of the better off ones, just as advanced as the ears--still having pony ears would be nice.

She really needed to go see the psychiatrist.

After getting her food she sat and ate with a partial couple. Seats were at a premium in the cafeteria so you inevitably were going to end up sitting with someone, whether you liked it or not. The alternative being like Dan and just scaring everyone away from you. They were pretty far along in their transformation, and after they found out she was rehumanized she spent a while telling them what she could about what she went through, given that she slept through most of it. The rehumanization clinic was supposed to be opening any day now in town, and these two would be standing in line right away for it. She didn't blame them. They looked very uncomfortable, and she knew a thing or two about being physically uncomfortable.

With her meal done she left the for work. Across the street from the school and YMCA there was construction equipment parked and a table set out on the side of the road. They were recruiting for construction jobs, promising sign on bonuses payable after the first week. They didn't care who or what you were as long as you were willing and able to work. In the distance she could hear construction going on.

She'd actually woken up once during the night to the sounds of the equipment coming in. Dan had been awake and listening as well and had explained that it had been going on all through the night. She laid back down while he lay still curled up at her side, his ears high and listening.

A brisk jog to get to work might have been nice, just to get her energized for the day. The streets were still far to packed with ponies though. Instead she went off on as brisk a walk as she could imagine, carefully weaving her way through the ponies that she now towered over. She glanced up at roofs of buildings as she passed them by and noticed no night ponies about. Most had likely gone to bed already, and the remainder were almost certainly getting ready to go. Tattered was going to be eager to get off work for sure.

When she reached town hall it was abuzz with activity. Far more humans than usual were going in and out, all dressed in construction worker garb. There were still plenty of ponies going about as well. When she reached the front doors she stopped and raised an eyebrow at a request to buy pony crap by the pound, and additional paper had been taped on emphasizing pony crap only. The prices weren't worthwhile for a single pony to bring their own crap in, but if some enterprising pony decided to take up gathering it they might make a decent penny. She wasn't the only one bemused by the sign either; several ponies sat discussing it nearby, and she could hear them trying to do the math on when it became worth their time.

She entered into the lobby and saw lots of activity. Number Crunch was free from her room and arguing with a man in one corner--her lawyer maybe? Tonya was also free from her room and talking with a human couple by a bench with Sunset Blessing sitting close by listening. Humans and ponies alike went in and out of the doors for the main meeting hall, and Megan was sitting at the desk with not one but two ponies helping manage giving information and field phone calls.

All the milling about that the residents of Riverview had been doing for the last week had come to an abrupt end and the energy in the air was electrifying.

She decided the best course of action was just go to the office and get briefed by Tattered in what was going on rather than try to figure it out for herself.

She hurried over to the appropriate hall and noticed several normally closed offices for town council members were now open with town council members meeting with primarily construction workers. There were papers and permits being signed in large stacks, and lots of the offices had town council members doubled up in them helping get it all done.

Once she reached the office she hurried in without so much as knocking. Tattered was lazily tapping away at the computer with a pen in her mouth just as she typically was. It was a small bubble of normality in the sea of chaos that was going on right outside the door.

"I take it I'm going to need a lot explained to me before you go," Melissa said without any greeting.

Tattered set the pen down and Melissa noticed then that Tattered was wearing a badge around her neck. Tattered Wing was now officially chief of police in the newly christened Riverview Police Department.

"Not as much as you might think, but still a fair amount," Tattered said. "Pull up a seat and we'll start going over things."

Melissa did as she was instructed as Tattered clicked the mouse for the computer. A moment later the printer came to life and started printing.

Tattered lifted the paper up slightly with a hoof to make sure it was printing properly and turned to Melissa. "First up, if you haven't noticed I'm all legal now. What I'm printing right now are fifty copies of contracts for police officers. One of which is for you and another for Dan. I'll try to get in early tonight so we can sit down and figure out who is going to round out our force. Fifty officers at twenty-five thousand a year each is all we have been afforded for the moment. I'll fight for pay raises later, and don't want to pay them even less to fit more officers in the budget, but that's what we have for the time being. We have an additional budget for supplies and equipment on top of that, and we've been promised our own building is being built and it's utilities will be paid by the city."

"Fifty for a city of a hundred thousand is going to be a stretch," Melissa said mournfully.

Tattered nodded in agreement. "The town council is used to having no police force at all, so in their minds their giving us a large amount to work with. We'll have to sit down in meetings with them and explain why that isn't logistically going to work out. This is a massive paradigm shift for them so we'll have to be as patient as we can with them."

"And the other two towns? Was there any police force between them?" Melissa asked, though she had a feeling she knew the answer.

Tattered shook her head. "Nope, and in a week they'll be folded into Riverview as one big happy family. We're the entirety of the police force."

"Anything else in regards to that I should know about right now?" Melissa asked.

Tattered sat and pursed her lips as she considered. "I'm planning on promoting about six supervisor officers to serve under the three of us. I want to have two day ponies, two night ponies, and two humans in those roles. I heard about you telling ponies to call you Broken Two and like the idea. If I'm Broken One, and you and Dan are Broken Two and Broken Three, then these six would be collectively Broken Four if we are using this as ranks. They'd deal with most day to day supervision and the three of us would hold more administrative roles above them."

"Does that mean shorter work days and days off?" Melissa asked with a hopeful smile.

Tattered smiled back. "Eight hour workdays with two scheduled days off a week for you and Dan. I'll pull ten hour workdays with two days off, but I'm not complaining about it at all."

Alright, that gave her free time and some time to actually learn what she was supposed to be doing. This job sounded much better now.

Tattered frowned and her ears flattened. "Now to discuss some things you won't be so happy about. Number Crunch and Tonya are walking free. I've already released them."

Melissa's eyes narrowed. "What? Why?"

Tattered shook her head. "There's no evidence to link them to the crime whatsoever. They can confess to anything, but unless there is some evidence it actually happened they can't be found guilty of anything."

Melissa blinked her eyes in confusion. "What about helping Swift Strike escape? We clearly have evidence that happened."

The night pony glanced over to the matching air vent to the one Swift Strike had used. "We had no authority to hold him at the time so he technically didn't escape. Therefore there can't be a charge." Tattered took a deep breath before continuing. "And this part stays between us, but the government doesn't want us to pursue it. They consider it damaging to the welfare of the city for us to do so."

Melissa grit her teeth briefly. "We just ignore a serious crime happened then? That's not right!"

"I feel the same way, but this is out of our control. I'm not happy about it either, but this is the way it's going to be in this case," Tattered shook her head in frustration. "The entire situation was rotten in any case. Whether we pursued this or didn't we would end up screwing over innocent people's lives. We end up screwing over less this way. It's the lesser of two evils, and the decision was made above our heads anyway."

Melissa tried to think of a good retort to that, but her mind was pulling a blank. It took her several seconds to latch on to anything that seemed to critical to be unaddressed.

"What about Tonya's claims that she forced Number to commit murder? She can still do that kind of thing if it's true, and we're just letting her walk?" She demanded.

Tattered frowned then clicked on something on the computer. The night pony briefly looked up at the clock. After that she hopped down from her seat and gestured to the computer. "Something is being done about that. If you want to know a little more about it read this email I got from Director Baker right before you walked in."

She gave Tattered a curious look and then got up and walked around to the other side of the desk.

Tattered Wing,

PR has given me permission to send a representative to observe the matter involving SD occurring tomorrow in the DR and give me a report. PR preferred a pony or a partial I could trust, but I was curious if Melissa Rivers would be interested in filling that role. Her insights as a rehumanized night pony could be invaluable in giving a more accurate interpretation of what she witnesses. Please inquire if she is interested and then email me back. If I don't receive a response back in the next hour I will check with her in person; I prefer not to further disrupt my schedule if possible though.

She stared at the email and re-read it a few times before speaking up. "What in the world is this talking about? Public relations for what? What's DR and SD stand for?"

Tattered looked uncomfortable. "PR doesn't stand for public relations. As for what this is all about, you said you wanted in on night pony secrets? Well, here's your chance to get in on night pony secrets, compliments of PR."

She looked back at the screen then back to Tattered. "I guess that explains the why me part of it if they think me formally being a night pony might give me insights, but what am I witnessing and what's DR or SD?"

Tattered gave her a flat look. "I can't really talk about it, night pony secrets. You can probably figure out all those abbreviations if you think about them enough. I feel a little upset that I'm getting emails from a human about this, but it's almost certainly my fault. I can say that if you accept you can get in on a pretty big night pony secret tomorrow and then we can talk about it after."

Melissa felt a strange hope build up. "And I'll be able to talk about this with Dan after too?"

Tattered gave a short laugh. "Both Dan and I should actually be there, every night pony that can be roped into being there will be there. You can probably talk to any night pony you want about it after. I don't know what kinds of restrictions they'll place on you talking to others about this will be, but I'll personally get on their flanks about making sure you can talk to us about it--no matter what they do to me for it."

"What do you mean what they'll do to you?" Melissa asked as she creased her brow.

Tattered shook her head sadly. "The rules are rough. You'll see tomorrow if you agree to this."

Melissa bent down and looked at Tattered closely. "Do you think I should do this? I don't even know what I'm agreeing to do."

"I don't like keeping secrets from my best friends," Tattered said in a sad voice. "And you and Dan are more than just friends to me. We were there together when we were beaten to near death. We had our friends we all cared about die right in front of us. There are things that happen that you can't walk away the same from, and we all went through them together. I don't want you feeling pushed away because of some stupid rules you missed getting by one day."

Melissa turned to the computer and re-read the email again, trying to puzzle out the meanings of the the abbreviations. She then got to typing out a reply saying that it was her replying and that she was agreeing to do it, even though she had no idea what she was agreeing to.

Chapter 63

"Wild! There's a pegasus here to see you," Miguel yelled from downstairs.

Wild sat up from where she was looking out her window. A pegasus? She didn't know that many pegasi personally. Tonya she knew best, but Tonya should be back at town hall under supervision right now. Amber Flowers maybe? Amber did a lot of supervision to tending to the crops and might have questions about Wild's magic.

Nothing to do but go down and find out who it was. She left her room and trotted back downstairs. She spotted the pegasus, a mare with fur so dark blue that it looked almost black, and didn't recognize her. If this pegasus was in the air she might be mistaken for a night pony at a distance.

The pegasus spotted her in turn and turned to her. "I'm here on the behalf of the Enclave. You're to be released from house arrest. You've been order to make regular payments over the next two years to replace the clinic and ordered to take anger management sessions. You can go to town hall today to get details about each of those. I'm only here to let you know you're free to go where you please. I don't know the details of what you're paying or how or where those sessions will be done."

She kind of expected that was what she was going to be getting as a punishment. It was in the town's business interests to keep her from seeing any sort of jail time. That was going to hurt her investing into research though. The anger management sessions might be a good thing.

"You wouldn't happen to know what's going on with Number Crunch, would you?" Wild asked hopefully.

The pegasus flicked her tail dismissively. "Number Crunch and Tonya were both released this morning and are facing no charges. I think Number Crunch is already back to work and Tonya went back home with Sunset Blessing."

Wild blinked. Just like that? They both seemed like they were in dire positions just yesterday. It seemed kind of absurd that they could walk free when Tattered Wing had confessions. On the good side that meant that Number wasn't getting punished for something that wasn't her fault. On the bad side Tonya was free to go off and do the same thing again. She didn't know if Tonya would actually do that kind of thing again, but just letting her walk free seemed beyond belief.

"Thank you for the news. I appreciate it," Wild said as she tried to figure out the how's of what happened.

"Whatever, I need to get back on patrol. I didn't feel like playing messenger bird to a house full of humans. There's too many damn humans walking all over town today," the pegasus said as she exited back out the door.

After the pegasus left and Miguel closed the door he looked at Wild with a disgusted look. "I've met her before back at the church. Her name's Joy, but she's one of the meanest ponies I've ever met."

Joy definitely could do with an attitude adjustment. She guessed Joy was a Shimmerist based on her disparaging comment about humans. Wild knew a fair amount of Shimmerists, she had a primarily Shimmerist family and a Shimmerist best friend after all, but they didn't have that nasty an attitude. There was just no call for it. If Joy wanted to show pony superiority maybe Joy should start showing some superior manners.

After that she dismissed Joy from her thoughts and considered what to do.

"Miguel, let Mama and Papa know I've gone out to go see Number. I'm not sure when I'll be back so tell them not to worry if I'm out late," Wild said as she started heading to the door.

"Did you really go all Hulk smash on a building?" Miguel asked her hesitantly.

She hated that description. Her brothers had been getting better not comparing her to the Hulk lately, but they apparently weren't completely broken of it.

"Yes, I Hulk smashed a building. It was an accident when I lost my temper," Wild said flatly from the doorway. Feeling worse that she was giving further comparisons between her and the giant rage monster.

"Oh," Miguel said as he took a few steps back."You're not going to get angry with me about anything like that, are you?"

Wild felt a lump in her stomach. "No, I would never hurt you or anyone in the family."

"But your really like the Hulk, and he does things that he doesn't mean to when he's angry," Miguel said slowly as he reasoned out loud. "Sometimes he hurts people close to him. You almost hurt Papa the first time you used your powers."

She chewed on her lip, but honestly didn't have a reassurance. "I'll do everything I can to make sure that never happens."

"You promise?"

"I promise," she assured him. She hoped that was one promise she never broke.

She left the house and trotted towards the center of town. There really were a lot of humans out and about, and lots of construction vehicles. The construction equipment was all trying to roll out to places and having to wait for ponies to clear a path. They just wouldn't get out of the street.

"Hey!" she shouted as loud as she could. "Get out of the street or at least to the sides of the street so the workers can do their jobs!"

To her complete surprise ponies listened to her, looking at her with embarrassment and calling out apologies to the humans as they made a clear path on the majority of the street. The equipment picked up speed and the operator driving it waved at her and shouted thanks as they went by her.

She wondered if it was pony goodwill towards her that made the ponies move, or if it was fear of her after yesterday. She knew which she would be feeling in their position, but as she looked at their faces she didn't see the fear she'd expect. They were still looking at her much the same way they had when she grew the crops. Were they just going to ignore the fact that she could be extremely dangerous?

As her anxiety rose she hurried deeper into town. It only took her a few minutes to reach the center of town and the First Pony Bank. The bank was packed with customers, with a long waiting line. Getting in and trying to find Number Crunch was going to take forever, if her friend had time to talk to her at all.

Maybe it would be better just to go around back and wait for Number Crunch to take a break. With that many people being dealt with she had to be making sure she took a break when she could, she knew she'd personally go crazy without a break.

As she walked around to the back of the bank she found an unexpected sight. Both Number and Megan had a long work table set up along the back wall of the building and both were sitting in white plastic patio chairs typing away furiously at two respective laptop computers while smoking. Piles of paperwork and files were set all over the desk.

"Are you working or taking a break?" Wild asked as she stepped up to them.

"Yes," Megan replied without looking away from what she was doing.

Number took a second to stop typing and look at her. "We're getting away from the throngs and trying to get work done. We have plenty of other helpers inside town hall and the bank, there's things that have to be done without having to deal with all the construction."

"If I have one more contractor come up asking the same damn questions they heard me answer the one right before them I'm going to be the one arrested for murder," Megan growled around the cigarette in her lips. She then paused took a drag off it, flicked some ash, then put it back in her lips and started typing again.

"And I'm doing everything I can to catch up after my being held yesterday afternoon and this morning," Number explained. "It's hard explaining why I missed appointments under the circumstances without raising some eyebrows. Told them a part truth; that we had a situation where an old building collapsed."

Great, hopefully they didn't hear how it collapsed. The story was believable without bringing in the details that she was involved though. It was an old town with old buildings that supposedly had lots of ponies and humans now going into old buildings which may or may not be structurally sound.

She wanted to ask Number the details about what exactly happened with Swift Strike. Number had never told her when she initially opening up about killing him. Now Tonya was claiming that she brainwashed Number into doing it, but Number was claiming to others it was self defense. She wanted a straight answer from the horse's mouth about what happened that night.

Asking about all that wasn't going to happen with Megan sitting right there though. For right now she'd have to stick to strictly business.

"Do either of you know any of the details about how much I'm supposed to be paying the town and when and where I'm supposed to attend these anger management classes?" She asked.

Megan paused in her typing and pulled up her email. "Yes, there was an email about it. Give me one second and I'll find it...Here it is. You owe the town four thousand a month for the next twenty-four months. As for the anger management sessions you are responsible for hiring a councilor and providing a recording every two weeks of your session to Tattered Wing for the next six months."

The bill wasn't as high as she thought it would be. They might have undervalued the clinic deliberately since it was her. Sure, that would break any normal pony in terms of payments, but it was a slap on the wrist for her. She couldn't imagine hiring on a councilor would hurt her in terms of money either. All said, this was pretty light for consequences.

"I have things I need you to do," Number said and pointed to another chair a few feet away. "Pull up a chair and I'll get you to work."

Wild walked over to where the other chair was. There were actually several of these plastic chairs in a pile, but only one that was standing up properly already. She pushed the chair back over to the end of the desk in Number's side and hopped up into it.

Number stopped her typing and levitated over a folder in front of Wild. The folder opened up and Wild could see what looked like engineering designs for products and a few photos of the items.

Number took a drag from her cigarette and levitated it out of her mouth briefly to speak clearly. "Those right there are the designs for an item named the Pony Strap. We're hoping to have them start mass producing them here. The initial target customers will be primarily earth ponies and crystal ponies. They want to make you a spokespony for the product."

Wild looked at the photo on top of what looked like just an odd wristband. "Um, what's it for, and won't Westvaco object to me being the spokespony for another company in addition to theirs?"

"I've already discussed it with Westvaco. Since this is not a product that they are likely to try to compete with or produce a similar product to they are willing to let you, especially since this product can help ponies be more productive workers at certain jobs," Number explained.

"And it does what?" Wild asked again as she looked the picture over.

"Ponies will strap this on to their preferred foreleg or have one on each forlegs," Number said as she raised her forelegs as examples. "It has a special area that can attach different tool accessories. There are specially designed pens for writing, silverware such as forks and spoons, basic tools like wrenches and screwdrivers, styluses for phones and typing, flashlights, and several kitchen gadgets initially planned. They have many others planned for eventual development if this catches on, some of them pretty ambitious."

Wild looked more closely at the designs now. This did sound useful, if very simple and basic. Things didn't have to be complicated to be good products. The fact it was so simple actually probably made it better as a product.

Number continued on. "As spokespony they would want you to learn how to use all the attachments and be seen using the product in public. They would want six commercials taped of you endorsing the products a year. In exchange they will provide you with thirty-five percent ownership in the company, and will pay you a hundred thousand dollars after tax for each commercial done this year, with the rate renegotiated years based on product performance in the marketplace."

"Is that good or bad in terms of what their paying me?" Wild asked curiously.

Number went back to typing. "Hard to say. If you were a human celebrity you could expect a minimum of five-hundred thousand a commercial, but non-celebrity commercial appearances are only a fraction of that. Given we haven't fully gotten your name out that would be considered a very generous offer, especially the ownership part. As it stands they're overpaying drastically, but in a year it might end up looking like they got a bargain. They are banking a lot on you becoming a household name with ponies so their marketing is a success."

"When would this start?"

"I have a pair of Pony Straps for your legs at my house, complete with carrying bag for the accessories," Number answered. "We can get you learning to use them all later today. Once we're satisfied you can use it with ease we'll get back in contact with the company and a schedule will be set."

Wild flipped the folder closed. "That seems simple enough. I can do that."

Number floated a thick folder over. "Good. I'm going to have you turn around and reinvest in the company if this looks like it will take off, and I think it will. Hopefully in a year or two you will have over fifty percent ownership." She flipped the folder oven. "Here are a listing of companies that are currently far underperforming on the stock market following ETS. I've picked out a selection that I think have a strongest possibilities of bouncing back. Start reading up about them, because you're going to be buying stock."

Wild's eyes bulged as she looked at the massive amounts of papers in the folder. "There's a lot here."

Number gave her an evil grin. "That's just folder one. I have eight more just like it. Each company has a six page report. The first two pages are a written overview of the company, the next four are all financials. I'll explain how to read and be able evaluate the financials when you get to them."

Wild's ears wilted. "Eight more?"

"And I also have an appointment scheduled for you tonight with a mane stylus and with that tailor," Number continued. "You have a lot of work to do. It should ease up after we get things rolling, but you need to start getting used to this if you want results."

Wild stared down at the reports and then over at the other folders.

"Stressed?" Number asked.

Wild numbly nodded her head.

Number sighed. "I know it's a lot to take in, but I'm going to be here helping you every inch of the way. As for the stress right now there really isn't much I can do for you except give you a cigarette and my promise you can do this as you buckle down and start learning. We're on a time constraint to pounce on opportunities before others do. As things settle down there'll be less of the high reward high impact opportunities readily available. We have to do this now."

Wild looked over at Megan. The human hadn't been paying attention to them really. She was completely focused on her work. Whatever stresses Number was asking her to take on Number seemed to be putting herself through the same ones too. These two may have had to sequester themselves back in an alley to work, but they were focused and getting things done. It wasn't right for her to let others do all the work when she was capable of making an impact.

Wild looked down at the folder again. "Okay, I'll take every last bit of anything you can do to help me, and I promise I'll pay you back by learning this and doing everything I can to help myself reach my goals."

Number smiled. "Good mare, hopefully in a few weeks we can start to breathe easier. For right now start reading."

Wild brought her forehooves up on the table and focused on reading. This is what it would take for her to get the money to properly fund the research for her mama's medical treatment so it had to be done, for her mama's sake and so many like her.

Chapter 64

Amanda looked at her old home. It was a simple one story suburban home, just over twelve-hundred square feet. When her husband had died she had sold her old two story house and bought this one instead. It was going to be just her and Jackie, they didn't need anything big. Now it seemed like such a huge place. Part of that was probably due to her reduced size, part of it was likely due to the fact she'd been living in a tent the last week and in a hospital room for a month before that. Size really was a matter of perspective.

Tom looked up at it. "It's not as big as mine. This should be easy enough."

Easy enough for a unicorn maybe. She was dreading this, but truth be told she'd probably be dreading this even if she had a horn of her own.

A quick glance around the yard showed that her yard was in desperate need of mowing. Her car still sat in the driveway and she had no idea what she was going to do with it. Just put a for sale sign on it with a price that was dirt cheap was probably the only option. It was only two years old, but paid off by the life insurance money. Since there were no payments to make on it any money she got for it would be worthwhile. Worst case she could just give it to Devon.

Jackie kept close by her legs. The filly had never been here. After Jackie was born Amanda spent most her time at the hospital, only leaving it the day before they all left for Riverview. There was a full nursery room for Jackie that had never been used. Right now Amanda wasn't sure what out of that nursery would actually be useful. Human babies and pony foals were so different.

"I've got the keys in my bag if you want to get them out. In the little side pouch," Amanda said as she got her thoughts in order.

Tom pulled back the side pouch with a hoof and looked in. He then lit his horn up and the he nudged around the side pouch with his magic looking for the keys.

As he was doing that Amanda looked around her old neighborhood. A few houses had the same abandoned look as hers while others looked well maintained. Across the street she spotted one of her neighbors looking at her. She was embarrassed she didn't actually know the woman's name, but they'd spoken a few times as they passed each other at the mailbox and talked about normal neighbor things: complaining about noisy teenagers driving their cars down their road like they were on a race track at two in the morning, standing around checking to see if others power was out too during power outages, just normal neighbor talk.

She gave her neighbor a wave and felt hurt when the woman scowled and retreated back into her house. Amanda might not have known her neighbors well, but she had thought she was at least on moderately terms with them.

"Remember, she doesn't recognize you," Tom said from beside her as he got the keys out and unlocked the door. "She might think we're trying to rob the house or something."

Amanda put a hoof up to her mouth in worry. She hadn't even considered that. Hopefully they weren't going to have the police showing up accusing her of breaking and entering into her own house. It wasn't like she had good photo IDs to verify who she was. Yeah, she had her IDs, but they showed her old human self. She could possibly get Devon and Paul to come vouch for her, maybe the police would take the word of humans.

"Don't worry too much about it. We'll figure something out if it comes to that," Tom assured her. "Let's get inside and get settled before seeing how to deal with getting this place packed."

She nodded and followed him into the house. Having him there with her made her feel better--for the most part anyway. He was levelheaded and easy to talk to, a good rock when she needed some support. That was also why she was also a little uneasy having her next month spent with him. Devon had planted that idea in her head about being attracted to him and now she found that she was. She was attracted to him and spending most of the next month alone with him--Jackie's presence didn't really count.

To her left was the living room with connecting kitchen and laundry room. To her right was a hallway that had a bathroom, her bedroom, and Jackie's nursery, along with a towel closet and regular closet. It was a simple house. Hopefully this wouldn't be too much work.

She propped herself up against the wall and flipped the light switches for the living room and hallway. After setting her hooves back down on the ground she gestured to the living room. "Home sweet home, at least it was supposed to be. I had just finally unpacking when I got sick with the flu. Never really got a chance to have this place feel like home."

Tom glanced around. "It doesn't seem too bad. If you had the light switches and door handles moved lower so they were easily in reach it would be perfectly easy for an earth pony to manage."

"Kitchen would be unusable," Amanda commented. "Pretty sure all the counters are higher than my head now, and half the cabinets completely beyond my reach even with a step stool. Same with the bathroom sink, higher bookshelves, almost every drawer in the house, and the tops of closets."

Tom frowned. "I guess I take my reach with my horn for granted. Sorry about that."

Amanda shook her head. "Don't be sorry, it's not your fault. When I get my own place in Riverview I'll just have to keep my size in mind. They're building houses with ponies in mind, so I'm sure it will work out."

Tom's ears went up and he floated his own bags off his back and down on the ground. "I was actually given the information for signing up to get one of those new houses. They make you pay a mortgage of course, but they promise to get you one. I was going to just live with my daughter until after she's given birth and settled, but I can give you the sign up information to email back to the bank."

Amanda smiled and giggled."I appreciate that. It would be nice to actually have somewhere to move this stuff too. You keep being very helpful."

She was then startled by a rubbing against her side. Jackie was rubbing her head against her abdomine.

"Hungry again already? I fed you on the car ride here," Amanda said with a raised eyebrow.

"Mrrwah!" Jackie protested with a stomp of her hoof to punctuate her cry.

Amanda stiffled a laugh. "My, you're cranky tonight. Don't think you're quite up to your first word yet, magic missile. I'll believe you that you're hungry though. You're a growing little filly after all. I wish I could tell if you're getting any heavier, but I can't tell much difference between you and your feathers."

"Exactly how much can you lift?" Tom asked as he looked her over.

She shrugged. "I haven't actually tried to push myself to find out. I haven't really come across anything that feels heavy to me, but then again I haven't gone and tried lifting anything I wouldn't have lifted as a human." She raised an eyebrow at him. "You aren't intimidated by a mare being much stronger than you, are you?"

"Why would I be intimidated?" Tom asked in confusion. "All the earth ponies are stronger than me, and most people who are still human."

Amanda smiled. "Just making sure." She looked back down at Jackie, who was giving her the full filly scowl treatment. "Alright, let me find somewhere comfortable to lay down and feed you."

She walked into the living room and as she did she raised her tail up and fanned it at Tom. She wasn't sure why she did it. She was just feeling playful for whatever reason.

"You know, when you do that I can catch a whiff of that smell you were talking about," Tom said.

She tensed up in embarrassment and put her tail between her legs to try to cover the scent. "Sorry, I wasn't even thinking about it. I didn't mean to gag you with weird body oders."

Tom laughed. "It doesn't smell bad. It smells kind of pleasant actually."

Amanda's ears perked up as she looked at him and a grin popped on her face. "Well, if that's the case get a good sniff."

She lifted her tail back up and then fanned the scent off towards him.

Tom sniffed and smiled, but then his eyes narrowed and a concerned look appeared on his face. "Amanda...remember how we were talking earlier about how it should take about two months to get back on your period?"

"Yeah? Oh no, am I starting and leaking now!" Amanda yelled as she turned to try to look around at the area in question.

"No, you're not," Tom said soothingly. "The thing is, I don't think that you bleed as a pony, that's why you aren't recognizing it. I think that smell you're having is a pheromone musk."

Amanda's pupils shrank to pinpricks and her face went from pink to deep red. The pieces clicked into place in her head one after another; the smell, the fact she was acting more playful than normal, the fact she was thinking about how attractive Tom is. Hell, she'd even been doing what equated to mating behavior when she was fanning her musk on him.

She didn't even think about what she was doing. She just turned and bolted out of the living room and down the hallway for her bedroom. She promptly closed the door and leaned up against it and started crying. How did she not think about that possibility? Here she was doing the equivalent of equine rape on Tom. He must hate her now.

Jackie could be heard crying in the living room, at least she was for a moment then it abruptly stopped. She could hear Tom walking down the hallway till he was on the other side of the door, and she could here Jackie making little bits of babble.

"Amanda?" Tom said hesitantly. "It's okay, everything's fine. You don't need to be upset."

"I was heat musking y-y-you," she sobbed. "That's not okay. I feel so dirty right now."

She heard him take a deep breath. "You didn't know what you were doing. It can't be that bad really. It didn't make me want to jump on you and rutt you."

"You-you don't think I'm attractive then?" She cried.

"What?!" Tom said in shock, and she cried some more. "That's not it. I think you're very attractive. It's just your musk didn't turn me into a sex fiend or anything. You haven't been acting like a sex fiend either, so I doubt this is actually what would be considered heat."

"You probably only find me attractive because I musked you," She said as she wiped tears from her eyes and took a sucked some snot back into her nose.

Tom could be heard setting down on the ground with a flop and Jackie giving off a suprised yelp, most likely from having her perch suddenly turned into a slide.

"I could tell you that it wasn't the musk, but I honestly don't know," Tom said which made her whimper. "What I can tell you that it's not going to make us devolve into rutting season here. You're being a little hormonal right now..."

"I'm not being hormonal!!" She screamed in anger.

Tom took a deep breath. "You're being very emotional right now. I think the best thing for us to do is for you to take a few minutes to calm down so you can think straight..."

"I am thinking straight!"

Tom paused again. "You can't seem to make up your mind whether to be upset you musked me or to be upset about whether I think you're attractive or not, and your jumping back and forth between crying and yelling at me like a ping pong ball."

She chewed on her lip and snorted. "Okay, maybe I'm being a little hormonal."

"Just a little, barely noticeable at all," Tom agreed, and she nodded even though he couldn't see it. "As I was saying, you should take a few minutes to pull yourself together. While your doing that I'll go to the kitchen and see if anything is still capable of being eaten without making us sick. I'll need you in a few minutes though. I might get along with Jackie just fine, but if she tries to get milk out of me then she and I are going to get pretty angry at one another."

Amanda snorted causing snot to shoot out of her nose and about choked on a laugh as she pictured her unhappy daughter trying to find Tom's non-existent teats.

"I think that was almost a laugh, so we're getting better already," Tom said with a smile in his voice. "I'll be in the kitchen. You come out when you feel you're ready, okay?"

"Okay," she said meekly.

She heard Tom walking away again and heard him talking to Jackie. "Your mom needs a few minutes, kiddo. How about we let you fly to the kitchen and you can watch me find some food while you wait for yours."

A moment later Jackie could be heard giggling and making happy sounds. Amanda smiled as she listened. Tom really was good with Jackie, and that wasn't just the hormones telling her that.

She turned her body and slumped down against the door with her back to it, her hind legs stretched out, and her tail tucked under her. It was a very uncomfortable position and it was pulling on her tail, but for the second she didn't care.

The bedroom was a mess. She clearly hadn't been keeping things neat and tidy in here before she went to the hospital. Of course she had been sick with the flu for a week before leaving for the hospital so she likely hadn't been in much of a cleaning mood. That was almost two months ago, but it all seemed really hazy in her memory, like it had been someone else who had gone through that. In a way it had been someone else. She was a pony, not a human, and though she had been human that felt like a different life in many ways. Like she'd been reincarnated, and whatever greater power there was forgot to take away the last life's memory.

Most of the clutter around the room was clothes, completely utterly useless clothes. There were some discarded magazines and books about parenting and having your first baby. There was also a large collection of discarded used tissues and empty tissue boxes.

She rolled to her side then stood up. After a moment more of glancing around she walked over to one of the discarded shirts that didn't smell too bad and grabbed it up in her fetlock to do something useful--wipe her snot covered face off. It took a good deal of rubbing, and her fur still felt somewhat nasty after the effort, but she felt a tiny bit cleaner. If Tom told her she was attractive right now he'd have to be lying, musk or no musk.

What was getting brought out of this room? Definitely not the clothes, that was for sure. The bed she could keep. There were probably a bunch of momentos in the closet that she wanted to save. There was a laptop computer still sitting open on the side of the bed. Maybe packing up what she wanted to bring wouldn't be too hard. The hard part would be watching the garbage bags get filled with things that didn't matter anymore.

She felt she was calm enough now to go out and face Tom again. That was a mess of things feelings she didn't know what to think about, but hiding in her room wasn't going to get them sorted out. She had her breather and she had a daughter that needed to be fed. She needed to eat as well.

After exiting out of the room she went slowly down to the kitchen. Tom was flicking through things on his phone with a stylus while Jackie was trying to pounce on his tail. Why did foals act so kitten like? Did ponies have some sort of latent feline DNA that only expressed itself in foal playing habits?

Tom looked up at her with a concerned expression. "Feeling any better?"

"A little."

His horn lit up and a can of fruit levitated over to him. "I found a few cans of this that are perfectly good still. There are some other canned vegetables that look like their useable as well. How about you feed Jackie and I'll find a can opener to get this open."

She looked down at her daughter and gave a weak smile. "Are you still hungry? I know I've kept you waiting. Let's get you feed."

Jackie's head shot up from her croutching position at the mention of the word fed and the little pegasus quickly hurried over to her. Amanda then went back out into the living room and laid down on a small area rug and exposed her teats for her daughter. The little filly squealed happily and promptly got to suckling.

Tom stepped out of the kitchen and Amanda quickly looked away and shifted her tail so it was covering her private areas. A second later a bowl of fruit levitated down in front of her and she glanced back at Tom.

"I drained the syrup out of it so it won't be so messy. It isn't exactly crisp fruit, but it's something. At least it isn't hay," Tom said as he laid down with his own bowl of fruit a few feet away.

"Thank you. I appreciate it," Amanda said with a small smile.

Tom levitated a piece of fruit from his bowl up to his mouth and seemingly swallowed the mushy fruit whole. "I also took a moment to look up if there was any information about...your condition available yet on the internet."

Amanda twisted her lips a little, not sure how she felt about it being called a condition, but decided that she was just being overly testy. "So what did it say?"

Tom looked down at his fruit and poked it with his magic like he would poke it with a fork. "It does say that musk will moderately increase a stallion's attraction and sex drive to the mare that it belongs to."

"Oh," she said in a whisper, then put on a brave face. "Well, I guess that's that then."

Tom shook his head. "It says it only lasts a few minutes though. Two at most without being reapplied. That means that right now I'm not under the influence of it. That means I can say that I find you attractive and know that it is coming from me instead of your pheramones."

Amanda went wide eyed. Then looked down again. "That's great. That's really good to hear...but what about me? What if I'm only interested in you because I have sex on the brain?"

"It says it does increase your drive, but it doesn't radically increase your drive," Tom explained. "It makes you more likely to act on feelings you already have in that area."

"I don't know," she said with a shake of her head. "It's just this is coming up now and I haven't gotten my head around what I actually think about you, and...and I just don't know what to think."

Tom nodded safely. "I take anything that is told to me about being a pony with a grain of salt. It says this doesn't last long. How about we just agree you try not to musk me and when this passes we take an honest look at our feelings with us in knowing they are coming completely from us. If there really is something there we can act on it then."

Amanda looked at him with wet and hopeful eyes. "Do you mean it?"

"I mean it," Tom assured her. "I'm going to be a pony for life. I don't need to be a pony for life alone. I'd rather pursue a relationship with a pony that I know I have a mutual attraction for than find out what mares my ex is going to try to set me up with. She pretty much implied she's going to try it."

Amanda's ears laid back. "She better not if I lay first claim. Sunset Blessing is a fool for shoving you aside."

The unicorn sighed. "We just don't fit together anymore. I don't feel brushed aside; I feel released. Tonya can have her with no hard feelings from me towards either of them. That chapter of my life is closed now, it's time to write a new one."

She smiled as she looked at him. She thought again about how good he was with Jackie, and how nice and caring he was towards her. Even after finding out that she was inadvertently leading him on with musk he sat down and took the time to think about her and treat her like she was special. He could have just walked out of the here, but he didn't.

She was pretty certain now that her feelings for him were legitimate, and that soothed her mind. She'd wait till this time of the month passed before she tried to make any move, just to be sure, but once it was done she fully intended to stake her claim and see that next chapter had her as the female lead.

Chapter 65

Number looked her friend over and smiled. "You look pretty snazzy, the very model of a modern business pony."

Wild grumbled wordlessly in response, but the young mare did indeed look very professional. Wild was now wearing a dark grey jacket over a white shirt, had a red tie, and had her mane cut so it finally stopped falling into her eyes and was now only shoulder length. Wild might need some help getting it on and off to start, but Rachael the seamstress seemed convinced that an earth pony would be able to get to the clothes on and off themselves with practice. The tie was going to be a no-go with that though, there was no way Wild was going to be tying that with just hooves--a clip on tie could be arranged. Unplanned, but rounding out the ensemble, was the matching Pony Straps on her forlegs.

"Rachael, you've got talent," Number said as she looked over at the cream colored unicorn wearing a orange dress with a stylized needle and thimble embroidered it would appear on her flanks beneath the dress.

The mare beamed at the compliment. "And with Wild Growth wearing clothes designed by me I might actually get ponies interested in me making clothes for them. I have so many ideas for pony fashions that I want to try out. I've just needed ponies to take interest. This is going to help me so much."

"I actually might have some orders for you," Number went on. "I'll definitely be interested a few outfits of my own, and at the end of the coming week I'd like you to come by the bank and take some measurements for my employees. I can pay you in advance for the orders so you can afford materials, and we can see about getting an actual shop set up for you in town."

Rachael's eyes went wide. "My own shop? I could have my own shop?"

"Ponies have to go somewhere to place orders with you," Number said with a grin, enjoying Rachael's excitement. This felt good. She once went after money for power for her own sake, but now she was glad to use money for others sake. She'd work to accumulate it still, but mainly so moments like this could keep happening. "You might want to take a pony name to establish a brand name for yourself."

The mare blushed. "I had thought of a name, but I wasn't sure if it was very good. I thought about calling myself Thimble Heart."

"I like it, tells everypony you probably do something with sewing and that you put love into it," Wild said as she looked herself over in the mirror, strutting a little.

Number nodded. "It sounds like a very good name to me too. I say go with Thimble Heart, and I'll help you with starting what will hopefully be a long successful career."

"Thimble Heart it is then," Thimble said, then let of an excited squeal and pranced in place. "This is happening! I can't believe it. I always dreamed that I might do something like this, but I didn't think it could actually happen. Opening up my own line of clothes, having a celebrity wearing them." She paused and held a hoof over her chest and panted. "I need to breathe. I'm going to die of happiness."

"I'm guessing becoming a pony worked out great for you then?" Number asked.

She was always on the lookout for Shimmerist leaning ponies in the business community. It was part of the plan to show becoming a pony helped make a person more successful. The successful ponies didn't actually need to be Shimmerists to be helpful, but having them willing to assist in promoting how much better off they were as ponies was twice as helpful as it would be otherwise.

"Definitely," Thimble said with another happy prance.

Number nodded and mentally put Thimble on her possible Shimmerist list and she'd pass Thimble's name on to Sunset to follow-up with. It wasn't Number's calling to try to actively win others over to a Shimmerist viewpoint. Those she did were but a side effect of her trying to help ponies and humans. She'd let Sunset do the active promoting, or evangelizing as it was in Sunset's case.

"So, how much do I owe for this?" Wild asked as she stopped admiring herself in the mirror.

"Just the cost of materials for this one," Thimble assured her. "I'll make you some more if you like this and we can discuss prices on those when I do them."

Wild nodded. "This does make me look very professional. I'll definitely order some more. A different set for each day of the week, maybe a dress or two for special occasions."

"I think we're done for tonight," Number said. "Thimble, we can discuss what you need to start up your business tomorrow if you come by the bank around one or so. I'll actually pay out of my own pocket for Wild's current outfit and upcoming order."

Wild raised an eyebrow at her. "You don't need to do that. I have plenty of money."

"Consider it a gift for all the hell I'm going to put you through teaching you to be an effective corporate professional," Number said with a smirk.

Wild's demeanor dropped a bit at that. "Alright, I'll accept that. If earlier today was any indication then I'm going to be pulling my mane out before I've got this down."

Thimble finished gathering her things and headed towards the door. "Thank you again. I'll definitely be there tomorrow."

"See you then," Number said as the cream colored unicorn exited out the house.

"She seemed nice," Wild said as she went back to admiring herself. Number wondered if her friend had a streak of vanity in her. There was nothing wrong with a little vanity, as long as it was just a little.

"She does indeed," Number replied. "William was already planning on investing money in her. I think I'll invest as well. She's a low risk high reward type of investment. Not sure if it will pan out or not into high reward, but it's promising enough to take a gamble on her."

"Anything else you needed from me today?" Wild asked as she let off a yawn. "I'm kind of beat. I'd like to turn in early tonight."

Number frowned over at some blueprints she had set aside. "I did want to go over the designs for your mansion, but they can wait. It will be much like the residential houses were building now, only much grander in scale and with what types of rooms are where shifted about. It can wait till tomorrow though. Explaining the blueprints in full will take a little time."

Wild glanced over at the blueprints with interest, but after yawning again nodded her agreement.

"I probably want to turn in early tonight too," Number continued. "I started off today being held for equinslaughter, and then did two days of work in a few hours in addition to teaching you. It's been an exhausting day for me as well."

"Number," Wild said uncertainly. "What exactly happened that night? You never told me."

Number bit her lip as she remembered that night and shivered. "I'm not exactly sure to tell you the truth. A lot of things happened in a blur and it was hard to focus on anything, like my mind was clouded. I'm telling the truth that I didn't mean for him to die. I don't even know how he did. I gave him a pretty hard blow, but it shouldn't have killed him. It was all so confused and I was so scared. I've never been so scared."

She started crying as she tried to remember. It was really hard to pull the details out. She'd been in perfect control of the situation. She'd had him trapped in her magic and she was going to take him back to face justice the right way. Then suddenly she wasn't in control of the situation anymore. He was free and everything was wrong and he was saying...something...she couldn't remember what. She just knew she was terrified. She'd lashed out with her magic to defend herself and sent him hurtling back against a tree, knocking him senseless. After a few minutes of crying she'd gone to check on him, but he was dead. After that she'd panicked again and destroyed the body.

She didn't know what happened. None of it made sense. She just remembered how scared she was.

She did a jump as hooves wrapped around her and almost lashed out with her magic before she realized it was Wild giving her a hug. She then laid into her friend and cried on her shoulder as Wild patted her on the back.

"I don't know...I was so scared," Number sobbed as the earth pony comforted her.

She felt Wild stiffen a little. "Tonya said she'd brainwashed you into doing it. Do you think that's why you can't remember right?"

Number sat and considered it. She really didn't know. Whatever had happened seemed to have been so real, bit some fabrication to block out her murdering a pony in cold blood. Maybe that's what happened, she just didn't know. She just wished she didn't feel so terrified even trying to think about it.

"I don't know," she repeated. "I wish I knew, but I just don't."

"How about we get you to bed?" Wild said as she broke from the hug. "I'm sorry for upsetting you. I didn't realize how much whatever happened affected you. I probably should have. You can get some sleep and we don't need to think about it anymore."

Number looked over at the couch, still feeling the fear from trying to remember. "Do you mind if I just lay down on the couch and you just sit with me until I fall asleep? I don't want to be alone in the dark right now."

Wild smiled. "Sure, I can let myself out after you drift off. Go lay down, I'll be right here."

She nodded and then made her way over to the couch and laid down. While she did that Wild took up position in the sitting chair across from her and just sat and watched. Number tried to put her mind at ease but she was still trembling. How was this effecting her so much still when she tried to recall the details? She could just say it was self defense without getting scared. She could even remember the aftermath of it without getting scared, but if she tried to play it all back in her head fear just overtook her.

It took a long time to start to settle down. She kept glancing back to make sure Wild was still there, and the earth pony just sat watching her patiently. Number tried distracting herself by thinking about work and financials she needed to go over, even thinking about where to find Wild a good clip on tie, anything mundane to distract herself.

Eventually she closed her eyes and lost track of what she was thinking about.

She sat watching and listening in silence as Tonya questioned Swift Strike. He was definitely a bastard, but he didn't deserve to die. She hadn't wanted to do this, but she wanted to know what went on in that pony's head.

Ponies were supposed to be better than humans. This was supposed to be their chance to make something better than what they were before. If she hadn't become a pony she'd probably still be the same greedy bitch that was willing to step on anyone and cross any line just for the sake of money and power. Becoming a pony she had realized how shameful and ultimately pointless that life had been. She'd heard many others give their own testimony of how they were ashamed of things they had done as humans. That is why she embraced the Shimmerist cause, so all humanity could finally turn away from the hurtful things that they did. It was a chance to repent and be redeemed, to make something better.

Yet here was this stallion that stood in defiance of what ponies were supposed to be. She understood there were going to be aberrations that becoming a pony wouldn't fix everyone. She still had her struggles after all, but becoming a pony would help enough humans to make everything worthwhile. Understanding why it didn't help him become better was important to know though. That's why she was here, to get answers.

Tonya turned and flew away and Number struck with her magic quickly. She had an incredible grip with her magic and she knew he wouldn't be able to escape her. She'd take him back and consider what she'd heard.

Fear and terror.

Him standing over her.

Her lashing out.

Sobbing.

His dead body.

Terror.

She was standing and watching as Tonya spoke with Swift Strike. His answers weren't giving her much insight into why things hadn't gone right with him becoming a pony. She'd have to think about this and ask more ponies about their experiences.

Tonya flew away and Number grabbed Swift Strike with her magic. It was time to just take him back.

Fear and terror.

Him standing over her.

Her lashing out.

Sobbing.

His dead body.

Terror.

She stood watching Tonya interrogate the night pony that had raped Phobia. His lack of repentance disgusted her, but didn't seem enough to kill him. She'd take him back and have the authorities deal with him. It was the right thing to do.

Tonya flew away and Number acted with her magic.

Fear and terror.

Him standing over her.

Her lashing out.

Sobbing.

His dead body.

Terror.

Tonya spoke with Swift Strike. Number sat at the ready. Tonya flew away and Number moved quickly with her magic.

Fear and terror.

Him standing over her.

Her lashing out.

Sobbing.

His dead body.

Terror.

She sat waiting for Tonya to finish speaking with Swift Strike. His answers hadn't given her any insights.

Then the world paused.

Tonya sat with her mouth open and unmoving. Swift Strike stood defiantly glaring up at Tonya with a snarl on his face. No wind moved through the forest, and not a blade of grass twitched as Number looked around in confusion.

"You, filly, have a mental block up on your memory. Self imposed I think," came a voice from behind her.

She spun around and then jumped backwards as she saw a skeleton, and freestanding, walking, talking skeleton if a pony starting at her with faintly glowing eyes and skeletal wings twitching. On the skeleton there was necklaces and earrings that hung in midair where the flesh of it's ears should be.

Number tried to escape but found herself held in place as the skeleton watched her.

"This is dream, filly, and I won't hurt you. I want to talk. You have information that I desire, and I think you desire that information too," the skeleton said.

Number licked her lips. It came back to her now, all the times repeating over and over the same nightmarish memory, but never actually seeing what happened. This thing in front of her didn't inspire the same level of fear that the dream had so far. She could calm herself if she focused.

"Who are you?" Number asked.

The skeleton released her from whatever was holding her in place. "I am the Warden of Death. I seek justice for what happened back in this memory. I need to gather evidence so mistakes aren't made."

"You want to know what happened from my memory," Number said. "I don't know. If you were watching you'd know that."

The Warden of Death waved a wing and a table laden with food appeared. Then the skeletal figure turned back to her. "Sit and eat, this food shall ease your mind of the fear. Perhaps after a good meal you will no longer quake in terror of this memory. There is mind magic at work in you, making you fear this memory, and it needs to be dispelled. Not for the sake of me finding out what secrets are hidden, but for your own sake. Come, eat."

"I don't see where this will..."

"Filly," the skeleton said crossly. "I did not make a request. I gave an instruction. Come eat or I shall put you in a baby chair and feed you with a spoon while you make a mess in your diaper. I hold the power in dreams, and we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I intend to see your mind healed, and I intend to have evidence that another's life or death depends on. Now, come eat."

She looked at the table then walked over to it and took a seat next to it. On the table were many different types of pastries and fruit, along with different types of drinks. She picked up a pastry at random and started to nibble at it.

The skeleton took a seat across from her and a large wooden bowl appeared before the skeleton. In the bowl a single piece of shriveled fruit blinked in and out of existence as the skeleton watched. It picked up the appearing and disappearing fruit in her hooves and caressed it.

"Poor little one," the skeleton said mournfully to the fruit. "Your body is broken and you aren't yet five years old. Tragedy takes no pity in who it strikes. I can feel it through your mind that your body will fail any moment now. You're so scared. Come...come all the way into sleep. Let me give you one final happy dream so you may pass beyond in peace."

Number watched in fascination as the skeleton hugged the piece of fruit close to itself. The fruit ceased disappearing and just sat in the skeleton's hug. Then the fruit started to glow, and tears came down from the Warden of Death's eye sockets. With one final bright glow the fruit disappeared entirely, leaving the skeleton weeping silently.

"Death comes to us all, filly," the skeleton said as it looked back up at her. "You have seen death up close. I need to know what happened that night and so do you. A trial for another is coming soon, and it may bring another death. I want you to give your memory as testimony."

"I can't remember. I told y..."

The skeleton held up a wing to silence her. "I can pull the memory out for all to see. The actual memory, not this fragment you have. I must have your permission to do so, and have you present at the trial. Will you give me that permission?"

Number chewed on her lip nervously. "You're sure? You can let me see what happened? I don't know if I want to know what happened."

"It will eat at you if you don't find out. You won't be free of these nightmares until you confront the truth."

Number stiffened up and trembled again. The prospect of night after night of having to deal with reliving that broken memory was terrifying in itself. On top of that she would never know otherwise if how she'd ended up killing Swift Strike or why.

"If you can actually do it, then I'll be your witness."

Chapter 66

Tonya laid among the mass of quilts watching Sunset type on her laptop. The smell of sex was still heavy in the air, but now she was starting to get bored. Watching Sunset type was not the most exciting thing to be doing. She wasn't going to interrupt her lover though, Sunset was working on several tasks, among those was researching how to best try to defend Tonya during her trial.

The fact Sunset was so driven right also reminded Tonya how attractive she found the unicorn.

The silence was killing her though. She scooted over to Sunset so she could watch what Sunset was doing. After cuddling close to her lover she draped a wing over Sunset's back and gazed at the screen. At the moment Sunset had two separate windows open, one for email and one that she was researching case histories of trials in.

"Anything useful?" Tonya asked as she watched Sunset work.

"There really isn't a load of cases involving of crimes of passion using mind control, and by not a lot I mean none," Sunset grumbled. "Maybe there is some case history in Equestrians, but I obviously don't have access to those records."

"Oh," Tonya replied. Well, she really hadn't had much hope that it had actually come up.

"Considering you had time to think between the time Phobia was raped and the time that you went to Number Crunch it gets harder to argue crime of passion in general," Sunset said as she closed out the window that was doing the research.

Tonya's ears fell. "So, there isn't any hope then."

Sunset sighed. "I'm trading back and forth emails with Rosetta. That has good news and bad news involved. The same thing is actually both the good news and the bad news."

"What is it, and how good and bad is it?"

Sunset pulled up a fresh email window and began composing an email to someone named plushielover97.

"The Dreamwardens don't have anything resembling legal procedures or a law code beyond their prohibitions. They're essentially despots," Sunset said with a shake of her head. "That's good because any rule you break they can choose to disregard if you convince them to, you just have to appeal to their feelings instead of any law. That's also bad because there is no legal technicality that can get you off the hook either. It all comes down to them determining whether or not you're guilty and how they feel you should be punished. They'll exercise a great deal of care in determining if you're guilty, but punishments are completely arbitrary."

"Is Rosetta who you're emailing now?" Tonya asked as she watched Tonya hit keys rapidly with a levitated pencil.

Sunset shook her head. "No, I'm emailing Tattered Wing. Trying to see if I can strike any deal with her where she tries to turn the blame in her prosecution on me instead of you."

Tonya looked at her lover in shock. "Why would you do that?"

Sunset kept typing. "Because it might save you. I'm willing to put myself on the line if it keeps you safe."

"You had nothing to do with what happened," Tonya said with rising concern.

Sunset paused what she was doing and turned and faced her. "Didn't I? Who sent you to Number Crunch to try to convince her to murder that bastard that raped Phobia?"

Tonya looked back defiantly. "You didn't tell me to use mind magic to do it."

"You wouldn't have even been there without me asking you to be," Sunset said in a firm tone. "I never told you how to convince her either. You could have interpreted my request as being to use your powers."

"You wouldn't ask me to do that," Tonya said as she laid her ears back.

Sunset was undeterred. "You're completely devoted to me. You do anything you can to help me. You could have taken my request and decided that was what was needed to accomplish it."

Tonya flattened out her ears and started feeling very uncomfortable. "You didn't ask me to do that hoping I would, did you?"

Sunset let out a long breath and shook her head. "No, I didn't, but if I'm wishing I did. That way I could convince them for sure I manipulated you and it better shift the blame to me." Sunset frowned again. "Did you do it just to please me?"

"No!" Tonya snapped back, more forcefully than she intended. "And even if I did I still don't want you taking the fall for me. I don't want you hurt."

"I doubt it would get you off the hook entirely, but it could make them much more lenient," the unicorn said as she flicked her tail. "They're less likely to come down on me hard since I can't use mind magic. Dealing with some sort of judgement against me is more than acceptable if it makes things better for you."

Tonya stood to her hooves and stomped one if them. "It's not acceptable to me! The Dreamwardens don't play around, Sunset. They could wipe your mind completely. I don't want that happening to you!"

Sunset glared up at her. "And you think I won't stop at anything to make sure that doesn't happen to you? No, I'm hoping it won't come to that with me, but I will put every option on the table to keep you safe!"

"Why does my life matter and yours doesn't?" Tonya growled.

"Because you're a good pony!" Sunset shouted as she jumped to her hooves and screamed in Tonya's face, making Tonya flinch back.

Sunset looked stricken as she saw Tonya flinch. The unicorn then looked down and her posture slumped. "You're a good pony who doesn't deserve that kind of thing. I'm...not...I'm not a good pony. I should be facing this kind of thing, not you."

Tonya reached a hoof out to touch Sunset. "You are a good pony."

Sunset looked at the hoof and stepped back. "No...no I'm not. I'm angry, violent, and willing to blackmail, deceive, cover up crimes, and just generally hurt others to advance the greater good. I'm the kind of pony that's needed to get things done, but that doesn't make me a good pony. I'm not even a good Christian."

Tonya shook her head in disbelief. How could Sunset say those kinds of things about herself?

"Even if that was true, you're only that way because of me," Tonya said firmly. "I've messed with your mind and barely knew what I was doing."

Sunset raised an eyebrow at her. "And who asked you to mess with their mind? That would be me. I directed you into helping shape me into the pony I am now, the pony this town needs. Just like with this thing with Number, you wouldn't have done anything on your own."

Tonya looked for a way to counter this. "Even if you aren't perfect you just pointed out that this town needs you. The town doesn't need me. You shouldn't be willing to sacrifice yourself for my sake."

Sunset's face hardened. "I'm a selfish bitch of a pony. For the sake of my loved ones I will sacrifice anything, even all my dreams and goals--even the well-being of every other pony. I love you, and I'm not letting you get hurt."

"But you're better as a pony than you were as a human," Tonya protested.

Sunset nodded. "I'm better, everypony is better, but that doesn't make me good. I'm better because I see the way to a better world and am willing to actually do what it takes to help make that better world. I'm also willing to do whatever it takes to protect my loved ones. I failed at that on both counts as a human. Princess Luna likes to look down her nose at me. She has no idea how low I was as a human and how much better I am now."

"Luna gets on you about the fact you're a Shimmerist from what you described," Tonya pointed out. She didn't like Sunset talking about herself like this.

"And let's say for the sake of argument that being a Shimmerist is wrong," Sunset said as she flicked her tail. "I don't believe it, but let's just go with that for a moment. I don't hate humans, you don't hate humans, Number Crunch doesn't hate humans, most Shimmerists I personally know except for a few bad apples don't hate humans. We want the best for them, and we believe that's making them into ponies. I hated humans when I was human; I hated all kinds of humans that didn't deserve it. You were there to see it, so you know it. I may still not be worthy of being called good, but I'm a hell of a lot fucking better than I was as a human."

Tonya gave a sad nod. Sunset had hated so many others when she was human, probably herself most of all. It sounded like Sunset hadn't let go of that self hate though.

"You need to let that hate for yourself go," she said quietly. "It will consume you if you don't. I don't want you hurting, and you're still hurting despite everything I've done to your head. Maybe hurting even more because of what I did. You need to forgive yourself for who you were."

Sunset started crying. "How do I do that? I hurt you! I had Phobia living in fear of herself! I lashed out at anyone that didn't fit my view of the world! Years upon years of hate, even for myself. Let's not forget I hated myself for having feelings for women. I might be different in the fact I don't try to hurt those that don't see things as I do anymore, and that's much better, but I still hurt others."

"Sunset, I really want you to let it go," Tonya said softly. The word want carried no weight since she was wearing her medallion. This was just her speaking as a pony to a pony.

"I can't," Sunset replied as she kept crying.

Tonya went over to Sunset and grabbed her into a hug. "Please, if not for yourself, even though it should be for yourself, but for me too. Please, just let it go. It hurts me knowing you're still hurting."

Sunset just laid her head into Tonya's shoulder and wept. "I'm sorry, I just can't. I'm hurting you again. I'm can't stop hurting others. That's more evidence I'm just not a good pony."

Tonya just kept hold of Sunset until cried herself to sleep. She then gently laid her lover down in the blankets and gave her a kiss before cuddling up close again to join her. This was something she couldn't fix with her powers, but if she survived her trial she would somehow find a way to make this better.

Author's Note

I know it's short and late in the day. Chapter went through two complete rewrites.

Chapter 67

Paul snuck a glance into the bedroom as he left the bathroom. Devon was fast asleep on the bed with Jessie curled up against her. His daughter hadn't known what to make of the bed when she'd been put on it, and had stepped around it gingerly. She had only gotten comfortable with the bed when Devon had joined her.

He gently shut the door and went out to the living room where Robby was watching anime at the moment, and Paul was sure it wasn't really age appropriate for his son. Robby seemed to get incredibly bored with the Disney Channel type offerings, and Paul could only take so much of that saccharine programming himself. They both preferred a bit more action.

He sat down next to Robby and noticed that Robby was frowning. "What's up? Is this getting to intense for you?"

"I don't like D," Robby grumbled as he flicked his tail.

D was the vampire Hunter main character in the movie. "Why not? He's an awesome warrior of the night. I thought you'd like that."

"He keeps killing the Barbaroi," Robby explained as he laid his ears back.

"What's wrong about that? They're trying to kill him. They're the monsters," Paul said as he glanced at the television.

Robby shook his head. "They're not monsters. They're trying to just protect that vampire and human girl. They're like night ponies. D is mean, he's just trying to bring that human girl back to her family for money, even though she doesn't want to go to them. He's not protecting anypony. The humans are bad too. None of them care about that human girl, they just want money. They're bad."

Paul frowned. That was actually a lot of insight for a five year old. Of course, Robby was obsessed with protecting. It wasn't that surprising that he would Immediately be drawn to sympathize with creatures that were essentially body guards in the movie and see them as the heros.

"And it doesn't bother you at all that they're scary monsters?" Paul asked.

"They're just different. It helps them better protect," Robby asserted then paused as if something occurred to him and looked up at Paul will hurt eyes. "Do you think I'm a scary monster, Dad?"

"No, why would I think you're a scary monster?" Paul asked in confusion.

Robby sat doing his serious consideration face. It was easy to tell when Robby was trying to think hard about something. He would tilt his head and stare down at his hooves with this unfocused look in his eyes. He did this for a full half a minute before he looked back up.

"Well, I just want to be like them, and protect everypony," Robby said very slowly. "And I'm not human like you, and the humans in the movie are all scared of the things that aren't human--except the one girl they're protecting, she's nice. You got scared of Jessie and she's really little, and you acted scared of me too."

How was he supposed to answer this question? Robby wasn't stupid, he clearly had been paying attention to everything that had been happening in the family. Robby might not understand it all, but he definitely hadn't missed it.

"Robby, you're right, I was scared," Paul said as he touched a hand to his son's head. "You're a smart boy so I'll try to explain this to you like you're a grown-up, okay?"

"Okay," Robby said uncertainly.

"I started getting scared when your mom had to go to the hospital. Do you remember that day?" Paul asked.

Robby sat and considered it. "It's hard. It's hard to remember things right before I was a pony."

Paul frowned. Robby had shown he had an excellent memory as of late. With all the anxiety of that week he should have remembered this well.

"Try to remember the night that we went to the hospital. I know you can remember things really well." Paul instructed.

Robby sat and thought. "I was asleep and you woke me up. You told me to get dressed and we were going to the hospital. Mom was crying really loudly, like she was hurt or something."

Paul nodded and then realized he was going to have to explain some of where babies come from. "Jessie was in your mom's tummy. All babies come from their mom's tummies. They're supposed to stay there till they are big enough to come out. Does that make sense to you?"

Robby blinked then nodded silently

"Well, Jessie wasn't supposed to be big enough yet, but something went wrong and she was coming out too early," Paul explained. "It's bad when a baby come out too early because they aren't strong enough to handle things outside of their mom's tummy yet."

"So why couldn't you just put her back in?" Robby asked in confusion.

Paul shook his head. "It doesn't work like that. You can't put them back in. We had to get your mom to the hospital right away...so we could protect your sister from being outside too early. Understand?"

Robby perked his ears up and nodded more enthusiastically. He understood protecting.

"So, what else do you remember?"

Robby went back to his deep consideration, and after a few seconds his ears dropped. "You were holding mom up as we went to the door. You grabbed my..." Robby looked down at his hoof and let off an involuntary shiver. "Dad, I don't like this. Do I have to remember this? I don't want to."

Was it that traumatic at the time? It didn't seem like Robby was that upset at the time. He had stopped on saying hand. Was it actually disturbing to him remembering being human? If he was having a hard time remembering things from before he was a pony, and bringing up memories of him being human upset him like that, then maybe Robby had suppressed those memories...or had them suppressed.

It was a worry for another time though. He was not having this conversation to upset his son or to try to dig up suppressed memories. He was having this conversation so his son could understand him.

"Don't worry, if that upsets you I won't make you think too hard about it right now," Paul said soothingly. "But getting back to the subject. I was really scared that night, and so was your mom. We thought your sister was going to die because she was way too early and way too weak."

"But she didn't, you and Mom got her to the doctor and she got better," Robby replied.

"She didn't just get better, Robby," Paul said sadly. "She was really weak and small when she came out. She couldn't breathe right, she couldn't eat, and the smallest little germs could have killed her."

"But she got better... she's fine now," Robby said.

"We didn't know she was going to get better," Paul explained. "That's why we stayed at the hospital and had you stay at your friend's house."

Robby looked down. "I was really scared there. I didn't know when you were coming back. There were scary sounds all the time. They said it was just pipes, but they were scary." He began to get worked up. "Then everypony got sick and they made us all go to the school and locked us inside...and you weren't there and..."

Paul smoothed his son's mane. "Hey hey hey, I know. It was scary for us too. They locked us in the hospital and wouldn't let us go find you, and your sister got sick too at the same time and we thought that would be the end for her. We were really scared we were going to lose both of you."

"But everything got better, right?" Robby asked. "I can remember the day everything got better really good." He seemed comfortable remembering this and spoke rapidly. "I was having a nightmare again then the white mare came and told me I could make it so other ponies didn't have nightmares anymore, and that I could help everypony feel more happy with being a pony. Then I woke up and they said they were letting us all out and you came and got me, and Jessie was there and she was all good."

"I didn't know about how your vision went, but to tell you the truth your mom and I were still scared," Paul said he shook his head.

"Why?" Robby asked in confusion. "Everything was fixed."

"You've got a very good memory after you turned into a pony. Don't you remember how stressed your mom and I were?" Paul asked. "We didn't know how to take care of ponies. We didn't know if you were even you anymore. You changed a lot, and not just your shape."

"You tried to make me stay awake all day sleep at night," Robby said accusingly with his ears laid back.

"Because we didn't understand night ponies," Paul said. "As a human boy you should have slept at night, and you did before you transformed."

This made Robby pause and think again. Paul watched as Robby tried to remember his old sleeping habits, and then shiver again.

He smoothed his son's mane again. "Don't worry about trying to remember, just trust me, okay?"

"Okay," Robby said with a relieved nod.

"We tried to do our best with you and we were trying to take care of your new sister at the same time," Paul continued. "Then Jessie hurt me...she didn't mean to, but she hurt me pretty bad."

"You had to go back to the hospital, I remember," Robby said with a worried face. "How'd she hurt you? She's so little, and you're so big."

Paul put a hand to his ribs. They still hurt when he moved to quickly. "You're mother tells me she was having a surge of magic because she's really small and it's still settling. You know that grown-up earth ponies like Ms. Amanda are really strong, right? When Jessie was surging she had grown-up earth pony strength. She kicked me with that grown-up earth pony strength."

Robby's eyes got wide. "She was strong like Ms. Amanda?"

Paul nodded. "Maybe stronger, surges are apparently no joking matter. Your mom told me you saw Jackie's surges in action, that let her fly even though she should be too small for that."

Robby gasped. "She could go really fast, and go from sitting still to full speed right away."

"And I doubt even most adults take off at a super fast flight from sitting still," Paul added in. "So when Jessie was surging I might have been better off if Ms. Amanda had kicked me."

"But she doesn't surge anymore. Those go away," Robby said.

Paul looked his son in the eyes. "I didn't know that at a time. Think of how I was feeling. I was already scared that we didn't understand you two and had been scared for a long time before then. Then my newborn baby cracks my ribs with a kick." He looked down in shame. "It just became too much, and I chickened out."

Robby jerked back from him and looked at him with a hurt expression. "But you're my dad, you're not supposed to do that."

"I'm also a person who was scared and at a loss at what to do," Paul said as he leaned forward and crossed his arms on his knees. "I'm sorry for that. I screwed up, screwed up bad. Your mom and your aunt both yelled at me for it."

Tonya had done a bit more than yell, but no need to tell Robby that. At the end of everything Paul still felt like what Tonya had done ended up being for the better, intentional or not and completely moral or not.

"But you aren't going to do that again?" Robby asked fearfully.

"I'm not making that mistake ever again," Paul assured him. "I love you too much to do that to you again. There should never have been a first time. All I can say is I'm sorry."

Robby sat and considered him. "But are you scared of me and Jessie still?"

Paul gave him a long look. "I'm scared for you, not of you. I'll never be scared of you again."

Robby looked perplexed. "I don't get it."

Paul sighed. "The stuff you are learning from Ms. Rosetta and Ms. Phobia is really hard for me to understand without being worried about you. You're grandma, she's really all into this night pony stuff and doesn't seem like the same person at all anymore. She flat out told your mom that she wished your mom had turned into a pony. It makes me wonder if she looks down at us because we aren't ponies."

"But Grandma is really nice," Robby insisted. "She even dreamwalked with me when I was asleep today."

Paul frowned. So much for having Robby avoid Nocte. There was really no way of keeping her away from him when she could just enter his dreams. They could tell her not to, but that would only cause a fight, and there was no way to actually make her stop it. There was no way to stop any night pony from visiting Robby in dreams. When it came to them they had literally no control over who had access to their son. There was nothing stopping Nocte from getting into Jessie's dreams either. Nocte could be teaching and influencing his foals constantly going forward and he wouldn't be able to stop her. If she really did look down on them for being human telling her not to might not even work since she might not think they were worth listening to.

"Can you do me a favor? Can you tell me from now on when she visits you and what kinds of things you talk about?" Paul asked.

"Okay," Robby agreed. "Today she was just asking me all kinds of questions about how I've been since I got to Riverview."

Paul put a smile on his face, even though he didn't feel it. "That's understandable. I'm sure she was eager to hear all about it. Tell me also if any other night ponies visit you too."

Robby seemed eager to share. "Ms. Rosetta visited me for just a little bit too. She was really surprised to see Grandma with me. Ms. Rosetta just asked Grandma and me how we were doing and if everything was okay, then she left. She was there really quick and then she was gone."

Maybe he could have in and ask Phobia for advice on the subject. If every night pony was as afraid of her as claimed she might be able to step in and order ponies not to be visiting Robby's dreams without his and Devon's permission. They might not listen to Robby's human parents, but they sure as hell would listen to her.

He turned and gave his son a hug. "I'm just like you Robby. I just want to keep my family safe, which includes you."

Robby gripped as tightly as he could with his wings. "I'll keep you safe too. We'll all protect each other and then everything will be good."

Paul certainly hoped so

Chapter 68

Tattered Wing looked out at the rising sun. The day of Shadow Dancer's trial had come. There were a few odds and ends to take care of before everyone went to sleep, but for the most part it was going to be a calm day.

Well, calm in a relative sense. The bustle around town hall was still just as much as it was yesterday. Sewage pipes had already started being laid underground from what she understood, more woods were being cleared, more of the town was officially employed, more shops were opening that hoped to claim parts of those new paychecks, and ponies were asking where to sell their shit.

Right now she was just wanting her current choices for Broken Fours to hurry up and show up so she could pitch the job offer and get them signed up. She had picked out four of the six individuals she wanted to serve in the position, all the pony officers. The human officers would take more time to figure out and she wanted to pick at least one of them from the Augusta immigrants.

Much as she hated doing it, several of her choices were more or less politically driven. With Sunset Blessing in charge of town and many of the pony leaders being Shimmerists or at least Shimmerist leaning it would look pretty bad if she had no Shimmerists among her leadership team. She'd chosen two just to placate Sunset Blessing's pressures; Joy and Nocte Bellatrix.

There was probably going to be a Shimmerist human as well when she was done. She didn't like having all these Shimmerists in there, but it would cause conflict if there wasn't. Joy was at least an effective organizer and a very hard worker--despite her rotten attitude. Nocte was good at keeping other ponies in line--when she kept herself in line anyway. For the non-Shimmerists she had chosen Brick Pounder for her second night pony and Calvin Hobbs who was a crystal pony. Brick was good and level headed and Calvin was a surpringly good listener who others were willing to trust.

Now if any of them could just be fast with responding to her asking them to show up at town hall that would be great. It wasn't completely their fault. She had to send ponies out to find them, and the town was a mass of organized chaos at the moment that made tracking anypon...anyone down a problem.

She frowned as she saw an entirely different pony than the ones she was looking for approach. Sunset Blessing came walking up the steps of town hall with her eyes fixed on Tattered.

"You didn't respond to my email," Sunset said in a harsh tone as she got close.

Tattered raised an eyebrow at her. "I was still considering my answer. Your email took me off guard since I didn't expect you to offer yourself up. I'm not sure we should even have been emailing back and forth about these kinds of things. We're all on lists you know. Who knows who can end up reading those emails."

"Do you want to take this discussion back to either your office or mine?" Sunset said crossly.

Tattered considered the offer. Tonya was just a tool. Sunset Blessing was the pony she knew from the start was the one ultimately behind what had happened, and the one that had been the most untouchable. There would never be any justice against her from the government. Sunset was just too valuable to them for them to go after her over the murder of a pony they'd rather didn't exist. It would take Sunset killing humans to have them go after her, and Tattered was fairly sure the unicorn wouldn't make that mistake.

"I'll meet you in your office shortly," Tattered said after some consideration. "Right now I have to make sure I take care of Enclave matters first. I have some officers that need to be installed into their jobs and schedules made out. The rest of the world doesn't stop on a dime for you, and I'm not disrupting my tasks for you either."

Sunset stomped a hoof. "We don't have a lot of time to have you just consider. I know I'm offering what you really want on a silver platter."

Tattered frowned. The fact that Sunset Blessing was willing to throw herself under the bus for Tonya's sake had caught her by suprise when she read that email. She liked to think that Sunset was all in it for herself and tried to think of some trick to it. That was part of why she was still considering the offer; it felt like there had to be some sort of deviousness on the preacher's behalf. She couldn't think of anything that could be though.

"I'll come by your office tonight to discuss it," Tattered stated calmly. "We have till tomorrow afternoon to discuss it. Today you and Tonya are not my concerns beyond Tonya making sure she is here and ready around noon."

Sunset narrowed her eyes. "She'll be here. This is her only opportunity to see what's likely to happen tomorrow. She won't miss it for anything."

Tattered waved a wing dismissively at Sunset. "Good, then go do your whole pony in charge thing so somepony is keeping track of all this stuff being built around here and I'll talk to you tonight."

Sunset scowled but didn't give any verbal retorts. The unicorn simply walked by Tattered into town hall.

She sighed and went back to being on the lookout for her Broken Four candidates. Hopefully after tomorrow was over she could sleep without having to deal with more work while dreamwalking. She might just stick it out in her own dreams and try to deal with her own nightmares. She needed a break and when you were a night pony it seemed like sleeping wasn't even a chance to break. Sure, her body rested, but she was still working.

Nocte came into view in the air, followed closely behind by Joy and Brick Pounder. That was three of the four accounted for. If Calvin didn't show up in the next minute or two she'd take these three back to the office and begin without him; perhaps considering someone else for the job.

"You wanted to see us, Broken One?" Nocte said as she landed.

"Yes," Tattered said as she looked the three over. "Go back to my office and wait for me. I'm still waiting for one more to arrive. I'll be back in a minute or two no matter what."

"Are we in trouble for something, Broken One?" Brick asked with his ears flattened out and tail twitching.

Tattered shook her head. "You're not in trouble for anything. Though I would advise responding to me calling you in a little faster in the future."

Joy stepped forward and Tattered noticed that there was an outline of a bird on her flanks. "Just to let you know I've taken a pony name, Raven Word."

"And is that just a play on your coloring? What exactly is your cutie mark for?" Tattered asked.

"And is that just a play on your coloring? What exactly is your cutie mark for?" Raven repeated back perfectly in Tattered's voice, earning a wide eyed look from everypony, then grinned and continued in her own voice. "I'm really good at mimicking any sound hear, just like a raven. Combine that with my coloration and the name was easy enough."

Okay, that was just creepy. There didn't seem to be much magical about it, and she was sure that there were humans that could do the same thing. It was possibly useful, though her mind didn't come up with a good application of the talent other than talent shows and voice acting. She could think of a dozen ways Raven could get up to mischief with that kind of talent though.

She didn't think any more about it for the moment though, since she spotted Calvin trotting up towards them. Considering he came on hoof and the others could fly it wasn't fair to get on him for being the last here.

"Now that you're all here let's head back to the office," she said. "I have a few things to discuss and I want to get this settled quickly."

"You're the boss," Raven said, again using a voice that wasn't hers, this time it sounded like a really husky guy. She then giggled. It was nice that she found something that lightened up her harsh demeanor, but that was going to get old fast.

As they went into town hall and into the lobby they could see Sunset Blessing had rounded up several of the various contractors in charge and had a map of town floating up behind her in her magic. It sounded like she was instructing them on what she wanted prioritized over the next few days and where she was allocating extra workers, and they in turn were giving her progress reports. If nothing else, Sunset Blessing could take command of a situation quickly.

Tattered led her small group down the left hall to the end and entered into her office. She took her seat behind the desk as the four others shuffled around to find comfortable spots to listen to her from.

"Thank you all for coming," she said as she looked the group over. "If you haven't heard we've started a new ranking system. I'm Broken One, Melissa Rivers is Broken Two, Dan Castillo is Broken Three. Now I'm going to be adding to that a Broken Four rank. I want all of you to collectively fill that rank. I'll be adding two humans to that rank as well, eventually."

She scanned their reaction. Nocte and Brick looked excited, with Nocte practically preening like a peacock. Raven didn't show much outward reaction. Calvin seemed confused.

The crystal pony raised a hoof. "Um, why me? I don't have any real law enforcement experience, and I'm not exactly as...fierce...as these other ponies."

Tattered relaxed in her seat. "I want somepony on the officer staff that is a bit more low key and approachable. I also want at least one crystal pony among the officers. You're duties specific for you would be in charge of supervision of any prisioners. Make sure they are properly under control, but also verifying that they aren't being mistreated."

"What are my specific duties?" Raven asked.

Tattered looked over to the dark furred pegasus. "You're to be Melissa's primary backup and supervisor for ponies in the day shift. You report to her and keep the day ponies and humans on staff in line."

Joy frowned. "And what does your pet human that I report to do?"

Tattered grit her teeth. "You will not refer to your supervisor as my pet human again. If you do you will be without a job. Do I make myself crystal clear."

"More crystal than a glitter bomb," Raven said evenly, earning a scowl from Calvin at the slur on crystal ponies. Joy was thankfully being taken off the streets by this job and less likely to say something offensive to those they were trying to help as a result. "What does my supervisor do then?"

She briefly considered just dumping Raven now, but decided against it. Raven would either get her tail in line or she would have a well documented trail of reprimands for when Sunset tried to cry foul about Raven's dismissal. Tattered hated it, but she could play this political game.

"Melissa will be in charge of all daytime activities," Tattered answered. "She will be in charge of discipline, setting schedules, reporting to me all daytime activities, and determining where ponies are allocated. You will be there to see that ponies are doing what they are assigned to do and making sure to provide reports to Melissa on every police action." Tattered's face darkened "Mind you, you aren't above being disciplined or discharged if she decides to do so. Do you understand?"

Raven sneered. "I understand perfectly clear. I can keep myself in line with the apes."

It wasn't worth pointing out that Raven had been an ape just two months ago. Tattered had read Raven's file. It was bewildering to her that Raven was so free with using apes as slur when according to her file Raven had been black even as a human and being called apes was not an unheard of slur against blacks. That Raven was somepony who likely experienced prejudice and was willing to turn around and use the same kinds of slurs once directed at her on humans in general made Tattered shake her head in confusion. What made a pony do something like that? Shouldn't Raven be less inclined to be so hateful? Brick Pounder had been black too in a similar previous income range and he wasn't like this. Trying to understand the psychology of ponies based on those files was beyond her. Demographics alone clearly didn't paint an accurate picture.

"Nocte, you will hold the same type of duties as Raven, only on the night shift," Tattered continued on as she turned to the other dark furred Shimmerist. "You will report to Dan who will have the same types of duties as Melissa. Do you understand what is expected of you?"

"Perfectly, Broken One. If I think of any questions I'll go to the Broken Three or you about them," Nocte said politely as she bowed her head.

Nocte's history of violence was something that could lead to her being disciplined and dismissed if they resurfaced. Tattered had actually chosen her and Raven on the hopes they'd run themselves out of the job. Nocte was more cordial, but she seemed to have issues with males in general rather than humans. Dan would hopefully pick up on any hostility that was interfering with Nocte's job. If Nocte could keep herself in line she could be very useful though. Nocte was a retired defense attorney and her knowledge from that could be invaluable.

"Brick Pounder, you'll serve much the same role as Calvin, only at night. Is that acceptable to you?" Tattered asked.

The large night pony stallion nodded silently.

"If none of you have any objections I have the contracts all laid out for each of you on my desk," Tattered said with a gesture at the papers. "Sign the contract with your name on it, and feel free to read over them. Raven, I'll update your name later, but sign this one for now. I need to go attend to something, but once you have all signed I want Raven and Calvin to stick around for instructions. Nocte and Brick I expect you both here at nine tonight. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Broken One," the group chorused as she got down from het chair.

She walked out of the office and back down the hall. The lobby was surprisingly clear of activity and those behind the information desk looked unsure what to do with themselves having after gotten a hiatus from the chaos. She advanced to a familiar night pony lounging on a nearby bench with an electronic tablet and a pair of bags beside him.

"Do you have everything you need, Rudra?" She asked him as she walked up to him.

Rudra looked over at her. "I have all the sedatives needed to deal with Ms. Rivers, Ms. Middleton, and Crystal Wishes. When will they be arriving?"

Tattered gave a quick glance around the lobby and saw just the two if them and those behind the information desk, though she heard plenty of activity in the meeting hall still.

"I'm going to have Raven bring Crystal Wishes here soon. Tonya and Melissa should both be here shortly before noon," Tattered listed off. "We'll be using the same room I had Tonya previously held in. If you want to take a short nap while it's quiet it might be a good idea, I doubt the trial will be restful."

Rudra glanced at his bags and then around the lobby. "I think I'll go to the room everypony is supposed to meet in then to try to sleep. I'm not sure how long this lobby will stay empty."

Tattered nodded and watched him gather his things up and head off down the hallway on the right. After a moment of consideration she followed into that hallway as well, though to a different door. She gave it a few quick knocks then entered.

Sunset Blessing didn't even look up from the documents she was examining as Tattered entered. "You know, Broken One, when you said we'd speak tonight I expected you to at least not come calling before noon."

"I changed my mind," Tattered said simply as she closed the door behind her. "What's your offer?"

Sunset looked up at her and then flared her horn. A second later a purple barrier surrounded the room. "I will take full blame for pressuring Tonya into her actions. We both know Tonya more often than not will do what she can to please me without thinking. She is a lovestruck filly who shouldn't be held accountable for what she did under the pressures of her lover."

Tattered raised an eyebrow. "And what do you get out of this?"

Sunset leveled her gaze on Tattered. "I get Tonya's sentence reduced or done away with. I won't have her suffer those kinds of consequences. It's possible I might get off lighter than her, but I'll accept whatever punishment comes my way."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

Tattered grit her teeth. "Why are you putting yourself on the line for a pony that's just your sex toy."

Sunset laid her ears back. "Tonya isn't my sex toy. She's the mare I love. I will do anything for those I love."

"I would think the pony you love most is yourself," Tattered said with a smirk.

Sunset gave a flat stare. "You'd be surprised how untrue that statement is. In any case, do you accept my offer? I will divert blame to myself and you go hard after me and my actions instead of her?"

Sunset still seemed completely on the level. Tattered knew Tonya had to have been just a tool. Sunset would never take the blame for something she hadn't done. It was hard enough contemplating the unicorn willingly taking the blame for anything. This had to be legitimate.

"If you focus on taking the blame then I will have no problem asserting the same thing," Tattered said with a smile.

Chapter 69**

Author's Note

Forgoing the normal dream sequence formatting for this chapter. It is just far too long to have that much italicized.

Chapter 69**

Twilight looked at the 'courthouse' and gaped. It was unbelievably massive in size, the size of a Canterlot sized coliseum, with two colossal night pony statues with wings stretched upwards flanking the main gate. The sky was a perfectly clear night sky, but she didn't recognize any constellation from either home or Earth. If anything it seemed like their were far too many bright stars in the sky. The entire building and the ground they walked on looked like it was all cut and detailed from one single flawless stretch of marble.

Everywhere around her crowds of night ponies slowly filtered in between the two colossi. Strange hooded figures that had no legs but two arms floated about directing the ponies on into the massive structure. There was far more light than even the stars should be providing, but she couldn't determine a source for it. The light just was.

"Wow, that's...big," Starlight said from beside her, as the unicorn looked the structure over.

"My former students seem to have a flair for the grandiose," Luna observed as she looked on at the structure as well.

Twilight could only silently agree.

Everything here was done in extreme detail. If she didn't already know this was a dream she would have thought she had been whisked off to yet another strange world. The night ponies all around them weren't constructs either, but actual ponies dreaming all around the globe.

Twilight frowned on puzzlement. "Luna, it took a great deal of effort for you just to pull all of Ponyville into a shared dream. How are they doing this with this many ponies?"

"The fact that night ponies already have a strong connection to the dream realm makes this possible. Trying to do the same with other pony tribes would take many magnitudes of effort more," Luna explained. "There will be some ponies of other types here, other than ourselves. Those are harder to pull into a shared dream like this in a large number, at least not without paying a heavy cost by the one creating the shared dream."

Twilight flicked an ear and looked at Luna. "What kind of cost?"

Luna frowned as she looked up at the stars. "Severing their connection to the waking world. When I pulled all of Ponyville into a shared dream I was pushing my boundaries. If I had tried doing the same with Canterlot or Manehatten my mortal form would have likely perished in the attempt."

"You could do this same kind of thing with the night ponies back home though?" Twilight asked as she tried to get a feel for how many night ponies were here.

Luna flipped her mane dismissively. "Of course, with ease. My crafting of the dream might not be so detailed, but this is being maintained and crafted by six rather than one."

"It's just hard to believe that six transformed ponies could do all this," Starlight said. "I don't know as much about night ponies as I probably should, but seeing them match what you as an alicorn can do is hard to take in."

Luna looked down at the unicorn. "In this case my power as an alicorn has little to do with it. I have more strength to do things before my waking body gives out, but this could be seen as a handicap when it comes to being a Dreamwarden. When these six eventually have their mortal bodies die they will each have more power in the dream realm than I will unless I push myself beyond my limits."

Twilight's ears laid back as she looked at Luna with shock. "Wait...you created a team of what will essentially be super powerful undead ponies! Are you crazy!"

"I'm not sure undead is the right way to describe them, Twilight," Luna said as with a pouty frown.

"Super--powerful--persist--after--they--die--ponies!" Twilight said slowly and deliberately, pounding a hoof with each word.

"You make it sound as if it were a bad thing," Luna said with a raised eyebrow. "I assure you, this was completely necessary and not nearly as bad as you make it out to be."

Twilight's eye twitched. "How is this not bad? How am I supposed to explain this to the humans? Oh, our princess of the night decided to take it upon herself without telling anyone to make a bunch of super powerful ponies that are effectively immortal. I'm sure that'll just go over so well!"

Luna had the sense to look uncomfortable. "Perhaps I should have been more open with you and my sister about what I was doing. I'm very used to not consulting anypony when it comes to matters of the dream realm." Her face became more resolved. "This was necessary though, and I would have done this one way or another. The consequences for not having done so were far too dire."

Twilight opened and closed her mouth a few times as she considered what to say. Between this and Celestia's mass mind wipe her confidence in the two sisters had been severely weakened.

She put her face to her hoof and shook her head. "Cadance better not turn around and have some major secret she's keeping from us. I'm part of the monarchy and my faith in it is being questioned. Are you and Celestia keeping any other secrets I might find it good to know?"

Luna bit her lip. "We've been around over a thousand years. How much time do you have?"

Twilight's eye twitched again.

Starlight stepped between them. "Maybe we should just go inside and discuss this after we see these Dreamwardens do their trial?"

"That sounds advisable," Luna said with a nod as she turned back towards the colossi flanking the entrance.

Twilight sighed and nodded agreement. She and Luna were going to have a long talk about this later. Here she was trying to present Equestria's best face to the humans, and Luna was setting up clandestine night pony groups behind everyone's back. How was she supposed to maintain trust and friendship when this was going on?

They walked with the crowds to the gate and Twilight took the time to look closer at the hooded figures as they were filtered between the two statues. There didn't seem to be any sort of face on the things, just emptiness. All there was was a ragged grey cloak and hands floating in the air, gesturing for the ponies to keep advancing. The things were almost certainly just constructs of the dream, but they made her uncomfortable all the same.

What was beyond the two statues was a massive open door. What was beyond that door was unknown because it seemed to be perfect darkness. Twilight hesitated briefly when she saw it, but none of the night ponies seemed to have any concerns at just walking into the door of nothingness. Luna also was displaying no concerns. Twilight swallowed and kept walking until she too walked into the void.

She stepped out of a much smaller door with only Starlight with her, there was no sign of Luna. She turned around and looked at the door she had just exited out of and saw that it was now completely gone. Another of the cloaked figures floated overhead.

"Where's Luna?" She demanded to the thing.

The figure just pointed deeper in the coliseum. Twilight turned and looked where it was pointing.

The court was one massive amphitheatre with hundreds of thousands of night ponies seated in a semicircle around a central area at the bottom. Down at the bottom were two tables with two ponies seated at one of them and three at the other, Luna was sitting at one the one with three ponies. The two tables were on opposite sides of the court area facing towards six raised pillars that were spread evenly along the edge of the area. Edge being the most accurate term because where the entire other half of the circle would be if this was a fully circular building was just the expanse of stars and a literal edge of the building it looked like you could fall off of.

"Take your seats," the cloaked figure behind them said in a raspy voice.

There was little question of where their seats were. This was some sort of reserved area and not part of the normal seating area. It had only a few seats that were placed very central and low out of the seating, providing an excellent view of what was going on at both tables and was close enough to the front that there didn't need to be any squinting to see what was going on. They weren't the only ones in this special seating area either; there was a human woman and a night pony stallion sitting there, chatting quietly.

There was a full roar of chattering night ponies throughout the entire amphitheatre, but the sound didn't seem as loud as it should be with this many ponies packed into one place.

"Seats, now," the floating usher said firmly.

"Okay, we're going to our seats," Starlight said with annoyance at the floating cloak. As the two of them started walking Starlight looked to Twilight. "Did Luna tell you she was going to be actually involved in this?"

Twilight shook her head and glared off at where the other alicorn was sitting. "She's been doing what she wants to this point. Why stop now?"

"I'm sure there's a good explanation," Starlight insisted, though she didn't sound to confident.

"We'll see," Twilight said flatly. As they got near the two others in this VIP section she did her best to put her best friendly face on. "Hello, mind if we sit with you?"

The human and night pony turned and looked at them then went wide eyed at the sight of Twilight. The human recovered from the shock first. "Um, sure. We don't mind. I'm Melissa and this is my coltfriend Dan."

"You're Twilight Sparkle," Dan said in shock.

Twilight smiled as she and Starlight took seats.. "Just Twilight will do. This is my close friend and pupil Starlight. I didn't realize any humans were going to be here, or that it was even possible."

Melissa looked embarrassed. "I'm rehumanized so that apparently works somehow. I really don't know what all I'm doing here. I was told to just watch and give a report. Whoever PR is said I had permission to watch. I just fell asleep and next thing I knew I was standing outside this place with Dan."

Dan seemed to recover a little. "______ ______ told me to keep close to her and keep her company. She used me to help find Melissa's dreams to begin with. I'm really happy about that because now I can find her dreams anytime now. I'd been trying, but it hadn't been working out."

Twilight blinked in confusion. He had said a name at the start but as soon as it was out of his mouth she couldn't recall what name he said.

"Could you do me a favor and repeat the name of who told you to keep close to her?" Twilight asked as she narrowed her eyes.

"______ ______," Dan repeated.

"Um, a few more times," Twilight asked with her mouth slightly agape.

"______ ______, ______ ______, ______ ______," Dan repeated again.

"That's weird..." Starlight said slowly.

Twilight turned to her friend. "It's happening to you too then? You can't remember what name was just said?"

"Oh, thank god, I thought I was going crazy," Melissa blurted out.

Dan looked at them all in confusion. "None of you can remember ______ ______'s name?"

"Of course they can't. Do you think we didn't have any precautions set up when we included these non-night ponies here today?" Came a voice close by them.

They all turned and looked at a dark orange night pony mare with a red mane who was standing on the railing for their seating section. Twilight's eyes drifted to the mare's cutie mark and she instantly regretted it as she jerked her eyes away with a blush. How did a pony end up with a cutie mark like that? That was just perverse and lewd.

"Oopsies," the mare said with embarrassment. "Let me block my cutie mark out from your minds. I forget that a lot of you ponies are so squeamish about that subject. Really, it's one of the most natural and beautiful things there are. You shouldn't be so upset seeing it depicted."

Twilight had no recollection of what mark she had seen. She remembered her reaction to it, and that gave her a fair indication what kind of thing it was, but the image of it was gone. Her eyes drifted to the mare's flank again and no matter how she tried she couldn't turn them to see the cutie mark. Her eyes just kept drifting past it without actually seeing it.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the orange night pony said happily. "I'm _____ __ ___, though you non-night ponies won't remember that. I'm a Dreamwarden, the Warden of Lust to be exact. Though you can call me the Warden of Passion if you prefer. I personally prefer Warden of Lust, guardian of all libidinous dreams."

Twilight wasn't sure what to make of the pony, but this was a good time to find out what type of ponies Luna had put into a position of such power.

She extended a hoof out to the night pony. "Nice to meet you...Warden. I was hoping for a chance to actually talk to some of..."

The mare held up a hoof to stop her and looked to Dan. "Hold that thought, first things first when I'm dealing with any night ponies. You have something that you need to say to me Daniel."

Dan instantly sat to attention. "_______ ____, we promise ponies shall dream in peace. _____ __ ___, we shall not allow our passions to lead us to folly. ______, the Wardens' anger is unyielding and just. ______ ______, fear of the Wardens keeps us safe. ______ ____, we shall keep the secrets of the Wardens. __'__ ____, better to die than to face the Wardens' justice."

The Warden clapped her forhooves together while still perched on the railing like a bird. "Very good!" The Warden then turned her attention back to Twilight who still had her hoof extended and touched her own hoof to it. "Sorry, we have to make sure the night ponies stay in line, and getting our Oaths from them each time they meet us is one of our regular reminders to them about who calls the shots in the dream realm."

"I see," Twilight said as she set her hoof back down. "Do you personally exert a lot of authority over night ponies, giving them orders on what to do?"

"Me?" The Warden said touching her forehooves to herself. "No, I just collect fresh Oaths and keep an eye out for rulebreakers. I'll do some dreamwalking of my own where I'll try to encourage nice safe sexual fantasies and try to treat not so safe not so nice sexual fantasies or sexual shame. I don't really give most night ponies much thought...though an occasional bit of dreamy fun times with a few willing partners comes up."

Twilight found herself blushing again. "All of you have things you specialize in then?"

The Warden shrugged. "Kinda-sorta, some of us have our own personal passions. For me it's making sure everypony has good healthy sexual desires and feelings. For one of my sisters it's making sure ponies are learning things about themselves from their nightmares. My other sister is really obsessed with the dreams of the dying and making sure they die peacefully. One of my brothers really tries to encourage night ponies to help ponies with anxieties while dreamwalking. Another brother is really obsessed with helping ponies overcome grief. My last brother doesn't really do anything, he's just out to enforce rules."

"Well, that doesn't seem too bad," Starlight said with a pointed look at Twilight.

Twilight couldn't see much that could be wrong with what was said. These were all things that Luna did back in Equestria...or at least most of it. Twilight wasn't sure if Luna did the stuff involving erotic dreams, though that was something that most might not admit to having had help from Luna with.

The fact still remained they were standing in a secret court about to see a trial that was happening with no one but the night ponies knowing about it.

The orange mare gasped excitedly and jumped down from the railing into the seats beside them. "The trial's about to start. This is so exciting!"

Twilight and the others turned their attention to the court area where what sort of looked like a seapony swam into view and into the center of the area.

"Go me!" The Warden beside them cheered as she watched the seapony.

The seapony spread it's fins wide and Twilight noticed it did indeed share the exact same face with the pony beside them. Having dealt with Discord for years this didn't get much of a rise out of Twilight as it might have.

"Fillies, gentlecolts, and everything else that doesn't fit into those categories, welcome to the first ever trial conducted by the Dreamwardens!" the seapony yelled out loudly. "In case you all don't know me, I'm _____ __ ___, Warden of Lust! I get the fun job of introducing everypony involved with this trial."

"Yea me!" The Warden cheered from beside them. Twilight rolled her eyes.

The seapony pointed to one of the pillars. "First up, it's me." An exact duplicate of her seapony form appeared on top of the pillar and waved to the crowd, blowing kisses. "If anypony is interested I'm available for sexy fun times in a dream after this trial, or if anypony is passing through Beijing in the waking world I'm available there too...for a price. A mare has to earn a living after all."

The version in the seats stomped her hooves excitedly. Twilight and the others turned and stared at her and the Warden gave them a sheepish smile back. "Hey, I'm a hard working prostitute, got to advertise my services sometimes."

Twilight took a deep breath and turned back to the court area. She wasn't going to make any judgements. The pony was a little...different than she was used to but that was okay.

The seapony turned to the next pillar. "Next up is ______ ____, Warden of Peace!" A very large stag appeared on top of the pillar. "Just to let you ponies know, he's a great psychologist. I went to him and he helped me stop talking to myself. Isn't that right, me?"

"It sure is, me," the other version of her called down from the pillar.

The stag could be seen shaking his head sadly.

The seapony turned to the next pillar. "Next is ___'__ ____, Warden of Death!" A skeleton of a night pony appeared on top of the pillar. "She makes the best treats if you ever run into her in the dream realm, but keep away from the food that she keeps in her wooden bowl. You don't want to know what that's made out of."

The skeleton glared down at the seapony, but was ignored.

"Next in line is ______, Warden of Anger!" The seapony announced as she pointed to another pillar. On top of that one a pony appeared, and they were on fire, as in their whole body was one bright burning flame. "He rubs some ponies the wrong way, but I don't understand why. He always has the sweetest things to say."

"You're a whoring cunt that will stuff anything into your pussy!" The flaming pony yelled down at the seapony.

The seapony laughed and twirled. "See what I mean? Isn't he sweet?"

Twilight definitely didn't think that was the accurate word to describe the self immolating pony, even with the culture clash.

The next pillar became occupied before the seapony could say anything. The occupant was the most massive minotaur bull Twilight had ever seen. It was straight grey and if it weren't for the fact that it was moving Twilight would have sworn it was a statue. It was holding a large trident.

The seapony gestured up to the bull. "This is ______ ____, Warden of Silence! He isn't much of a talker; his tongue was forcefully ripped out right after he finished transforming. You can hear all about it in his new audiobook." The seapony conjured up two large speakers into existence. "Let's take a listen to an exert."

Static sounded from the speakers, for several seconds.

Twilight and all others watching gave a startled jump and gasp when the bull's trident came hurtling down and impaled the seapony.

The seapony was pinned to the ground impaled right where the lower half of her body began. With a groan the seapony sat back up and glared up at the bull.

"You're supposed to be the nice one!" The seapony yelled accusingly.

The bull made several rapid hand gestures, which Twilight recognized as human sign language, towards the seapony.

"Alright, I suppose that was out of line. I'm sorry. There's some buttons I just shouldn't push," the seapony said.

The bull squatted and nodded.

The seapony was still impaled on the ground though. It pulled itself up and couldn't seem to wedge the trident loose. Twilight looked on in horror as the seapony expanded a pair of wings that weren't previously there and with a few beats of them ripped the whole lower half of her body off and hovered dripping blood and guts as she glanced down at her skewered fish tail.

"Fish guts," the seapony cursed. She then gestured to the final pillar. "Last and not least is our hosting judge for today,______ ______, Warden of Fear!"

What appeared on top of the pillar just took up a large space in the air above the pillar. It was like a cloud of darkness with twisting tendrils of blackness that shifted about it's surface. Twilight had a sudden flashback to Sombra's shadow form as she looked into the darkness and saw two glowing eyes.

"She was so deep in the closet she seems to have made a permanent home there," the still gore dripping seapony announced. That thing was a she? "A special tip for you all. If you ever find yourself in your bedroom at night, and the closet door is glowing, know you're in a nightmare and ______ ______ has come calling."

The twisting black mass's eyes focused on the seapony. "_____, can you please do something to pull yourself together? Your guts dripping all over the floor is rather distracting. We are here to conduct a trial, not to have you conduct a circus."

"It's undignified," the skeletal Warden of Death chimed in.

Twilight would have just gone with it's disgusting. She was glad that at least two of the Dreamwardens seemed to have a serious streak to them.

She glanced over at the pony version of the Warden of Lust sitting beside them. The mare was happily just munching away at popcorn and turned and offered some silently to Twilight with a smile. Discord and this pony would definitely get along great. Unfortunately for her, Discord tended to work her nerves, and the Warden of Lust was doing much the same.

There was a hint of Pinkie's personality to her that Discord lacked. The Warden just had a boundless enthusiasm for everything rather than Discord's cynical nature. That meant Discord was still the more annoying between the two.

Twilight turned her attention back to the court area and noticed that the gory seapony version was now gone, along with her mess in the area. The version of the Warden on the pillar still remained and looked over the crowd with a happy smile.

"Now that introductions have been made we shall take the Oaths of all night ponies present," the Warden of Fear declared.

The night ponies, including Dan, answered in a great chorus. "_______ ____, we promise ponies shall dream in peace. _____ __ ___, we shall not allow our passions to lead us to folly. ______, the Wardens' anger is unyielding and just. ______ ______, fear of the Wardens keeps us safe. ______ ____, we shall keep the secrets of the Wardens. __'__ ____, better to die than to face the Wardens' justice."

Not being able to remember the names was getting annoying.

The six Dreamwardens glanced around the audience and the Warden of Fear spoke again. "I counted eight of you who failed to say your Oaths. This is not acceptable." A giant six-sided die appeared on the court floor. "I'm going to throw this into the air and it shall determine which Warden shall punish those who failed to say their Oaths. You have until it lands to say them and escape punishment."

The orange mare jumped to her hooves and clapped her forehooves together excitedly. "I love it! The uncertainty of who it will be, the fear of the possibility. She isn't a complete stick in the mud after all. So much fun! I hope it lands on me!"

Twilight looked on in alarm. How had they even been able to tell who had kept quiet? Worse, they were going to punish these ponies for not saying some Oaths?

As the die went spinning into the air a voice somewhere in the crowds called out the Oaths. As it reached it's zenith three more voices joined in. As it started to fall back down two more panicked voices could be heard rushing to say the Oaths. Another followed right after that, and just as it was about to hit the ground an eighth voice started yelling out the Oaths.

The die vanished. "That last one was not quite fast enough, but I'll accept it. There shall be no punishments," the Warden of Fear declared. Twilight heard the orange night pony give off an audible pout. Yet another bad sign.

"Those that had to be warned are not to fail again in giving their Oaths. You've had your warning, from now on you shall give them promptly."

The fact that there had been pure terror in the voices of those that had been late in saying their Oaths gave Twilight a sick feeling in her stomach. These ponies were living in fear of the Dreamwardens. The idea of an entire tribe of ponies being governed by fear was horrible to consider. She couldn't help thinking of Nightmare Moon as well, and wondering if Luna was trying to re-establish herself here with the a resurgence of that old personality.

"Moving on," the Warden of Fear said loudly. "The reason we are all here today is that the night pony by the name of Shadow Dancer has been accused of using mind magic to forcefully alter the minds of a large number of humans so they want to be ponies. That is a disgusting misuse of mind magic."

Hisses and snarls echoed out across the entire amphitheatre and Twilight was taken a bit aback when Dan joined in with it. She took it as a positive sign that the night ponies felt so strongly about misuse of mind magic. Beside her Starlight shuffled in her seat.

The Warden of Fear was not done speaking. "Before we get into the details of the case against Shadow Dancer there are a few matters that need to be addressed. First being the fact that one of his accusers made those accusations public in front of day ponies, including the demand for judgement by me. It is not our intention to stay hidden forever, but we have made it clear that at this time knowledge of our existence should not have been compromised to the waking world's authorities. This is a violation of the vow of secrecy and requires punishment."

A door with light coming from around it's edges appeared in between the pillars. The door slowly swung open and it was not clear what was inside it, but a voice came from it. "Mandy... you should join me here, where you belong."

Twilight heard Melissa and Dan both gasp to her side,and she turned to look at them. Both of them were staring down at the door in horror.

"Gail? She can't be there, she's dead. I saw her die in front of me," Melissa said in a frightened tone.

Twilight turned back to look at the door with a concerned frown.

Out of the door stepped a pony and the sight of the pony made Twilight want to gag. The pony's fur color was impossible to tell because the entire body had been scorched black. The mane and tail were but a few scattered hairs. One eye was just a bloody mess and the other socket was completely vacant. Blood dripped and oozed from the pony in multiple places around the body. It had clearly once been a night pony by the wings, which were also a shredded mess. In the pony's fetlock a knife was gripped tightly and a rictus grin was on the pony's face as it stared at one of the ponies at the table that had a single night pony and pegasus seated at it.

"Face your fears, Tattered Wing," the Warden of Fear intoned.

"It's time for me to finally get my justice, Mandy," the wreck of a pony cackled.

The night pony from the table stood to her hooves. "No, not this...anything but this."

"Face your fears," the Warden of Fear said again coldly.

Several tendrils of darkness whipped out of the door and wrapped themselves around the frightened night pony. The night pony screamed in terror as the darkness tried to pull her towards the door.

The nightmare pony regarded the frightened pony and laughed. "What's wrong, Mandy? I thought you cared about justice. Come to me and get the justice you deserve for killing me! Join me in the grave."

The frightened pony screamed again as the darkness continued to pull on her and she was dragged from her chair. She wrapped both forehooves around the leg of the table and held on for dear life.

Surprisingly, this didn't cause the table to budge at all as the pony held on with the tendrils pulling her fiercely from behind.
Twilight couldn't stand by and watch this, it was too monstrous. She stood to her hooves and made ready to fly down to the pony's rescue and put an end to this. As she stood more tendrils of darkness appeared and pulled her back to her seat. She heard Dan, Melissa, and Starlight cry out and saw the same had happened to them.

The night pony version of the Warden of Lust shook a hoof at them. "Na na na, you won't be allowed to interfere with this."

"Watch me," Twilight growled as she charged up her horn for a teleport.

Something was wrong. She lifted a hoof up to her head and cried out in shock and fear when she realized her horn was gone.

"I told you, you don't get to interfere," the Warden of Lust repeated. "You may be an alicorn, but here that means nothing. We control what happens here, and there is nothing you can do to change that."

"This is wrong!" Twilight shouted at the orange pony. "You can't kill a pony for this!"

"Kill?" The Warden of Lust said in confusion. "Who said anything about kill? She'll survive this, it isn't a killing offense. Our methods might seem brutal to you, but they must learn that violations of their Oaths will not be tolerated. We aren't here to play all nice-nice about these things."

Twilight's response was cut off by Dan yelling from beside her. "Tattered! It isn't her! This isn't real! Face your fears!"

She looked back at the helpless night pony mare caught in this nightmare situation. The pony was still screaming and still holding onto the table. Out of the door emerged more figures. Another night pony mare that was also covered with burns, only this one was missing a wing. Behind that two night pony stallions followed after. One was leaking puss and blood from a dozen different places, and the other crawling on the ground since he was missing both his right legs. Twilight realized that the one crawling was Dan.

"You got off so easy while the rest of us suffered," the one winged mare sneered. "I had to give up so much because of you. I did things I would never have done just to escape the pain. It's all your fault!"

"Look at me! I can't even stand. You did this," Dan's doppelganger accused.

"The infections in my wounds took me while you were playing at being a leader," the oozing stallion said through gritted teeth. "The same leader that led us to die and suffer."

"I'm so sorry," the terrified mare wept as she continued to hold her grip on the table. "I didn't mean for it to happen."

Twilight could see that Luna was holding the two ponies at the other table back from coming to the mare's aid. Why wasn't Luna doing something to stop this? The Dreamwardens on their pillars stared down impassively at the mare's torture.
More tendrils of darkness lashed out from the door and ripped at the mare's wings, shredding them to pieces. The mare wailed in agony, but did not release her grip on the table.

"Oh, your wings got shredded? Boo hoo hoo," the one winged mare mocked. "At least you had something to heal!"

"That's not me, Tattered! I would never want you hurt more than you were!" Melissa yelled out.

More tendrils went out at the mare and wrapped themselves around her left wing. With a blood curdling sound of ripping and snapping her wing was severed from her body and pulled back into the door. Despite this the mare kept her grip on the table through her cries of pain.

"Come on, little dreamwalker, face your fears," the orange night pony version of the Warden of Lust pleaded out loud. It seemed this was too much even for her. "That's what Ms. Nightmares wants out of you. Please, just face your fears and end this quickly. We don't want you to have to keep suffering."

"Face your fears," the Warden of Fear intoned again.

Realization came to Twilight then. This wasn't just a punishment, this was some sort of lesson. A horrible, barbaric lesson, but a lesson all the same. The Dreamwardens wanted her to take something away from this other than just a fear of violating their Oaths. She couldn't condone what they were doing, but there was more to this than crime and punishment.

"Face your fears?" Dan's doppelganger said with a cruel laugh. "You're incapable of facing them. How long have I been kept out of sight and out of mind by you? You can't stand to see your handiwork."

"You don't really feel that way...do you?" Twilight heard the real Dan whisper.

"The question you should consider is if you feel that way, little dreamwalker," the Warden of Lust said to him.

"Of course I don't!" Dan snapped at the orange night pony.

"Then maybe when this is all over you should make sure she knows that," the Warden replied in a sad tone. "And watch your tone with me, little dreamwalker. I'm letting it slide for right now because I know you're under stress, but disrespect cannot be allowed. Snap at me again and your friend won't be the only one dealing with consequences."

Twilight had no idea how to take these ponies. They were so cruel, but showed undercurrents of kindness. The combination made them all the more disturbing and frightening.

Her attention snapped back to what was happening out in the court when she heard another pained scream. More of the blackness had come out of the door and this time it had ripped not a wing off, but two of the mare's legs! She was no longer grasping the table, but the tendrils were no longer trying to pull her back towards the door. She just lay at the foot of the table in an increasingly large pool of blood. Somehow she was still alive and not going into shock.

"Can't stand now can you?" Dan's doppelganger sneered. "But it's not like you ever could stand for anything anyway. You let that pegasus over there get away with murder, didn't you? You had the body of the pony she killed and you destroyed it, for some perceived greater good. Such a hypocrite to say you seek justice."

"What?" Melissa gasped. "That can't be true...Tattered wouldn't do something like that."

"Face your fears," the Warden of Fear said again. "You will not be allowed to break. You will face these."

Though it seemed impossible, Tattered Wing lifted her head up and turned towards the nightmare versions of her friends and slowly pulled herself around to face them.

"Oh look at that," the puss oozing one said with a laugh. "The little coward is finally looking at us. Maybe now that she's been ripped apart she isn't as bothered seeing what she's done."

"I... didn't...do this to you," Tattered Wing said in a haggard voice.

"What was that?" Gail asked as she stepped forward. "I don't think I heard you right."

"What...ha-happened to you wasn't...my fault," Tattered said while gasping for breath.

"You're deluding yourself if you think that," Gail replied with a frown.

"We were...trying to...protect. We all...chose to take...action. It was....the right thing to do," Tattered choked out.

"Yet you came out of it better than any of us," Gail said as she walked up to Tattered and stared down at her.

Tattered stared up at Gail. "Random chance."

The nightmare ponies vanished with her saying those last words. The door shut and then promptly vanished as well. In the next instant Tattered Wing was whole and healed where she lay on the ground, though she started sobbing again loudly.

As the black tendrils that were holding Twilight and the others released and vanished. The darkness of the Warden of Fear then condensed and formed the shadowy figure of a night pony. The Warden then glided down from her pillar and landed next to Tattered Wing.

"You've faced your fears and your punishment is served," the shadow figure said gently to the sobbing mare as it ran a hoof over Tattered's mane.

Tattered looked up at the Warden with tear filled eyes. "But I still feel those things though. They haven't gone away."

The Warden moved quickly and pulled the night pony from the ground and into an embrace. Tattered leaned into the embrace and laid her head on the Warden's shoulder and kept crying as the Warden hugged her tightly. Again the strange juxtaposition of cruelty and kindness made Twilight feel more on edge.

"You can't banish fears so easily," the Warden said. "You've taken a big step in getting to where you can though. You've admitted the truth. Hopefully someday soon your heart will believe the truth."

"You night ponies are insane," Twilight stated as she watched the two hugging. "Your Warden of Fear was just torturing that poor mare and now they are hugging like best friends."

"Um, Twilight. I kind of tortured you at one point and we're best friends," Starlight said in a low voice.

"It's not the same thing," Twilight answered with a hiss.

"That pony was torturing herself, and still is," the Warden of Lust said. "______ didn't torture her, or choose what that pony faced. She just brought the torture that was already there to the surface."

Twilight turned and looked at the orange mare. "That internal torture wasn't ripping off her limbs!"

The Warden shrugged. "This is a dream, so she didn't actually have any limbs ripped off. Plus, we have to remember that this was a punishment and not just a therapy session. Wouldn't be much of a punishment if they didn't feel very punished, now would it? She got her spanking, now it's over."

"That was a bit more than a spanking!" Twilight said incensed.

"What would you have us do instead?" The orange night pony asked.

"Not that!" Twilight said as she pointed out to the court.

"So, no suggestions then?" The Warden asked with a raised eyebrow. "If you have no better ideas then I advise you not condemn my sister for actually making use of this punishment to help better the blabbermouth."

"The psychological effect of what happened to her is bad enough!" Twilight yelled with white hot rage. "And what about all these ponies that were forced to watch that?! They could get trauma just from seeing that!"

"We buffer the effect of the experience for those going through it and those watching. Haven't you realized that you just watched that horror and the impact of it is already fading from your mind?" The Warden asked as she crossed her forelegs. "Do you think we're uncaring? They have to know that we'll not tolerate their violations. They don't have to stay traumatized by it. By the time you wake you will barely be able to recall what she went through, and she only a little more. This is a dream, and we govern what you can recall here. I could wipe the full memory if I chose to."

"You're monsters," Twilight growled. "This is wrong in so many ways."

The Warden of Lust frowned and took a deep breath. "We keep order. Do you understand what Sunset Shimmer made when she made night ponies here? The exaggerated instincts make for very difficult to control ponies without extreme measures. Hopefully in a few generations those instincts will lessen, and we don't have to be so firm. Giving a verbal scolding won't work with these ponies right now though; they won't respond to it, they won't respect it. They are warriors, every last one. They respect shows of force. They respect those that have the power to destroy them. They understand extremes so we give them extremes."

"It's wrong!" Twilight yelled.

The Warden glared at Twilight. "It's a fucked up situation and as a result you get a fucked up solution. I'm sorry you have to see the fallout of what your aunt has done, but we have to live it. We Dreamwardens were chosen because we won't break like Luna did when she had to deal with a similar situation. We don't get those buffers we give these ponies or you. We don't get shielded from the horrors we see. A pony like you would break in our position and be yet another Nightmare Moon. Fuck you and your righteousness, you pampered sheltered alicorn. We'll be monsters because we fucking have to be. Right now the world needs monsters so you don't have to deal with an even bigger problem than you already do. So sit your righteousness ass down and shut up, because we have two-million fucked up ponies to protect from themselves."

"And what about when the world no longer needs you?" Twilight asked in a low voice. "You effectively live forever. What does the world do when monsters rule dreams well after their need has past?"

The Warden shook her head. "I don't think any of us are going to be able to stay at this job for eons. We're a stopgap while things are being brought under control. I'd say two, maybe three hundred years tops--we hope anyway. Enough time for things to settle and for us to find replacements better suited for a kinder world. You might be under some delusion this can be fixed in a lifetime. This will take generations, but hopefully not too many."

Well, if anything that hardened Twilight's resolve that she would do everything in her power to fix the chaos that was going on due to her aunt's actions. She already had plenty of reasons to do all she could, adding having these six decide they could give their power over to others was just another.

Dan looked at the Warden of Lust in confusion. "Um, no offense intended, Dreamwarden, but I had a completely unrelated question that's been bothering me."

"What's that?" The Warden asked.

"Aren't you Chinese? You don't sound very Chinese," Dan asked sheepishly.

The Warden laughed in high contrast to her demeanor a moment before. "Dreams don't use language, I don't actually know a word of your language. We can communicate because we're expressing ideas and we understand the ideas being expressed. On top of that I've got way too many memories stuffed in my head from others' lives and I spend a lot of time dealing with dreams from your side of the world."

Twilight narrowed her eyes at the Warden. "What do you mean you have memories stuffed into your head?"

The Warden cocked her head. "It's a Dreamwarden thing. When we get bound we get to see everything about the previous Dreamwardens in our line. Want to know all about every pony Luna ever had sex with? I remember every one of them. I paid a lot of attention to those memories."

Twilight turned bright red in the face. "No... I'd rather you didn't. I didn't even realize she had those kinds of relationships."

The Warden laughed again. "Wait...you think that a pony over a thousand years old has never got it on in her life? Sure, she's been through a bit of a long drought, but you seriously think she's a virgin?"

"Not something I want to think about..." Twilight said through gritted teeth.

"You know, little alicorn, I think you have an unhealthy avoidance of sexual thoughts. I could help you by encouraging a few more kinky dreams," the Warden said, sounding completely serious, even sounding concerned for her.

Twilight went even redder in the face. She was not going to have this discussion, definitely not with this monster.

"Not only is that none of your business, but I don't think it is pertinent to what's going on today," Twilight said as she turned back towards the trial.

The Warden of Fear had reverted back to her twisting black mass's form atop her pillar. Tattered Wing was back in her seat at the desk. It looked like they had both just returned.

"Continuing on," the Warden of Fear said. "Shadow Dancer, please step forward to the center of the court."

The night pony stallion from the table that held him, Luna, and a crystal pony mare left his seat and walked calmly to the center of the court area and faced the Dreamwardens. Twilight silently applauded his courage to do that without hesitation after what had just happened to Tattered Wing.

The Warden of Fear gazed down at him. "Shadow Dancer, you stand accused by the two ponies sitting at the other table of using mind magic to forcefully alter the minds of a large number of humans so they desired to be ponies. How do you respond to this charge?"

The stallion stood still as he looked up at the Warden. "The charges are true. I do not deny them."

Hisses, snarls, and growls echoed throughout the amphitheatre once again. The Warden waited for them to cease before continuing. "By your admission you claim over five-thousand humans, is that correct?"

Twilight's eyes bulged. Five-thousand? One pony mind controlled five-thousand humans? She started to do math as she glanced around the amphitheatre. How many of these ponies had that ability? How many of them would it take to take complete control of a country or group of countries? He had only been a pony a month and a half. How many more could he had done that to in a year's time? The implications of the dangers night ponies presented were frightening.

"Since they are humans your claims are difficult for us to easily verify the numbers on," the Warden said. "I have gathered witnesses from among night ponies that saw you doing some of this on various different occasions. They have already been punished for their complacency in letting you do such actions. Still, even with their memories at my disposal I cannot verify that full number, only part. That forbidden activity happened is of no doubt though."

The stallion nodded in agreement.

The Warden continued. "The question of your guilt is settled before the trial has begun then. The matter we shall have argued before us is how you shall be sentenced and if any mercy should be given. Do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly, Dreamwarden," Shadow Dancer answered.

"Are you willing to give us to access your memories so we can see the full extent of what occurred?" The Warden asked.

"I have no objections," Shadow Dancer replied.

"I have objections!" The crystal pony yelled out.

The Warden of Fear turned its gaze to the crystal pony. "Your objections will be heard. Shadow Dancer, return to your seat. Those standing in defense of the guilty, please step to the center of the court."

Luna and the crystal pony did as instructed and walked to the center of the court area and faced the Dreamwardens.

"Why does he get an alicorn defending him!" The pegasus from the other table yelled out.

"Hush yourself, Tonya," the Warden scolded. "We shall address that matter in a moment. Until anypony is given permission to speak they're to keep silent going forward. I'll not allow these constant interruptions." The Warden turned its gaze back to the crystal pony. "Crystal pony, you shall tell the court your name, your relationship with the guilty, and why you stand here defending him today."

"I'm Crystal Dreams. Shadow Dancer is my best friend. I stand defending him because he's defended me many times and I don't want him to get hurt," the crystal pony answered.

The Warden turned its gaze to Luna. "And you, Luna, why are you standing in defense of this pony? I admit I'm surprised to see you doing this."

Luna stood tall and proud. "This is the first such trial you have had. I understand the pressure you're under to make a statement with his sentencing. I wish to do all I can to see he gets a fair sentencing, rather than one to just make a statement."

"We do not defer to Equestria or any other authority when choosing how to discipline our night ponies. Will you attempt to interfere with whatever sentence we declare if it isn't to your liking? Even if we decide to break this pony's mind?" The Warden asked.

"It is not my place to do so, nor will I do anything to interfere. I'll do all I can to argue for a fair sentence, and hope that you see fit to give him one," Luna answered.

"Very well then," the Warden replied. "You both may provide his defense. Please return to your seats."

"But my objection..." Crystal Dreams said as she failed to comply.

"Will be heard in time," the Warden of Fear replied. "Return to your seat and do not test my patience. Your eagerness to fight for your friend is commendable, but you must wait your turn. Day ponies are largely safe from any sort of punishment, but you can be dismissed as a defender. Test my patience with too many times speaking out of turn and you will find yourself a spectator to this trial in the seats."

Crystal Dreams seemed ready to protest more, but after Luna touched a wing to her just stopped and nodded before returning to her seat.

"Is the prosecution recovered enough to continue?" The Warden of Fear asked as it turned its gaze back to Tattered Wing and Tonya.

Tattered Wing stood up. "I'm ready to do what's needed of me."

Twilight blinked. This pony just went through an ordeal that should have her needing months if not years of counseling to get over and she was ready to go like it hadn't just occurred minutes before? Maybe the Warden wasn't exaggerating when she said they buffer the experiences and make them fade quickly. That was the only explanation about how this pony was already ready to get right back to task. It didn't make it any more right, but it was a sign they were being honest.

"The prosecution may stand before me now then," the Warden of Fear declared.

The night pony and pegasus got up and walked out to the center of the court area.

"Pegasus," the Warden said as it looked down at Tonya. "State your name and why you're pursuing justice against Shadow Dancer."

"Tonya Middleton is my name," Tonya replied. "I was the first to realize that something wasn't right about him. He is a threat to my town and my lover. I want them safe from him."

"And you Tattered Wing?" The Warden asked.

Tattered took a deep breath before answering. "I'm Tattered Wing and I had evidence gathered that Tonya's accusations were likely accurate. What he has done is a disgusting misuse of mind magic and I want him punished to the full extent possible so no other pony will dare to try something like this again."

"You two are acceptable in your roles as prosecution. You may take your seats until called again," The Warden said before turning it's gaze back to the defense. "You may stay at your table, but now you may offer up arguments about why we should be more lenient in punishment, offer up witnesses to back your claims, and tell us why you object to Shadow Dancer's memories being used."

Luna turned to Crystal Dreams. "I will save my arguments for later. For right now Crystal Dreams shall have her say."

Crystal Dreams stood up in her chair. "Well, for the not giving over his memories to be seen I say we claim the fifth."

Several of the Dreamwardens looked amused at this answer. The Warden of Lust laughed outright. Crystal Dreams looked at them all in confusion with her ears flattened.

The Warden of Fear spoke. "This is the dream realm, not the United States. There is no fifth amendment to invoke here. Even if there was, we specifically asked him for permission to access his memories to use as evidence and he agreed. He had the right to object and we would have respected his objection. He did not object. We will give another opportunity to object from him now as a courtesy though."

"I still don't object," Shadow Dancer said loudly.

Crystal Dreams rounded on him. "Are you crazy?!"

"We will give the defense a few moments of privacy so they can debate this matter among themselves and give us a final answer," the Warden of Fear said in an amused tone. "While you do that we shall remove the physics that allow sound to spread to the all ponies watching and make sure none can focus on your lips moving. These will be restored when you are ready."

Twilight was embarrassed that she had not noticed until that her ability to hear what was going on on the court exceeded her natural hearing levels, as well as her ability to see details like facial expressions and tears in ponies eyes. Now that these physics were removed the court seemed somehow more distant from her.

"You've been unusually quiet through all of this. I'd have thought you'd be speaking up about this too," she said to Starlight.

Starlight jumped as if startled. She had clearly been deep in her own thoughts. The unicorn turned to her and gave a weak smile. "Sorry, I was just thinking."

"About what?" Twilight asked. She noticed while she was speaking that the Warden of Lust had seemingly vanished without a word. Good riddance.

Starlight looked down and rubbed a foreleg absently. "I was thinking about what these ponies would have done to me. I've used mind magic recklessly in the past. They seem to have a special...well...hatred for ponies that do. The Dreamwardens might be the ones punishing ponies, but you heard how this crowd reacted to word of what Shadow Dancer did. I think that night ponies in general would show no mercy."

"That's our doing. A strong compulsion of disgust at the misuse of mind magic, though some clearly resist it obviously. It's an attempt to try to keep this thing from running rampant and giving us an information network to find out what abuses are happening in the waking world," came the Warden of Fear's voice from behind them.

Twilight and Starlight turned back in unison to see the speaker. A grey night pony mare with a green mane walked calmly up to them and took a seat. She was clearly young and smaller framed without a lot of extra weight on her, making her seem somewhat fragile. On her flanks was a picture of a pony skull for a cutie mark.

Twilight narrowed her eyes at the night pony. "You're the Warden of Fear? You seem a lot less intimidating than I expected."

The Warden gave a small chuckle. "Most things ponies fear are far less intimidating than they really are. Yes, I'm Phobia Remedy, the Warden of Fear."

Twilight blinked. "I can remember your name. Why're you letting me remember your name all of the sudden?"

"Take it as a sign of trust," Phobia said. "You won't be able to remember the others' names still, but you have mine. You could probably track me down in the waking world and I'd be almost as helpless against you there as you are against me here."

Twilight's looked at the pony suspiciously. "Why give me this information then? What do you have to gain by it?"

Phobia sighed. "As I said, I hope to gain a little trust. I understand your misgivings and apprehensive attitude about us, even hostility towards us. I have other reasons as well."

"Such as?" Twilight asked.

"Tattered Wing put us in a difficult position and Shadow Dancer compounded it. I'm doing damage control so our night ponies don't suffer," Phobia explained.

Twilight pointed out at the court. "I find it hard to believe you're concerned about their suffering when you torture even the prosecution of your trials."

"She was told this was coming. She didn't expect me to be gentle with her. You're free to discuss with her what happened after the trial is over," Phobia replied. "I don't expect this trial to take long. I already have a good guess what will be shown when we see his memories and I feel arguments on both sides for his sentencing will go quickly."

"A trial where he walks in guilty is kind of a farce," Twilight stated.

Phobia nodded. "A lot is for show, we have to impress the masses after all, but his sentencing may well come down to his memories and what arguments each side makes. I'm not sure what that outcome will be yet. The other five will vote on one of having his mind purged, a more lenient punishment, or letting him go with no punishment. If one option fails to get the most votes then I shall cast my vote. If there is still no clear winning vote after that we shall pass the vote to the night ponies watching."

"What do you consider lenient sentencing?" Twilight asked skeptically.

"Anything he can recover from is lenient. Tattered Wing's punishment would be considered extremely lenient," Phobia said impassively as she continued to watch Luna, Shadow Dancer, and Crystal Dreams speak.

"So more of your horrific torture," Twilight growled.

Phobia turned and looked her in the eyes. "I am under a great deal of pressure as the chief Dreamwarden of this first trial. What happens today will set a precedent for how other trials will follow. It also let's night ponies get expectations about what they can get away with. I have to convince overly aggressive night ponies that using their most powerful tools in their arsenal is not an option, and at the same time I don't want to be overly cruel. I'm not lying when I say I'm open to suggestions. You didn't give my sister any, but maybe you'll have some for me."

With how angry Twilight had been feeling about these Dreamwardens she actually had to force herself to not give another angry retort. Phobia Remedy seemed to be completely honest in asking for advice.

"You could set up a system where you can turn these ponies over to human authorities. Remove yourself from passing judgement," Twilight suggested.

Phobia shook her head. "I think it has merits, but there are a lot of problems with it. We deal with all night ponies, and they're all over the globe. Many governments would be uncooperative with us. It's also not likely at this time that the night ponies will willingly submit to any government authority, especially when those governments don't have any ponies in them. Human authorities are also very helpless in dealing with mind magic. Crystal ponies can help a little, but they're vulnerable in their dreams."

"There are definitely issues and concerns, but something can be worked out," Twilight insisted.

Phobia shook her head. "It has long term merits, and we're already considering how we shall work with governments when we do come out. The current situation has forced me to put out feelers on that. That's why Melissa over there is even here today. It's a risk, but something had to be done. Coming out is not happening yet though. We aren't to a point where everything is settled enough. What would you have me do today knowing that I have a judgement that needs to be made?"

Twilight had an answer ready. "Give him a path to redemption, some sort of rehabilitation. Not this senseless torture."

"Night ponies need to be discouraged from following in his hoovesteps," Phobia asserted. "Seeing him just get a scolding won't work. If we keep him intact mentally after this I intend to make use of him and give him a chance to fix what he's done. We can't let him go without sending a message to the other night ponies."

"Not every night pony is going to be a problem," Twilight snapped.

"Enough will be," Phobia said as she gestured to the other seating areas. "I've been watching you since you got here. I saw you doing the math in your head. How many night ponies does it actually need to be in order to cause a widespread problem? You've seen the exaggerated instincts in place in all kinds of ponies, so how likely do you think it is that those potential problem ponies won't do things if left to their own devices?"

"You could shut them all out of the dream realm. That way the crystal ponies could keep them in check," Twilight offered weakly. She hated that she didn't have any good answers. The Dreamwardens' concerns were legitimate on all accounts. Their methods were what's wrong. The problem was she couldn't figure out what the right answers were.

"Lock them out of the dream realm?" Phobia scoffed. "We do that to a minority already, and only because we can reverse that if need be. Did you know that's a horrible torture in itself? Let's discuss cutting off every unicorn's horn while we're at it or grounding every pegasus. Most night ponies would rather take far worse torture than what you saw than be cut off from here. It's literally having half their life stripped from them."

Twilight went wide-eyed for a moment at that. Maybe she actually needed to learn more about night ponies before making suggestions. There was definitely going to be a major research session after this. She'd never taken a huge interest in finding out about night ponies back home. They were a very reclusive tribe and she never actually had any night ponies she knew well, and had met very few at all. She'd probably learned more about night ponies since coming to Earth than she had learned back in Equestria before two months ago. Her knowledge on them was still dreadfully lacking.

"Alright, let's just admit I'm not qualified to give any good answers at this time," she finally said in defeat. "That doesn't make the way you're doing things any better."

"There really isn't any pony qualified for the job at the moment," Phobia said with a sigh. "Your Equestrian night ponies aren't going to understand our night ponies' needs and concerns. Luna can't deal with here and Equestria both, and she's far too soft hearted to deal with millions of ponies living in fear of her again. Our night ponies, including the current Dreamwardens, have screwed up as hell instincts. It's a mess. I wish we had better answers, but we don't."

"Why are you talking to me if you don't think I have any answers?" Twilight asked.

Phobia considered her silently for a few seconds before answering. "I'm just opening a dialogue. The Dreamwardens aren't going anywhere and you're trying to do all you can to play peacemaker between humans and ponies. Luna might act as our go between when dealing with Equestrians typically, but I want you to have the option of going to us directly if need be. At some point we're going to make ourselves public and having you in the loop on our doings is probably a good idea."

"That might be a problem since I can't dreamwalk. I'm dependent on Luna for that," Twilight explained.

"Actually you can dreamwalk, you just don't know how," Phobia replied. "You don't have a naturally affinity to it like Luna does, but I'm pretty sure all alicorns can be taught to dreamwalk if they take the time. I haven't observed Celestia or that foal since they haven't slept in this world yet, but you and Cadance have the capability."

Twilight narrowed her eyes again. "You've been spying on us in our sleep?"

"Not really," Phobia answered. "Alicorn dreams are just highly noticeable and we can't help but notice when you sleep here. I can feel the minds of every pony in this shared dream, and the feel of your mind says you're capable of dreamwalking."

"I'd appreciate it if you keep out of my dreams then," Twilight said sternly. "As for me learning how to dreamwalk, I'll consider asking Luna to help me with that sometime in the future, but it's not a priority right now."

"As you wish," Phobia said as she looked back at the court. "The trial is about to resume. Luna has finally talked that combative crystal pony down."

Twilight looked back at the court. The Warden of Fear--which may have been Phobia as well, but she labeled it differently in her head--had turned its attention back to the table with Luna and the others.

"Crystal Dreams withdraws her objection to having Shadow Dancer's memories put on display," Luna announced.

"We shall proceed immediately with displaying them then," the Warden of Fear said in response.

A moment later images began to play out like a movie in the stars beyond the Dreamwardens' pillars. The image was from some darkened alleyway somewhere, as seen from above. Crystal Dreams was running from three humans and was now cornered.

"Leave me alone!" The frightened crystal pony shouted. "I wasn't hurting anypony."

"Stupid little slut. You think you're gettin out of things because you're a god damned pony now?" The man in front demanded. "You knew this was comin when you couldn't pay me back for all that crystal and I couldn't pimp you out anymore."

"I don't want the meth anymore. There's still some back at my apartment, you can go take it. Take anything you want there, just leave me alone," Crystal Dreams begged in tears.

The man advanced on her menacingly. "Oh, we will take it. We got to make an example of you though. Can't have sluts thinkin they can get out of payin for their crystal. Fact that you a pony just means we doin everyone a favor by putting you out of your misery. Ironic the meth head turned out to be a crystal pony, maybe we can grind you up do someone can snort you."

"Please, leave me alone," the Crystal Dreams begged again as she cowered in a corner.

The image shifted and Twilight realized they were viewing straight from Shadow Dancer's eyes. He came down and bowled the lead human over with his dive and came in for a landing a few feet away and faced them.

"The mare said leave her alone. She isn't hurting you, and she's done with your damn poison. So get out of here," Shadow Dancer said to them.

The man stood back up, rubbing his head. "God damned sack of leather, all you damned ponies need to all be taken to the god damned glue factory."

"You damned meth dealers need to have some ponies knock you around some more. I'm sick of you bastards hanging around this neighborhood, dragging it down, peddling your poison. This used to be a good neighborhood," Shadow Dancer growled.

The man advanced towards Shadow Dancer as the other two humans spread to the sides to flank him. "Funny thing to say from a damned pony. Whole damn town is a fuckin barnyard now. We're going to have to do some public service and put some ponies down."

"You're just mad that most your customers got freed from being hooked on your shit. Go somewhere else," Shadow Dancer said as he backed away.

"Well, meth heads will always sit there fuckin for some green to get more crystal. They spread that fuckin pony STD around fast as they could spread their legs. I can get more buyers, but I get some satisfaction out of seein you fuckers bleedin on the ground. You weren't worth much as humans and now you're worth nothin as ponies," the man said as he gestured for his companions to close in.

"You are the one that's nothing. You're just upset you were left as nothing. You want to be a pony. You will leave that poor mare alone and you will go home and think about how you got left out as a piece of trash," Shadow Dancer snarled.

Then inexplicably the three humans staggered and fell to the ground. Crystal Dreams looked up in shock, clearly not believing what just happened.

"Come on! While they're down, get out of there and we can go find the police!" Shadow Dancer yelled to her.

Crystal Dreams didn't hesitate after that. She stood up and ran past the downed men and past Shadow Dancer. As soon as she passed him he turned and followed her out of the alley and into the street.

The audience all saw Shadow Dancer's hoof point to a police car. "Over there. We can tell the police and have them deal with those creeps. They won't bother you anymore."

They went to the police car and knocked hard on the passenger side door. It took a moment for any response to happen, but the driver's side door opened up and a female officer stepped around and pointed a gun at them.

"Step away from the car and keep still," the officer said as she kept the gun leveled at them.

"Why are you pointing a gun at us!? We didn't do anything wrong," Crystal yelled in panic.

"Attacking an officer is a serious crime," the policewoman said harshly. "Now lay down on the ground! Down now, or I'll shoot!"

"What?!" Shadow Dancer said in shock. "We didn't attack any officers!"

"You were pounding on the police car, seems like you were attacking to me," the officer said with conviction. "Now down on the ground! You ponies are all crazy and I don't want you pulling any stunts!"

"We didn't do anything! Why're you being so mean?" Crystal wept. "This isn't fair!"

"On the ground!"

Shadow Dancer wasn't taking it though. "No! You will listen to us! You will stop pointing that gun at us! You will stop treating ponies this way! You will do your job and go arrest those creeps that tried to assault her!"

The officer staggered just like the drug dealers before her. Crystal Dreams could be seen looking on in shock again.

"What're you doing to them? How do you keep doing that?" Crystal asked wide-eyed in confusion.

A shake in the vision indicated Shadow Dancer was shaking his head. "I don't know, but I think we need to get out of here. We might not have assaulted an officer before, but I'm pretty sure whatever that is counts."

The two took off down the street at a full run.

The memory shifted and now it was night. The angle of the view indicated Shadow Dancer was perched on a building again. Below him were a group of about a dozen humans holding signs and shouting at the building.

"Cart them off, we don't want them here!"

"They aren't human anymore. Who knows what they'll do!"

"They probably are still infected and can still spread it to everyone else. They need to be taken away from here for everyone's safety!"

"We don't want any more ponies in town!"

Shadow Dancer flew down in front of the building and the humans all stepped back several steps like he was contagious still.

"All of you just need to get out of here. We aren't hurting any of you. We just want to be left in peace," Shadow Dancer said firmly. "Don't make me knock you around. I'm not going to let you keep scaring the ponies at this shelter."

A human picked up a rock and hurled it at Shadow Dancer. Shadow Dancer staggered as the rock struck his face.

Staring at the ground Shadow Dancer could be heard muttering, "Damn fucking humans. I'm getting really sick of this kind of shit. Ponies aren't hurting anyone, it's just these stupid humans time and time again. Whole world would be better off if we were all ponies."

He pulled himself back to his hooves and faced the protesters. "Now listen here! You humans will figure out were better off as ponies. You will leave this place and stop harassing your betters!"

Again the humans all staggered and Shadow Dancer took a step back.

"What the hell? How do I keep doing that?" He muttered as he watched the humans steady themselves.

The humans still all seemed dazed as they all started looking at each other.

One human dropped his sign. "I'm out of here. This was a stupid idea anyway. Ponies aren't bothering anyone."

Another human followed suit. "Yeah, don't know why I even got involved with this. We don't see ponies yelling at hotels full of humans."

The human that threw the rock held his head as he looked at Shadow Dancer with a still dazed expression. "I'm sorry about that...I don't know why I did that. I think I'm going to go home and lay down."

One by one they abandoned the area with comments about how this was stupid, how they didn't know how they got involved in this, and apologize for their behavior. Finally when it was just down to one last woman she looked at Shadow and shook her head before walking off.

"We're all probably better off as ponies anyway," the woman said as she walked away.

After all the humans departed the door could be heard creaking open and several ponies came outside.

"You did it again," Crystal said to Shadow Dancer. "You're our savior, you know that? At least mine, since you've come to my rescue three times now. I'm really starting to hate humans with them treating us so bad all the time."

"I think I figured it out..." Shadow Dancer said slowly.

Crystal looked at them hopefully. "You know how to keep making the humans stop being mean to us?"

"Yes, I do."

The memory shifted again. Shadow Dancer used his powers on several police officers that were refusing to help a pony.

The memory shifted again. Shadow Dancer used his powers at another protest.

The memory shifted again. He used his powers on a group of humans that were yelling insults at a pony.

The memory shifted again. He was using his powers on a food kitchen that had a sign up about no ponies allowed.

The memory shifted again. More police officers.

The memory kept shifting. A common thread ran through it all. He went after those that were hostile to ponies time and time again. These weren't random decisions. Always he had some sort of compulsion making them think they were better off as ponies. There was a lot of law enforcement, far too many for Twilight's liking, not that she cared for how many other hostile humans there were.

This continued on for a long time and Twilight was staggered by the numbers. By the time she was done watching she almost started feeling disgusted by humans with the constant cruelty Shadow Dancer saw. Of course, these were just his memories of when he used his powers so it was a pretty biased cross section view of the population.

"Three-thousand-nine-hundred-forty-two," the Warden of Fear declared. "That's how many victims I counted. It seems you did exaggerate slightly, but not nearly as much as I expected."

"They can hardly be called victims," Shadow Dancer said darkly.

"It does not give enough justification for what you did," the Warden answered coldly. "That is nearly four-thousand cases of mind control without consent. I consider that nearly four-thousand cases of rape--worse than rape even."

Shadow Dancer kept silent.

The Warden of Fear turned to the prosecution table. "Do either of you have any witnesses to call upon or anything to say about what has just been seen?"

The two mares at the table glanced at one another briefly. Tonya then shook her head. "I've got nothing. I really don't feel comfortable pushing for extreme punishment. I'd recommend something not so harsh."

Tattered Wing glared at the pegasus in disgust. "Of course you'd say that." The night pony then turned back to the Dreamwardens. "I have no witnesses to call on. Those memories speak for themselves. No matter how he tries to justify it there are about four-thousand humans that pony mind controlled. That is beyond disgusting. A pony like that can't be allowed to do that sort of thing again."

"The prosecution's opinions on the case have been noted," the Warden of Fear said in a neutral tone. It turned its attention back to the defense. "Are there any witnesses that the defense wishes to bring forth to influence our opinion and do you have anything to say about the memories that we have just witnessed?"

Luna looked down at Crystal Dreams and nudged the pony. Crystal Dreams stepped out from behind the table and faced the Dreamwardens.

"I'm the only witness I have to call," the crystal pony said. "Shadow Dancer is a good pony that just wanted to protect us. He was the first pony...the first person at all to show me kindness and compassion in a long time. You can disagree with his methods, but his intent was to make things better. He did make things much better for so many of us in Augusta. Those same humans that he used his powers on are better for it too. They aren't cruel to ponies anymore. He never used his powers on a human that was kind to ponies either. You can't punish him for this! You can't take my friend away!"

"Your words are noted," The Warden of Fear said before turning her attention to Luna. "Luna, these others have nothing left to say. Now is the time for you to have your say. Do you have any witnesses or final words for us before the votes are cast?"

Luna stood and faced the Dreamwardens. "Shadow Dancer has done wrong, there is no doubt. What is also evident is that he demonstrates a strong desire to protect rather than to dominate. This pony can be redeemed, and I say you would be doing a disservice to yourselves if you did not make an attempt to do so. I understand your need to make a statement that will be loud and clear to the night ponies. I urge you to make a statement showing you can be merciful."

"Your words are noted," the Warden of Fear said stoically. "The time to determine Shadow Dancer's fate has come. Warden of Lust how do you vote?"

The seapony seemed to be unsure and looked between both tables hesitantly. She then hung her head. "I vote no punishment, with the caveat that he be watched and supervised going forward."

"Warden of Death, how do you vote?"

The skeleton looked down at Tonya for some reason. "Full mind wipe. The numbers are just too great for me to ignore."

"Warden of Silence, how do you vote?"

The minotaur made some gestures with his hands.

"The Warden of Silence votes for lenient punishment," the Warden of Fear declared. "Warden of Anger, how do you vote?"

"Full mind wipe. He knew the rules and violated them," the flaming pony snapped.

"Warden of Peace, how do you vote?"

"Lenient punishment. This one can be rehabilitated," the stag said calmly.

"We have two votes each for mind wipe and lenient punishment, and one for no punishment," the Warden of Fear said. "I shall take a moment to consider my vote."

Twilight turned to Phobia. "You could vote for no punishment and create a three way tie. That could send the vote out to the night ponies. You can remove yourself from this that way."

"That would end in him getting his mind wiped. I've been monitoring the crowd and they want blood," Phobia said with a shake of her head. "There are only two options, lenient or mind wipe, there is no chance of escape for him. Since I have to make a statement with this trial there can only be one real choice."

Twilight laid her ears back. They were going to wipe his mind, essentially executing this pony. All to make a statement. These Dreamwardens didn't care about justice.

"My vote is for lenient punishment," the Warden of Fear declared and Twilight exhaled with relief. "With that carrying the most votes lenient punishment shall be done. Your mind shall stay intact."

Twilight turned to Phobia. "Thank you for doing the right thing."

Phobia raised an eyebrow at her. "Don't thank me yet. I haven't detailed his punishment yet."

The Warden of Death continued. "As for your punishment. Don't think you will not suffer because we said lenient. What Tattered Wing endured earlier in court will be a pleasant experience compared to what's coming for you."

Shadow Dancer bowed his head. "I'm prepared to hear what you have in mind."

The Warden condensed itself down to a shadow of a pony again and stared down at Shadow Dancer. "First, you will endure punishment from each and every Dreamwarden in our individual manners. After that we are stripping you of your ability to dreamwalk. Following that you will not be allowed in public without a night pony of our choosing with you at all times to supervise you. If there is so much as a hint that you have fallen back into your old ways there will be no trial next time. You will wake staring vacantly with no mind behind your eyes."

Shadow Dancer shivered. "I understand Dreamwarden."

The shadow cocked its head. "Your mind magic shall not go to waste though. I shall instruct you in how to undo the compulsions you have done. You will learn how and you will go to each and every human you used your powers on and undo what you have done. You'll then try to keep their respect for ponies with no mind magic making them do so."

"I understand, Dreamwarden."

The Warden looked up at the audience. "This trial is at an end and all are free to go. You may also mingle here if you wish, we shall keep this shared dream active for a few hours yet."

And with that the six Dreamwardens vanished from their pillars.

Twilight sat and tried to process how she felt about the final judgement. She had some seriously mixed feelings.

"I think Dan and Melissa would appreciate being taken down to see their friend. They may all need a hug together," Phobia said softly. "Luna shall be expecting you down there as well. I'm going to being consulting with the Warden of Peace about some good psychology schools. It's not much, but it's a start to trying to do better. I'm pregnant, so it might be a delay starting, but I'm going to do what I can to improve."

It was still a struggle equating this frail looking mare with the fearsome entity that was in control of the court. It was hard to say what she thought of Phobia Remedy either. Complicated feelings for a complicated pony. That Phobia was grey furred was appropriate, because that's what her nature was; not good, not evil, just the grey in between.

For right now Twilight would take the Dreamwarden's suggestion. She had a lot to question Luna about.

Chapter 70**

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 71

Devon was feeling upbeat as she worked on packing the bedroom. She finally had gotten to get a change of clothes and wash her hair properly with shampoo and conditioner. For the first time in days she felt completely clean and it improved her general mood dramatically.

Jessie followed close by her as she worked, watching her activity with keen interest. Devon had earlier had to stop what she was doing to do a thorough trash pick up around the room because Jessie had decided to make herself helpful by bringing to her every little bit of scrap of anything the filly could grab in her mouth. Jessie had initially been very upset when she no longer had scraps of paper and discarded tissues to bring to Devon to pack up, but seemed to have gotten over this now.

Now Devon sat going through what was essentially a junk drawer at the top of her dresser trying to separate out what was unneeded from what ended up going to Riverview.

The issue was she kept coming across photos that had been put into the drawer. Paul had this old Polaroid camera and a large amount of film for it that he had gotten from a local garage sale. As a result there were lots of Polaroid photos of her and Robby that she kept coming across and looking over.

She looked over the photos of old birthday parties for Robby. Here was one from his first birthday. Robby was coated in chocolate cake that he had decided to mush up and smear on everything rather than eat. He looked completely proud of himself and happy despite having chocolate smeared all over his highchair, face, hands, and hair. He had the biggest grin on his face as he faced the camera with chocolaty hands spread wide as if showing his handiwork to all.

Another photo showed his first day of kindergarten. He was wearing a shirt showing one of those weird sci-fi pirate ships from the recent live action remake of Treasure Planet which had been really popular the summer before he started school. He was squinting at the camera and she remembered that he had been due for an optometrist appointment before ETS broke out because they were worried he might have some vision problems.

Vision problems seemed unlikely to be a problem anymore, or at least Devon hoped. With her son now having much larger eyes she wasn't sure what could be done about glasses.

Speaking of glasses she was going to have to figure out where to get new contacts for herself. She'd been running without her perscription contacts since shortly after Jessie's birth and she really needed those before the new school year started in the fall, preferably before then.

This was going to be an interesting school year as she was going to have to figure out how to redesign some of her staple lesson plans to accommodate students with no hands. Sure there wasn't much writing to do in art class, but there were common tasks like folding paper and cutting things with scissors that she wasn't sure how or if a foal was capable of accomplishing. She had a feeling there would be a lot of drawing going on. Perhaps she could try shaping clay? Maybe that could be done with hooves?

She shook her head. She'd just have to figure these things out on her feet, or maybe try some things out with Robby and see what he was capable of doing. What he was capable of doing in any set of tasks was still a pretty big mystery. She had gotten comfortable with the idea of him holding objects in his hooves and had gotten some idea how he could do other tasks by watching other ponies doing them. There was a lot that still seemed impossible for him though.

She didn't want to treat him like he was crippled but the tendency to think that way was there. The abilities he had gained might balance them out, but they weren't easily noticable to her. His hearing was much better than human hearing, but human hearing was good enough on it's own. He would eventually be able to fly, but that wasn't something he was able to do now and didn't translate into any job skill for most jobs.

His biggest new ability was the dreamwalking, and that still unnerved her more than anything else. Before Paul had laid down on the couch to try to get some sleep he had let her know that Robby had been talking to her mother in his dreams on the car ride here. The fact that this wasn't simply a dream but him really talking to his grandmother was a problem that neither she her or Paul knew how to deal with. Her mother was so changed in personality that until she had a better idea what she was dealing with when dealing with her mother she really didn't want Robby spending a lot of time with her. There was just no telling what kinds of ideas her mother would put into his head. It hurt that she didn't trust her mother, but the fact was she didn't at the moment.

"Momma?"

She turned to the doorway and saw Robby looking distressed.

"Honey, what's wrong?" She asked as she walked over to him.

Robby started crying. "Miss Phobia made me stay in my dreams today. She wouldn't let me dreamwalk."

Devon put a hand to her mouth and considered this. She wouldn't consider this a bad thing, but it clearly had him upset.

"Did she say why you weren't allowed to dreamwalk?"

Robby wiped his eyes. "She said something important was happening that all the other night ponies were going to watch, but that I was too little and she didn't want me watching."

The trial. There was supposed to be some sort of trial or something today. Phobia had been very vague about it. Something about a night pony being punished. Whatever it was, it probably wasn't something Robby should have been watching. She gave the Dreamwarden a silent thanks in her head for taking the time to think about Robby.

"Well, I'm sure it would just be adult things that you would find very boring. You wouldn't have wanted to be there anyway," Devon assured him.

"But she locked me in my dream so I couldn't go anywhere, and only let me out right before I woke up. It was like being grounded, only worse. It wasn't fair," Robby pouted.

"You've gone most of your life without dreamwalking. I'm sure that a few hours asleep not being able to isn't the worst thing in the world," Devon assured him.

"You just don't understand. If you were a night pony you'd understand," Robby cried as he retreated from the room.

There it was, one of the most dreaded comments that she could get from Robby. She knew that he didn't mean it the way she was taking it, but it hurt all the same. She'd been doing really well, building up her confidence about dealing with foals despite worry hanging like a shadow around the edges of her thoughts. Now it came crashing back down on her again with the bitter reminder that there were things that she just didn't and couldn't understand.

The normal list of self-reprimandations started playing through her head. She should have been more careful during her pregnancy so Jessie would have been born on time. She didn't know what she did wrong, but she must have done something. They should have kept Robby with them at the hospital rather than have someone else watch him. They should have argued to be infected too when it became clear this was transforming humans, just so they could follow along with their children. She should be pushing Robby to rehumanize rather than letting a child make that kind of choice.

She sat down on the bed and grabbed a pillow. She then put it up to her face and screamed into it for a good few seconds to vent her frustrations.

A strange sound made her pull the pillow from her face.

Down near her legs Jessie had buried her muzzle into the side of the bed and was letting off a muffled high pitch squeal in imitation of Devon. Devon bit down on her lip as she looked at her daughter and couldn't help the urge to start laughing. The little filly looked up at her and gave off a now happy squeal that she had seemingly pleased her mother.

Devon smiled as she reached down and picked her daughter off the floor and sat her on the bed. She then brushed some stray mane that was starting to fall into Jessie's eyes.

"Momma's going to have to give you a haircut, baby girl," she said as she continued to push stray hairs from Jessie's eyes.

The little filly's eyes drifted to Devon's hand, watching it closely. Devon's breath caught as Jessie then brought a forehoof up and examined it turn. It seemed that she couldn't catch a break from her foals noting that she wasn't like them. This time there was no jealous for attention pegasus foal to distract Jessie.

She brought her hand down to be next to Jessie's hoof so the filly could see them side by side. The earlier Jessie started figuring this out the less chance there would be some sort of backlash later. Teaching a child that was not even a full two months old these things seemed ludicrous, but Jessie had shown she had far greater understanding of things than her age would normally allow. Ponies might develop language comprehension skills earlier than humans, but they also were supposed to develop speaking skills later than a human would. Jessie had already said her first word despite that and was just now trying to emulate actions. It was clear evidence rather than simple parental pride that said Jessie was gifted with exceptional intelligence.

"Momma's different than you, baby girl. I'm not going to try to stop you from figuring that out," she said in a low voice.

The filly held her hoof over Devon's fingers examining the differences carefully. She did a few hesitant touches of her hoof to Devon's fingers and Devon spread them wide. The filly frowned at her hoof and tried to puzzle out how to copy the action, but clearly was at a loss on how to do so.

Before Jessie could get upset about her failure to spread her non-existent fingers, Devon brought her fingers back together and raised her palm of her hand for Jessie to look at. The filly blinked and raised her hoof up and touched it to Devon's palm like a pony giving greetings.

"That's how you're suppose to say hello," Devon instructed. She wasn't sure if Jessie was capable of understanding the concept of a greeting, but maybe she should encourage Robby and Paul to start greeting her that way so the concept would take hold. She had a feeling Jessie would get the idea down quickly as long as everyone was consistent with it.

Jessie patted her hoof against the hand a few times and looked at her expectantly.

"Very good, you're such a smart filly, baby girl. Momma loves you so much," Devon said with a smile.

"Momna?" Jessie said inquisitively as she tapped her hoof on the hand a few more times.

Devon's breath caught again as Jessie uttered her second slightly garbled word, though a far more clear one than her first had been.

Devon grinned widely. "That's right! I'm Momma." She brought her other hand around so Jessie could see it then laid the hand on her chest. "Momma." Then she took the hand and touched Jessie's side with it. "Jessie."

Jessie blinked and seemed to be trying to figure this out. Devon pulled Jessie into her lap to try again.

She gently took Jessie's hoof and touched it to her chest. "Momma." She then moved the hoof back to Jessie. "Jessie." Then released the hoof.

Jessie then tried to copy the action touching her hoof to Devon's chest. "Momna?"

Devon nodded with excitement. "Yes, that's right."

Jessie brought her hoof back to herself. "Yezzee?"

Devon clapped her hands and cheered. "Yes! You're Jessie! That's three words for you now. You're so incredibly smart. I'm so proud of you."

The filly laughed and squealed at Devon's enthusiasm and praise. And repeated the word happily while giggling and squirming. "Yezzee, Yezzee!"

"What's wrong?" She heard Robby say as he came hurrying into the room with his wings outspread.

Jessie pointed a hoof at Robby and excitedly identified him. "Baba!"

"Very good, again!" Devon praised her daughter. "That's your brother." She then turned to Robby. "You're little sister is learning new words. She learned to say momma and her name. Can you do me a favor and come over here to hoof touch her. I want her to try getting the idea of greeting embedded."

Robby looked at her in confusion. "Um, I don't know what that means--embedded."

Devon smiled. "It means I want her to firmly understand that she's supposed to say hello like that. Come greet me first then greet your sister."

"Oh, okay," Robby said as he obediently came forward.

Devon reached down and extended her palm out for Robby. Robby put her hoof up to it and touched it. She then withdrew her hand and grabbed up Jessie and held her out towards Robby. Robby extended a hoof out to her and Jessie looked at it in confusion.

"Touch his hoof, Jessie. Say hello to your baba," Devon instructed.

"Baba!" Jessie said in excitement at hearing her word for Robby, she still didn't hoof bump him though. Devon sighed and set Jessie back down on the bed. Well, Jessie couldn't be expected to figure everything out right away. Still, tripling her vocabulary was a huge achievement.

She looked at her son. "Is your dad awake yet?"

Robby shook his head. "I don't think so. I can hear him snoring right now."

Devon couldn't hear anything, but took her son's word for it. "Well, I'm going to see about waking him up and getting us dinner. I want you to go to your room and start getting all your toys you have sorted into two piles. The ones you want to keep and the ones that you want to give away. Can you do that for me?"

Robby's ears flattened. "I have to give away my toys?"

"Only the ones you don't want."

"Why wouldn't I want my toys?" Robby asked in confusion.

Devon considered a gentle way of saying it, but decided that there just wasn't a good way of doing so. "Because some of your toys might be harder for you to play with now that you don't have hands. Or you might have just lost interest in some of them. I promise that after we move I'll find you a bunch of new toys you'll like much better, but you have to make room for me to give them to you. Can you try doing that for me?"

Robby looked doubtful. "Okay... I'll try, but I'm not sure I want to give up any of my toys."

She could already think of a few that would be a struggle for him to use, electronic toys with buttons that were too close together and too small for him to easily manipulate with hooves. Maybe she should sit down with him later and go over each one with him. She'd promised herself that she wasn't going to pressure him to rehumanize, but showing him in a balanced way what he lost by staying a pony to what he gained by staying one seemed like a good idea. It wasn't right that she not give him a well rounded view of both.

As Robby left for his room she carefully set Jessie back down on the floor before standing back up.

"Come on, baby girl. It's time to wake your daddy up and see about getting everyone some food. Maybe we can see if you can deal with a little solid food now that you're almost two months old," Devon said.

Most of that probably didn't register to Jessie, but she had heard come on baby girl enough times to know what that meant. The filly stood up and ready to follow.

Devon walked out of the bedroom with Jessie hot on her heels. A quick glance in Robby's bedroom showed that he was doing as instructed. The colt was currently making a pile of action figures in one corner, and it was unclear with the scattered mess in the room if there was a second pile yet. She spied a few things that would probably need to go into that second pile; a football and a whiffle bat. The football in particular she saw no functional way he could throw and trying catching it might seriously hurt him.

She walked into the living room and found that Paul was indeed passed out on the couch with the television still on Cartoon Network for the sake of Robby.

She came over and gave Paul a light shake. "Wake up. I need you to watch the foals so I can see about making dinner."

"Can't we just call in some delivery?" Paul muttered sleepily.

"I'm not sure who has delivery services actually working. Most the people that did those kinds of jobs ended up getting ETS. Any job that had a lot of contact with a lot of different people is kind of decimated on workforce right now," Devon said calmly.

"Chinese place down the street had a sign up saying they were still doing deliveries," Paul said as he rolled over and faced her. "We can order noodles and rice for Robby and something with chicken in it for us."

"Some meat would be nice," Devon admitted. Most of the food they had in the house was canned vegetables, mac n cheese, and cereal. There was some fish, but she was pretty sure it was freezer burned. She didn't want to be cooking meat with the foals around either, since that would probably kill their appetites. Stuff that was already cooked had less of a strong smell though.

"Okay, I'll give them a call," Devon conceeded, "but we can't make a habit of this. We don't have incomes at the moment, and I don't have any easy access to the money we were loaned unless we drive back to Riverview to get it. All we have is what was in the bank before all this started, and there's only a few hundred dollars to get us through the month."

Paul sat up. "Well, we could try shortening it from a month. If we push hard we could probably have everything ready to go in two weeks. Not sure if the house in Riverview will be ready to receive our stuff by then, but we could figure something out."

Devon shook her head. "No, if we finish early we should probably help Amanda and Tom out. They could use some extra hands...no pun intended."

"We'll watch our spending then," Paul replied. "Robby say anything about visitations in his dreams?"

"Phobia apparently locked him in his dream while that trial thing was happening."

"Good," Paul said as he sat up. "There's no reason to expose him to that crap yet."

Devon sat down beside him. "He was really distressed about it though. I honestly don't know how big a deal it is to have him confined to his dreams now that he's dreamwalking."

"He's probably just being a kid and overreacting," Paul assured her.

Devon sighed. "Hopefully." She then smiled and pointed to Jessie. "Your daughter learned some new words. She said momma...or momna anyway, and can almost say her name. She can't get her s or j sounds out right, but she's clearly trying to say her name."

Paul smiled and turned to bend down to the filly. "Is that so? Who's the smart little filly?"

Jessie giggled. "Yezzee!"

Paul blinked. "Wow... didn't actually expect her to answer. Do you think she really understood the question?"

Devon shrugged. "I'm not sure. What she understands seems to be hit or miss. She's clearly learning really fast though. I have a feeling she'll be a bit of a chatterbox well before she's two. She's picking up on things even faster than what the ponies described as normal. I think her IQ might be well above normal."

Paul grinned and ruffled Jessie's mane. "Who's the little genius?"

"Yezzee!" Jessie said with delight.

Paul laughed. "Not lacking in ego either, are you?"

Jessie sat and blinked, the unfamiliar word clearly confusing her.

"We need to keep talking to her as much as we can, but watch what we say," Devon said. "No cursing, period. She's a regular sponge and I don't want her picking up any foul language she overhears. Not even in private. You know how good pony ears are. If she's nearby she can hear you."

Paul frowned. "We probably need to keep her strictly in the house while we're here too. If we need groceries one of us should stay home with her and Robby."

Devon raised an eyebrow. "Why? They're both well behaved. They won't be a problem in public."

"I'm not concerned about them misbehaving. I'm concerned about random strangers misbehaving."

Devon frowned. "They're foals, do you really think people would treat children badly without in public?"

"There's still a lot of hostility around here for ponies, Devon. Until they get back to Riverview I think it's better they keep out of sight."

Devon crossed her arms. "I'm not going to be ashamed to show my children in public."

Paul shook his head. "It's not that, I'm concerned with exposing them to that kind of hate. Jessie is perfectly innocent right now. To her, humans aren't threatening. Robby, it's the same. Do you want them getting exposed to that kind of thing and start fearing humans as a result? I'd rather shelter them from it if we can."

Devon dropped her voice down and brought her mouth close to Paul. "Robby can hear us. You're already exposing him to the idea that humans might he hostile to him."

Paul frowned. "I didn't tell you about how he reacted to the movie we were watching the last night. He might already be getting a negative view of humans, with some exceptions."

"What were you watching?" Devon asked.

"Some anime."

Devon gave her husband a punch in the arm. "Why the..." She looked down at Jessie briefly. "...fudge would you let him be watching that at his age? Just because it's a cartoon doesn't mean it's age appropriate!"

Paul rubbed his arm. "Robby was getting bored with the other options. You know how he is now. He's looking for something with more action. The violence didn't seem to bother him at all. You know night ponies are naturally more aggressive."

"That doesn't mean we have to desensitize him to violence!" She hissed at her husband. "We also don't want him learning violence is okay."

"He's a night pony, he seems already pretty desensitized to violence. He's going to be more rough and tumble as time goes on. It's what he is," Paul insisted.

Devon growled. "This is your...fudging...sister's influence on your thinking at work. We have a responsibility to teach him not to be violent."

"Fudding!" Jessie shouted.

Devon squeezed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers. Paul was silent for a moment then could be heard trying to suppress laughter.

"It's not funny," Devon said flatly.

"It's actually very fudging funny," Paul giggled. "You really fudged that one up."

"Fudding!" Jessie repeated.

She shook her head and stood up. "We'll continue this conversation later. I'm just going to drive down to the Chinese place and pick up the food myself. No more anime or other violent shows."

Paul looked at her sheepishly and nodded. "Okay, maybe we can watch some cooking shows instead..."

Devon scowled. "Don't even say it."

"They might have some great fudge recipes."

"Fudding!" Jessie sounded off again.

Devon groaned and went to go get her purse. Paul was as bad as a child sometimes.

Author's Note

I know I'm running late. Been really exhausted as of late and dealing with some at home drama. Will keep updates coming though. Only a handful of chapters left.

Chapter 72

Wild Growth knocked on the door of her sister's house and waited patiently for an answer. It took several seconds, but when the door opened she was shocked to see Tempest Shadow standing there.

"I remember you," Tempest said as she looked her over. "You're Rosetta Stone's sister with the powerful earth pony magic. I assume you're here to visit her."

"Um, yeah...why are you here though?" Wild asked in confusion.

"That's none of your concern," Tempest said flatly. "I'll probably be here for quite some time though. Your sister is upstairs and awake if you wish to speak with her."

"Um, alright. Thanks, Tempest," Wild said as she stepped inside.

The broken horned unicorn closed the door and walked back to the kitchen without saying anything else. Wild frowned slightly as she watched Tempest go. There wasn't any sign of Tom about either. This was just weird.

She shook her head then went up the stairs to go find her sister. When she reached the top of the stairs she heard the sound of retching coming from the bathroom and quickly went to go see who it was.

Wild walked into the bathroom and reached up and flipped the light on. Rosetta was there with her head hung over the toilet and the toilet was filled with a disgusting mass of green and milky white vomit. The night pony mare was doing some final spitting of gunk out into the toilet bowl and her sides were leaving with labored breathing.

Rosetta looked over very at her with a miserable expression. "Morning sickness really sucks, you know that? Nice mane cut by the way, it looks good."

"Thanks. It's nine at night, so you're not really having morning sickness," Wild pointed out with a small grin.

"Semantics," Rosetta said as she sat back up and seemed to try to relax her breathing. The night pony then reached up with a wing and flushed the toilet.

"Has Phobia started this yet?" Wild asked curiously.

Rosetta shook her head. "No, but she's about a month behind me, so her time is coming. Hopefully mine will ease up by then and we don't have to compete for who gets access to throwing up in the toilet."

"Time to invest in some buckets then."

Rosetta actually nodded then stopped and sniffed the air. She then gave Wild a disapproving look. "Big sister tip, you need to find some lemons or something like that to cover up the tobacco smell, or you'll be hearing lectures from Mama for the foreseeable future."

Wild frowned. "No lectures from you?"

Rosetta shrugged. "I agreed I wouldn't lecture you about these things. The more I've thought about it the more a hypocrite I feel for doing so since I was doing the same things when I was only a year or so older than you. The drinking bothers me more than the fact I smell smoke on you, but as long as you don't show signs of becoming an alcoholic I'll bite my tongue."

"Papa told me about you getting drunk sometimes in college," Wild said as she sat down .

Rosetta smirked. "And boy did he ever get on my case." She dropped her smirk into a concerned frown. "I promise I won't lecture you about things like this, but if I do see you doing something I think can seriously screw up your life can you please let me have my say? You're really inexperienced with a lot of things outside of book learning. I care about you, you're my only sister, and I don't want you getting hurt. Even if I wasn't a night pony I'd still be protective of my little sister."

"Is there something you want to have a say on right now?" Wild asked with a raised eyebrow.

Rosetta shook her had. "No, nothing that I've seen. I just want to make it clear that if I do notice something and speak up about it that I really am seriously worried about it. Is that fair?"

"That's fair, I guess," Wild said begrudgingly.

Rosetta stood up. "So, why the visit? Did you just come here to watch me throw up? I give a daily show between eight and nine every evening."

"I wanted to show you the plans for my new house that's getting built," Wild explained with a hint of excitement. "It's getting built not far from where Sunset is building that new church of hers, and it's going to be huge."

Rosetta smiled. "So, how many square feet is this thing going to be?"

Wild grinned and spread her forelegs wide. "It's going to be massive, thirty-six thousand square feet."

The was a feeling of satisfaction as Wild watched Rosetta's eyes bulge. Her sister looked at her for a moment before replying. "What in the world are you going to do with that much space? I was expecting on a high end you getting something a something a quarter of that size or less when I heard you were getting a mansion. Considering we're smaller than humans that's extremely excessive."

Wild shrugged. "I know a few things, but not completely sure about everything. Want to see the basic floor plan?"

Rosetta rolled her eyes. "Sure, why not. Let's see this thing. How are you even paying for it? Something that size seems beyond even your price range."

"A large part of it is being financed by SPEC. It's my house, but it will also be used for hosting SPEC meetings and guests from time to time."

Rosetta looked at her in confusion. "What's SPEC? I thought you were employed by Westvaco."

"Southern Pony Economic Council," Wild recited off. "It's going to be made up of southern pony business owners and political leaders to help guide pony economic interests and work with corporations and state governments to help bolster local economies in the south. I'm going to be a sitting board member."

Rosetta narrowed her eyes. "Let me guess, Sunset Blessing is going to be a board member too."

"She's the board chair."

"Of course she is," Rosetta said with a sigh. "Damn unicorn can't help herself but try to make a grab for political power."

Wild gave her sister a long look. "We're just an advisory board, we don't actually have any official government power. At best you might compare us to the NAACP, NRA, or something like those."

"Why just the south?" Rosetta asked.

Wild frowned. "There isn't a huge amount of ponies up north, and the west doesn't really seem interested in the economy. Sunset tried to get some of the western ponies involved, but got turned down flat. She says that most of the ponies out west seem ready to regress back to, as she put it, Paleolithic life."

Rosetta snorted. "I'm sure that's a gross exaggeration. It can't be that bad."

"I'm not so sure," Wild replied thoughtfully. "She's putting in a lot of time talking with different southern pony leaders trying to get them to encourage ponies to sort of stay involved with how things were before ETS started. They say some of them were just trying to make communities like in the vision. She thinks she's got most of the south on board with not doing that, but there's just too many ponies out west that have already just started up farming communities to try to convince, and there's too much open land they're claiming and spreading themselves out in."

"I suppose it makes sense," Rosetta said thoughtfully. "The geography and population density is much different out there. We don't have those wide open spaces in the south so we have to find a way to work with humans. Out west they can geographically just separate themselves from the humans and form their little communes."

"Yeah, so things are going to go bad out west," Wild said with a sigh. "That's why we have SPEC, so the humans know that all ponies aren't like that and we can contribute to the economy. If we don't they're going to get really hostile to us."

Rosetta looked at her. "This is a big change in focus for you. You've never really been interested in this kind of stuff before. If any member of the family had interest in this it was me, the social studies geek."

"It's just another thing that needs to be done. I have a responsibility to help any way I can."

Rosetta looked at her with sympathy. "Wild, you don't have to be responsible for everything. You're seventeen, you already have far too much being put in your shoulders. You're going to run yourself into an early grave. You're not even qualified for being on an economic advisory board."

Wild frowned. "I can learn. Number is teaching me everything she knows, and she is qualified to do this kind of thing."

Rosetta scowled. "You're picking up a lot of crap from Number Crunch." She paused before continuing without the scowl. "Sorry, still not thrilled with you spending so much time with her. I'm trying to get better with how I think about her. It's going to take some time though."

"Wait... you're actually giving Number a chance?" Wild asked.

Rosetta bit her lip. "In light of what I've learned about Phobia accidently using mind magic on her, and Tonya deliberately using mind magic on her, it's probably unfair for me to take such a hardline stance against her."

"So...you'll let her apologize then?" Wild asked hopefully.

Rosetta frowned. "We'll see, but definitely not yet. What got dredged up by the mind magic was still part of her. I'm not going to forget that."

Wild's ears sagged. At least this was some progress towards her sister getting off her case about who her friends were. Rosetta was actually being pretty reasonable all around, even giving advice. Wild wondered where she could find some lemons before her mama got a good whiff of her.

The talk about mind magic reminded her of something else though.

"I wanted to talk to Phobia about something," Wild said slowly. "Tonya is insisting that she mind controled Number, but Number is insisting she didn't. She claims what happened with Swift Strike was self defense, but she can't remember the actual details of what actually happened to back that up."

Rosetta frowned deeply. Wild never knew how to discuss her sister's ex with her. She'd decided that referring to him strictly by his pony name softened the blow of thinking of him, but it was really hard to know what Rosetta thought. The night pony definitely despised him, for good reason, but hearing about how a person she had at one time been engaged to was murdered couldn't be as easy to take as Rosetta let on. At least Wild hoped her sister wasn't that bloodthirsty.

"You'll have to discuss that with her," Rosetta said finally. "She really isn't up to talking right now though. Today has been very trying for her and tomorrow is likely going to be even worse."

"What happened?" Wild asked.

Rosetta shook her head. "It's night pony business. Phobia is officially a Dreamwarden now, and the job is stressful. She's trying not to show it to ponies while asleep, but this is really rough on her emotionally. She's still not better with her own fears, and now she brings out the fears of others in graphic ways. The only reason she can hide how much things get to her while asleep is she can control what others see when they see her."

"Maybe she should take a step back until she's doing better then?" Wild suggested.

Rosetta shook her head. "Maybe after tomorrow. I'm going to do everything I can tomorrow to make sure it doesn't turn out horribly. Me and her mother both."

Wild narrowed her eyes. "What happens tomorrow?"

Her sister looked at her for a long minute then hung her head. "You'll figure it out really fast if things go badly tomorrow, and you know plenty already, so I suppose there's no harm in telling you. Let's go verify with Phobia first, all the same. There are rules, and only the Dreamwardens can make exceptions to them."

"Why if these rules are so important do they not apply to the Dreamwardens?" Wild asked, feeling frustrated at the constant night pony secrecy.

"They've got a separate set of rules for them. There's some overlap in their rules and ours, but they have a lot more freedom to do as they wish. We can talk about how unfair it is, and we'd be correct in saying so, but that is just the way it is and isn't changing," Rosetta explained. "So let's go see if Phobia will make an exception for you."

The two entered into the dark bedroom. There was no light switch or lamp in this room, but at least they had the blinds open to let some moonlight come in. Wild could see Phobia hunkered over a textbook of some sort reading in the dimness.

"My old college psychology books helping at all?" Rosetta asked as she went over and nuzzled Phobia.

"I'm just reading over basics so far. I'm not really deep into anything yet," Phobia replied.

"We need to brush up on your math too," Rosetta said as she cuddled close to Phobia. "You'll need to take a few statistics classes eventually."

"If they accept me into the college," Phobia reminded.

"Your dad's going to track down your high school transcripts and they should be good enough to get you in if Wild actually does pay for it," Rosetta said as she draped a wing over her lover.

"Um, yeah, I said I'd do that if you really are doing that," Wild assured them. "I've already got a got extra income on top of my Westvaco check coming in, so it should be no problem."

"Is that money related to that SPEC thing?" Rosetta asked suspiciously.

Wild rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. "Not really. Though it's part of why I'm on the SPEC board. There's a company that's going to be paying me a lot of money to star in some commercials endorsing their products. They're also giving me partial ownership in the company. Number is going to try to set me up with other companies like that and she's helping me develop an investment portfolio. She says if I play my cards right I could get majority ownership in possible upcoming multi-billion dollar companies."

Rosetta chuckled. "My little sister, the botany nerd, planning corporate takeovers. Not on the top hundred things I would ever have expected out of you."

Wild frowned. "I have to do what I have to do. I want to make a positive impact, and I want to fund medical research to help Mama out. I've got the power and can develop the resources to make a difference. It's my responsibility to do everything I can."

"Having the power to alter ponies lives is not what it's cracked up to be," Phobia said grimly. "I have already seen where I can hurt others through my power. Be careful you don't destroy ponies lives while trying to help them."

"I'll keep that in mind," Wild said. She didn't see any way she could go hurting anypony with what she was doing in terms of business. She was far more concerned with accidentally hurting others with her powers. The business stuff didn't have the same appeal to her as growing things, but it wouldn't end with her accidently killing somepony because she lost her temper and violently changed the topography of the region around her.

"Wild wanted to know what's going to happen today," Rosetta said to Phobia in a low voice. "That's something I have to go to you for permission on."

Phobia closed the book she had been reading and frowned. "I'm not sure I want to discuss it. There's no reason you need to know anything."

"She knows about what Tonya did," Rosetta explained. "She also had been talking to Number Crunch about it and getting a contradictory story."

Phobia looked at Wild silently for a moment then hung her head. "Tonya is going to be tried today because of what happened with Number Crunch. I'm aware Number Crunch has a mental block up over her memories from that night. We'll be taking that block down and looking at her memories by her permission. What we see will determine Tonya's fate. There's some other details in play, but Tonya's fate will be determined largely by Number's testimony."

"Am I allowed to attend?" Wild asked. "Number is my friend. I want to see the truth about what happened that night."

Phobia gave her a hard look. "That's private information. She's agreed to show the court, but night ponies are sworn to secrecy on details they learn about others in dreams. She was assured this would not impact her in the waking world."

"What if Number gave me permission to see? Could I be there then?" Wild asked.

Phobia looked uncomfortable. "Yes, I'll grant it if she gives permission. I'd also want a compulsion from you to keep quiet afterwards about what you saw in the trial. If you don't agree to that it's a no-go. You're far to loose a tongue for my liking."

Wild fidgeted in place. She really didn't like the idea of anypony doing anything to her mind. She wanted to once and for all verify to herself that Number was a good pony. She believed it for the most part, but there was a small sliver of doubt.

"I'll agree, and I'll talk to Number first thing tomorrow about getting permission to see what she's showing you."

Author's Note

Exhausted as of late. Waiting to hear back from job interviews. Hoping that I can get some work soon because sitting around all day is killing my energy (not to mention finances).

Chapter 73

Sunset laid among the quilts and blankets looking out the window at the daylight. Ponies liked to think that she slept in every day. The truth was she was an early riser and simply stayed in bed for long periods after waking up. This was a special time of day for her. This was her time of quiet reflection, thinking things out, and prayer.

She hoped the Lord answered her prayers today. Today she was going to go to battle for Tonya's sake and she was at a loss on what to do.

From what Tonya described of the trial yesterday it didn't seem much like a trial, but more two sides petitioning for harshness or leniency. There was no innocent until proven guilty described in Shadow Dancer's trial. There was only a determination of what to do with him. She wasn't sure if her original plan to redirect the guilt to herself was going to work under such circumstances. She was still going to attempt it, but this may just come down to how well she grovelled and begged for Tonya's life.

If she had to grovel and beg then so be it.

Tonya was out taking her own time for quiet contemplation. Tonya had said she was going out to the river to sing to herself. She said it soothed her to just find someplace private and sing. They had actually prayed together a short while ago, something that Tonya would never do. Knowing she might soon meet her maker Tonya had sought his mercy.

The fact Tonya had finally found God was a bittersweet joy for Sunset considering if all went wrong today this could be Tonya's final day.

Please Lord, protect her today. See that she gets mercy. She truly regrets what she has done. If anypony must be punished then punish me. I'm the one who had murder in my heart. Sunset prayed silently.

It was time to get up and face the day. There was still other things that needed to be attended to before the trial. She had to make arrangements with contractors and speak with the town council. She also had to call the Shimmerist leaders in Orlando, New Orleans, Miami, Little Rock, Montgomery, Jackson, Saluda, and Brooks; as well as call the non-Shimmerists who had risen to leadership in Baton Rouge and Tallahassee. She still had high hopes of bringing Houston's leadership into SPEC's fold, but had given up the majority of the rest of Texas as a losing battle against the backward West.

The Caribbean islands and Central and South American nations with ports into the Caribbean were also on the radar, as offshore allies would be invaluable if the government ever turned on her. There were lots of ponies down there, and there was strength in numbers. If the worst ever happened she intended on having ponies in the south to have a place to flee to. Having places that could opperate outside government oversight was simply valuable in itself as well. It was a good rule to hope for the best but make preparations for the worst.

If Tonya died today Sunset knew she wouldn't have the heart to carry on in such a role in the South. If the worst happened today she had already planned to transition her authority over to Wild Growth. Ponies needed somepony they could believe was somehow greater than them in order to guide them forward and there were only a few good options. Sunrise Storm was her first pick for who should lead ponies forward, due to her universal appeal and ties to Sunset Shimmer, but Wild would be an adequate alternative if things fell through. Number Crunch could help guide her into becoming a strong leader.

She rose from her makeshift bed. She did a last weary look around the room at the various reports she had stacked up and her laptop computer. She'd send some emails off in a few minutes and then head to town hall.

Sunset slowly walked out of the room and into the hallway. She made a brief stop by the towel closet and grabbed a purple towel up in her magic before turning and heading into the bathroom. She flipped the light switch on with a flick of her magic and hung the towel on a hook on the wall. Then walked over to the shower and turned on the water so it could start heating up. It would take a minute or two to reach a proper temperature.

Using a step stool she propped herself up on the sink and gathered up her toothpaste and toothbrush in her magic. Silently making a note to herself that she needed to put an order in for a pony strap for Tonya so Tonya could properly brush her teeth. She loved Tonya, but Tonya's breath was starting to smell rather rank. If it wasn't for the fact it would most likely be very embarrassing for Tonya she'd take the time to brush the pegasus's teeth for her.

She started brushing away as steam started to come from the shower saying it had heated up. She'd probably turned it up too high in her eagerness to get warm water, she'd deal with that in a moment. A stray wet feather in the corner let her know Tonya had showered before leaving for the day. Tonya was usually good about collecting up her feathers, and had a growing bin of them in another room. The pegasus had the idea that she could make a few feather pillows eventually with the help of a sewing machine. It would be a good little hobby for her.

Tonya's birthday was in another two months. A sewing machine would make a nice present for that. Shipping was probably going to go extremely slow which meant she should probably look into ordering one soon. Maybe she could browse around online tonight for one that looked like it wouldn't be too much trouble for a pony to use.

Sunset spit out the toothpaste into the sink and grabbed up the mouthwash bottle in her magic and put some in her mouth to start swishing about. Tom was going to be bringing back the bed from the their bedroom and had said that she could have it. It would be nice to curl up in an actual bed with Tonya.

After spitting out the mouthwash she looked up at her reflection and just stared at it for a long moment.

The mirror shattered with cracks going out in huge circular waves from a central impact point. Sunset didn't react right away, and it took her several seconds to register what had happened, as well as release her magic and stop clenching her teeth so hard her jaw hurt. She stared at the broken mirror for a minute before throwing herself to the floor and crying into her forelegs.

Why did she send Tonya out that night? Yes, it was pretty vengeance that drove her, petty vengeance that was going to cost Tonya instead of her. Tonya could claim responsibility all she wanted, but Sunset was the one who put her angry lover into a position where Tonya would act against her better nature. Even the best of ponies when angry enough and given the opportunity could do horrible things. Sunset gave an already enraged Tonya that opportunity, so this was her fault.

What had her vengeance done for her? Phobia had been raped and the vengeance didn't undo that or sooth her daughter's fractured emotions. For that meaningless action there might be a very steep price. She had gained nothing and never had anything to gain, and it might cost Tonya her life.

"Lord, I've taken your blessings and shown myself unworthy of them. I'm no better than a human, worse even. I'm not worthy of being a pony. I'm so sorry. I beg you, please don't make Tonya pay for my failings. Punish me as you will, but please, grant her mercy. She doesn't deserve this," Sunset begged and prayed as she laid on the bathroom floor.

She laid there for several minutes, unsure of how much time was passing. Eventually the steam from the shower ceased as the shower depleted the hot water from the house's old water heater, and the temperature of the bathroom began to drop. There would be no shower for her this morning.

Sunset stood back to her hooves and went and turned the shower off. She took the towel from the hook and wiped her face with it, before letting it just fall to the floor. After one last look at the shattered mirror she sighed and walked out of the bathroom. The world didn't stop because she was going to have a bad day. There was work to do before noon. The distraction of it was sorely needed.

She didn't spend any more time about the house and was on the street within a minute or two of leaving the bathroom. Her house was set on a side street away from the main and it took her two or three minutes to walk to the main street. She could have simply called for a ride, but she wanted to walk to clear her head a little before reaching town hall.

When she reached the main street she was met with the normal high amounts of pedestrians. The ponies she walked by seemed to be in high spirits. Things were happening; ponies were getting jobs, houses were being built, everything that was promised to them was going according to plan. She kept her head low and scowled at their happy faces. How dare they be happy today when Tonya was going to trial.

She shook her head and forced herself to release her scowl. There was no reason to be angry at these ponies. They were blissfully unaware of the impending doom Tonya faced. It would come and go without ever impacting their lives in any significant manner. They had a right to their happiness.

That still didn't improve her mood or make her any more eager to see smiling faces today.

The walk to town hall took awhile to do. She didn't really notice the time though as she kept her gaze low and tried not to look any pony in the face. When she finally reached the foot of the steps of town hall she found the same bustle of activity that had been going on the last two days.

It was time to get her game face on. She couldn't show weakness to these ponies and humans. She had to show strength and confidence as she took command of whatever issues the town was facing today.

She took a deep breath and forced an impassive expression onto her face. She then marched up the steps of town hall with her head held high and her posture saying she knew she was in charge and expected to be obeyed.

As she entered the lobby things seemed well in order. No one, pony or human, seemed to be confused or simply waiting for direction. Megan and two unicorns were working away at the information desk and didn't seem particularly stressed at the moment. She took these all as signs that things were running smoothly. That was good, she really didn't want to have to deal with workers running around like chickens with their heads cut off today.

She walked over to the desk. "Do you have my morning report ready?" She asked Megan.

Megan looked up and nodded and held out several sheets of paper for her. "Everything's in order, Ms. Blessing. The representative from New Orleans left a message saying he wanted to get in touch with you as soon as possible."

Sunset took the papers and started browsing through them. "How long ago did he call?"

"About twenty minutes ago. He didn't tell me what the reason for his call was. I simply told him that I would inform you as soon as you came in about his call," Megan explained.

"Try to find out some details in the future," Sunset instructed. "Is his phone number in the directory you emailed me?"

"Yes, ma'am," Megan replied.

Sunset nodded. "I'll go take care of that while I read over these reports then. I should have your instructions for the day ready in about thirty minutes. Have we heard anything back from that cable company?"

"Yes, ma'am," Megan answered. "I have the details included in the report. They have proposed several times to meet with you and are expecting a reply by this afternoon. PonyCo and the A.P. Moller–Maersk Group also have correspondences that I have forwarded on to your email. Senator Scott also is seeking a meeting with you."

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Have you met Senator Scott before? What are your impressions of the man?"

"I've met him," Megan said with a frown. "He's pretty typical in serving the interests of those who are funneling him the most money, but he can occasionally make a stand on social issues in opposition to his lobbyists' interests. He's an evangelical and an alumni of the same college as you. With enough focus on business interest, some hefty campaign funds, and some talk about your shared evangelical beliefs you should be able to establish a good working relationship with him. He hasn't made any public comments about ponies as of yet beyond saying he hopes to rebuild US business interests now that the crisis has passed. His name has recently come up as a presidential candidate as well as speculation about the state governorship, but I think it's just speculation without substance."

Sunset nodded. "Thank you, I'll keep all that in mind. We could use some potential allies in the Senate."

She walked back to her office and set the report down on her desk as she jumped into her chair. She quickly looked through her email and found the contact information for Book End, the Shimmerist leader in New Orleans. She then dialed up his number and put it on speaker phone.

After a few times ringing it was picked up. "Hello? Blessing, is that you?"

"Speaking, what can I do for you this morning?" Sunset replied as she started reading reports.

"We're having trouble with the humans, Blessing. They're trying to force ponies out of the French Quarter. Many of our ponies have lived there for generations and the city council here is dead set on uprooting them."

Sunset set the papers she was reading down and grimaced. "Fuck."

"Yeah, that's how I feel about it too," Book End replied. "They're demanding payments of rent and property taxes and we haven't got most of our ponies working again yet. I have more than two dozen families facing eviction here, Blessing. I need help."

Sunset nodded to herself. "I'll channel some funds to you to help pay those taxes and rent payments for the short term. They aren't putting ponies out on the street while I'm on watch. I'm in discussions with a few shipping companies and will see about cutting some sort of preferred employment deal with them for ponies in your region. I'll find them jobs, you just have to sell it to the city council and the ponies there."

"Half of them are up for re-election this November and are in precarious positions. I could make some much needed friends with some campaign donations," Book End suggested.

Sunset frowned. "Agreed. Get me the list of city council members. I'll get ponies looking into who we can persuade with money to support us and who we can dig up dirt on and support opposition with. Send me a ledger by the end of the day and I'll have the money to keep those ponies in their homes by tomorrow evening. You said two dozen families, right? That can be managed without drawing too much attention to ourselves."

"How are we going to not draw attention to us channeling campaign money though?" Book End asked.

"SPEC is going to finance it and SPEC is going to be financed through a number of shell companies for the moment that are hard for anyone to track down the actual owners of. Soon we'll have legitimate companies putting funds in and can back off using our nest egg options. Things are in so much disorder that we should escape any thorough audits before we have a chance to cover our tracks. The IRS was already opperating far too understaffed to function correctly even before ETS broke out, they won't have the resources to launch a full investigation into our finances for years--if ever. The IRS is long passed its glory days of being a threat, and ETS may well have been the final deathblow to their auditing capability."

"If you say so," Book End replied, not sounding completely convinced.

She didn't blame him. She'd been shocked at how incapable the IRS had been shown to be when Number Crunch had gone over the IRS's staffing and budget issues. It was no wonder businesses had been getting away with bloody murder for years. The IRS was perhaps one of the most underfunded areas of the goverment with each major party taking opportunity to cut it further. Lobbyists on all sides hated the IRS and lobbyists got what they wanted, even if it was cutting government ability to properly collect taxes. SPEC would act as a lobbyist group as well, and would have far more political results than trying to push ponies into official government positions. The keys to power were not democracy but whoever could apply the most financial pressure. Ponies would win rights through capitalism, not the pleas of the masses.

"Get me those figures and data as soon as possible," Sunset instructed. "Is there anything else you needed me for this morning?"

"No, nothing else if you can follow through with what you say," Book End answered.

"For a pony world then," Sunset said in dismissal.

"For a pony world," Book End echoed before ending the call.

She went back to reading reports and making plans. Her focus could not afford to stray or she'd start thinking about what was happening starting at noon. That was a battle she could do nothing to prepare for, but there were battles to fight now that she could impact.

Author's Note

This is our last solo-character chapter. Three chapters remain. I am not sure on the release schedule for them, but I will get them out as I can.

Chapter 74**

Chapter 74**

Tonya sat and stared at her reflection. In a short time she'd be facing the Dreamwardens again and this time as the the accused. While it wasn't Phobia who would oversee her trial the fact that the pony that went by the title of Warden of Death didn't bode well at all. She had done wring, and judgement day was finally here.

Ooh death
Whooooah death
Won't you spare me over ‘til a another year?

Well what is this that I cant see
With ice cold wings taking hold of me

Well I am death, none can excel
I'll open the door to heaven or hell
Whoa death someone would pray
Could you wait to call me another day

The foals prayed, the preacher preached
Time and mercy is out of your reach
I'll fix your hooves so you can't walk
I'll lock your jaw so you can't talk

I'll close your eyes so you cant see
This very hour come and go with me
Death I come to take the soul
Leave the body and leave it cold

To drop the flesh up off the frame
Dirt and worm both have a claim

Ooh death
Whooooah death
Won't you spare me over ‘til a another year?

My head is warm, my hooves are cold
Death is moving upon my soul
Oh death how you treating me
You closed my eyes so I can't see
Well you hurting my body, you make cold
You run my life right out of my soul

Oh death please consider my age
Please don't take me at this stage
My life shall forever please
If you will move your icy wings

Oh the young, the rich, or poor
No wealth no land no silver or gold
Nothing satisfies me but your soul

Ooh death
Whooooah death

Won't you spare me over ‘til a another year?

As she finished her song she looked up at the sun's light peaking through the overcast sky. It was such a grey day, and that felt appropriate. It was nearly noon, nearly her time of judgement. It was best that she go to town hall now. Even if Tattered Wing failed to hunt her down the Warden of Death would find her when she finally laid to sleep. There was no fleeing this.

As she stood to her hooves with a sob she wiped her eyes with a wing. The time had come to go to town hall. She'd be brave; night ponies respected bravery, right? She wasn't sure if their respect would help at all, but it wouldn't hurt.

With a few flaps of her wings she took to the air and on towards her possible final sleep.

Rosetta was a bit miffed. She was giving her lover her most defiant glare and Phobia was pretty much ignoring it.

"Rosetta, you know it's better if you meet up with my mom before she is sedated," Phobia said patiently. "It gives you a last opportunity before the trial to discuss your defense."

"No, when I wake up I'm waking up next to you. I'm not going to have you wake up without me there to comfort you," Rosetta replied firmly.

"If the Dreamwarden suggests that you..." Tempest tried to interject.

Rosetta rounded on the broken horned unicorn. "This is none of your business. To make things clear, we are awake. What Phobia says while we're asleep might as well be absolute law, but when we're awake I make the calls on what goes on in this house. I'm not going to be leaving her side through this. You saw the state she was in when she woke up last night."

"She seemed to calm down quick enough," Tempest said dryly.

"Because I was there to comfort her and then find a way to get her focused on something else. Are you going to do that if I leave?" Rosetta demanded.

"Well, I..." Tempest stammered.

Rosetta got in the unicorn's face. "The correct answer is no! Because no pony is touching her other than me?"

"Rosetta, are you jealous of having another mare in the house?" Phobia asked in confusion.

"No," Rosetta replied quickly as she backed away from Tempest. Though if Tempest ever tried to make a move on you I'll break far more than her horn while she sleeps. She thought to herself. Maybe she was a little possessive, but she wasn't jealous.

"I have absolutely no interest in Phobia Remedy, you stupid night pony," Tempest said with a growl.

"You have something against night ponies, Equestrian?" Rosetta demanded.

"No, I have something against ponies behaving like they don't have a brain in their heads," Tempest replied dryly. "You're lashing out at me because you don't want to vent your frustrations at your lover. Apparently you think lashing out at a cripple is less an issue than lashing out at a pony dealing with emotional trauma."

"I never called you a cripple!" Rosetta yelled.

"I'm sure you were thinking it!" Tempest fired back.

"Can you two please stop," Phobia said in monotone.

Rosetta immediately felt guilty as she looked at Phobia. Phobia's voice may have been devoid of emotion but her wings were outspread slightly and her ears were flattened. Phobia might still have a tendency to bottle up and hide her emotions, but her body language still told the tale of what was going on behind the emotionless tone. Phobia wasn't far off from having a panic attack.

Phobia looked at Tempest. "Stop projecting your insecurities onto my fiancée." Phobia then turned to Rosetta. "And Tempest is right that you're unfairly targeting her. I know you're worried sick about me and since you have no outlet for the stress it's channeling into night pony aggression. You're inventing threats in your head to protect against. You're instincts are overriding your rational thought. Take a moment to step back and reign them back in."

Rosetta grumbled as she stepped away from Tempest. Phobia was probably right about the whole night pony instinct thing. It didn't make her feel less hostile to Tempest knowing that it was unreasonable to be hostile to Tempest, but she could control her actions at least.

"I'm still going to stay here with you, and you can't send me away," Rosetta insisted.

Phobia sighed. "If you insist."

Phobia might try to deny it, but today was going to take a heavy toll on her. Rosetta needed to be here if things went poorly for Tonya. As far as Rosetta understood it seemed very likely things would go poorly. This wasn't something that started as self defense and turned into a misguided crusade like Shadow Dancer. This ended with a murder. What Shadow Dancer did might be repaired, but what Tonya did could not. Rosetta didn't want to see the worst happen to Tonya, but she didn't see any outs for the pegasus. Her first priority was to Phobia's well being.

"It's an hour till. Let's get to sleep so I can help prepare the shared dream," Phobia instructed.

Rosetta nodded as she walked over to start securing the blinds.

Melissa sat with Dan finishing up their lunch. Just like Dan she'd opted for a salad, so it was a light lunch. They'd been eating for a while. Part of the reason was she was feeding him by fork in between her own bites, but she didn't mind. Dan for his part put up no complaints about being fed. There was something he was doing that was annoying her a little though.

"I'm just making sure there's nothing wrong. I was told to be on the lookout for anything odd or off," Dan said.

Melissa rolled her eyes. "I told you, I'm fine. Stop worrying so much. Do you see me freaking out that I have fingers or toes? Do you see me freaking out that I don't have a tail or wings? I'm perfectly stable."

"But there's signs it might be having impacts in your waking thinking," Dan insisted.

"You're making a mountain out of a mole hill," Melissa said with a frown. "It was just one stray word. It's not that big a deal."

Dan narrowed his eyes. "That word was anypony. You said you weren't going to let anypony else have me."

"I was using pony pronouns galore when I was asleep. And it's mares I need to be on the watch for trying to catch your eye. If it's mares then isn't anypony the right word?" Melissa said calmly.

"When you're in your dreams it is one thing because you're in pony form there, but we're awake right now. Humans typically wouldn't use that word, even in the context of ponies," Dan said firmly.

Melissa stared at him. "Look at my eyes. I'm not completely human. I don't think that's a bad thing either."

"Can you just tell me if the word came automatically or if you chose it," Dan pleaded.

"I don't see why this should matter..."

Dan touched a wing to her and spoke softly. "Maybe it doesn't, but we made a promise. If there is some more pony bleeding into your waking mind then maybe it won't hurt anything. We still have to tell her. You've endured enough hurt. I don't want you getting hurt anymore."

Melissa frowned with worry. She didn't want the Dreamwarden to decide something was wrong and take this away from her. Why wouldn't Dan just let this go?

"It came automatically," she finally said in a low voice. "That's not all. I wasn't lying when I said my body feels natural and doesn't freak me out. I'm not missing my wings or my tail. I look at ponies though and feel like one of you. I'm not feeling that when I look at humans. That sense of...kinship I guess you'd call it... isn't there."

"And the rest of your instincts?" Dan questioned.

Melissa shrugged. "I really don't know. I haven't been put in a position where protectiveness would be brought out. I don't feel extra social. I'm not bothered by daylight or feel any strong desire to stay up all night...well...aside from spending more time with you. I'm wearing clothes because I know I'm supposed to be wearing clothes. Thinking you look sexy kind of carried over, but not sure if that is instinct or bias."

Dan sat down and was silent. Melissa sat back and watched him consider, hoping that he didn't get upset about this. She was perfectly fine. She knew something was slightly off when she woke up, but she remembered and adjusted. This was a good thing.

"Dan," she said as she put a hand on his back. "At this point I had one hoof in the human world and one hoof in the pony world and I'm perfectly okay with that. My mind has been jerked back and forth between the two a lot on the past month. Let me straddle them if I want."

"As a human you should be saying foot," Dan said as he gave her another long look. "I think your mind is doing more than straddling."

She didn't reply to that. He wasn't wrong. Having her sense of self changed more than once let her be more aware of it. She'd be lying if she denied tlllher pony thoughts were influencing her greatly. It wasn't completely who she was, but it had gone from a small spec of who she was to a just as large as part of her as her humanity.

"I'll tell the Dreamwarden about it, but I don't think there is anything wrong with it," Melissa insisted. "I'm perfectly happy. I like having my pony side back. My human side isn't gone either. Having them both fully there makes me feel whole. Like when I was a pony before and again right after I rehumanized something had been taken from me. I don't want to lose either part ever again."

Dan let out a long breath. "I can't believe I'm siding with the humans, but I feel I have to. Your pony life was only a month of your life, with lots of instincts that were forced into you. It was also a miserable month for you that maybe you shouldn't want to cling to."

Melissa shook her head. "It was also probably the definining moments of my life. Yeah, it was a smaller part of my life in terms of time spent in it, but in terms of how it impacted me it weighs just as heavily as everything that went before. I value who I was for that month, and rehumanization stole that from me. I'm not talking about body, I'm talking about the pony who experienced that month--replaced by someone who's memories of that time are like some weird dream. I have it all now, the human who was there before ETS and the pony that endured pain but let that pain reinforce her purpose. I'm not whole without both, and I didn't realize how much was missing till this morning."

Dan looked uncomfortable. "That's great...I guess, but are you sure those two halves are compatible with one another?"

Melissa narrowed her eyes. "You act like you don't want me to have my pony side. Why? I'd think that it would make you happy."

Dan looked downward again. "I told you, I just don't want you hurting again. I'm just worried for you."

"Well, I'll talk to Yinyu about..." Melissa paused and her eyes went wide. "I remember her name, all their names. I'm not supposed to remember them."

Dan blinked. "They blocked them out for all the non-night ponies. So when Yinyu restored your night pony part of your mind...."

"She inadvertently gave me the ability to remember their names," Melissa finished. Now she started to feel panic. "Oh no, she's going to strip my pony side from me again. She isn't going to let me get away with remembering their names. You have to keep this from her."

"She will for sure if she thinks you're hiding things from her," Dan said in a harsh whisper. "You need to be honest and tell her when she comes to your dream tonight."

"But..."

"Are you seriously going to try withholding information from something as powerful as her?" Dan demanded. "If she thinks you're withholding information she might decide you're night pony enough she can torture it out of you. Or she might break your mind if she thinks you can't be trusted with night pony secrets."

Melissa went wide-eyed. "She wouldn't..."

Dan leaned forward. "You saw what they did to Tattered. You don't know what they did to Rudra. Don't think for a second they won't do the same or worse to you. You've got to be open and honest with her."

She squinted at him. "What did they do to Rudra?" Rudra was a friend as well. Aside from Dan the Indian-born night pony doctor had spent more time with her than anypony, even Lavender.

Dan flattened his ears. "You really don't want to know. It was bad though. Rudra tried to circumvent the Oaths. Sha'am tortured him till he said them right."

She hadn't given her report yet, but she could report in confidence that the Dreamwardens were exceptionally cruel to night ponies and that night ponies lived in fear of them. Now that part of her identified with being a pony again that fear extended to her as well, though she wouldn't report that.

She looked at the clock on the wall and saw it was a quarter after eeleven. She sighed as she stood up.

"We'll talk more tonight when I get back. I've got to go relieve Tattered for the day," she said as she gathered up the empty salad bowls.

"I'll be going to sleep soon," Dan said as he watched her. "I really think I should tell Yinyu about what's going on. I won't if you tell me not to, but the sooner she's told the more likely she is to consider this not a problem."

Melissa sucked in her breath and considered yelling at him. Instead she just kept her gaze on the salad bowls as she answered.

"Do what you think is best. I trust you. Just make sure she knows I don't want this taken away."

Number Crunch looked at the clock on the wall. It was forty minutes till noon. She had intended on being next door already but had apparently lost track of time.

She tapped out a few more things quickly. Final documents for the claiming of some of the properties that were abandoned by ponies that had gotten mortgages to be claimed by the bank and their market value--which was exceptionally low at the moment due to the sudden surplus of abandoned houses--to be applied against the balance if their new homes mortgages. Some of these properties would recover almost their full value eventually and could be flipped at a profit, others she would likely have to have bulldozed and the land put to other uses. In the end she was doing these ponies a favor and getting long term assets for the bank.

Number gave Wild a quick glance. The earth pony was sitting in a corner trying to master use of writing utensils with the Pony Strap. The subject was some finance math problems that Number had given her.

"It's about time for us to go," Number said calmly. "How's your work coming?"

Wild sighed. "I'm not having much problem with math, math is essential to advanced chemistry and I focused on it hard in high school because I figured I needed it. Guess I turned out to be right about the math--if for completely different reasons, but relearning how to write is a pain in the flank. I'm getting better at it. Just don't grade me on my penmanship at the moment."

"Aside from signatures I doubt you'll be needing to do too much hoofwriting in the future. Most things will be on computers or taken care of by assistants. It's still a good idea to show you can write legibly for the sake of showing off the Pony Strap though," Number replied.

Wild stood up and carefully removed the pen from the strap and deposited it back into her saddlebag. She then turned back to Number. "You're sure you're okay with me seeing this? If it turns out to be bad I can't unsee it."

"It was self defense," Number asserted again.

"You don't remember what actually happened, so you can't know that."

"I just know. I can feel it."

Wild gave her a doubtful look, but didn't press the issue any further.

"Come on," Number instructed. "Time to go get ourselves knocked out and settle once and for all what happened that night."

Sha'am Maut looked out her balcony at the evening sky. Her grandson with a pair of greats attached to the title had just gone to bed and several of her retainers had arrived not long ago. The time was almost upon her where she needed to sleep, but she could spare a few minutes more.

She'd lived in this house her entire life, going all the way back to the British Raj when this house had been owned by the imperialists. So much had changed in Delhi over the course of her life. The view from her balcony bore no resemblance to the view she had when she was a child, young woman, or even when she first became a grandmother or great grandmother. Developers had tried to take this place from her for years. In a few more years it would be gone with her passing.

Most thought she would be eager to see this place gone with all the heartbreak she had endured here over the years, and they didn't know why she clutched onto so firmly. It was here during the second world war that she had watched helplessly as two of her children starved to death as the British took all their food so soldiers half a world away could eat while young and old alike died of hunger in the streets. The idea of an empty bowl was forever associated with death in her mind after that.

She had cried for months when yet another one of her children was taken from her during the violence of the partition. Her last remaining child, her youngest daughter, died in this very house giving birth to her grandson. Her grandson had died her too, young at only thirty years old to cancer, leaving a son behind.

She grit her teeth as she thought of her great grandson. He had turned in her and his own son when they became ill. He had left her for dead here and kept the doctors away as he and his friends sat around the house planning who to sell it to. She was locked in her room, stuck in bed, and she had been alone. He had done the ultimate betrayal.

At least he had until he had tried to raise his hand to beat his own son. She had risen from her deathbed with strength that she had not known in years, fresh off from recovering from the flu. She'd showed him how scary his elder could be when she had beaten him with a stick until he had fled, leaving her with her sick great great grandson.

She'd been cut off from the world and unaware of what this particular you meant at the time, but a week later she understood. A week later was the beginning of her rebirth and her coming to understand her purpose. She had feared dying alone, and she would make sure that everypony she could do so for would not die alone. She was the Warden of Death, and while death might not be merciful, in those final moments there could be a moment of kindness.

It was time to sleep. She shut her eyes and slowed her breathing. At her age each time she shut her eyes might be her last, but falling asleep was a very simple task.

She emerged in the dreamscape and quickly was surrounded by her fellow Dreamwardens. It took her only a brief second to tell that they had already prepared the shared dream for today's trial.

"Is there any danger of Luna showing up in the dreamscape?" She asked.

Psychic Calm shook his head. "I have confirmed she is in Equestria at the moment. The idea that she could show up in that short amount of time and go to sleep is highly improbable. She will not be aware of what we're going to set in motion."

"Before we begin this are we all agreed to the plan?" She asked them collectively.

Phobia grimaced. "You know how I feel about this, Sha'am."

Sha'am raised an eyebrow. "Your feelings have been noted, but you understand the necessity of our ploy. This is an excellent opportunity to begin settling out debt. The earlier we begin on this endeavor the more likely it is to succeed."

"It's highly manipulative, and it's manipulating those close to me," Phobia said through gritted teeth. "I'll go along with your plan Sha'am, but I don't have to like it."

"You haven't leaked any of what we intend have you?" Sha'am questioned the youngest of their number.

"I have given no hints to anypony," Phobia said with a sigh. "Rosetta doesn't even know what we're plotting. You don't need to worry that any of them suspect that we have any plans beyond conducting a trial."

"Good, if they suspect anything it could ruin the entire ruse. This is a risky gambit, but it's worth the risk," Sha'am replied.

"This subverts justice for an alternative agenda, I don't like it," Ghadab snarled.

Sha'am raised an eyebrow at him. "You're opinion is noted. Thankfully for the rest of us we can easily predict how you will vote and adjust accordingly if you decide to try to throw a wrench in it, brother."

"I'm more concerned about what happens if your ploy fails," Phobia said with an angry flick of her tail. "These are the lives of those closest to me that will suffer for it. If your ploy fails my best friend could pay with her life."

"Then let's hope it does not," Sha'am said simply. "But if there are no further objections let's begin pulling the night ponies into the dream. We have a performance to put on."

Chapter 75**

Author's Note

This was originally going to be the begining of the climax chapter, but felt out of place with the rest of the chapter which focused on the trial. To get some content out while continuing to work on the climax, and to make the chapter focus consistent, I have seperated it out.

Chapter 75**

Dan stood outside the great dream amphitheater for the second day in a row. Was this going to become a regular thing? He hoped not.

He was among countless other night ponies being shepherded through the twin colossi. Melissa wasn't here today so it was unlikely he would be getting private seating. Maybe he would be out in the nosebleed section and unable to clearly see what was going on below. He could hope anyway. It seemed unlikely that the Dreamwardens would allow any night pony to not clearly see though, they'd bend the rules of perception to make sure they saw.

He went again through the great door and exited out somewhere hallway up the center of the amphitheater. He was indeed in a regular section and it felt almost like bleachers in some sort of stadium. Crowds of night ponies were taking seats and chatting among themselves. He went on to take an available seat as quickly as he could.

After sitting down he looked down at the court area. As he thought he could see the details below as easily as he saw yesterday. He was surprised at who sat at the tables though. Tattered once again sat at the same table, only this time with a blue unicorn mare he didn't know. At the other table sat Tonya, Rosetta Stone, and a red unicorn mare he didn't know. How had Tattered and Tonya been taken in for another of these trials, and why Rosetta Stone? There were millions of night ponies in the world, why should ones from Riverview be involved again?

"So, how is your girlfriend doing since yesterday?" Came a familiar voice from beside him. He wasn't even surprised when it spoke.

He turned to the Warden of Lust, who was in her regular night pony form and could be mistaken for any other night pony in the crowd if you didn't know her true form. Actually, there was no telling if this was Yinyu's true form either. The fact it was a regular night pony form would make anypony think that, but there was no knowing with the Dreamwardens.

"She is insisting she's fine, but she's thinking like a pony when she's awake too," Dan replied.

Yinyu sighed. "I half expected that. Trying to seperate off her waking mind and sleeping mind completely while still allowing her to remember in each form was too complicated to not allow things to bleed over. How do you know she's thinking like a pony?"

"Well, when she woke up she started using pony pronouns. When I questioned her on it she eventually caved in and told me that she feels more kinship with ponies than humans. She was worried about telling me. She's afraid you'll take her pony side away from her," Dan explained.

"Is she showing any signs of distress?" Yinyu asked.

"Only that you might take this from her. She really stressed that she didn't want this to go away," Dan said, putting some plea into his tone.

"I'll make the decision on that, not her," Yinyu said firmly. "Though I'm not going to just take it away right now. I meant what I said when I said I was going to take care with this. It is not my intention that she get hurt one way or another. I'll consider the situation more when I meet with her later."

Dan nodded and then looked Yinyu in the eyes. "You should know, she can remember all your names now."

"Is that so?" Yinyu asked slowly. "Well, that's an unfortunate complication. No matter what I'll have to address that. Is she including those in her report as far as you know?"

Dan shook his head. "I don't think so. She's terrified that because she knows you'll take this away from her again. She isn't going to do anything to jeopardize you letting her stay this way."

Yinyu looked out at the court with a thoughtful expression. "Will you allow me access to your memories? I wish to see your discussion with her."

"Um, okay," Dan said. "Will it..."

"Okay, got it. Thanks for that," Yinyu said. "This gives me a good idea what to discuss with her later."

Dan looked at her in confusion. "Wait...you already checked my memory--that fast?"

"Yeah, you gave me permission," Yinyu replied.

"But that conversation went on for several minutes," Dan said, still confused.

"This is the dream realm, and I'm a Dreamwarden," Yinyu said as she twirled hoof in front of her. "Time is kind of fluffy when I need it to be."

"Fluffy?" Dan said, getting more confused.

Yinyu frowned. "Maybe my terms aren't translating the right concepts. I wonder how often that comes up. I should ask Psy about what he thinks about it." She sat silent for a second then continued. "He said to describe it as wibbly-wobbly timey-whimy to you--whatever that means--and you'd understand."

"He's explaining it with a Doctor Who reference?" Dan asked increadulously.

Yinyu blinked. "Now I know something's off with the whole translating thing because that sentence didn't begin to make sense to me. Psy's a doctor, and he's giving advice, but don't know why your asking who he is while affirming you know who he is in the same sentence, that's just a lot of confused garble."

Dan shook his head. "No, it's a pop culture reference to a character named Doctor Who."

"Oh, so it's like a bad punchline of a joke. I get it," Yinyu said, pleased with herself.

"You've never heard of Doctor Who?" Dan asked. Everypony had to have heard of Doctor Who.

Yinyu gave him a flat look. "I'm a prostitute in Beijing, I don't really keep up with all your American pop culture."

"It's actually British."

"Eh, close enough," Yinyu said with a shrug. "They tried teaching me English in school, but I could never make heads or tails of it. The words just sound really funny and it has all these weird sounds that are hard to make or sound exactly the same but you insist are completely different. Like the English words for lock and rock, I remember those because they made me so frustrated. They sound exactly the same but you insist they sound different."

"Well...they do," Dan replied.

Yinyu let loose a low growl and stomped her hooves. "See! It's like you're trying to play a joke on me."

Dan suddenly was much more thankful that the Dreamwardens were spread out by region. He was afraid that if he had to deal with the Dreamwardens on the other side of the world all the time instead of Phobia Remedy that there might be occasions that he could come off as rude due to cultural issues.

Thinking of culture made him think of something else worrying, considering Yinyu was Warden of Lust.

"Um, Dreamwarden, what is the age of sexual consent where you come from?" Dan asked.

"Fourteen years old, they just updated it a few years ago to apply to prostitutes as well even though it didn't used to apply to us," Yinyu explained. "Why do you ask?"

"Just to let you know the age of consent is a bit higher in much of the world," Dan said carefully.

Yinyu waved a wing dismissively and blew a raspberry. "If ponies aren't mentally challenged, have started puberty, and have their cutie marks then they're old enough to consent as far as I'm concerned. Night ponies in particular we really need to encourage to breed to stabilize our numbers. If you're worried, I do try to take the time to understand different cultures' feelings and laws about it seriously, silly as some of them may be. Luna stressed that to me when I said what my passion to help dreamers was."

"Prostitution isn't illegal in China? I'd think they be really strictly against that," Dan asked curiously.

Yinyu smirked. "Not anymore. I'm enjoying the fact that the government back home just passed an act allowing for legal pony prostitution nationwide. Maybe one of these days they'll do the same for the humans."

Dan blinked. "China legalized prostitution for ponies? It's been less than two months since ETS ended and that of all things was a priority thing to push legislation through on?"

Yinyu shrugged again. "They feel whatever country has the most access to magic will be the most successful in the future, so they want more ponies. Easiest way for them to get more ponies is do everything they can to get us breeding. Prostitution went overnight from something I could be beaten and thrown in jail for to something I'm praised for being a good upstanding citizen for doing, helping China march gloriously into the future. It's nice to be able to be open to my filly about what I do for an income and have her be able to respect and be proud of me."

Dan shook his head in disbelief. "How old is your filly?"

"She's eight, cutest little pegasus filly you ever saw," Yinyu gushed.

"And what would you say if she decided to become a prostitute too when she turned fourteen?" Dan asked with concern. He hoped he wasn't going into dangerous territory with the Dreamwarden, but this bothered him.

"I'd have my reservations, and would discuss them with her at length, but ultimately it's her choice," Yinyu said with no hesitation. "Anyway, she's weather this and weather that like a lot of pegasi, that's all she talks about. I doubt she'll be interested in my career, but who knows?"

Dan kept silent, afraid he might offend the Dreamwarden if he spoke his mind about that.

Yinyu gave him a sympathetic look. "I know this kind of thing would be scorned in your culture. Until recently it would have been scorned in mine as well, and I'd have been firmly against my daughter following in my hoofsteps, but things have changed where I live. Now it's a good job that would earn her praise and government benefits. I would never support a younger pony doing such a thing in your country, but mine is different. Things have to be considered based on the cultural and political environment we each live in."

Dan flicked his tail nervously. "I suppose that makes sense."

Yinyu nodded and sighed. "Being the Warden of Lust is a lot more complicated a job than what I thought it'd be when I signed up to be a Dreamwarden. There are so many different countries and cultures to consider in my job, and having to understand those contexts when dealing with each and every pony."

Dan sat quietly, unsure what he was supposed to say. This wasn't some random pony talking to him, this was a Dreamwarden. He had to be cautious about anything he said or he might come off as rude, and being rude was not something you could get away with normally with a Dreamwarden.

Yinyu stood up. "Anyway, it's almost the time for this...trial...to happen. I'm going to be unhappy however this one ends. Hopefully this is the only time we ever have to pull this crap."

Before Dan could ask the Dreamwarden what she was talking about she vanished.

Chapter 76**

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 77**

Chapter 77**

Wild Growth sat watching the court below with a mixture of worry and annoyance. The worry came from the fact her best friend had just relived a memory of almost being raped and murdered, and was now crying in the center of the court area. The annoyance came from the fact that she couldn't go down to comfort her friend.

Wild glanced down at the shadowy tendrils that held her in place. She had ceased struggling against them, but Phobia hadn't released them yet. It was just her and Phobia up here in the guest area and Phobia was just casually watching the court below. Tattered Wing had been here for a brief minute earlier after being dismissed as a prosecutor, but Phobia had only asked the other night pony a few quick questions and then sent Tattered to go sit with some friend of hers named Dan.

Wild attempted to tug at her bindings again, and failed yet again. She hadn't believed there was anything that could possibly hold her against her will, not with her strength. She was pretty sure she could have broken out of steel cables if somepony tried to tie her up in them. Things didn't work the same way in the dream realm as in the waking world though; here her earth pony strength meant nothing.

"I'll let you loose if you promise not to try to take off again," Phobia said gently from beside her. "Try it again though and I'll bind you in place for the remainder of the trial."

Wild tried doing another pull at the tendrils, but couldn't budge so much as a muscle in her legs. She lowered her head and sighed. "Okay, you win. I'll sit up here and behave myself."

With no warning the tendrils simply ceased to be. They didn't withdraw or evaporate, they simply didn't exist anymore. She raised a foreleg up and rubbed it with the other.

With her newfound freedom she leaned a little closer to watch the court. Number was still being comforted by Phobia's other self in the center of the court, and Rosetta had joined them. It was a little surreal watching her sister and soon to be sister-in-law comforting Number after everything was said and done. Having shared in the abuse of Swift Strike gave them all something in common though. She just wished she could be comforting Number as well.

At the still occupied table Tonya was crying as well, and Sunset had her held tightly in a hug. Wild didn't know how to feel about Tonya as she watched this. Tonya had looked as horrified as Wild as she had watched the lost part of Number's memory play out. After Number had screamed at the pegasus Tonya had just broken down.

"So...is everything good between you and Number now?" Wild asked Phobia.

"We're good," Phobia said in a quiet voice. "Surviving through the same types of things at the hooves of the same pony gives me empathy for her. He threatened to kill her. I wonder if he was going to try to kill me to if he had been given the time."

While the memory had been playing out Phobia's nightmare avatar atop its pillar had seemed to sit impassively watching, but here Phobia had gone into a full on panic attack of her own. Until then Wild hadn't understood why Phobia had chosen to have her avatar be that horrible black mass, but now she understood it in part. Twisting black masses of darkness didn't have ways of showing their feelings.

Phobia had recovered at close to the same time that Number had in the memory, and didn't have a new episode of panic when Number found she had killed Swift Strike. When the memory was finished, and Number had screamed at Tonya, the twisting black mass had condensed itself down to a shadow form of Phobia and quickly gone to Number's side.

That was also when Wild had tried to hop the edge of her balcony to go join her friend, and had gotten one of the bigger shocks of her life when she was yanked back to her seat by Phobia's nightmare tendrils. Not the biggest shock of her life certainly, but definitely in the top ten. It was interesting to note that that entire top ten list was composed of events in the last two months. She'd think at this point she'd be getting a little numb to shocks.

Well, considering she was sitting in a shared dream with half-a-million night ponies, watching a trial play out with essentially dream demigods as judges--one of whom was going to be marrying her sister--and she accepted this happenstance without so much as a twitch of her tail, then maybe she really was numbed to whatever insanity the universe could produce.

"I guess Number was right. It was self defense," Wild said as she continued to watch Rosetta and Phobia comfort her friend.

"More or less, though there was more going on in that memory than what you might have noticed. There were other elements at work," Phobia replied.

Wild turned to Phobia and flicked an ear. "Like what?"

Phobia turned to her and frowned. "Mixing mind magics has unpredictable results sometimes. What happened here was a little more predictable though."

Wild narrowed her eyes. "And what happened then?"

Phobia flattened her ears. "In a way I'm responsible for both Number resisting Tonya's mind magic and for her being impacted so much by Swift Strike's mind magic."

Her eyes widened. "He had mind magic too?"

Phobia gave her a neutral look. "How do you think he was able to bring her to quaking in fear with just a few threats when she had him at her mercy? He used mind magic to instill fear in her, and because she still had my lingering mind magic in her it just intensified the effect."

Wild hung her head. "So, we don't know anything about what she would have done on her own because we have your magic, his magic, and Tonya's magic all overlaid on her messing with her mind."

"Had," Phobia corrected. "The first thing I did when I went down to comfort her was remove all that. There are no more compulsions driving her...aside from the one she took promising to keep the Dreamwardens secrets."

Wild grimaced. She had to agree to that same compulsion being done to her before she'd been allowed to view this trial. She didn't like the idea of her head being messed with or being forced to comply to a demand. She had the choice to refuse the compulsion, but if she had she wouldn't be present here to see all of this.

She looked back at the court and to Tonya. "What does this all mean for Tonya? Number didn't do murder by her command, so does that mean she's off the hook, case closed?"

Phobia shook her head. "No, it does not. Tonya definitely used mind magic that was meant to compel Number to commit murder. It was only my magic interfering with it that caused it to not work. Number would never have been in the position she was without Tonya's compulsions driving Number to help Tonya set him free for questioning. It got that much out of her, it just failed with the follow through. Freeing him at all made no sense if she intended to just haul him back. The mix of compulsions made her behave irrationally."

"She may have had intent, but it failed. That must mean something for her," Wild asserted.

Phobia looked out at Tonya. "This is far from over. We actually haven't established that she had intent. We only know for sure she did try it. Whether she did it on purpose or not we'll find out in due time. We haven't even established that Number didn't do something subconscious to make sure Swift Strike died, or if the compulsion fooled her into thinking he was dead and then she ripped him to shreds when he was only asleep. That shall be the next major bit of evidence we shall review."

Wild stomped a hoof. "You can't be serious. After all Number just went through you're about to tell her she might have inadvertently killed him on purpose!"

Phobia gave her a hard look. "We have to establish that our judgement is the right one. Because Tonya is not a night pony we have to take extra care when dealing with her. All she does is in the waking world and she does it primarily at times night ponies would be asleep. That makes it harder to track her activities. Further, because we are judging a day pony we want to display to others that we took every action to get a full picture of what happened."

Wild pointed a hoof out at the court. "Are you going to subject Number to more of this then?"

Phobia shook her head. "No, if Number chooses not to prosecute after seeing what was in her memory then her role in the trial is done and we'll send her here to watch the remainder of the trial. In any case, she won't have her mind touched any more."

Wild allowed herself to be mollified as she went back to watching Number. "So, I guess you're going to pull up Tonya's memories next to verify whether she intended to brainwash Number or not?"

"No, we have a different set of memories we're going to observe that are pertinent to this case," Phobia replied. "We'll get to Tonya's eventually, but not yet."

Wild turned and raised an eyebrow at the night pony. "Whose memories then? Sunset's?"

Phobia shook her head.

"Yours? Rosetta's? Tattered's?" Wild asked, naming off every pony she could possibly think of that could at all be involved in this.

"None of those."

"Whose then?" Wild asked again. She couldn't think of anypony else pertinent. The only other possibility for pertinent memories was Swift Strike, and unless the Dreamwardens had some way of pulling those from beyond the grave that wasn't happening.

Just to exhaust the possibility she asked. "Is it Swift Strike's?"

"No. The dead are dead, and beyond our reach," Phobia replied with a shake of her head. "You'll see shortly. I have already seen this evidence. Rosetta isn't going to take this well, I know it. I've known about this evidence since the day I became Dreamwarden, but haven't told her about it. You might want to come visit after we all wake up. She'll need some comfort, and I have a feeling she'll be angry at me for keeping this from her and will be in no mood to speak to me for a few hours. She'll calm down though."

"What could possibly piss Rosetta off at you," Wild asked in confusion. "She's more protective of you than anypony."

"You'll see."

Phobia's refusal to give answers while dropping hints was annoying. It was useless talking to Phobia if she didn't want to answer. Her cryptic hints only increased Wild's frustrations.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Phobia's shadow form return to its pillar and resumed being a large formless black mass.

As Wild turned to look at what was happening the Warden of Death began speaking. "Rosetta Stone please return to your seat. You need to begin discussing with Sunset Blessing and Tonya Middleton what was seen in Number Crunch's memory and plan your defense accordingly."

Rosetta looked up at the Warden of Death, nodded, then gave Number one last hug before returning to her seat.

The Warden of Death looked down at Number. "You have seen the truth. Now you have the choice to walk away with just this knowledge or to prosecute. Which do you choose?"

Number turned and looked at Tonya and sat silent for a few seconds, then turned and looked back at the Warden of Death.

"There's been enough hurting and death. I'm not prosecuting," Number said.

"Very well," the skeletal pony replied. "We shall take a few more minutes for the defense to get themselves together. You shall now go to the audience."

The Warden of Death raised a wing and Number vanished from the court floor and reappeared next to Wild.

Wild instantly grabbed her friend and hugged her. "Number!"

"Wild...grip...tight..."Number wheezed.

Wild instantly released her grip. "Sorry! I didn't think my strength carried over here. It was useless against Phobia's tendril things. I'm just glad you're alright."

Number noticed Phobia then and looked back and forth between Phobia sitting with them and the black mass that was sitting out on the pillar. "That isn't you?"

"I can be in more than one place at the same time here, fully aware and in control of both avatars. I really was giving you a hug just a few moments ago. I was also here watching with Wild as I did it," Phobia explained calmly.

Number blinked and looked back at the black mass and when Wild looked at it as well she could see the black mass's eyes glowing deep within, staring at them across the distance. She shivered, that version of Phobia was just creepy, creepier than the Warden of Death's form. If you stared at Phobia's nightmare for too long you started seeing things in the darkness, horrible things. It was best only to look at it for a moment or so, that way the nightmares couldn't stare back at you.

"Just go with the flow and nod when it comes to the Dreamwardens. If you try to get too many explanations you'll end up getting a headache," Wild grumbled.

"I would like her to try to explain all the same how she mentally is able to do that," Number said. Wild sighed, she'd warned her.

Phobia raised an eyebrow at her and smirked as she turned to face them. "Okay, let me try to explain it." Phobia raised a hoof and a little speck of light appeared. "Here is some little thought or instinct from you. I'm not exactly sure which one, I just kind of pulled one up at random." Phobia gestured again and another appeared. "Here is another." She kept making gestures and they kept appearing. She eventually spread her wings and there was just one larger ball of light. "This is all of them together, you can't really make out which one is which when it's like this, but they're all here. I could destroy this right now and you'd be dead, or just start removing random parts of it and who knows what it would do to you."

Number looked at the ball of light warily. "Okay, so that's my mind. I hope you aren't planning on doing anything to it, but what does that have to do with anything?"

Phobia gestured at it. "All of this works together to make your processing power, like a computer." She made another gesture and another ball of light appeared next to it. "Here is Wild's mind. It's made up much the same way yours is. There's different instincts, thoughts, and memories of course, but it's still a lot of these tiny little lights making up one big whole."

"Okay..." Number said slowly.

Phobia shrank the balls of light down and then started making more balls of light appear. Finally there was one great ball of light again, though it had a slight twinkle to it. "This is all the minds that encompass all the ponies sleeping right now. The twinkling is because minds are constantly going in and out of it."

"Okay, so is that you?" Wild asked.

Phobia shook her head. "It's missing something. Look up."

Wild and Number both looked up. They didn't see anything.

"What are we supposed to be looking at?" Wild asked. "All I see the night sky with stars."

"This isn't the waking world and those aren't stars, those are minds. The same ones in my little ball of light here. What's different between those up there and these down here?" Phobia questioned.

"They're more spread out," Number said with a shrug. "Not really sure other than that."

Phobia nodded. "Perception does make it seem that way, this might work better with the hallway perception with the doors that we sometimes use. But there's something there other than the lights. There's the darkness between that they are stationed within. That's what I am."

"That example doesn't work. Darkness isn't anything, it's the absence of anything," Wild protested. "And isn't darkness associated with evil? I'm not sure you would want to compare yourself to that."

"You're thinking in waking world concepts," Phobia scolded. "As I said, the hallway example might work better. In that one each mind is a door, and I'm the structure of the hallway--the floors, the walls, the ceiling. The Dreamwardens are the order that gives all this shape so it isn't confused chaos. Magic doesn't typically like chaos...unless it's chaos magic, but that's a whole other mess. You're all part of us and we're that order."

Number looked at Phobia. "That's all well in good, I suppose, but what does that have to do with my original question."

Phobia made her ball of light vanish. "Well, your minds when sleeping are all in a sense part of the Dreamwardens, and while we don't know each and every thought that comes from all those minds--unless we focus on them and override the mind--we can borrow on their processing power while in the dream realm. This lets us split our consciousness technically as many times as there are minds. It causes physical strain on our physical minds to do it too much, and our physical minds will shut down if we go too far, but technically I can split my consciousness as many times as there are minds if I'm not concerned about whether my physical body is going to die."

"Why would it kill you, and if it's dangerous why are you doing it?" Wild asked with concern.

Phobia pointed a hoof at her head. "My physical brain tries to mirror what my dream realm brain is doing. At a certain point it gets to where it's firing off so many commands at once it would destroy itself. It wouldn't impact me here, other than not having to worry about limiting myself anymore, but it would effectively kill my body in the waking world. As long as I don't overextend myself too far at once my body is safe."

"I guess that answers the question," Number said with a grunt.

"I hope so," Phobia said with a hint of amusement. Then her ears flattened. "I'll leave you two alone for now. I'd rather not have any pony see my reaction to what comes next in this trial."

Wild wanted to question Phobia about what came next again, but knew she'd get nowhere with it. Thankfully Number didn't seem inclined to asking any more questions at the moment either.

Phobia turned and vanished, leaving them waiting to see what came next in the trial.

Author's Note

Skipping New Year's Day with chapter drops. Will pick up again day after tomorrow.

Chapter 79**

Chapter 79**

Tonya released her hold on Rosetta and looked her over. She felt nothing but sympathy for her best friend's fiancée. That last batch of memories had been pure hell for Rosetta; first having to see Phobia get raped, then watching herself get domestically abused, then finding out that Swift Strike had immediately gone out and tried to cheat on her after abusing her, only for him to end up killing the poor girl that he had tried to hook up with. He didn't even seem fazed by the fact that he'd killed that girl, even if it didn't look intentional.

On top of all that was the fact that may have been where Swift Strike had gotten infected with ETS and carried it back to Rosetta. There was nothing saying that they may have ended up infected anyway, but seeing that she was a pony indirectly because her ex had done must have some uncomfortable feelings associated with it.

On a more selfish note, Tonya was glad that it was the Warden of Silence that had killed Swift Strike and not Number Crunch. She shouldn't be worrying about who ended up killing him, because he clearly earned it, but the fact it wasn't Number Crunch might help get her out of this mess alive.

The thing was, this memory had come from them. If they already knew about this, and still brought her to trial, then it wasn't likely a good enough reason for them to let her off the hook. That was a huge problem for her since she didn't have any better reasons for why they should give her mercy than what had just been shown. If it wasn't good enough, then nothing she could do was good enough.

"Are you going to be okay?" Tonya asked the night pony.

Rosetta closed her eyes and nodded. "I will. I'm feeling a lot of things and was just a little overwhelmed. I'm kind of angry at Phobia too."

Tonya laid back an ear. "Why?"

Rosetta opened up her eyes and stared at this still vacant pillar that Phobia had occupied. "She knew about this. She knew about this and didn't say anything to me about it. She should have told me. I could have braced myself for that instead of being completely taken off guard by it."

"It was probably too hard for her to bring up," Sunset cut in. "Do you think she really wanted to talk about this considering part of what we saw was her getting raped from that mongrel's perspective? She's probably off somewhere right now, alone, and having a panic attack; my poor foal."

Rosetta's ears sagged. "I know. Judging by _____'s expression when Phobia left that's exactly what she's doing."

Tonya twisted her mouth in annoyance. She had dealt with not being able to remember the Dreamwardens names for two days straight now and it was really getting on her nerves.

She turned and looked up at the Warden of Lust, who was on the closest pillar to her. "Hey! I have a question."

The seapony swam through the air down to her. "I might have an answer. I might even give it if I do. What's the question?"

Tonya gestured broadly with a wing at the Dreamwardens. "What do I have to do to be allowed to remember your names? I'd really like to know the names of the ponies that are possibly going to kill me."

The seapony leaned back on her tail in the air. "Well, we give those out to dreamwalkers. I could give you the ability to dreamwalk, if you requested it, but you'd have to give me the Oaths then."

Tonya blinked. "You can just give me a magical ability?"

The Dreamwarden nodded. "The ability to dreamwalk we can give or take away from anything magical. We wouldn't give the ability out normally, doing that kind of thing to a mind without consent is against our Oaths since it could be interpreted as trying to dominate it, but it's within our power to do it."

"If you can do that can't you just take away my ability to use mind magic instead and just call this all settled?" Tonya asked.

The seapony pursed her lips. "Not at this time. There were Dreamwardens in the past that could do such things, but they were working with different species that had minds that worked differently. We know a lot about pony minds, but there's a lot we don't know--particularly involving magic. We do plan to try to figure it out, as that's a much gentler way of dealing with mind magic abusers, but who knows how long that will take. We do know the intricacies of what allows a creature to dreamwalk though."

"Phobia told me you denied that rehumanized woman the right to dreamwalk. If she wanted it then why not grant it?" Rosetta asked.

"I'm not going to needlessly get her hopes up," the Warden of Lust said with a shake of her head. "Just because I can insert the ability in doesn't mean she'd be able to make use of it. Her magic I deemed far too weak to actually use the ability. It's best she thinks we just can't do it. I'm trying to be careful with her, and I'm not doing anything with her that I know will cause distress."

"But if Tonya or I asked for the ability you'd be willing to grant it to us?" Sunset asked with interest.

The Warden of Lust gave the unicorn a long look. "If you agree to our rules and swear your Oaths, then yes. I warn you, our Oaths come with a compulsion to obey the rules. They aren't full proof, but they're there. It also means you're subject to being punished for indiscretions you might otherwise not be punished for--like being rude to a Dreamwarden or all the mischief you can get up to dreamwalking. Unlike mind magic we'd know about those things instantly and be very angry, and you don't want to see us angry. It's probably best you get a fully informed view of what you're asking for before making any hasty decisions."

Sunset frowned and her interest seemed to falter significantly. "I'll take that under consideration, and maybe get back with you later."

Tonya wasn't so deterred. "I'm willing to say your Oaths and obey your rules. I don't even know if I'll have a chance to actually dreamwalk or if I'll be dead soon. I want to know the names of the ponies judging me."

The Warden tilted her head. "As you wish, it's done. Now let me explain the rules and you can say your Oaths."

Tonya blinked. That was it? Yinyu hadn't seemed to do anything.

Her eyes went wide as she realized she just remembered Yinyu's name. She could remember all their names now.

Yinyu clapped her fins together. "Okay, the rules. One, you will never use dreamwalking to deliberately hurt another pony. There are no excuses why you did it, it's off limits. Only the Dreamwardens dispense justice in the dreamscape. That is not for you.

"Two, you will never use information that you learn in a pony's dreams against them. You have a sacred trust with the dreamers, you shall not violate it."

Yinyu narrowed her eyes and glared down at Tonya before continuing. "Three, you will never use mind magic in a malicious way to mind control or cause harm to anyone, pony or human. Nor will you use dreamwalking in attempt to gain control of another's thoughts. You should be disgusted by the very concept of it."

Tonya gulped.

Yinyu went back to her more cheerful demeanor as if she hadn't just been giving Tonya a death glare. "Lastly, you will respect the Dreamwardens and respect our authority here. You shall give Oaths to us on demand to show you understand that we decide your fate here in the dreamscape, and to break the rules will end in consequences."

"Um, do I give the Oaths now?" Tonya asked hesitantly.

Yinyu raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you remember them well enough?"

Tonya nodded.

Yinyu adjusted herself so she was facing Tonya with her tail facing away. "Go right ahead then."

Tonya coughed into a hoof then began. "Psychic Calm, we promise ponies shall dream in peace. Yinyu Wu Yan, we shall not allow our passions to lead us to folly. Ghadab, the Wardens' anger is unyielding and just. Phobia Remedy, fear of the Wardens keeps us safe. Tikhiy Krik, we shall keep the secrets of the Wardens. Sha'am Maut, better to die than to face the Wardens' justice."

Yinyu clapped her fins together. "Very good! Perfect on the first try. If you are still alive after today you are to greet each Dreamwarden with those Oaths each time you encounter them, unless we say otherwise, understood?"

"Yes, Dreamwarden," Tonya said obediently, not liking the continued reminder of what might still happen.

Sunset groaned. "Urgh! That is so annoying with the not remembering the names. I can only remember Phobia's name no matter how many times that's said."

Yinyu smirked. "And you're lover isn't going to be able to help you with that. She's forbidden from telling you their names, even in the waking world. She has to keep our secrets. Tattered Wing skirted those rules, and she got punished for it. Unless you want Tonya here to endure our punishments I suggest you respect her keeping our secrets."

"But I'm already keeping most of them anyway," Sunset protested.

Yinyu shrugged. "Names are dangerous things to let loose. My sister--your daughter--is playing with fire with how many non-dreamwalkers that she lets know her name. If she gets burned the rest of us won't be able to pull her out of the furnace. You have her name, I suggest you guard it with your life."

"I'm not going to do anything to endanger my daughter," Sunset said as she directed a hard glare at Yinyu.

Yinyu swished her tail about in the air. "Good." She then looked back at Tonya. "Time for me to get back in place. You're our next focus in gathering memories."

Tonya frowned in confusion. Her memories wouldn't really contribute much. Everything connected to this was already shown in Number's memories. They could see Sunset asking her to talk to Number, but everypony already knew that happened. What could they expect to get out of her?

Yinyu swam back to her pillar and plopped down on it like a seal. She then nodded to Sha'am Maut.

"Enough time has passed and we need to continue," Sha'am declared. "The last witness we personally will call forward is Tonya Middleton herself. Come before us, pegasus."

Tonya hopped from her seat and flew quickly down to the center of the court area.

Sha'am looked out at the vast audience. "To let you all know, my sister has just gifted this pegasus with the ability to dreamwalk. While it might seem strange that we are giving such gifts to one standing trial, I will remind all that she hasn't been declared guilty of anything yet and as such had the right to request this gift. As a fresh dreamwalker she has said her Oaths to my sister, but I want her to repeat them now for the rest of the Dreamwardens present."

Tonya looked up at the Dreamwardens and took a deep breath. "Psychic Calm, we promise ponies shall dream in peace. Yinyu Wu Yan, we shall not allow our passions to lead us to folly. Ghadab, the Wardens' anger is unyielding and just. Phobia Remedy, fear of the Wardens keeps us safe. Tikhiy Krik, we shall keep the secrets of the Wardens. Sha'am Maut, better to die than to face the Wardens' justice."

Sha'am stared down at her. "Very good. Now on to the business at hoof. We have seen two very compelling sets of memories already, but we are not satisfied we have gotten the full picture of what occurred yet. You did use mind magic on Number Crunch, but it failed. We have seen that Number Crunch was not responsible for the death of Swift Strike, and he met his justice with us...as he should have. The fact that Swift Strike deserved justice does not justify your attempts to see Number Crunch murder him. Two of the three incidents, the two most damning of him, we do not believe you were even aware of when you did what you did. Do you claim to have been aware of them?"

Tonya shook her head. "I was only aware of Phobia's rape, Dreamwarden."

"This keeps the charge unchanged," Sha'am said gravely. "You tried to use mind magic to force a pony to murder. A pony, I will add, that was already in police custody for the very crimes you sought vengeance for. We must focus on your intent and actions, not the actions of Swift Strike. Was what you did an accident, a sudden act on impulse, or something premeditated? These all can carry very different severity of punishments. Do we have permission to access your memories so we may settle which one it was?"

Tonya still felt confused by all this. "Yes, Dreamwarden, but I'm not sure if it will actually show any of that."

Somehow the skeleton smiled. "I'm not really interested in what we see. I'm interested in what we hear. For lack of a better way of phrasing it, I want to put your thoughts from back then on broadcast. What you were thinking or not thinking is my concern. Are you still willing to submit your memories?"

Tonya went wide eyed, but nodded her agreement. It would look really bad if she didn't do so. As she did she felt like she had just sealed her doom. It didn't seem fair after everything seemed to have been going her way with the previous memories.

Oh...fuck...this is bad.

Author's Note

Sunset Blessing will be the final perspective of the trial.
Tomorrow Tonya's memory will be played out, and judgement will be made.

Chapter 80**

Chapter 80**

Sunset watched Tonya shiver as her lover nodded her agreement to the Warden of Death. Sunset was still a little flabbergasted that Tonya had agreed to submit completely to the Dreamwardens Oaths. The ability to dreamwalk wasn't worth letting them mess with her head any more than they already had. Tonya was the only pony that she was willing to let do such a thing, and she'd only agreed to other instances because she had no other real choice.

Besides, from the way Tonya had flinched at mention of Tattered Wing's punishment Sunset imagined it must be horrible indeed. It was best just to avoid the temptation such an ability presented. Hopefully Tonya wouldn't come to regret her decision.

She was concerned about why Tonya would be so nervous about having her thoughts from that night broadcast. Whatever happened was either an impulsive decision or an accident. She didn't think Tonya had it in her to premeditate this. Tonya had been reluctant to even go to Number Crunch to begin with, and Sunset had regretted asking her to do it almost instantly from the hurt in Tonya's eyes that night.

Well, the moment of truth had come. This would decide Tonya's fate. Sunset silently prayed for whatever mercy God could spare her.

The memory came into focus in the starry sky. It was Phobia's house, in the kitchen. The view from Tonya's perspective was of Sunset herself, and no other pony was around. Sunset remembered this well.

"That blasted overly-righteous Broken One is refusing to see that bastard dead!" Sunset's past self fumed.

"He's in custody," Tonya replied. "I'm sure they'll throw the book at him when he's taken to trial."

Sunset's past self started pacing. "It's best if he is just taken care of without any more humans hearing of this. He makes ponies look bad. I'm also not willing to let that bastard just get a cushy jail cell somewhere. I want him dead."

She needs to calm down. If she tries to go take vengeance herself she'll ruin everything she's worked for. Came Tonya's disembodied voice. It took Sunset a moment to realize those were Tonya's thoughts back then.

"Sunset, please, don't do anything rash. I'm angry too, but if you try to kill him you'll end up hurting yourself, and if Phobia ever finds out what will she think of you?" Tonya pleaded.

"She'll think her mother would do anything to protect her and see justice done for her, that's what," her past self said with a stomp.

She's being way too loud. Somepony is going to hear her.

"Sunset, please calm down. Phobia, Rosetta, and Tom are all right upstairs. They're going to hear you," Tonya continued to plead in a hushed voice.

Sunset's past self looked up at the ceiling then back down to Tonya. "I need you to do me a favor. Go to Number Crunch and see if she is willing to take care of this. One way or another I'm seeing that disgrace to the pony race dead!"

She's dead set on this. I don't think I'm going to be able to talk her down. I don't know what to do...and going to Number? She has been trying to be a better pony. This is exactly the opposite of that. I can't go to Number with this. She'll never trust me again. She'll think that no one believes she really a better pony. It will hurt her.

Sunset in the present shook her head. This had been so unfair to both Tonya and Number. Her temper and rage had been out of control. She should have just asked Tonya to help her with letting Tattered Wing do the right thing. So much misery could have been saved. She wondered if she'd ever be able to look Number in the eye after this. She just hoped she had the opportunity to continue to look Tonya in the eyes after all this.

"If that's what you want me to do..." Tonya said. Sunset couldn't see it from Tonya's perspective, but she remembered the hurt that came at this moment in Tonya's eyes.

"Yes...I do," her past self replied.

What happens if I refuse? Will she get mad at me? Will she not want me anymore? I can't tell her no.

"Yes, you could have," she said softly in the present. "I love you, and would never abandon you for standing your ground on what you believe is right, even against me."

Tonya in the present must have heard her, because their eyes met and both teared up as they looked at one another.

Tonya in the past sighed. "Alright, I'll go see Number. I don't think she'll do it though."

I hope she doesn't, anyway. She should hopefully be better than this. I don't want blood on her or Sunset's hooves. I don't want Phobia to find out and think her mother is a murderer. She's already gone through enough.

The only thought for herself that Tonya had through the whole thing was an unnecessary fear of being abandoned. Most of her thoughts were concerns for others. This was good. The Dreamwardens had to see that she was a good mare.

"If she doesn't then I'll find some pony or human that will," Sunset's past self growled. "I'm starting with my reliable option first."

The vision bobbed its head in a nod and then turned, walking out of the kitchen, through the living room, and out of the house.

Tonya took to the air after leaving the house and the view took Sunset's breath away. Everything down below seemed so small. She could see the whole layout of the town, the river in the distance, and she could see woods that seemed to stretch on into the horizon. Sunset loved her magic, but watching this she suddenly wondered if she would have been happier if she were a pegasus. She'd love to share in this with her lover. A pony could lose themselves in the serenity of this.

Tonya's vision was fantastic as well. The details down below were easy to make out as Tonya focused on different things below. At this point Sunset felt a little jealous of Tonya's abilities. It was no wonder that Tonya had been eager to shed the lead pegasus job. She couldn't imagine any pegasus wanting to be grounded in one spot and not being able to enjoy this.

The town hall quickly advanced into view. Out in the street she could see Tattered Wing speaking with the military that had been loaned into town. Tonya descended towards the front doors of town hall and was going so quickly that even just watching it Sunset subconsciously braced herself for the massive impact against the ground. The impact never came as Tonya broke her seeming dive and came in for a graceful landing. Just watching it had about given Sunset a heart attack though.

Tonya headed through the doors and turned her head briefly to the sounds of some guards locking a door at the far end of the right hallway.

Guess that's where he's being held. Makes sense. This town really doesn't have anything that counts as a jail.

The sound of muffled voices attracted Tonya's attention to the left hallway.

And since Tattered Wing is still outside Number must still be here. She's got someone with her though. Maybe I should try to catch her when she leaves.

Tonya sat listening for a moment then shook her head.

Stop putting this off, stupid pegasus. Just head over to her now and find the right moment to discuss this when you can.

Tonya went down the hallway, glancing backwards briefly to see the guards departing.

Guess they're really confident he can't get out of that room. I need to keep a careful ear out for Tattered Wing though. Her walking into this conversation would be really bad. Maybe I really should have just caught Number outside. If I don't do this now I'll lose my nerve though.

Tonya went down the hall and stood outside the door briefly. The voices inside could now be heard clearly.

Number was speaking. "I've done the math on how many humans have gotten these loans. Tell me... what exactly is math to you?"

"Um, a very important subject to learn in school?" A voice Sunset couldn't quite place replied. It was familiar though.

"Mental-abuse-to-humans," Number laughed at her not particularly funny joke. "Sorry, mathematician joke, math is kind of my thing."

Sunset rolled her eyes. If the Dreamwardens wanted to torture a pony they should just subject them to a full stand-up comedy hour from Number.

"I kind of guessed that. I can't thank you enough though. I didn't expect so much help with this," the other voice replied, with a hint in the tone she didn't find the joke that funny either, but also gratitude.

Number is enjoying herself and doing good things. I really hate myself right now.

"I'm happy to help. It feels good being able to do good for someone else and today has been a long day of helping dreams come true. This is definitely my favorite aspect of my job," Number concluded, echoing Tonya's assessment.

Tonya raised a hoof to the door and knocked. She then carefully pulled downward on the side of the door knob and pushed open the door.

She entered into the room with her gaze held low, but the occupants of the room could still be seen clearly. Sitting behind the desk was Number Crunch. Sitting at the front of the desk with an earth pony filly in her lap was Devon Middleton, and a night pony colt sitting patiently close by. Sunset now recalled Tonya having told her that morning about her.

"Number, I know it's late and you want to go to home to your husband soon, but Sunset has something she needs us to take care of," Tonya said in a low, dejected voice.

Number seemed puzzled. "What kind of something? Surely anything else financial can wait till morning."

"It's something else than that," Tonya said as she turned her focus to Devon.

She's probably doing a mortgage contract with this human. This could take awhile before she's ready.

Tonya's gaze went back to Number. "Are you about done here? I need to discuss this with you in private."

I don't know if I want her to say yes or no. I don't want to really do this.

Devon got up from where she was sitting. "We're done. Come on Robby, let's go find some dinner and then go find Miss Phobia."

This human knows Phobia?

"You're going to look for Phobia? Why?" Tonya asked. The tone told Sunset that Tonya was on edge.

"She had volunteered to help with watching my son sometimes overnight and I was going to see what kinds of times were convenient for her," Devon explained.

I guess that's not too surprising. Phobia's always been so nice.

A shake of the head followed as Tonya answered. "Tonight might not be the best night to be bothering her. Her head is likely in a very bad place right now. She's had a very bad night tonight, so I'd recommend waiting a few days at least."

Things like this can alter a person forever. I hope she's to where she can function again soon, but I'm not sure if the same Phobia will be coming back. It's like my friend's been murdered but still there.

"I know the circumstances and concur with Tonya. Tonight is definitely not the night to be knocking on Phobia's door," Number Crunch said in a grim tone. "Maybe in a few weeks she'll be more up to things, perhaps Tonya can let her know you were trying to follow up."

"Yeah, I'll do that for you. She'll need some distractions," Tonya replied.

It works with Sunset. Maybe it will work with Phobia too. I want my friend to be okay.

"Is she okay? Did something happen? She was very nice to me and my foals," Devon asked with worry.

What am I supposed to say to that? The more I think about this the more angry I get.

There was a slight shake of her head. "We don't know yet. She's definitely hurt, physically and mentally. I'm not giving out the details, but hopefully she'll recover soon. Hopefully. I'll let her know you were concerned about her. What's your name?"

"Devon, Devon Middleton."

What!? It can't be!

Tonya's vision now focused completely on Devon.

"Did you say Devon Middleton? As in wife to Paul Middleton?" Tonya asked slowly.

Devon peered at Tonya with a confused looked. "Yeah, that's me. Do I know you?"

Paul never bothered to really introduce me to you. Didn't even bother to invite me to the wedding. So you wouldn't know me.

"It's complicated," Tonya said with an aggravated tone and a hard shake of her head. "Where's Paul?"

"He...didn't come. He drove us to the convention center yesterday and left us," Devon said in a voice full of hurt as she stared down at the floor.

"He did what!!" Tonya screamed.

That fucking bastard! First he turns his back on me after our parents did, now he does this to his own wife? How could he do that?

The little night pony colt fluffed his fur up and stood protectively between Tonya and Devon, looking as intimidating as a small colt could look.

Family is supposed to care and protect one another from danger. They're supposed to see to it that no one gets hurt, not hurt them themselves! Not abandon them!

Devon tried to get the little colt to step back. "I don't want to be discussing this in front of my son."

Tonya focused on the little night pony.

This is my nephew? He seems ready to try to fight me for yelling at Devon. At least somepony in the family is willing to fight for their loved ones. I have family here, I haven't had family in forever.

There was a pause in the thoughts.

Actually, I have had family before now. Sunset and Phobia are my family too. Maybe not by blood, but they're family.

"We'll talk in a day or two. I can't believe he would--He turned his back on me--actually I believe it. Fuck my brother," Tonya said with venom in her voice that echoed her thoughts.

"Brother?" Devon said with confusion. "You're..."

We are not going to go down that road!

"Don't say that name!" Tonya hissed.

Tonya's rage took Sunset aback. She'd never known Tonya to be this angry. Yes, Tonya's anger could be sparked by saying her dead name. Sunset didn't even like hearing her own human name used. But Tonya was in white hot rage.

"Yes, I'm who you think I am, Tonya Middleton. We'll talk soon. For now I have important business to deal with, and I'm not in the mood to deal with more family crap this second, especially family that disowned me. My best friend is in bad shape right now and I can't have this discussion right now."

My best friend who has been better family to me than my brother ever was. She deserves more out of me.

"Alright...if you say so," Devon said hesitantly as the human studied Tonya.

How dare Paul turn his back on his family again! Leaving them here, alone and betrayed. He deserves to be cut out of my life.

Tonya's thoughts paused again.

But am I doing wrong to Phobia? That monster is going to probably get off easy and be back on the streets again. The humans don't care about ponies hurting ponies. If something more drastic isn't done he'll likely be free to hurt her again.

Sunset's breath caught. Tonya was going down a dangerous line of thought. Sure, it was the one that she herself had gone partially down shortly before instructing Tonya to go to Number, but hindsight showed the pitfalls of that.

"And I think that is all the talk we need for tonight. I'm going to be handling a lot of the house and land purchases in town so I'll see you again soon. Take care of yourself," Number said with a forced calm.

Devon seemed to agree and started making her way past Tonya. Tonya glanced at Devon through the corner of her eye as the human walked by with the colt close on her heels. The colt eyed Tonya in return and Sunset could see that if it came to it he'd not hesitate, he'd do everything in his power to take Tonya down. Tonya had been hostile to his mother, and he had that ultra-protective night pony spirit.

If this little colt is willing to fight me for just yelling at his mother then what should I be willing to do to protect my family? Phobia is still in very real danger from Swift Strike.

Tonya turned back to Number Crunch.

The answer is obviously anything. Family should do whatever it takes to protect family, and Phobia is my family. Sunset is right, Swift Strike needs to die. That's the only way she'll be safe. I won't abandon my family to be hurt.

"You need to sit down and make yourself comfortable. You're going to want to get a beer and a cigarette for this talk. I might need that too," Tonya said in a neutral tone.

The sound of the door closing behind them could be heard.

Have to keep my ears peeled for Tattered Wing coming back to her office. I'm going to see to it that this happens tonight.

"What's this about Tonya?" Number asked.

Tonya glanced around the office.

How are we going to do this? The vent...I've seen all the rooms here. Those vents are all the same. Number can get the vent open and he can get out. It's best to do this away from town hall.

Tonya walked over to the seat that Devon had vacated and took it.

"Swift Strike is being held just down the hall. Tattered Wing is out talking with the soldiers right now, but she'll be in here soon," Tonya said in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Alright...what does that have to do with anything?" Number asked.

It means I need to convince you quickly to do this.

"Sunset wants Swift Strike dead. She was hoping you could make it happen," Tonya said out loud, still in a near whisper.

"Sunset can go screw herself. If she really wants Swift Strike dead she can kill him herself and bloody her own hooves. I'm not going to do it," Number's replied firmly.

"She can't, it would be too obvious if she did it," Tonya replied with as her gaze shifted downward.

And I'm sorry Number, but I'm going to make sure she's protected too. I wanted to do right by you, but you're not my family.

"Well then, I guess he's going to live or she's going to have to find another pony to be her hitmare. I've never actually killed anypony myself and I'm not about to start."

If there was another option I could find tonight I'd go to them, but Number is my only one.

"You've arranged killings in the past. You're the only pony she trusts to deal with something like this."

"That was me as a human, that was Annette Crowfield. I'm not that person anymore, I'm Number Crunch now, and I'm going to be a good pony that does the right things. I'm starting over with a clean ledger."

Tonya looked at Number.

What's it going to take to convince her? This isn't something done for greed. This is seeing that he never hurts anypony ever again. And you threatened Phobia yourself, don't think I haven't forgotten that or forgiven.

"You're the pony that threatened to plant Phobia into the ground if I'm not mistaken. It seems to me that you've got a fairly bloodthirsty side to you still."

A bloodthirsty side that is better served making sure Phobia is protected rather than threatening her.

Number turned away and stared at the floor. "I did my time for that. You know I submitted myself for punishment on that because I knew I was wrong. Why are you rubbing that in my face now."

Because you threatened my friend and because I need you to do something worthwhile with that darker side of yours.

"Perhaps you should explain to me why it happened at all if that isn't your nature?"

Number stared at the floor for several seconds before looking up at Tonya. "I really don't know what got into me that day. She started talking and I just started getting so angry, it was like she was pulling the worst parts of me to the surface. That shouldn't have happened."

That sounds like what I can do. Not exactly like it, but eerily close. Does Phobia have mind powers too? If that's so then that just reaffirms that Number does have a pony that can kill in there somewhere.

"It was like she was getting into your head? Pulling all the parts of you that you fear to the surface, is that it?" Tonya asked.

Number nodded back to her.

"Phobia and I are going to need to have a talk about responsibly talking to ponies," Tonya muttered to herself. Sunset didn't think that Tonya meant to voice the thought out loud.

Still, if that side of Number can be brought out with mind magic, then I guess that's what I'll have to resort to. Number is going to kill Swift Strike for me, even if I have to force her too.

The memory came to an abrupt end, and the Dreamwardens all stared down at Tonya who was trembling on the ground.

No, it can't go this way. Please Lord, don't let it go this way. Sunset prayed silently.

"I think we have seen enough," the Warden of Death said in a cold tone. "We have all the pieces of this puzzle now. You did it deliberately. What do you have to say to this?"

"I was so angry...I regretted it later on after I calmed down," Tonya said haltingly.

"It still happened with deliberate intent," the Warden of Death said as she leaned forward to goare down at Tonya. "You were planning out his murder from near the end of the conversation with that human on till you decided that Number Crunch's free will wasn't going to get in the way of seeing Swift Strike dead. You're guilty, the only thing to determine is how we should punish you."

Sunset started to feel panicked. This couldn't be happening. She couldn't lose Tonya because Tonya had a few minutes of rage. One mistake shouldn't cost Tonya her life.

"Take your seat. We shall hear the final defense arguments from your friend and from your lover, then we shall put your punishment to vote," the skeletal Dreamwarden instructed. She then turned to Rosetta. "Come forward, Rosetta Stone."

Tonya all but crawled back to her seat as Rosetta went out with determination. When Tonya reached it Sunset grabbed her into a hug and they both started crying.

"Rosetta Stone, do you have any witnesses or memories to call upon?" The Warden of Death asked. Sunset turned her head so she could watch.

Rosetta shook her head. "No Dreamwarden, I do not."

"Then proceed with your final arguments for Tonya Middleton," the Warden of Death instructed.

Rosetta took a proud, protective posture. "Tonya is my friend, and I know her character. What happened in that final memory was not who she is; it was a product of hurt and anger. She herself expressed regret for it afterward. Further, Swift Strike was an abomination who not only did rape and murder, but also tried that against one of you. Tonya shouldn't have used mind magic like that, but Swift Strike's death was a public service."

The Warden of Death stared down at Rosetta. "And if Tonya had gone and killed him herself without using mind magic it wouldn't be us judging her right now, it would be the waking world's authorities. However, we have to police the use of such magic, and what she did was an abomination into itself. We shall consider your words. Take your seat. Sunset Blessing, please come forward."

Sunset trembled as she stood up and started walking to the center if the court. She didn't know what to say. All she could do was echo what Rosetta had already said. Tonya needed her to do more than that. Tonya needed Sunset to make an impassioned plea for the ages that would make them let her go. Sunset didn't have it though. She was going to fail Tonya at Tonya's most desperate hour.

Sunset reached the center of the court and looked up at the face of Death.

"Sunset Blessing, do you have any witnesses or memories to call upon?" The Warden asked.

Sunset bit her lip and closed her eyes as she shook her head.

"Very well then," the Warden of Death said. "Then make your final argument. When you're done we shall vote."

Sunset's lip quivered as she opened up her eyes and stared at the monster that would possibly kill Tonya. She had nothing. She didn't know what to say. What more was there to say that could convince them to let Tonya go?

"We're waiting, unicorn, and our patience is not endless," the Warden said in that same cold tone.

Sunset fell down and prostrated herself before the Dreamwardens. "Please, I can only say the same things that Rosetta said. You have seen how horrible Swift Strike was. I can tell you again that Tonya is a good pony, a better pony than me. She wouldn't have even been there without me. I'll take any punishment for her, even death, just let her go!"

"Tonya had plenty of opportunities to walk away from what you asked. She consciously chose not to. You weren't there forcing her to do anything," the Warden declared. "Do you have anything but begging and tears to offer?"

"Please...spare her," Sunset blubbered.

"I suppose not," the Dreamwarden intoned. "The vote shall progress now. Warden of Anger, how do you vote?"

Sunset turned to look at the fiery pony, breath held.

"The rules are clear, I vote mind wipe," the angry Warden almost spit. "And the rest of you should too."

Sunset let a sob escape again.

"The Warden of Anger votes mind wipe," the Warden of Death declared. "Warden of Peace, how do you vote?"

"I vote that she should be forgiven and given a parole," the stag said slowly. "The situation was very emotionally charged and she wasn't thinking straight."

Hope dared to bloom in Sunset as she heard that.

"The Warden of Peace votes for no punishment. Warden of Silence, how do you vote?"

Sunset tried to look up at the bull but couldn't make out what he was gesturing from where she lay. She held her breath.

"The Warden of Silence votes no punishment," the Warden of Death declared. That hope started to blaze. "Warden of Lust, how do you vote?"

Sunset stared up at the seapony. The Warden of Lust glanced anxiously first at the Warden of Death, then to Tonya, then to Sunset, and finally to the crowd beyond. The seapony then hung her head.

"I vote mind wipe," the seapony said in a pained whisper, giving no explanation why.

Sunset's heart plummeted as she turned her eyes to the Warden of Death. The Dreamwarden that had been described to her as among the harshest and cruelest of the Dreamwardens. The Dreamwarden who now held the final vote.

"The Warden of Lust votes mind wipe," the Warden of Death declared. "We have a tie vote so it falls to me to pass the tie-breaking vote. I shall consider it for a moment."

Sunset buried her face into her legs and cried for all she was worth. Tonya was doomed. How could she expect mercy from this thing? The Warden of Death had been harsh from the very start of the trial.

"It's quite the predicament your lover is in, isn't it?" The Warden of Death said to her.

Sunset jerked her head up to look at the skeleton, but it wasn't there. Standing on the court floor before her was an aged night pony decked in jewelry.

"I think we should have a private conversation about it," the Warden of Death said as she came and sat down in front of Sunset.

Sunset looked around her. Everything was like it was frozen in time. Nothing was moving, not a sound could be heard. The only things that seemed living were her and the pony before her.

The Warden smiled. "I've made it so we can have this conversation in a mere second. Time has not stopped, but it is moving as slow as I can possibly make it for everypony else. They won't be aware that we ever had this conversation."

Sunset hardened her gaze. "What do you want? To have more time to gloat?"

The Warden laughed. "I want to make a deal. You understand cutting deals, don't you? You do it so often. Whatever it takes to get what you want. Isn't that right?"

"You want me to bribe you for your vote?" Sunset said with wide eyes. "What's your price. I'll pay anything."

"I'm glad to hear that, though I'm not interested in money--at least not directly," the Warden said. "I want you to make some things for us using those resources and contacts you have gathered. We'll even suggest some ponies to aid you."

Sunset's eyes narrowed. "Make what?"

The Dreamwarden shook her head. "That's a secret. You won't even understand what you've made once it is done. We want the parts made in various different places and kept deep in those vaults you intend to make. We'll provide you with instructions on what to have done."

"Were you planning this from the start?" Sunset said as she felt rage building up. "All this to just force me to build whatever this is with no questions?"

The Dreamwarden blinked. "Actually, yes. We actually planned on letting your lover go with a slap on the butt saying don't do that again, but then we realized the opportunity that we had. We don't think we'll get many opportunities like this. What we want is essentially a plan B if other things fall through, but it's an important plan B to have available."

"Plan B for what?" Sunset demanded.

"Again, that's none of your concern," the Dreamwarden said flatly. "You're only concern is if you're willing to do what it takes to see Tonya walk out of this with no punishment other than us checking in on her from time to time to make sure she's being a good filly."

"And if I say no you're going to vote mind wipe?" Sunset asked with worry.

To her shock the Dreamwarden shook her head. "No, if you say no then I will vote for lenient punishment. Such a vote will cause us to have no majority. In that case we turn the vote over to the assembled night ponies. How much do you trust the night ponies? Do you trust them enough to gamble with Tonya's life? Are you a gambler, Sunset Blessing?"

"And if I say yes and then just don't do it?" Sunset asked.

"If you say yes you'll do it. I'll put a compulsion down as part of our agreement," the Dreamwarden replied.

"Does Phobia know about this?"

The Warden frowned. "She knows and expressed her extreme displeasure at what we were doing. Unfortunately for her, she isn't involved, as this is too close to home for her."

Sunset sat silent for a moment. There really wasn't a choice. She wasn't going to risk Tonya's life when she could be sure that it would be spared. She hated being manipulated like this, but it was what had to be done.

"I agree," she said. "I'll build whatever you want me to build."

"Good," the Warden said pleasantly, then smirked down at Sunset. "And for the record, I think the night ponies would have let her off the hook. That's why we showed that full memory from Krik to tell the truth. Most night ponies are mares, and mares have a certain sympathy for anyone killing a pony like Swift Strike. We wanted to make sure that even if you said no that Tonya would not be harmed. You could have gambled and won, but I respect your desire to be sure. Our game is over now though."

The night pony vanished.

"I vote for no punishment, with her future actions being monitored," the skeleton above declared as time began again. She turned to Tonya. "You are free."

Sunset got hit with Tonya dive-bombing her and grabbing her into a tight hug while crying tears of relief. Rosetta quickly followed, creating a small pony pile. Sunset hugged them both.

Whatever price she had agree to pay, it was worth this.

Epilogue**

Epilogue**

One Day After Tonya's Trial

Twilight casually sipped from her mug of coffee as she closed out yet another decayed book then let off a long sigh. It was sad that the preservation spells on these particular books and manuscripts were applied after they had already started to begin to crumble. This may be the restricted section, but somepony needed to come here and transcribe all these in case those spells ever failed. Otherwise knowledge of this part of history might be lost forever.

The edge of her mouth turned slightly downward.

Of course, with what was described in these histories most of Equestria might very well wish that they were forgotten. She hadn't imagined before today how Equestria could have had such a bloody chapter in its history. There were reasons these were kept here, rather than being made public knowledge. Even most of what was recorded here only came from accounts well after the original events, first-pony accounts of the events were few and far between. Either lost altogether, deliberately destroyed, or never written down in an effort to let things be forgotten.

She looked over at the few remaining documents written in the old night pony script. She was still trying to decipher them. The language had died off completely centuries ago, and the form of writing had ceased being used even before that. A mere half dozen documents remained in the old script, and a little over a dozen documents in Ponish script using night pony language. Books here and there written in Old Ponish would reference the meanings of specific night pony words, but that was all she had so far.

Trying to piece together the long dead language to try to read these was going to be extremely difficult, and she wasn't sure if she could spare the time for it with everything else going on. Like many things lately it was a research project she was going to have to delay to focus on duties.

"I hope you have had more luck researching in books than I've had trying to talk to night ponies," Starlight said as she entered the room. Twilight's eyes widened as she saw Starlight was covered in loose cobwebs.

"What happened to you?" Twilight asked.

Starlight reached up and flicked a cobweb from her mane. "Night ponies apparently breed spiders, great big spiders, for food!"

Twilight nodded. "I did read about that. It's not just spiders. They keep nests of all kinds of bugs, as well a few crustaceans and mollusks. This dates all the way back to pre-Equestrian times when they lived exclusively in mountains with little access to fruits and vegetables and had to find ways of supplementing their diets. I'm actually curious if this high protein diet helped lead to their more aggressive..."

"It's disgusting, Twilight," Starlight said flatly.

Twilight blinked. "Well, it's different than what most ponies would typically do, but we're all perfectly capable of getting nutrition from invertebrate creatures if forced to turn to that for food. It's the vertebrates that are near impossible for us to digest. I'm not exactly sure why." She tapped a hoof to her chin, but then her ears and posture slumped. "I'd do research on it, but I barely have time for even this research project."

Starlight picked a few more bits of web out of her tail using her magic. "Well, I did my best to try to get the night ponies down in the caverns to talk. They're more than happy to talk about their families, rock climbing, the Lunar Guard, and their giant prize winning spiders. They even seem thrilled to have day ponies visiting them. You try to get them to share their oral history about ancient times and the hush up so quick they make Pinkie's sister Marble look talkative."

Twilight looked over her notes "I guess I did have more luck then. I don't have a full picture of what happened, place names and names of ponies are all but lost, but I have a general outline of night pony prehistory."

"So, what did you find out?" Starlight asked as she took a seat opposite Twilight.

Twilight started reading from her notes. "Their original homeland is somewhere in the Foal Mountains, they were definitely living there when the three tribes founded Equestria. How long they had been there and where the migrated in from I haven't figured out. I think they may have been an early breakaway group from the pegasi that developed separate magic and physical traits in isolation, or an earlier ancestor of pegasi that persisted even after the rise of pegasi. Or that both came from some proto-wing pony species and just developed along different paths."

"Okay, so where they're from and some conjecture about their origins," Starlight said. "What else?"

Twilight kept looking over her notes. "From what I could gather, when the earth ponies began building farming communities the night ponies began desiring farm grown produce, which was a luxury item to them. Instead of trying to trade for it, they started trying to mind control the earth ponies into giving it to them, and eventually mind controlling whole villages to just farm as slaves for them."

"Well, if I was forced to eat bugs all the time I might try something like that too," Starlight muttered. Twilight gave her a hard look. "Just kidding...mostly. Go on."

Twilight sighed. "Well, as can be expected the three tribes recognized the night ponies as a dangerous threat and began fighting back. The night ponies in turn started using mind control to make slave armies to confront the three tribes. To be fair, it was a minority of night ponies that were actually involved with this entire conflict at this point. Most were simple ponies that had little idea where the new fruits and vegetables were coming from, and lived fairly simple lives--probably not much different than what you encountered in the Canterlot Caverns."

"Basically nice ponies with some really bad eggs leading them," Starlight summarized.

Twilight nodded and flattened her ears. "Equestrians didn't really recognize this distinction though. The military goal when fighting the night ponies was to do everything they could to avoid engaging the slave armies and to try to eliminate every night pony they could. The fear of night ponies reached such a peak that when the army finally penetrated into the Foal Mountains they didn't differentiate between the leaders who were actually at fault and the regular population."

Starlight frowned.

Twilight continued. "This prompted the remaining night ponies that hadn't even been involved with the earlier troubles to begin fighting back against Equestrians, for the sake of their families. They began helping trying to defeat the Equestrians in much the same way their leaders had before, trying to take control with either mind magic or more often invading their dreams regularly."

"Which probably made our ancestors even more hostile," Starlight surmised.

Twilight nodded. "From there on it turned into a full on genocide, not even foals were being spared. Night ponies were treated as a plague that needed to be eliminated."

At this point Starlight looked ill. "But they did manage to survive and get incorporated into Equestria."

"Just barely, and mainly because of Princess Luna," Twilight said with a sad shake of her head. "Princess Luna's abilities with dreamwalking suddenly increased exponentially at this point. The histories are mum on how--mainly crediting it to her status as Princess of the Night, but I now know this is the point she took on the mantle of Dreamwarden. She used that position to force the night ponies to stand down and surrender, executing in the dream realm those that refused. She used her position as Princess to try stop the full on genocide from the Equestrians at the same time. Neither side was very compliant after everything that had happened. In the end, only a little over a hundred night ponies survived, most of those foals or the elderly, out of a population of several thousand."

"Sweet Celestia," Starlight breathed.

"It gets worse," Twilight said mournfully.

Starlight went wide eyed. "How could it possibly get worse?"

Twilight sat her notes down. "The conflict with the night ponies made ponies in Equestria much more fearful of the night and shunned everything associated with it...including Princess Luna, and the remaining night ponies were terrified of her. I think this is what started the downward spiral that turned Luna into Nightmare Moon."

"Trying to save a tribe from extinction, almost failing at it, and being hated by everypony afterward sounds like it could definitely get to a pony," Starlight agreed. "Why does this justify her making these Dreamwardens on Earth though?"

"Luna had a predecessor as Dreamwarden here, named Kir'ta," Twilight explained. "Luna blames what happened on Kir'ta. I've never seen Luna so angry and resentful than when she explained Kir'ta's refusal to get involved. As far as Luna is concerned it would never have happened if Kir'ta had been doing her job."

"And she is scared enough of it happening on Earth that one of her first priorities was making Dreamwardens?" Starlight asked.

Twilight nodded. "She is worried about them though."

"After seeing that trial I think that's fair," Starlight replied flatly.

Twilight shook her head. "Actually, what she says she is worried about are other things."

"Like what?"

Twilight bit her lip before replying. "She says they have knowledge, abilities, and things impacting their judgement that she can't account for. From what she described new Dreamwardens gain the knowledge and memories of the previous Dreamwardens. That means their knowledge and even part of their personalities should reflect her. She says they have knowledge she doesn't, and behave in ways that she didn't predict. While they seem to love her they're also highly critical of her when they weren't before."

"The knowledge part is weird, but the rest could just be the power going to their heads," Starlight suggested.

"One of the first things they went against her on was the idea of them holding power for as long as a Dreamwarden normally would," Twilight said, and took another sip of her coffee.

"If Luna was so hostile to her predecessor maybe that carried over to them too."

She set her mug back down and continued. "She doesn't think that's it. Luna wanted them to be Dreamwardens for thousands--if not millions--of years. They'd been onboard with the idea before becoming Dreamwardens, but immediately after becoming Dreamwardens they stated they were going to pass the jobs on to others after just a few centuries. It actually hurt Luna a lot to hear that. It's like having your foals say they intend to commit suicide soon after they grow up."

"So what does Luna think the cause of them being all weird?" Starlight asked and then stole a sip of Twilight's coffee.

"Her working assumption is they somehow absorbed the memory and knowledge of that universe's previous Dreamwardens," Twilight explained. "That worries her a lot because she has no knowledge of what those Dreamwardens may have been like, and they're not being forthcoming about it at all."

Starlight groaned. "Urgh! So...Luna may have inadvertently resurrected some billions-of-years old evil and it may know more about the dream realm than her. Is that what you're saying?"

"In a worst case scenario...yes."

"What do we do about them then?" Starlight asked.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

Starlight blinked. "Explain to me how doing nothing is a good idea."

Twilight looked her friend in the eyes. "Because we don't know if it really is a worse case scenario, or how likely that is. We do know that if we're hostile to them, and treat them as our enemies rather than our friends, we might very well make enemies out of them even if they weren't dangerous. Luna still trusts them, and I'm going to trust them until they show they can't be trusted. I'm the Princess of Friendship, and I'll behave like it."

Starlight groaned. "I hope this doesn't come back to bite us."

Twilight cast a spell to reheat her coffee. "Me too."

Four Days After Tonya's Trial

Amanda looked around her house and sighed. Everything was in order. As soon as Devon and Paul brought the truck around they could load up what was going to be going to Riverview. With Tom's help and her strength this had gone much quicker than she had anticipated.

Tom was sitting in a corner playing with Jackie. She'd been a little jealous when Devon had told her about Jessie's growing vocabulary over the phone. Jackie still hadn't said her first word yet. That didn't make Jackie unintelligent, she just didn't have the same extremely high verbal intelligence Jessie seemed to possess. What Jackie lacked in vocabulary she more than made up in personality and energy. The little filly loved life and loved getting into mischief. Jackie also seemed to adore Tom and his taking her for flights with his magic. Tom for his part lavished plenty of attention on the little filly.

She turned her head to take a sniff of her rump. There was no smell. She hadn't been feeling quite as playful as of late either. That seemed to indicate that her time of the month had passed. She didn't look back and think she'd been acting with any sort of judgement impairment the last few days though. She'd been slightly more flirty before, but it hadn't been the extremes she had initially feared.

As she watched Tom she realized she still wouldn't mind raising her tail for him. She was legitimately attracted to him, not because of some sort of monthly mating drive, but because of how he treated her and Jackie. She felt respected by him, and that she could trust him with anything. Trust, respect, care, and compassion; these were solid foundations for taking things beyond simple attraction.

She walked over to him and sat down beside him as he continued giving Jackie flights through the air. He gave her a brief glance, but didn't object to her sitting close to him.

She decided to make casual conversation. "So, I heard you on the phone earlier with your daughter. Is she doing alright?"

"She seems like she is doing okay," Tom said as he kept his eyes trained on the giggling filly. "She and Rosetta had some sort of argument a few days ago which led to her sleeping in the nursery for the day, but they seem to have patched whatever it was up. They've got an Equestrian living with them too, some sort of bodyguard."

Amanda pursed her lips. "That leaves you without a room there, doesn't it?"

"I can figure something out," Tom replied. He then carefully sat Jackie down. "Sorry kiddo, I'm tiring out. If I keep that up much more I'll end up dropping you."

Amanda knew from experience that Jackie could take the sudden drop without getting hurt. It had taken her a while to used to that fact, but she understood Jackie was built to take crashes and just walk them off. She was actually more concerned about whether it was taking a toll on Tom.

"If playing with her like that is too much for you then you don't need to do it," Amanda said gently. "I don't want you hurting yourself just to amuse her."

Tom waved a hoof dismissively. "I'm fine. Just need a little while to rest. It makes her happy, and I enjoy seeing her happy."

Amanda considered her next words carefully. She hoped she wasn't being too forward. "I know you want to be close to your daughter when you get back, but she has a bodyguard now to protect her. I wouldn't mind you staying with me and Jackie."

Tom frowned and she started to worry she had been to forward.

Who was she kidding? She had just been so transparently forward he'd probably think the worst of her.

"You don't have to. It was just an offer," she added on hastily.

Tom turned his head and looked at her backside. She blushed in response and wrapped her tail around herself.

"I'm over that, if you're wondering. There's no more musk, and I'm feeling less flirty," Amanda said quietly.

"But you've still got interest in me?"

"Yes," she conceded. She then stood back up. "I'm sorry. I'm being way too forward and making you uncomfortable. We've known each other about a week and here I am asking you to move in with me. I don't know what I was thinking. I'll just leave you alone for a while."

"Amanda, wait. We should talk about this," Tom said firmly.

She sat back down and hung her head, but didn't give any other response. Jackie came over to her and curled up under her legs. She began to absently brush her filly's mane with a hoof.

Tom took a moment or two to break the silence. "Life has been a whirlwind of change these last two months. Before all this had begun my marriage had been in a long state of decline. Charl...Sunset Blessing and I had gotten to a state where we just seemed to lack any interest in one another. I'm not sure how it happened, but I can't help wondering how much was my fault."

"She seems an odd choice for you to have been with, from what little I've seen of her anyway," Amanda replied.

Tom gave a bitter laugh. "You asked me before if I was intimidated by a strong mare. I think her strength is what drew me to her to begin with. She might not have had physical strength, but she had both a strong personality and strong convictions. I wonder now if I stifled the very things that attracted me to her to begin with, and she came to resent me for it while I grew bored of her."

"Or it could be the fact she was a closet lesbian and she was fooling herself that she was ever into you to begin with, and it wasn't anything you actually did or didn't do," Amanda stated, then blushed again. "Sorry, didn't mean to have it come out like that."

"Don't be sorry," Tom said quietly. "I had considered that option as well. She insists now that she's bisexual, but she never looked at me at any point like she looks at Tonya. Thinking back, I can remember her looking at women with an odd look that I'd misinterpreted as envy. Comparing it to how she looks at Tonya I now know it was likely lust. She never looked at me or any other man like that."

"She probably doesn't want to admit she never had those kinds of feelings for you. It didn't mean she felt nothing for you, because you're a good stallion. She just didn't have that sexual attraction and felt unfulfilled because of it," Amanda replied. "You two just weren't compatible, and even less compatible since she's gone Shimmerist. Don't look down on yourself for it."

"Being a pony still makes me uncomfortable," Tom said quietly.

"For a while it did for me too," Amanda admitted and looked down at the now dozing form of her daughter. "Then I had Jackie and then I said to myself this isn't so bad.. I have been fussing about being an earth pony for a while still though, and I think it's time I stop doing that."

She took a deep breath. "My life didn't have any bearings after Paul died--my husband Paul, not Devon's. I think that might be part of why I ended up as an earth pony. The spell couldn't come up with a good guide with me to put me in any other tribe and earth pony is like the default. That's my theory anyway. I have my cutie mark, so I'm a pony for life. I shouldn't forget what I was, but I need to embrace what I am now too. It's just not healthy to look down on myself because of my species or tribe. Would you want me fretting for the rest of my life about something that isn't going to change?"

"No," Tom said without hesitation. "I want you to live a happy life that you can take pride in."

Amanda touched a foreleg to his. "And I want the exact same for you. You're in the same boat as me. No matter what you're a pony for life and you can't live your life longing for the past. You're a great person who happens to be a pony, and you shouldn't think any less of yourself because you're a pony than you would have thought of yourself as a human."

"Just like my ex there are things about my human life I'm ashamed of," Tom said in a whisper. "It's part of why I feel so uncomfortable as a pony. It's like becoming a pony altered who I was and I don't know if I'm actually me or what ETS made me."

"What kind of things?" Amanda asked worriedly.

"I was a bigot, and there's no way of sugar coating it," Tom said with a sigh. "You name it and I likely thought I was somehow superior to it. If a person didn't fit my view of the world they were some rotten sinner doomed to hell as far as I was concerned, and I condemned them all."

"And this went away as soon as you became a pony?" Amanda asked.

Tom shook his head. "Well...no. It took some time for me to move past those things."

"That sounds like you grew on your own rather than having your mind forcibly changed," Amanda asserted. "We all change over the course of our lives, and major life altering things like what we've experienced are more likely to make us sit down and reconsider our views of the world."

"My views were always so inflexible though."

Amanda looked him in the face. "With enough pressure even the strongest things will bend or break. You changed in your heart after you changed in body. ETS might have changed your body and made you reexamine everything as a result, but your own heart determined the directions you've taken."

Tom let off a quiet chuckle. "You should coin that as an earth pony proverb."

Amanda giggled. "Maybe I should. Look at me, the great earth pony sage. I'm a teacher though, so I hope I have a little wisdom to give. Maybe not a lot, but a little."

Tom looked up at her eyes. "You really want to try to pursue a relationship with me?"

She smirked. "I think me offering to have you move in with me was a small clue. We could wait till my next monthly cycle and we can see how flirty I can get when I embrace it if you really want some proof." She wrapped her tail around him. "Of course, we could lay Jackie down to sleep and I could give you a preview of that...if you're interested."

Tom let off a small involuntary nicker.

"Is that a yes?" Amanda asked with amusement.

"How long is Jackie likely going to be asleep?" Tom asked in a low voice.

"It's late, so she might be out till the morning. She's a pretty heavy sleeper at night," Amanda said as she rubbed her head under his chin and gave a small hum. He in turn gave off another nicker of longing.

"Let's put her to bed then and continue this conversation in private," Tom said in a whisper.

Amanda grinned and let off another hum.

Victory.

Six Days After Tonya's Trial

Melissa sat waiting anxiously in her dream for Yinyu to arrive. The Warden of Lust had visited her daily for the last week. Today was a big day; today was the day that Yinyu decided whether or not Melissa was considered stable enough that she could go without daily check-ups.

Dan ran a wing over hers to sooth her. It felt just like it was really being touched in the waking world. "It'll be okay, you've been doing great. I'm sure Yinyu has seen that."

She flicked her tail anxiously. "I know, but this is a big deal still. I want to have it confirmed once and for all that I'm perfectly alright like this. I haven't made any slip ups around other humans in days."

"You're still falling into using pony pronouns when you're exclusively around other ponies though," Dan reminded her.

"I don't see that as a huge issue. Some other humans have started doing that too. It's easy enough for me to pass off as I just hear it so often I just fall into using it myself," Melissa countered.

"Your aggression and protective nature are showing to humans and ponies alike," Dan said.

"Well, the night ponies will respect me more for that anyway," Melissa said dismissively. "Tattered says she's willing to consider letting Calvin take over the early afternoon shifts and letting me move to a more nocturnal schedule. So hopefully I'll be dealing with less day ponies and humans anyway. Plus, that gives me more time with you."

Dan took a deep breath. "That's good, because I've been considering resigning."

Melissa blinked and turned to look at him. "Why?"

Dan shook his head. "Let's face it. I'm just not physically up to this job. I've been thinking about it, and I'd much rather focus on my dreamwalking. Maybe go into some sort of job helping people--humans and ponies--sleep better. Protecting and comforting others when they sleep is kinda my thing. It's what I really want to do, not act as law enforcement."

"Being a comforting teddy bear to everyone," Melissa said softly. "I'm not sure I want to share my teddy bear with anyone else."

"You made it through all that without using a pony pronoun, good for you," Dan complimented.

"You're trying to deflect," Melissa accused.

Dan sighed. "You can't keep me all to yourself all the time, Mel."

Melissa grumbled to herself and flicked her tail irritably as she looked around the greyness that was the edge of her dream.

"Maybe if I could dreamwalk I'd feel a little less clingy," she said with irritation. "I feel lonely here when you're not with me. If I could just get out of this dream I'd be free to do more. It feels like I should be able to, but I just can't manage it."

"You know why that is," Dan said sadly. "You just don't have the magic for it."

Melissa looked down and dug a hoof into the grey fog. "I know. I don't regret rehumanizing, but if there was one thing I have buyer's remorse on it's that I don't have that much magic."

"Which is something we shall discuss today," came Yinyu's voice.

They looked up as Yinyu swam into view in her seapony form. Out of all the Dreamwardens she seemed the only one who seemed more fond of her assumed form than her actual one. It didn't seem all that odd though. The form somehow fit her personality more than the night pony form.

The seapony swam in front of them and smiled. "And how are we doing today? A little anxious I take it? You may give your Oaths now, Daniel."

Dan sat up straight. "Psychic Calm, we promise ponies shall dream in peace. Yinyu Wu Yan, we shall not allow our passions to lead us to folly. Ghadab, the Wardens' anger is unyielding and just. Phobia Remedy, fear of the Wardens keeps us safe. Tikhiy Krik, we shall keep the secrets of the Wardens. Sha'am Maut, better to die than to face the Wardens' justice."

"As always, very good," Yinyu complimented, then looked at Melissa. "And how is my favorite human-night pony doing today?"

Melissa raised an eyebrow at her. "Are there any other human-night ponies?"

Yinyu smirked. "Well, no. I could call you my least favorite human-night pony as well, but that doesn't sound very encouraging. How things are presented means a lot."

"Um, I'd rather not be called your least favorite anything," Melissa said anxiously.

"Good. Now on to business," Yinyu said as she did a little twirl in the air. "You've surprised me, little human. Your magic is growing. I don't really know what to make of it, but it's definitely increased slightly each day."

Melissa gasped and dared to hope. "Does that mean I can dreamwalk?"

Yinyu shook her fins. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves yet. Your magic is definitely growing, but it's a very slow growth. I don't know how far it will go. You're still too weak to dreamwalk."

"Oh," Melissa said and hung her head in disappointment.

"But it might get strong enough in time that she can?" Dan asked.

"Maybe," Yinyu said slowly. "I don't want to jump to conclusions. If it keeps with the current pace it might reach the point you're capable of dreamwalking in a few months. I have no idea if it will or not. The magic from partials and rehumanized all seem to be going through this process from what we can tell. It's still too early to tell anything. Some are even weaker than your girlfriend and are growing at a much slower rate. Because of how odd you all are it's hard to track you accurately as well. Unless we know who we're looking for. A bunch of dim lights slowly growing brighter that are harder to read than ponies. It's basically watching the birth of a new magic species."

"Are you going to tell the humans or Equestrians about it?" Dan asked.

Yinyu shook her head. "They'll figure it out on their own sooner or later. We'll let the waking world figure it out and let them worry about it, we're keeping out of their affairs. If these new magic users get to where they start using mind magic or dreamwalking on their own then we'll concern ourselves. We'll guard their lights like all the others though."

"But until then, am I good to go?" Melissa asked. "I'm not distressed. I don't feel like my pony nature and human nature are at war with one another."

Yinyu gave her a long look. "You know the drill. Give me permission to look at your memories so I can look over how you behaved and felt throughout the day."

"You have my permission," Melissa replied.

Yinyu sat and seemed to be considering. "You were getting snappy with some of the night pony mares today."

Melissa grit her teeth. "They were trying to flirt with Dan. He's taken."

"You were considering getting into a physical confrontation with that one," Yinyu continued.

"Julie...," Melissa growled. "That hussie is on her time of month and tried to fan her tail at Dan. She had the nerve to say that Dan should be reserved for an actual night pony. I wanted to yank her up by her tail and make it so she couldn't be fanning that at anypony for a few months."

"You're going to just have to trust your coltfriend isn't going to go rolling in the grass with others," Yinyu said firmly. "You need to keep your aggression and protectiveness from your night pony side under control. If you can't then I'll decide they're too detrimental to you, and take your night pony nature away. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Yinyu gave her a single eyed glare then did a little twirl. "Moving on. Everything else seems to be in order. I don't see any signs of distress. I will therefore cease checking up on you daily and move on to once a week. As for the dreamwalking, if I find at some point your magic has grown enough to support it I'll give you the ability--provided you give me your Oaths. That time has not come yet though, and I'm not sure if it will or not. Temper your expectations. I don't want you getting your hopes up."

"I understand, Dreamwarden," Melissa said calmly. Inside she was still secretly hoping that it could grow enough.

"Also, if you do start to manifest any magical abilities in the future I want you to report them to me," Yinyu continued. "I typically wouldn't care, but I want to determine what kind of impact they have on that duel nature of yours."

"Do you think it's likely I will?" Melissa asked wide-eyed.

Yinyu shrugged. "Who knows? Too early to tell anything yet. Just pay attention, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Yinyu swam upwards and looked down at them. "I think that covers everything for now. See you again in another week--and no fighting with night pony mares!"

And with that, Yinyu vanished.

Fourteen Days After Tonya's Trial

A knock at her office door made Sunset look up.

"Come in," she said absently.

Megan walked in and crossed her hands in front of her waist. "Ms. Blessing, your daughter is here to see you."

Sunset frowned. She didn't mind Phobia visiting her at work. Phobia needed to get out of the house more often that she currently did. The thing that she minded was this wasn't likely a pleasant family chat that was bringing her.

"You can send her in, but before you go I have some instructions for you," Sunset replied. "I have been told sometime in the next week an unusual pony should be coming into town. She'll most closely resemble a pegasus, but her wingspan will be far too large and she can use her wings to levitate objects--she's a bit of an anomaly. I want you to find her when she gets here and arrange for her to meet with me. I'm told her name is Candice."

"What should I tell her the meeting is about?" Megan asked.

"I need to hire her on for a side project of mine. I'm told she is highly intelligent, and is ideal for the project by those contracting me," Sunset explained.

"Anything else I should know when speaking with her?" Megan asked.

"I'm told she has Asperger's syndrome, if that helps you at all. Her pony instincts aren't all there either. I'm also told she can be a bit full of herself, but that might just be her Asperger's showing," Sunset said absently.

"I'll do my best," Megan said in a professional tone as she departed out the door.

Megan was always a perfect professional. Tonya had really struck gold when she suggested Megan as an assistant. In the next election she was going to have Megan run for one of the city council jobs, despite her young age. She knew the human had political aspirations, and Sunset intended to see those realized. Human politicians that would back ponies were valuable. It would be a shame losing such an effective assistant though.

Phobia quietly walked in and shut the door behind her. She was wearing her specially embroidered saddlebag that Rosetta had recently gotten her for a gift. Saddlebags embroidered with their owner's cutie mark were the first actual fashion trend to pop up in town. She doubted Phobia was wearing it to make a fashion statement, but it was a possibility. Phobia had taken an interest in prettying up her appearance as of late. Rosetta said that Phobia had even been reading about a company that was developing pony makeup. Sunset wasn't bothered by it. Whatever made Phobia happy and open up more was a good thing.

As Sunset took another look at her daughter she smiled. Phobia had been prettying herself up indeed. Her mane and tail had been styled in imitation of the Equestrian Element of Generosity.

"You're mane and tail look gorgeous, dear," Sunset complimented as her daughter came over to her. Sunset got down from her chair and went and gave Phobia a hug, taking a moment to take Phobia's scent in.

Phobia gave a shy smile as Sunset released her from the hug. "Thanks, Rosetta said they made me look very attractive. Actually, she said they made me look like a sexy fashion model. It's nice to feel like I'm beautiful."

That earned a sad smile from Sunset. Phobia never said any reprimandations for how Sunset had done all she could to suppress this side of Phobia early on. There was never an angry word about it. Phobia seemed to have just silently forgiven her parents. The feeling of guilt still hung heavy over Sunset's head though.

"I suppose that I'm not lucky enough that this is just a normal family visit, am I?" Sunset asked sadly.

Phobia frowned. "Not completely. I have it, in my bag. Spent most of the night writing it out."

Sunset lit her horn and opened Phobia's saddle bags. From inside them she removed several papers. She briefly glanced through them.

"This is all Greek to me, but I recognize some of the things you're needing for materials. This is going to be really costly, and take time," she finally said as she finished trying to read through.

A great deal of it involved complex physics and chemical equations that she couldn't make heads or tails of, not that she had expected to be able to. She'd let this mysterious Candice figure it out. This was only going to be the first of many ponies gathered to work on this.

"There's no rush," Phobia said without concern. "If the project has to continue on for decades and be taken up by successors we'll figure something out. Get what you can done. If your researchers figure out any scientific breakthroughs thanks to this you can probably market the advancements to help try to offset the costs."

"I'll keep that in mind," Sunset said as she carefully floated the manuscript over to her desk. "Hopefully whatever they learn can be used to show the superiority of the great pony thinkers."

Phobia gave her a raised eyebrow. "Some of those that we're sending you to work on this will be human. You can't credit everything to ponies. Those designs were not from ponies either."

Her eyes widened. "Wait...am I literally working on space alien tech?"

Phobia shrugged. "That's one way of looking at it. Those space aliens have been dead a very long time, but it is their tech. Don't put so much stock in the superiority of ponies, Dreamwardens have long memories. There were greater races before, there will be greater races long after we're gone. Even now the humans are changing and who knows what they'll be before we pass on."

"It seems like you don't support my goals for a pony world," Sunset said with a frown.

Phobia frowned. "Human world or pony world, it doesn't much matter. I've seen things you couldn't imagine, Mom. Civilizations that put anything man or pony could dream of to shame. I've also seen the darkest moments in pony history where ponies matched the cruelty of men and nearly drove themselves to extinction with their racism. It's hard to believe in any inherent pony superiority after all that."

"We can do better than the Equestrians did," Sunset insisted.

Phobia looked her in the eyes. "And I hope we do, but don't lose track of the fact human lives are just as valuable as pony lives."

"I'll keep that in mind," Sunset replied.

Phobia gave her a doubting look that made Sunset feel slightly ashamed as she felt it, but didn't continue the line of thought. "Anyway, Wild has a tailor making wedding dresses for me and Rosetta. Hopefully they'll be ready soon. We're setting the wedding date for two weeks from now."

Sunset's mood brightened up as the subject moved on from business. "I was wondering when you were going to reschedule."

Phobia smiled. "We're still keeping the guest list small; you, Tonya, Dad, Wild, Rosetta's parents, her grandmother, and her little brothers. Dad wants to bring that earth pony, Amanda, with him. He seems to be getting pretty close to her from what I hear."

Sunset nodded. "I haven't gotten to really spend time with her, but it does seem she's managed to catch and hold his interest. That's good, your father deserves somepony that will make him happy."

Phobia nodded. "Between her and Tonya I might end up with two new step-mothers soon. I know Tonya isn't going to want me to call her Mom, that be too weird. Hoping this Amanda isn't hoping for the title either, if things go that far."

Sunset blinked. "Tonya and I haven't made any plans to get married."

Phobia chuckled. "I don't like spoiling it, but Tonya is trying to build up the courage to ask you. I'm only telling you so if she can't seem to get her nerve together you can give her a little nudge to help her along. You do want her to ask you, right?"

Sunset's stomach felt like it had butterflies in it. "Are you okay with it? I know you were uncomfortable with the two of us being together before."

"Everyone deserves a chance at a happy life. I know you two make each other happy, and you have my blessing. Just act surprised when she finally gets around to asking you."

"I think I'll be overwhelmed enough with emotion I won't need to do any acting," Sunset said with a small laugh as she wiped a happy tear from her eye. "Thank you for endorsing this. Now if I can just get your soon-to-be wife to call me Mom I'll feel like all my family affairs are in order."

"You might be kept waiting for a while," Phobia said with a pout. "She has a hard time focusing on the good in you."

Sunset looked at her daughter. "Do you think I'm a good pony?"

"We're all shades of grey, Mom," Phobia said quietly. "There are things about myself I'm not proud of. All we can do is try to be better. I know you're good intentioned. Luna didn't lie when she said you have the potential for greatness, and I see that too. I hope that greatness will someday be realized. You have some growing yet to do before that happens though. Never forget that you can be wrong about things, and be open to new perspectives. I'll be here ready to cheer you on and hoping you can become the best pony you can be."

"You've grown," Sunset said as she gazed at her daughter.

Phobia gave her a smile. "And I hope to keep growing. I'm going to be a mother soon. I hope my foals know a better me than the one I am now."

Sunset nodded. "And I hope they know a better grandmother than the one I am now as well."

"Only time will tell."

Seventeen Days After Tonya's Trial

Tattered walked into the house and flopped down on the floor. Her little brother and sister gave her a look.

"I'm pleased to announce I have the next two nights off. At long last I have regular days off scheduled," she said dramatically.

Megan grinned. "And I have the next week off because Sunset Blessing is taking a trip to San Juan to discuss the pony communities there getting incorporated into SPEC. She's then flying from Puerto Rico to Denver to try to speak to some pegasus she thinks will be able to help stabilize things out west. I don't know what to do with myself with all this free time."

"Oh dear! What will my poor sister do without having to say yes Ms. Blessing a billion times a day. The horror!" Tattered said with a chortle. Her laughter was cut off when a pillow collided with her head.

"Hey, it gets tiring for me too," Megan said with a groan. "I'm doing my best to be a perfect professional assistant. She seems to appreciate me at least. She was telling me that she wanted me to run for city council and she'd give me her backing and financial support. I'd say my efforts are paying off."

"So...I actually get some family time with my sisters?" Alex asked hopefully.

"Looks like it," Tattered said with a grin, then gave her brother an apologetic look. "I'm sorry we tend to ignore you. Both Megan and I have really busy schedules. Now that I'm getting days off I'll make sure to make more time with you."

"I wish I could make the same promise, but I'm not sure when the next day I'll get off is after this vacation," Megan said sadly. "I swear I dream about making phone calls, writing emails, and doing research every time I sleep anymore. I really needed to have this vacation."

"It's okay, I know it's not your fault that your boss is so demanding," Alex said with sympathy.

Megan gave him a smile then looked at them both with excitement. "Hey! I know what we can do right now. It isn't ready to live in yet because it hasn't gotten power yet, but our new house is done. We could go take a look around it. We need to bring some flash lights because there aren't a lot of windows though. Which makes the place pitch black deep inside."

"Sounds like a great place already," Tattered said with enthusiasm.

"The Megan and I can't see in the dark like you can, Tat," Alex reminded her. He then lit his horn up and it gave off a strong glow. "Megan's the only one who needs a flashlight though. I've figured out how to make my own lamp."

"Seeing where we'll be living sounds like a good idea. Any idea when it will be getting power?" Tattered asked.

Megan nodded. "End of the week. I'm going to actually have to make a brief stop by town hall sometime in the next few days just to sign off on some paperwork for Ms...for Sunset Blessing."

"She's got you trained well, doesn't she?" Alex asked with a smirk. Megan stuck her tongue out at him.

"Well, let's do that then," Tattered said with a nod. "Megan, go on outside and get your smoke break in. I know you'll be craving one when we're out if you don't. You seriously need to cut down on that to tell the truth."

Megan shrugged as she went and started digging through her purse. "Hey, smoke breaks are one of my only excuses to get away from things when working. It's one also one of the few things that will make ponies give me some space. You ponies don't seem to understand that sometimes I just want to be alone and not bothered. The only ponies that will come near me when I'm taking a smoke break are Number and Wild. I can deal with those two though."

Tattered grimaced. "Remind Wild Growth that she still owes her most recent fine from when I caught her smoking. I'm going to actually be sad when she turns eighteen and I can't fine her and Number anymore. I was getting a lot of extra money in the police budget from catching those two."

"I hear they go drinking on and off. Maybe you can start catching her on that. That's good for three more years," Megan suggested.

Tattered raised an eyebrow at that. "Is that so? Guess I should invest in some breathalyzers that I can get a night pony to carry and put them on watch. Thanks for the tip. The police budget thanks you too."

Alex frowned. "You shouldn't be ratting out your friends like that."

Megan found her cigarettes and stood up. "Wild and Number don't care. Those two have money to spare."

Tattered shrugged as Megan went out the front door. "I'm not going to complain about them indirectly paying for equipment and supplies. My budget was tight as it was. We have an unwritten rule around the Enclave at this point that we only catch them once every other day, so they don't get too annoyed with us. At this point it's almost like regular appointments."

"I'm not sure how to feel about hearing all this," Alex said in an uncomfortable voice.

Tattered sighed. "I have to decide what battles are worth fighting. I don't like it, but if I never make compromises on anything I'll end up fighting a lot of meaningless fights. They pay their fines, I get regular income so my officers can actually have things like equipment to call one another with when out on patrol. Then hopefully when something really bad happens, like an assault or robbery, I can get faster response teams there. You have to look at the bigger picture when thinking about how you'll protect as many humans and ponies as possible."

"Still doesn't seem right."

"Sometimes you have to do the wrong things so you have the opportunity to do the right ones when it matters."

Twenty-One Days After Tonya's Trial

Tonya sat patiently in the dreamscape for Rosetta to arrive. She looked around at all the stars. They certainly looked pretty. They didn't call out to her like they seemed to do to night ponies though. She just didn't have those kinds of instincts. It had taken her weeks of practice just to get where she could get out here to begin with. Being able to dreamwalk didn't give her all the instructions on actually how to go about doing it.

Rosetta suddenly appeared before her looking very flustered.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Rosetta said quickly. "I was trying to get asleep but then Phobia's stomach decided today was the day to start morning sickness. Only with her it really is morning sickness."

"She okay?" Tonya asked with worry.

Rosetta gave a quick flap of her wings. "She's fine. Tempest should be trying to get some food and water back in her now. It just caught me off guard, figured we had until after the wedding before this started. Hopefully neither of us chooses the wedding to puke."

Tonya giggled and held a hoof up to her muzzle. "It would definitely make it memorable for all of us watching."

Rosetta flicked her tail in annoyance, but didn't rise to the bait. "Anyway. Let's get to work. You want to be able to get in touch with Sunset, Number, and Wild in their dreams. Hopefully they're all still asleep, but we'll see what we can do. Since Sunset and Number are a few time zones over right now we should probably focus on my sister first."

Tonya stood eagerly. "Sounds good to me. I'm ready to start learning, Miss Stone-Remedy."

Rosetta gave her an eyebrow and Tonya suppressed the urge to giggle again. She didn't want Rosetta to feel she wasn't taking this seriously.

"Anyway," Rosetta said with a huff. "Think about my sister. Think about her personality, conversations you've had with her, the sound of her voice, the smell of her, the things that matter to her, all the things that make Wild Growth who she is."

"Um, it sounds like your trying to get me to fantasize about your little sister. She's cute and all, but I'm taken," Tonya replied.

"Can you please be serious and just do it," Rosetta groaned. "If you aren't serious I'll ask Phobia to do this instead. Do you really want a Dreamwarden standing over you the whole time with the possibility that if you come off as rude you get punished? You are on probation after all."

Tonya gulped. "She wouldn't do that... would she?"

"You want to risk it?"

"Um, no. That doesn't sound like a good idea."

"Then do what you're told," Rosetta said firmly.

Tonya shut her eyes and did as she was told. She thought about every experience she could that she had experienced with Wild. The time she had gotten Wild encouraged to grow the crops, the horror on Wild's face when Wild had destroyed the clinic. The rage Wild had expressed to her after the trial for what Tonya had done to Number and Tonya had been scared Wild was going to pulverize her into pony goo. Making peace with her days after that.

"Good, now open your eyes," Rosetta instructed. There was a hint of laughter in Rosetta's tone that made her suspicious.

Tonya opened her eyes and saw a large ball of light right overhead. She could tell somehow this was Wild's dream. It just had a sense of her somehow. The light had a slight pinkish tint to it.

"Oh, this is going to be good," Rosetta said in an evil tone.

"Why...?" Tonya said apprehensively as she looked at the dream. "Hold it...am I about to fly into Wild's wet dream?"

Rosetta let off an mischievous laugh. "Ohhh...yeah. I can't wait to see who she's fantasizing about."

"It will probably embarrass her a lot to have us walking into this kind of dream. You know that, right?" Tonya asked.

Rosetta grinned. "What are big sisters for if not for embarrassing their little sisters?"

Tonya pretended to consider. "I'm sure there's plenty of things, but they just aren't coming to mind. Ready to do this?"

"Definitely."

The two flew into the dream and found themselves stepping into a large bed of flowers. There was also a strong background noise of groans and squeals of pleasure.

Tonya and Rosetta looked at the sight before them and Rosetta sighed. "You know, I'm kind of disappointed. Most of the mares in town seem to fantasize about him. I'd hoped Wild would be a little more original. Maybe have secret lusts for the random nerd. She's always been a bit of a nerd."

Tonya tilted her head as she watched. "Well, he is pretty hot. We're both bi, we can admit that."

"She isn't really original in her fantasies either," Rosetta said critically against the backdrop of erotic sounds. "He's just sitting there plowing her."

"There's no wrong way to fantasize," Tonya said as she tilted her head again as she tried to get a look at how well endowed Wild had made Pale Oak in her dream.

"You know, I know you two are there...ooooo...just like that...faster...harder," Wild gasped out.

Tonya and Rosetta looked at each other wide-eyed and then back to Wild.

"Don't think I'm going to...uuummm...stop my dream just because you two peeping toms decided to invade it," Wild said. "Go ahead, enjoy your show."

"You know, I think she's getting off more because she has an audience," Tonya said with a laugh.

Rosetta blushed. "Okay, now I'm getting uncomfortable."

"What's wrong, sis? Sad you're getting the wrong type of rise out of me?" Wild said with a pleasure filled tone. "I do have to thank you though. I didn't realize having an audience was this exciting before now. Whenever I actually finally get to do this in real life I'll have to keep that in mind."

"Okay, we're out," Rosetta declared.

"Aww, but..." Tonya protested.

"We're out!" Rosetta declared more firmly as she pulled the two of them out if the dream.

They found themselves back in the star filled expanse. But this time it was with a disapproving seapony staring at them.

"Let's start with Oaths," Yinyu said with a frown. "Then we can discuss your punishment for trying to upset somepony's sexual dream."

Crap.

Twenty-Five Days After Tonya's Trial

Devon walked around their new home as the movers unloaded the truck. It really looked like a completely different place. The ponies had done an excellent job at it.

Jessie followed close by her, keeping Devon's legs between her and the movers. She didn't seem to like all the activity and strangers.

Devon looked down at the filly and smiled. "You know, you don't have to hide behind me. You can be a little more social."

Jessie moved again as another mover walked by. "No!" The filly protested.

Devon rolled her eyes. Jessie had at least a dozen words in her vocabulary now, but only gave one word responses. Today, more often than not, no was the word most spoken.

She walked over to the couch, with Jessie making every effort to keep Devon's legs between her and the movers. When she sat down Jessie struggled, and failed, to get up on the couch on her own.

"Momna!" Jessie wailed as tears welled up in the little filly's eyes.

Devon reached down and picked Jessie up and sat her on the couch. "It's okay, baby girl, I know you don't like having all these strangers around."

"No!" Jessie said firmly in agreement.

Jessie might be a bit emotional today, but she was definitely understanding more and more of what was being said to her. Amanda said Jackie seemed to be getting a good grasp on what was being said around her as well, but the little pegasus still hadn't said her first word.

Devon reached into her bag and took out a plush stuffed bunny with a blue tie that matched Jessie's mane.

The little filly's eyes lit up as she saw the toy and she reached out her forlegs towards it. "Bunna!"

"Do you think you can sit quietly with Bunna if I give him to you?" Devon asked as she held the stuffed animal away from her daughter.

"Bunna!"

"Can you sit quietly?" Devon repeated as she held her daughter's gaze. "Yes or no?"

Jessie's gaze drifted back and forth between the stuffed animal and Devon's. "Yez."

Devon handed the stuffed animal over to her daughter and Jessie immediately grabbed it up in a tight pony hug. "Bunna." She said contently.

Devon smiled. She had to firmly repeat the yes or no question each time. But Jessie clearly understood the question and was able to link it with whatever was said right before.

She had done some looking through books and by all accounts Jessie's cognitive abilities were top tier for her age, by human or pony standards. She had some child and cognitive psychologists that she had contacted that were very eager to come visit Jessie and meet her once everything was settled in. Jessie wasn't just smart; Jessie showed signs that she was on track to be an actual cream of the crop genius. They were already trying to market schools for the gifted for her to send Jessie to in a few years, and they didn't care if she was a pony. They just saw a great mind in the making.

Not bad for a baby that doctors had questioned if she could survive when she was born.

Paul walked in carrying a bag of groceries, with Robby following close behind. She watched him walk into the kitchen and decided she should probably see what he had found.

She looked down at her daughter. "Can you sit here with Bunna and be good by yourself?"

Jessie looked up at her and looked ready to cry again.

"Yes or no?" Devon asked.

"No!"

Devon sighed. At least it was an honest answer. If she didn't like the answer she shouldn't have asked the question.

She reached over and grabbed the filly and the toy up into her arms. Jessie didn't protest the action, only gripped harder onto the toy bunny. She then got up and walked to the kitchen.

Paul was unpacking plenty of fruit and vegetables from the bag when she walked in.

"Everything go okay looking for groceries?" She asked.

"Not really much for meat options available, but they assured me that there was supposed to be a meat market opening soon for humans to shop at," Paul replied. "Ran into your mother, and kind of glad we did."

"Oh?" Devon asked with a raised eyebrow. Paul and her mother had never gotten along well even when her mother had been human. She'd figured the divide might have been greater even now with her mother's Shimmerist leanings.

"She chased off a few night pony mares that were being a little too friendly," Paul said tightly.

Devon blinked. "Wait...night pony mares were hitting on you? Are you serious?"

Paul shook his head. "Not me." He then look pointedly down at Robby.

Her eyes went wide. "Are you...serious? He's only six years old!"

"Fudding!" Jessie declared, filling in the unsaid word with pride. She was way too smart for her own good.

Devon wasn't even going to concern herself with the fact Jessie knew where the curse word went. What was being implied was far too serious.

"Your mother explained to me afterward that male night ponies are in extreme short supply," Paul said slowly. "She doesn't think they would try anything, but ponies age gracefully, and Robby is going to grow up eventually. She says there are a few teen colts in town and the grown mares have been doing everything they can to get the colts to develop crushes on them in the hopes of having dibs when the colts turn legal."

Devon squeezed the bridge of her nose. "So now they're trying to set up dibs on Robby. That is insane."

"Fudding!" Jessie declared again

"You've got that right," Devon said with a groan. "Why can't it ever be easy? What did my mother suggest we do?"

"She suggested we go to Phobia and have Phobia tell them to get away from Robby," Paul replied. "Nocte is sure that they'll listen if Phobia scolds them about it. They're desperate mares, but not desperate enough to cross her."

Devon rubbed her face. "Okay, we'll do that tonight. I'm not having my son deal with a bunch of grown mares trying to woo him when he's only six."

Paul sat silent for a moment. "My parents called me on my cell phone while we were out."

Devon lowered her hand from her face. "What's going on with them? Why haven't we heard from them? Are they okay?"

Paul nodded. "Both ponies, both pegasi. They're up in Saluda, just got phone service there. They did the same thing up that they did down here, condensed the pony population mostly to one spot."

"Seems you and I are the odd ones out of our families," Devon replied.

"Well, us and Jessie, everyone else on both sides of the family seems to have wings now," Paul said jokingly.

"I guess that's one way of looking at it," Devon said with amusement.

"Anyway, I told them all about Jessie and Robby, and the short version of us moving to Riverview. I also told them about Tonya."

"How'd they take it all?" Devon asked.

"Well, kind of like your mom did to tell the truth. Disappointed you and I aren't ponies, but not rejecting us," Paul said slowly. "They were talking about flying down here to see us. They said the flight would take them a few hours, but they can manage it. Their main concern is if some hot head with a gun tries to shoot them down along the way."

"If they want to visit it's probably better if you just go up there and get them," Devon concluded.

"That's what I told them. Their kind of iffy about traveling in a car though. They are complaining cars smell bad," Paul groaned.

Devon shook her head in disbelief. "I think between traveling in something that smells bad for a few hours and possibly having some redneck try to shoot them down that sounds like a pretty clear choice on which has a bigger drawback."

"Fudding!"

"See, even Jessie knows thats stupid!" Devon exclaimed.

"Fudding!" Jessie exclaimed again, continuing to demonstrate her practical knowledge on when cussing was appropriate.

"I think she's just reacting to your mood, but I agree--it's stupid," Paul said flatly. "I'm going to insist on driving them if there is a remote chance they think someone will actually try to shoot them out of the sky."

"What did they say about Tonya?" Devon asked.

Paul took a deep breath. "They were surprised. They want to see her as well. The question is whether Tonya wants to see them. She has a pretty big chip on her shoulder about our parents. One no one can really blame her for having."

Devon could understand that. That was some bad blood that she didn't think turning into a different species was going to come close to fixing. She really didn't have an answer to that.

A knock from behind them startled her and she turned around. It was one of the movers.

"Ma'am, we have everything unloaded. For legal reasons we need you to come out and check the truck to confirm it before we go," the man said.

"Sure, I can do that," Devon said. She looked back at Paul. "Do you mind watching Jessie a moment while I take care of this?"

"No problem," Paul said. He then extended his hands toward Jessie. "Want to spend some time with you Dad, baby girl?"

Jessie squealed excitedly while still keeping a death grip on her bunny. "Dadda!"

"I'll take that as a yes," Devon said as she handed her over to Paul.

Robby followed closely after her as she left the kitchen. Devon didn't comment on it or scold him for it. He was just watching and being protective. She'd gotten used to his nature after two months of this kind of thing.

She went outside and went over to the back of the moving van. After doing a quick look inside to confirm it was indeed empty she signed off the last bit of paperwork confirming the movers had done their jobs. Unloading their house had been relatively easy, as had been the things from Tom's house that ended up over at Phobia's.

Amanda's things had been the difficult ones, but that had been due to the strange layout of the newly built houses which forced the movers to take everything up multiple stair cases depending on what it was. The only things that were unloaded for the ground floor were the washer and dryer. The movers had also seemed a little unsure what to do with a pink earth pony trying to direct them on where things went, or when Amanda insisted on helping carry heavier things because she was concerned the three large men weren't strong enough.

The movers said their goodbyes and departed. And she let out a long breath. It was done. She was now officially moved into her house here. Living in a pony dominated town was going to be interesting, but it was for the best for Robby and Jessie.

"Excuse me, ma'am, would you care to take a flyer?" Came a voice from above her.

She looked up at a light blue pegasus stallion with yellow mane flying just above her. He had a heavy looking sack of papers hanging on his side, and she felt a little bit of pity for him having to try to fly while carrying that thing.

"Flyer about what?" She asked as she realized he was referring to one of the papers in his bag.

He pointed a hoof out to the center of town where a particularly large building was being built. "The city church is still a month or two away from being done, but we wanted to start getting word out early about it. When it opens up we're having a huge party there for everyone. There'll be lots of free food, we'll even have real hamburgers and roast beef for the humans, live music, and fair games. The preacher will be encouraging everyone to get to know one another and talking about the vision for our community. I hope you'll join us."

Devon laughed. "You definitely know how to market yourselves to humans. You had me at hamburgers and roast beef. Sure, I'll take a flyer."

He landed and directed her to take one of the papers from his bag. He then saluted her and flew off after she took the flyer.

The Bastion at Riverview
Grand Opening Celebration
All Are Welcome
Free Food and Games for All
Free Drawings for Prizes Including Pony Optimized Computers and Two High End Electric Cars!
Bring Your Family and Friends
Brought to You by SPEC
August 1st From 8AM till 10PM

She folded up the paper and looked out at the rest of town in the distance. High over everything stood the now landmark Skytree that had become a symbol of city pride. The massive construction of the so called Bastion at Riverview church also rose up in the distance. Even further off she could see pegasi dart around a smokestack of a factory that had recently gone back into operation and they were containing the smoke and pollution from it.

This was going to be a big bustling city, one unlike anywhere else in the world. This was going to be her home where she would raise her family. There were still challenges ahead, but she felt a certain contentment as she looked out at the sight of it.

It had seemed two months ago that her life had been shattered. Now she had picked up the pieces of her life, and it looked like it was going to be a good one.

She turned and walked back into her home. Ready for what the future had in store.

Author's Note

Story continues in Pandemic: Monsters We Make and it's short prequel Pandemic: Pony in the Mirror and most of the loose threads will be tied up there.

Chapter 1

Author's Note

This story comes with a warning upfront;

To those who read What You Are Meant to Be--this story gets much darker and displays most characters as morally grey. It is not as dry, but it can be rather grim. It is ultimately a story about abuses of power, and doesn't have a light at the end of the tunnel in regards to that.

This story happens immediately after What You Are Meant to Be, and many characters from the original story change very dramatically throughout this one. It is a significant change of note, and as such, should not be counted as a sequel to the original, even if it shares continuity.

For readers of the series looking for information about Dreamwardens, the appropriate chapters have been marked with asterisks. Multiple storylines are going in this story, and it can feel very disjointed. I have considered ways of revising and streamlining this, but it will have to stand as it is.

If you are looking for more positive and uplifting stories, it is best to avoid this one and Monsters We Make.

I have no idea how to link deviant art images. It just always tells me invalid image. Anyway. Here are some offsite links to concept images of several of the characters for general reference. Just click the name to view.

Phobia Remedy

Number Crunch

Amber Flowers (This is her human name, it just sounds like a pony name)

Tonya Middleton

Wild Growth

Rosetta Stone

Tattered Wing

Sunset Blessing

Swift Strike

Thomas Gilmore

Amanda Wilson and Jacquelyn Wilson

Robert and Jessica Middleton

Chapter 1

Devon Middleton wanted to just get back on the bus. She had felt the day before had been too many ponies in one place, she wished she could go back to that.

Today there was barely walking room and she was forced to pick her daughter up in her arms again, much to her daughter's displeasure. The little yellow earth pony with electric blue mane cried and struggled relentlessly in Devon's arms, angry about losing her recently gained freedom to walk around on her own.

"Calm down, baby girl, calm down. It's just for a little while. Once we're wherever we're going to be sleeping I'll let you back down," Devon said soothingly to her daughter as she hugged the filly close to her. Jessica was having none of Devon's soothing though, and continued to cry and struggle.

Devon sighed. At least Jessie wasn't stronger than her anymore. If she had struggled like this when going through her surge she would have easily overpowered Devon. Just like she had easily overpowered Paul.

Devon shook her head. She wasn't going to think about Paul right now.

She felt a tiny pat from a hoof on one of her legs and looked down at her son who was looking up at her expectantly.

Robert, or Robby as she called him, was a pitch-black furred night pony foal with a yellow mane, and he looked exhausted. It was late in the morning and his biological sleep schedule made him nocturnal. He was a good boy-or colt if she was using proper terms-but his nocturnal nature was exhausting for her.

"Momma, I'm sleepy," Robby complained from down by her legs, staring up at her with tired pleading eyes.

"I know, honey, we'll find somewhere for you to lay down and sleep soon. Just keep close to me and don't wander away. I don't want to lose you in this crowd," Devon said as nicely as she could. If she could functionally carry Robby while trying to deal with Jessie she would, he was so tiny as well. Far smaller than a human child his age.

"Okay, Momma," the little night pony colt said in a weary voice. He briefly brought a wing up to shield his eyes from the sun before lowering it in frustration. He didn't seem to care much for extended periods in bright light.

She really did need to get Robby to bed soon. He was almost never up this late. Usually by the time ten in the morning rolled around he was dead out, and it was nearly noon now. She had tried getting him off his nocturnal schedule, but it had only served to exhaust him. She had given up on trying to change his sleep schedule as it became obvious it wasn't going to happen; she wasn't going to hurt her son by refusing to acknowledge his sleeping needs.

They had been given some basic instructions on where to go, and large banners had been hung from the roofs of the various buildings in town giving direction on where to go, with arrows pointing to key locations. The assigned location for them was resettlement area four, spot thirty-five. There wasn't any description of what this place was, but they had been told each spot was for five individuals and they counted as three. Perhaps it was a house or a room in a larger building. Devon wished more description had been given.

Devon slowly made her way through the crowds mainly composed of earth ponies and unicorns. She would spot an occasional group of humans moving through the crowd but didn't try to reach them since they were usually far away and strangers. Most of the winged ponies seemed to want to bypass walking and were in the air, creating shadows that moved over the ground bound crowds.

The most recent banner she had seen had indicated that the area she wanted to go to was more than a mile and a half away. A walk that distance really shouldn't be that bad, if she was able to walk at a normal pace. The trouble was she was moving at a crawl through the crowds. On top of that temperatures were starting to pick up now that it was May, and it had to be in the mid to high eighties already, perhaps low nineties. She wasn't dressed for long periods in those temperatures and the body heat of the crowd was making it worse. She could only imagine what this was like for her fully furred offspring. Shade was needed soon, or they might all start overheating.

After walking for a long time, it became obvious a break was needed. Devon was starting to feel ill and Robby wasn't looking well either, in fact he was panting. Her fears that this was taking a bigger toll on him than her escalated dramatically when she noticed that. She had to get them somewhere to rest for a few minutes and get hydrated.

She saw a two-story building made of the same red bricks as the rest of the main street buildings, just several times as long, it was labeled resettlement area two by its large banner. A larger, three story building, with a different banner marking it as area one stood next to it. Area two wasn't where they were supposed to be going, but it would do for now as a place to stop. She turned and started making her way towards it.

"Is that our new home, Momma?" Robby asked in a hopeful tone as they made their way to it.

Devon wiped the sweat from her brow as she answered, "No honey, we're just stopping here for a few minutes to rest."

"Oh, okay. That sounds good. There's too much sun right now. I don't like this much sun," Robby said through his panting.

Devon frowned as she heard this. She was worried about the heat, it was obvious that Robby couldn't take it. She also knew he didn't like bright light, but was too much sun in general a bad thing? She wished someone would give her some sort of guidebook on this. Regardless, she needed to get him inside right away and drinking some water before he got seriously sick, that much was obvious.

She let out a sigh of relief as they stepped through the door of the brick building and were greeted by the feel of air conditioning.

This first room was some sort of lobby with a desk manned by a large white earth pony stallion. She made her way over to the desk to see if he could tell them where they could get something to drink.

"Hello, welcome to area two. Can I get your name please, so I can mark you off as present and accounted for?" The stallion greeted them pleasantly.

"We aren't supposed to be at this location, we just needed to stop for a few minutes. My son is starting to dehydrate," Devon explained with a gesture at Robby.

The stallion looked down at Robby and his brow furrowed with concern.

"He doesn't look so great. Night pony foal, first one of those I've seen. Maybe they just have a rougher time in the sun? There's a water fountain just down the hall that has cool water, and I think I have a mug or something over here. Give me a second," the stallion said as he ducked down behind the desk and started fishing around through some assorted items below. A moment later he came up with a large coffee mug with handle clenched in his teeth. He set it down on the desk. Devon quickly grabbed the mug up.

"Just about ten feet down the hall there, you can't miss it. You can all stay here in the lobby as long as you need," the stallion said as he pointed a hoof towards the hall.

Devon almost rushed down the hall right away to go get Robby some water, but then realized she didn't have a free hand to operate the water fountain while filling the mug.

"Can you watch her for just a moment if I set her down? I don't want her wandering off," Devon asked the stallion as she nodded towards Jessie in her arms.

"That's no problem. I think I can keep one filly from getting into mischief," the stallion snorted.

She nodded her thanks as she carefully set Jessie down on the ground next to the stallion.

"Be good for a minute, baby girl, I'll be right back," Devon instructed her daughter. Jessie just blinked in confusion as an answer.

The hall was long, but the fountain was near the beginning. She quickly pushed the button to operate the fountain and held the coffee mug under the stream of water until it was mostly filled. After that she took a quick drink for herself, before heading back.

Jessie was up and walking about when she returned but the filly only seemed to be looking for her. The stallion was watching her just not restraining her. She wasn't going to complain as her child seemed uninterested in heading towards the door. Devon sat down by Robby and held the mug up to his lips, and as she did Jessie trotted over to her and cuddled close to her.

"Drink up Robby, you need to get some water into you," Devon instructed as she angled the mug to help him drink.

"I can hold it myself, Momma," Robby said as he pulled his head back from the mug.

"You don't have hands, Robby. Just drink," Devon said with exasperation.

"I don't need hands, I can hold it in my hooves," Robby insisted, still refusing to sip from the proffered mug.

"Okay fine, take the mug from my hand then," Devon replied with mild annoyance. She fully expected that she was about to have to go refill the mug as it was dropped and then have to clean the spill off the floor. Hopefully the mug wouldn't shatter this low to the ground.

Robby kept sitting and raised up both forehooves and clamped the mug between them. It gave him a surprisingly good grip on it. Devon blinked as it seemed he could grip the mug on his own and hold it. He brought the mug carefully to his muzzle and took a drink. He spent several seconds drinking and then set the mug back down on the floor, completely empty.

"Did you get enough to drink?" She asked him as she picked the mug back up.

"Yes, Momma," Robby answered as he laid back down. He did seem to be cooling down and wasn't panting anymore.

"Take as much time as you need to rest and cool down," the stallion said again. "Area one is just next door and shares some facilities with this one. You can rest then head over there for your living quarters."

"Thank you, but we're assigned to area four," Devon said as she pulled her legs into an Indian style position for sitting and let Robby come rest his head in them.

"Four? Are you sure? There shouldn't be any humans out in area four, that's all ponies," the stallion asked with confusion.

"I'm sure, they definitely told me area four, spot thirty-five," Devon replied while nodding her head. She was tired and needed rest. "Maybe they ran out of space in the human only areas. There are a lot of people here."

"Yeah, there are a lot, but there are still spots. I even have room on my lists just in case a human fell through the cracks in being assigned places to go. Plus, there are some humans that have already purchased houses that were previously assigned here and don't need spots. So, we have space. Area four is all tents, and it's set up for ponies," the stallion explained.

"Well, that's where we're supposed to go," Devon said with a shrug. Tents? That meant no air conditioning, which could be a big problem. And how were they supposed to share a little tent with two ponies?

"Okay, if you say so. Just seems weird to me," the stallion said with his own shrug. "If you need anything just ask, I'm Pale Oak, and I'll be here until an hour till sundown, then one of the night ponies will be here if you need anypony."

"Do you know how we're supposed to fit five individuals into a tent? I take up more space than a pony," Devon asked with weariness in her voice.

"Well, my best guess is that since your foals are smaller it will kind of even out. As I said, I wouldn't have put you there," Pale Oak answered.

So, tent then...she shouldn't complain much. She had some hope of getting some sort of decent life together here. They were in a what might be a rare area that was going to experience economic development, at least from all that had been advertised. Most the rest of the country was about ready to slip into a major depression. Out west it was supposed to be getting extremely bad. There was no telling how things would go in less affected areas. She had to tell herself that they were better off here than just about anywhere else, no matter what the present circumstances.

They'd rest for about thirty minutes, making sure they had enough to drink, then go find where they would be living for the time being.

"Mandy, there's nothing to do here. It's a big empty house," Alex complained.

"You've got your computer and I made sure this place had internet ready to go when we arrived; mess around with that, read a book, dust this place, I don't care what you do, but you're staying inside," Tattered Wing said firmly, gesturing to the computer on the floor. She didn't even bother to correct her little brother about her name.

"I wish we were back home," Alex said as he laid down dejectedly.

Tattered stared at the beige unicorn colt with the green mane for a long moment. She wanted to yell and scream at him, but the truth was she knew she would just be redirecting her anger at him. In truth him being here might have possibly been partly her fault. She sighed and tried talking in a calm voice to him.

"I know it isn't our old home, and I can't provide the same things Mom and Dad could. Neither of us asked for this, or wanted to be put out, but here we are," Tattered said as she touched a hoof gently to his back.

"I hate them. I still can't believe they kicked me out," Alex grumbled angrily, shaking her hoof off him. She withdrew it with a sigh.

"Hate's a strong word. I hope they come to their senses and do something to make this right, but for right now you've got me and I'm trying to do my best," Tattered said with lowered ears.

"Your best sucks, this place is horrible," Alex snapped as he shuffled around so his back was turned to her.

Tattered walked over in front of her little brother with eyes narrowed and stared down at him angrily.

"You have no idea what I had to do to make sure you had an actual roof over your ungrateful little head. I had to sit there and promise to basically be Sunset Blessing's obedient little lapdog to get her to give us this house. You could be out in the tents right now, with it being months before you could be anywhere else," Tattered growled down at the fifteen-year-old.

"I didn't ask you to do that. That's on you," Alex muttered, not even looking her in the face.

"Yeah, it is, and it's because you're my brother that it's my responsibility. I have over a hundred different night ponies I chose to be responsible for, but I didn't choose to have to be responsible for you too. It got dumped on me. But just because it did doesn't mean I'm going to just ignore it. This sucks for both of us, so suck it up buttercup," Tattered continued to growl without budging from her position.

"Look at you, you can't even take care of yourself. How're you supposed to take care of me?" Alex said with a gesture at her various scars that laced her brown fur and her bandaged wings.

Tattered got right in his face staring him down. She moved so quickly the colt jumped back in fear.

"You don't go there. You got that? You don't mock my scars. You might be my brother, but that's one button you will not push. You're lucky, because ponies like me are around to make sure the same doesn't happen to you," Tattered snarled at him through gritted teeth.

Alex crawled backwards on the floor while staring downward, still not willing to look her in the eyes.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that," Alex muttered towards the floor.

"No, you shouldn't have," Tattered said as she spit on the floor. Just great, Tattered, spitting on a hardwood floor. Were you raised in a barn? she scolded herself in her head. "And I'm making something else clear; my name is Tattered Wing, or you can call me just Tattered if you want, not Mandy. Mandy died the day she got two of her friends killed and the rest crippled. I'm not going to be that irresponsible ever again. I learned my lesson in the most painful way possible."

"Whatever you say, Tattered," Alex muttered. She was getting tired of him not looking at her when he spoke.

Tattered sat down and let out a sigh. What was she going to do with him? She couldn't believe how disgustingly heartless their parents had been by tossing him out of the house because they considered him being a pony an embarrassment to them. This situation wasn't his fault, and he was going through his own personal hell. Now she had to play mother to her own little brother and she hated it. Maybe she could lighten up just a little bit.

"Alright, compromise then. You might not be full grown, but you aren't a little foal either. If you want to go out you can, but I want you back by the time I need to go to work this evening. Say be back around six since I'm an early riser. Does that sound fair?" Tattered asked in a tired voice from where she sat.

"So, I've got a curfew?" Alex asked as he finally looked up at her to glare at her.

"Just until things have settled down and some semblance of normal is established in town. After that I might ease up a bit more. I don't want to be like Mom and Dad, by telling you how to live your life, but I've got to set some boundaries, just so I know you're going to be okay. Can you just work with me on this, please?" Tattered pleaded in a soft voice. She really didn't want to fight with him, but she had to assert herself as the authority figure.

"Deal, I'll be back by six," Alex answered with a grumble, and then proceeded to turn away from her yet again.

Tattered thought for a moment of warning him that if he wasn't here at six she would be sending night ponies out hunting for him, but ultimately decided against it. She really didn't want to come off as a control freak. She liked to think she was the fun sister in comparison to her sister Megan who was always so strict and serious about everything. Megan always did everything perfect like Mom and Dad wanted, and they loved to point out at every opportunity that Tattered was a general disappointment compared to her little sister.

Or at least they had. Now they didn't want to take the time to do that much since she became a pony. They hadn't even bothered to visit her in the hospital when she got hurt, and Megan hadn't either. The only thing she had gotten from them was Alex getting dumped on her and being told that the two of them weren't welcome home anymore. All three of them could just go screw themselves.

Of course, she hadn't made it easier to accept them by going full vigilante and drawing other night ponies into it. She had the humans still in Charleston, and even a fair number of ponies now convinced that night ponies were all dangerous beasts that couldn't be trusted. Worse, when news of her Enclave's actions leaked to the press it didn't just set off outrage, it spawned smaller copycat groups throughout the south. The government was now running around playing damage control for the night ponies. It likely cemented her parents' low opinions of ponies in general too.

She had a lot to atone for all around; to her brother, the humans, and her fellow ponies. She would make up for her mistakes though.

"I'm going to go to bed. After I go to work tonight we can chat for a bit on the computer. I've got a kind of temporary office in town hall and it has one for me to use. I know it's easier for us to talk that way sometimes," Tattered offered as she gestured again at the computer.

"What exactly do you do here?" Alex asked as he turned his attention back to her with a raised brow.

"Guess the closest thing I can compare it to is like being the chief of police. This place has a sheriff, but he really doesn't do anything. It's not exactly what anypony would have pictured me doing a month ago, but here I am," Tattered said with bemusement.

Alex looked like he was struggling to figure out how to respond to that. He finally looked up at her.

"Are you really sure you can do that kind of job?" He asked her, then looked apologetic. "I don't mean to be rude, I really don't, but it always seemed like the most you'd every be responsible for was a register at McDonald's. Then there was the whole thing with you and your friends hurting humans back home."

She had to restrain herself from snapping at him for saying something that could have come out of their parents' mouths but didn't. He wasn't wrong, this was a massive paradigm shift in terms of who she had been, and her current position was largely a public relations attempt to show that night ponies could turn themselves around to something respectable.

"As I said, I got a massive wake up call to be responsible. I've finally got my act together, and I'm going to do everything I can to keep everypony safe and help build us a good life here," Tattered said simply, deciding to not go into full detail how much was riding on her doing a good job this time.

"Who are you and what have you done with my sister?" Alex asked jokingly. It made her smile just a bit that he was lightening up a little again. Her smile dropped a second later though.

"I told you, Mandy is dead, and now I'm Tattered Wing. Kind of ironic that I'm finally doing something the family could be proud of and they all hate me even more because I'm a pony," Tattered said as a frown returned to her face.

"They hate us both for being ponies," Alex pointed out without amusement. "I never hated you though. I know you hated the pressure Mom and Dad put you under all the time back home and finally just said fuck it all one day and gave up trying to please them. I can empathize, I felt that way too."

"Well, don't expect me to put zero pressure on you just because of that. When we get you back in school, and you are going back to school by the way, I won't get on your case if you don't make straight A's and aren't involved in a half-a-dozen extracurricular activities, but I'm going to get on your case if you don't keep passing grades," Tattered said firmly with a fresh smirk. There was no point fussing with him about his language, she had a worse mouth six years ago when she was his age.

"That's fair. Though I don't know what point there's to school anymore," Alex replied as he slightly flattened his ears.

"The world is still a human world and we're living in it. If we want to succeed in the world we must still worry about things like making a living, and that means a basic education," Tattered explained calmly, hoping this wouldn't turn into an argument after she seemed to make some headway.

"Whatever you say," Alex said with a dejected sigh as he returned to laying down following his head in his forelegs.

"Okay, I really need to get to bed," Tattered said as she made her way to the stairs. "If I'm not awake at six can you please wake me up? It won't do for me to be late to work on my first day on the job as a de facto town official."

"I'll make sure you're awake. Sleep tight, and thanks for making sure we had a place to live," Alex answered from behind her once she was near the stairs.

"You're welcome," Tattered said with a smile. "See you tonight."

"Mama, have you seen my throw pillow?" Wild Growth called out as she searched through the various packed boxes.

"No, but I'll let you know if I come across it. Nothing is really labeled at all in these boxes," her mama, Jean, yelled back from the kitchen.

Abuelita yelled something in Spanish too quickly for Wild Growth to follow and her mama yelled something just as quickly and incomprehensible back at Abuelita. The most that Wild could catch due to how quickly they spoke was something about how Abuelita couldn't have been expected to label everything.

"Have you seen the XBox, Wild?" Jose yelled from the adjoining room.

The green earth pony brushed some of her lavender mane that had slipped into her eyes out of her way. Of course, her brothers wanted their video games before anything else. She hadn't actually found the game system, but had seen several of the games, which made her have a good idea where to look. She wasn't going to tell them that though.

"No, I haven't. Don't worry about your silly video games. We have lots more unpacking to do," Wild called back.

"Stop trying to act so grown up!" Miguel yelled to her from the same room as his twin.

"I am grown up, now keep unpacking," she called back, ears lowering from both her mood and all the yelling. She had a full career and made more money a year than the rest of her family would likely make in their lives. She also dealt with all the family bills herself. Yet somehow her little human brothers were still determined to treat her as a foal. They didn't treat Rosetta this way. When would they start treating her like an adult?

She opened another box and found it was full of mail, not the most interesting thing on first inspection, but sitting on top was a letter from Clemson University addressed to her. It was dated from the same day she'd been put in isolation due to ETS. She had never seen this letter.

Emotion welled up in her as she looked down at it. She didn't know if she should open it or not. What was inside didn't really matter anymore. She wasn't going to go there as a pony, and she didn't need to now that she could grow full forests by herself. Still curiosity wouldn't let it go.

"Papa, can you come in here?" Wild called hesitantly towards the stairs.

"What do you need, sweet pea?" Papa's voice answered back.

"Papa, Rosetta and I have talked to you about nicknames! Can you just come down here?" Wild called back as she flicked her tail in response to her papa's favorite nickname for her. If a pony heard that they'd start thinking that was her name, and she wasn't going to be called Sweet Pea by every passerby on the street if she had anything to say about it.

"Rule is no nicknames is public, we aren't in public. I'll be right down, just give me a second," he answered as he could be heard moving something around upstairs.

She reached down with her head into the box and pulled the letter out. She then sat down on her rump and carefully transferred to holding it in her forehooves. She just sat staring at it while she waited for her papa to come downstairs. She was more than capable of opening it herself, but she wanted this opened carefully with no tearing, and that took hands; on top of that, her papa was one of the big reasons she had even wanted to go to Clemson. That made it an experience she wanted to share with him.

Her papa, Roger, came down the stairs and was using his beat-up Clemson shirt to wipe sweat from his face. He walked over towards her.

"What's up?" Her papa asked with a quizzical look at her.

Wild just held the letter up to him.

"Can you open this? It doesn't really matter anymore, but I want to know what they said," Wild said as she passed the letter to him.

"You sure?" He asked as he took the letter with apprehension.

She nodded to him silently, eyes still locked on what would've been the most important letter she ever received up till recently.

Her papa carefully opened the letter and pulled the contents out. He moved to pass them to her, but she shook her head.

"Read it out loud for me, please," Wild said in a quiet voice.

Roger pulled the letter back and held it in two hands in front of him as he looked at its contents. He was farsighted and really needed to get new glasses. She put that on the list of things she'd need to look into arranging.

"Dear Catherine Martinez. We have received and reviewed your application for admittance into the Clemson University's Botanical Studies program. This university prides itself on maintaining the highest academic standards in our forestry services program and other botanical programs as they are among the fields of study this university was founded to provide the quality education in first and foremost. Upon review of your academic record to date we are happy to tell you that we are accepting your application to Clemson University with a provisional full scholarship for...."her papa read and was cut off by her whoop of excitement.

"They accepted me! And were going to give me a scholarship," Wild shouted happily as she bounced in place clapping her forehooves together.

"Yep, they sure did," her Papa smiled sadly as he folded the letter back up.

And then the fact that it didn't really matter anymore came back to her and dampened her mood. It shouldn't be dampening her mood. She looked at her cutie mark, a tree bursting from split earth. This was something that she loved for a life. Plus, she was rich, she was powerful, there was seemingly no pony that could do what she could. Why did it matter to her that she wouldn't be going off to a university to study?

Because it had been the whole focus of her life since she reached high school, and now that focus was gone was the answer. Gone just like her being Catherine Martinez. Now there was only Wild Growth and she had an entirely different life. All completely changed in a month. It all left a little bit of a bittersweet feeling. Things were great, she was a millionaire with a great career, but at the same time she had to adjust to the fact that what she expected for a life before wasn't going to be the same going forward. It wasn't a bad thing, but it was an adjustment.

"Feeling alright, sweet pea?" her papa asked as he looked down at her, concern in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I knew I wasn't going to be going, but it is nice to know that they accepted me," she said with a forced laugh right before she took the letter back from him with her teeth. She placed the letter back into the box with the rest of the mail and shut the box again.

"Want to help me move a box or two of your sister's books over to her house? They are extremely heavy and I'm not sure I can move them on my own without throwing my back out. If we can get them on your back I can steady it as we walk over there," her papa asked as an upbeat tone returned to his voice. "I really want to get this done before they need me to drive them back to Summerville to get Phobia's father."

"Sure, I'll help. Shouldn't feel much different than carrying a box of feathers to me," Wild said with a genuine smile.

"Thanks, they're right over here," he said as he gestured to a few boxes in the corner and started walking towards them.

Wild Growth gave the box of letters one last look before following her papa, and leaving the letter that would have once been precious sitting with all the other mail of no further importance.

Chapter 3

Before I do anything else, I’m finding one of these “outhouses” and relieving myself, Devon thought as she walked down the row her tent was on. Plus, she wanted to find out what kind of conditions she was living under for the foreseeable future, so it was a win-win.

She found the outhouse quickly and was shocked by what she found. She had been expecting something like a porta-potty or something old-timey made of wood with a moon on the door. What she found was neither of those things.

The outhouse was built for several occupants and it had only three walls, and it also doubled as the shower area as well. It was a simple structure overall, with two areas with benches lining two of the walls. Those benches had holes in them into which you were clearly supposed to do your business in. There was no privacy at all on the benches, not only did the others using the outhouse see you, since one side opened up to the outside everyone outside could see you too.

That wasn't the least of the privacy issues though. On the third wall were three shower areas, all again with no privacy. It looked like drains collected the shower water and used that to flush the waste from the toilets away. This kind of setup might work for a pony, since they were always naked, but it was completely out of the question for a human.

She let out a sigh as she stared upwards to the sky, wondering if it would rain soon. Rain amounted to more of shower she was likely to have here. She definitely wasn't using this.

As she was looking at the sky she saw two night ponies fly by, and one of them she could have sworn was Phobia. They were certainly up late for night ponies, but their appearance reminded her that she needed to locate that pony's house at some point so she could look into a sitter for Robby.

Looking back to the outhouse she gave it a dismissive shake of her head. She would have to figure out somewhere else to go, at least for her to shower. There had to be somewhere that provided privacy for humans to shower. They couldn't really expect her to just strip naked for the world to see in there.

As she looked around the tents she saw no signs of other humans. Was she really the only human out here in the tents? As much as putting her with Amanda looked good on paper, and the extra privacy she had when not worrying about hygiene was nice, the fact remained they needed private facilities for humans to take care of hygiene needs. At least semi private locker rooms or something, divided by gender. She had to find the human shelter or one of the organizers and see what could be done.

She turned away from the outhouse and walked towards the road. This road ran straight through everything in town, and seemed to be the main street. She was away from most of the things in the town, but it wasn't that long a walk from what she recalled to get back into the main area. She remembered the area one building looked like something that might have been a school. Getting there could potentially help her with two problems at once.

It took her a good thirty minutes to walk back to area one. She hadn't really realized how long of a walk it was before because she was caught up trying to deal with Jessie fussing due to being held again and trying to make sure Robby was keeping up with her and not being run over by the crowds.

It's amazing how much time flies when trying to deal with such simple things.

The walk was rather dull. There were still crowds, lots of crowds, and she was sure that until everyone was settled properly there was going to be constant crowds. But walking through biblical amounts of ponies was getting to be old news after doing it all morning long. Scenery for the most part was trees and fields until she reached area one and buildings started appearing again.

Area one was definitely a school, otlr at least had been at some point. It was a simple three story building, and looked like it would have been a decent sized elementary school back home. Area two, next to it, looked like a gymnasium, athletic center, or something like that now that she looked at it again with less distractions. Hopefully someone here could tell her where she could bathe, wash clothes, and maybe find something that could serve as diapers for Jessie.

Her stomach growled and she added food to the list of things she needed to ask about. No one had told her anything about where she would get food. They had told her about where to find hay for Robby, but she couldn't live on hay herself. The complete lack of information she'd been given was infuriating.

A sign caught her eye by the school building. It was an announcement saying that they were intending to reopen the school in the fall if they could find enough qualified teachers, and it gave a contact number for prospective teachers to call.

Devon immediately pulled her phone out of her pocket and then frowned, no service. Of course there was no service, they were in the back-end of nowhere. She briefly squeezed the phone in frustration, but then entered the phone number into her contact information so she could make the call when she either found a landline phone or found somewhere with free WiFi. She then put the phone back away after turning it off to conserve power, satisfied that at least one of her goals was at least partially accomplished.

There were plenty of humans milling about here; actually, it was mostly humans here. There was perhaps one pony for every ten humans and many of those ponies looked younger, teens and children, mixed with human children of the same age. She even spotted a few humans with distinct ponylike features such as ears or tails that indicated they had been infected with ETS when the cure went out. She again wondered why she was assigned a tent while other mixed families seemed to have been placed here.

There was one pony near the entrance who looked like they were there just here to give information, an amber colored pegasus mare with a matching amber mane and tail. She was the most monochromatic pony that Devon had seen and as she approached she noticed that the pony's eyes were amber too. If nothing else the pony had a distinct look that made her easy for anyone to identify.

"Hello, are ya here by yourself? Tell me your name and I can find where ya're supposed to be bunked down," the mare said in a pleasant voice as she approached.

"Um, I'm Devon Middleton, but I was already assigned a spot out in the tents. I was just looking for information," Devon said as she reached the pony's table. On the table were lots of papers that looked like lists.

"A human got put out in the tents? That doesn't sound right. Let me double check my lists just to make sure y'aren't supposed to be here and then I'll see what I can do to help ya," said the amber colored mare, who Devon decided to just call Amber in her head for the moment. Devon wanted to stop her from wasting her time, but secretly hoped that her name did pop up on a list here.

Amber ran an outstretched feather from a wing down the lists like a human would run a finger. The pony did this several times over the course of about two minutes before pulling it back and shaking her head.

"Nothing. Ya weren't assigned here. Though I couldn't guess why. It's pretty packed, but we could fit more still. Do ya have foals or another pony relative?" Amber asked.

"Yes, both my children. My daughter is barely a month old and my son who is five. Jessica and Robert Middleton," Devon answered.

The pony took another quick look through the lists and gave a confused shake of her head yet again.

"What type of ponies are they? I'm trying to figure out why that was done to y'all," Amber asked.

"Jessie is an earth pony and Robby is a night pony," Devon answered, feeling a little frustrated. She was grateful for the pony taking the time to try to find out, but this was taking a while and she wanted to get the information she had come looking for and get back to the tent. She didn't like the idea of being away from Jessie for too long.

"Night pony? Well, that at least explains who would have made the assignment. Tattered Wing had the final say on the assignment of the location of every night pony. I hadn't even realized there were any younger night pony foals at all. I thought the youngest ones of those were teens," Amber said with her tone picking back up, apparently happy to have solved that mystery.

"Where would I find this Tattered Wing? And is that a man or a woman?" Devon asked. She wished that so many ponies didn't insist on taking these weird names.

"She's a mare. She's very easy to recognize; a night pony that looks like she got in a fight with a pack of rabid dogs and lost. Ya'll find her at town hall, though I'm pretty sure she left and went to bed; she's nocturnal after all. Ya'll have to check this evening," Amber explained.

"I'll do that. Thanks for letting me know," Devon said gratefully.

"No, problem. Now, is there anything I can help ya with for the moment?" Amber asked in a perky voice.

"I'm trying to find out where I can shower, wash clothes, and find food. They told me where to find hay for Robby, and there is a shower back towards the tents, but those won't work for me," Devon answered.

"There's a cafeteria here that y'all free to use, they will be serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. We have laundry facilities here but they aren't really big enough to accommodate all the humans we have here, sorry bout that. All of Y'all are free to use the locker room showers in the building next door though, but what's the problem with the ones they have back at the tents?" Amber asked.

"There's no privacy, I have to either wash while still wearing my clothes or strip naked in front of all the ponies," Devon explained.

Amber just tilted her head in confusion. "I still don't understand, ya would be stripping naked in the locker rooms too."

Did ponies just not understand that humans needed privacy when naked? They were all human a month ago, how could they not understand this?

"I would be naked in front of males," Devon said in a level voice, hoping she didn't have to explain this further.

Amber still looked confused for a moment before it finally seemed to dawn on her what the issue was. She mouthed an O in response.

"Sorry, I really don't think of things like that anymore. That might be hard to imagine, but that kind of thing just doesn't register to me naturally. I'm naked all the time, and don't think bout it. I can say that I don't think any ponies that may see y'all humans naked will really care, whether they're stallions or mares. We really don't care about that kind of thing," Amber explained apologetically.

"Humans could still be walking by, and just because the ponies don't care doesn't mean I'll feel comfortable with that," Devon explained patiently.

"Humans aren't likely to be out by the tents, and I'm really being honest about ponies not caring. Our sexual preferences really don't go that way anymore. I could care less about a naked human man, but I'd love to run my feathers over the stallion next door's tight hindquart...," Amber said with a growing smile before Devon cut her off.

"I don't need the details," Devon cut her off with a raised hand and a blush. "It would just make me more comfortable showering somewhere else, okay?"

"Okay, well, as I said y'all are free to use the locker room at the building next to this one. I think it used to be a YMCA or something, and those're segregated by sex. Expect there to be lines though," Amber said in an uncertain tone and a small frown.

"Thank you," Devon said with relief.

"Ya should really talk to Tattered Wing tonight and see if she can get y'all reassigned if it's going to be a problem. We don't want to make this any harder than it already is for y'all. Also ya might want to go talk to the First Pony Bank next to town hall. They're helping humans find permanent homes outside the shelters. I would get in on that right away so we can get y'all in a house ASAP."

"I appreciate all your help, Am..," Devon caught herself before she said the name she had assigned the pony in her head. That would be rude. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name."

"Oh, it's Amber, very easy to remember, Amber the amber colored pegasus. Ya were thinking it was Amber, weren't ya?" Amber said with a chuckle.

"Yes," Devon said, surprised.

"Yep, that's my name, and I didn't even make it up. That was my human name too. I think at this point I'm going to keep my human name, it just works too well," Amber said happily. "It's been nice helping ya, but ya've got a line building up behind you."

Devon glanced behind her. There were about six other humans waiting to speak to Amber, and at least two of them looked pretty impatient. She quickly moved out of the way.

"About damn time," a discontent looking older man said as the line advanced.

She was torn for a moment on what to do next. She wanted to hurry back to the tent so she wasn't just leaving Amanda hanging with her kids, but she also wanted to get something to eat and see that bank too. After debating it with herself for a moment She decided to head back. She could get dinner later, and she had to head down by town hall to speak with Tattered Wing later anyway. It was still a madhouse in the streets and that would give the crowd time to dwindle down.

By the time she made it back to the tents she was hot and sweaty. She was happy to see that Jessie's puddle had dried while she'd been gone. She stepped into the slightly cooler air of the tent and was immediately greeted by the sound of an excited bit of baby babble from Jessie. A moment later Jessie collided with Devon's legs and was knocked down on the ground again.

"She certainly missed you while you were gone. As soon as she realized you were missing she started crying, and she only stopped a few minutes ago," Amanda said in a tired voice and even more tired smile.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know she would get upset with me gone. She'd been so much better tempered since I started letting her walk around. I didn't realize she was going to be difficult," Devon said as she bent down to help Jessie get back to her hooves. Jessie definitely didn't seem to be in a bad mood now. Jessie was staring adoringly up at her with a very clear smile on her face.

"She wasn't so bad after I figured out she could be mesmerized by a shifting tail. I know that might not help you out in the future since you don't have one, but it does seem to keep her distracted," Amanda said as she flicked her tail.

Devon looked over at Robby, he seemed to still be sleeping, but both his wings were now covering his head.

"Did Robby wake up? I see he shifted a little bit," Devon said with concern as she continued watching her son for signs he was indeed sleeping.

"He did a small groan before he brought that other wing up over his head, but didn't seem to wake up," Amanda said with dismissive wave of a hoof in Robby's direction.

"That's a relief, I worry about him getting enough sleep," Devon said as she went and sat down on her mat. She picked her daughter's mat up and flipped it over so the urinated side was facing down. "Do you need to potty again? I don't want you having another accident on the mat."

"I don't expect she is going to give you an answer, she'll just piddle when ready," Amanda said with a chuckle. "Maybe you should lay a towel out or something. We can designate a corner for the foals to do their business if we catch them."

"I suppose that could work, I completely forgot about checking about diapers. Maybe them being more aware will end up making them easier to potty train," Devon said as Jessie trotted onto the mat and snuggled up close to her.

"Maybe, but who knows? I'm keeping expectations low," Amanda said as she gave her own filly a nuzzle, causing Jackie to coo happily. She then looked back to Devon. "Did you find out anything of use while you were out?"

"Yes, I did," Devon said as she pulled her phone out. "I got a phone number to contact about teaching jobs. They're looking to start classes in the fall and looking for teachers. That seems like good news for us both. Also, if you want to shower there's a shower in the outhouse, but it isn't private. They said if you want a private shower you need to go to the human shelter and they will have group showers by gender there."

Devon stopped and stifled a yawn. How long had she been up? She had to think about it. Since sometime late yesterday morning, though she might have had a five minute nap here and there. Amanda gave her a long look as she tried to cover her yawn.

"A private shower isn't really needed for me. I'm fine showering in front of everypony, they aren't seeing anything they don't see when I'm just walking around after all. I just want to get this filly piss and crap off my back, it smells and feels awful" Amanda said as she stood up, giving a disgusted shake of her head as she caught a whiff of herself again. "If you can wait for me and Jackie to get a shower out of the way I can watch the foals long enough for you to take a nap, you look exhausted."

"You don't have to do that for me," Devon replied.

"We all need our sleep. Plus, call it earning a favor in the future if I ever want to have a little bit of time away from my little magic missile. I love her, but every parent needs a break from their foals sometime. Especially when the foal frequently gives me a heart attack by taking off into the air out of nowhere," Amanda said with a hoof covering a giggle.

"I wonder if I'll have to deal with that with Robby eventually. He can't fly yet, believe me he tried, but I figure it's just an age thing," Devon said as she glanced at her wing encased son.

"Hopefully he'll give at least a little warning. Once Jackie has run her surges out I'll be very happy if she stays ground bound till she's at least a teen," Amanda said with a smirk.

"It used to be the prospect of Robby someday learning to drive was a stressful thought, now I've got to worry about him flying through the air someday. Just imagining him falling from the air makes me want to strap his wings to his sides," Devon said while frowning, mainly to herself, as she looked at her son.

She wanted to run a hand over him, but was afraid that might wake him. She definitely needed the chance to sleep so she could deal with him tonight. He really was getting neglected by her in favor of Jessie, and there was no second parent there now to maintain shifts with the two of them. He would need her awake overnight more often. This again led to the problem of how she was supposed to be there for both of them. She had to sleep too.

Finding that mare that had offered to help babysit Robby was going to be near the top of the list of things to do tonight. She could bring Robby with her when she went out tonight and leave Jessie asleep with Amanda, if Amanda had no problem with it anyway. She'd find this Tattered Wing pony, see about the bank, get something for both Robby and her to eat, and then find Phobia. She could do some much needed bonding with Robby as they walked around too. It seemed a good plan.

"It'll be a stress for me too when Jackie starts flying properly. At least she's thoroughly demonstrated she can take a hard collision," Amanda said as she started walking towards the entrance of the tent, Jackie following close beside her. They were still leashed together and Devon imagined at some point the leash was going to trip one or the other of them up.

"Get yourselves clean and I'll hold down the fort. I'll see about giving you the phone number for that school contact when you get back, before I go to sleep," Devon said pulled her legs under herself in an effort not to just lay down.

"Do you get cell phone service? I haven't checked mine, or even bothered to charge it for that matter. Cell phones with touch-screens are pretty much useless to me since they don't work with hooves. I could use a hand making that call," Amanda giggled.

"No service, but I'm sure there must be a public landline somewhere, or somewhere that has Wi-Fi. This place can't be that isolated," Devon answered, hoping that it wasn't going to be overly complicated to just make a call.

"Definitely, we've got this. I'll be back shortly. Then you can get some sleep," Amanda said right before exiting the tent.

Devon sat and let Jessie cuddle in her lap like an overgrown kitten. Then she scolded herself for thinking of her daughter that way. She shouldn't let herself fall into thinking of her daughter in animal terms or she'd start treating her like one. Jessie was her daughter, not a pet, even if she was now four-legged and furry. Jessie was not an animal.

But the fact remained Jessie and Robby weren't humans anymore, despite not being animals. They had different needs and thought processes than her, and she had no guidebook on what those might be. Even the adult ponies seemed clueless on what to do with foals. It was up to her to just figure it out on her own.

She was exhausted, and couldn't keep her eyes open as she waited for Amanda to return. Within five minutes of the mare leaving Devon drifted off to sleep where she sat.

Wild Growth looked over her temporary room she'd occupy while her house was being built, and debated with herself how much she should even be unpacking. She'd need to repack again in just a few months anyway, and she didn't actually use most of this stuff. She was pretty sure at least three of the boxes were clothes, and those were utterly useless.

The room was simple and small. Her full sized mattress ran two thirds of the length one wall and if she turned it the other way it would still run half of the room in length. If she were human this room would have felt cramped, but as a pony it felt of average size. Even the mattress that had before felt just big enough now felt like she had been upgraded to a king sized mattress or larger. In truth she could have done without the bed, in favor of her oversized throw pillow or the bean bag chair, both of which made for comfortable beds for one pony. She'd yet to locate the pillow though, and the bean bag chair would be kept in the living room.

The room had one window set lower to the floor that could be opened to look out on the overgrown backyard, and it was this view that had attracted her to this room. She walked over to the window, and standing on her hind legs carefully used her forehooves to open it up in order to enjoy the afternoon air and smell of vegetation.

Overgrown was definitely the word for the backyard. The grass stood taller than she did, and everything was in need of trimming. A bush on the side of the two story house grew to where it completely covered her brothers' window next door to her room. A narrow stone path could just barely be made out between the overhanging grass stretching from the backdoor to where the property line ended, which in turn was another solid wall of overgrown grass.

As her chosen name implied this type of wild growth had a certain appeal to her, but she knew that it wasn't very practical, nor were her preferences important since this was her partents' house; even if she was the one who bought and paid for it. She'd probably spend a lot of time with her parents bringing the foilage of the backyard under control, at least until she officially started working.

This was going to be a long year. Starting next week the Westvaco corporation would begin getting things set up for her to begin work. She was going to be the source of a lot of jobs for the area, her papa's included. They supposedly had a set of fields already picked out for her to grow into forests on a day by day basis, and would have humans and ponies get to work chopping them down, clearing and replanting them as quickly as they could so she could just grow them again; rinse and repeat. With her they had an seemingly unlimited supply of trees without having deforest any further areas.

Of course in a little over eight months she would have to pack up and go on a world tour to do the same elsewhere for them. A different place almost every other day for three months straight before she got to return home again. This would be the cycle of her life from now until she was old and grey; nine months in Riverview and three months running all around the world. For this they would make her rich, and she'd make the world a better place in the long run.

It was a little daunting knowing her whole life was largely determined now when she was only seventeen. This was the burden she had because of her power. No pony could do what she could, and that ability had to be used to make everypony and every human's life better, that was stressed to her constantly. She was a tool to be used, all based on a genetic play of the slots that had left her with the magical jackpot.

With a sigh she left the window, leaving it open to let the air in. She wandered back out of her room with the intent to deal with it later. She was restless and wanted to move around. Her thoughts had made her feel extremely constrained.

"Everything okay? You look a little distressed," she heard her mama say to her from across the hall.

Wild looked over to her parents' room. Her mama had paused in unpacking a box as she sat on her bed looking at Wild with concern.

Wild put on a forced smile before answering, "I'm fine, just a little restless."

"Your papa told me about the letter before he left. Did you want to talk about it?" Jean asked in the quiet tone of voice that said concerned parent.

Wild walked into her parents room. Her mama had made considerable amount of progress unpacking already. There were at least half a dozen boxes already unpacked and broken down in a corner, and only four boxes in the room remaining to go through.

She sat down on the floor across from her mama and tried to put on a happy face, but her lowered ears refused to lie about her emotions.

"What's to say? I'm not going to end up attending. I don't have the time to do something like that, and it's kind of pointless now anyway," Wild said, unable to keep the downcast tone from her voice.

"We all know how much you wanted to go, and how hard you worked to earn that scholarship. Your papa, grandmother, and I are all very proud of everything you did; your sister is too," Jean said with a half smile as she patted the side of the bed next to her.

Wild came and hopped up onto the bed next to her mama, then she stared down at the floor.

"All that hard work feels pointless now. I don't need anything I learned in school anymore; all that math, biology, and chemistry. I really put my all into really learning those things because I was sure I'd need them in the future, but now I have super magical powers that override any need to know anything about anything. If I hadn't put all that work in I would still be in the exact same place right now," Wild said with the corners of her mouth turning downward.

Jean raised a brow. "So, you feel like you haven't earned your success?"

"It's more than that. It isn't just I didn't earn my ability to do what I can do, I have my whole life dictated by it. The second I put my hooves to the ground a few weeks ago, and made everything grow like crazy, all choice about my future ended," Wild said as she stared down at the floor with a frown.

"If you don't want your life to go this way it doesn't need to. You can't be forced to do this job, you aren't a slave," Jean said as she put a comforting hand on Wild's back.

"Ponies and humans are depending on me. I can't flick my tail at this, and I do want to do this; I love what I can do. It's just...I don't know." Wild shook her head as she leaned her body against her mama. Jean wrapped an arm around Wild for a hug in response.

"So, you feel like there's not going to be anything else to your life now. Is that what it is?" Jean asked.

Wild nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to be doing the same job for the rest of my life, there's no need for me to strive for anything. I have no more goals other than being taken seriously as an adult by the twins, and that's not much of a goal."

"Don't let your brothers get on your nerves. They actually look up to you and idolize you more than they do me and your papa. You treated your sister the same way when she was going off to college, and didn't adjust right away to the idea that she wasn't a child anymore," Jean said in a nostalgic tone.

Wild supposed she did exactly that, now that she thought about it. The age difference between her and Rosetta was about the same as between her and the twins.

Her mama continued, "As for not having anything to strive for that's just not true. Life isn't all work, and you'll have plenty of life outside of work; more than most working people do thanks to all that vacation time you get. Find some hobbies, get involved with causes, learn new things on your own, and hopefully down the line start your own family. You've got a good job that you love doing, now you've got to start figuring out the rest. The world is wide open to you."

That actually seemed obvious now that it was being said to her, and she felt silly for not even considering her life outside of work. She was so focused on overarching goals that she'd lost track of all the smaller things and had continued to not pay them attention now that the big goals were met.

She turned and wrapped her forelegs around her mother, careful to not squeeze too tightly as she hugged. All that was needed was a small adjustment in perspective, to brighten up her day. "I love you, Mama. Thanks for talking to me."

Her mama laughed as she hugged Wild back. "Anytime, sweetie. Now let me get back to work. Your papa should be back from your sister's errand any time now and I want to suprise him by having this room done."

Wild smirked as a mischievous gleam entered her eyes. "That reminds me, I have a neice or nephew on the way and I'm the rich aunt that gets to spoil them rotten. I should find the computer and start trying to find things for him or her."

Her mama just laughed in response.

Chapter 9**

Chapter 9**

Wild Growth tried not to fidget too much as she waited to be called into the meeting. She was all alone in the long hall that stretched endlessly to her left and right with only two big red doors before her to look at. Surely they could have put some decorations out or installed some windows. A nice motivational poster would be nice, a few potted plants would be nicer, all that existed were plain drab concrete floors and walls.

The doors swung open and she immediately lept to her hooves and started making her way into the meeting room. Inside was a long meeting table flanked by bald fat human men smoking cigars at the head of the table was the CEO of Westvaco.

"Aww, Miss Growth, you finally deemed to grace us with your presence. Please come up front," the CEO said with a smile.

"I'm sorry, I thought I was supposed to wait to be called in. If I had known...," Wild began to apologize.

The CEO cut her off, "No time for that. We need a shrubbery."

Wild blinked in confusion. Had she heard that right?

"A shrubbery? Why do you need a shrubbery?" Wild asked, still unsure if she was hearing that right.

One of the board members scoffed at her and then gestured at her dismissively. "You see? She's completely useless. Can't even give us a shrubbery. Why are we paying her at all?"

"I can get a shrubbery, it's no problem. How big a shrubbery did you want?" Wild said hurriedly.

"A small shrubbery," one of the members said as they held two hands out in front of them close together.

"But not too expensive," another added in as they stood up and waved a finger at her.

"Um, okay...," Wild said as something played on her mind that this seemed strangely familiar.

She started to turn to walk out of the room so she could try growing a shrubbery somewhere.

"Where do you think you're going?" The CEO demanded, slamming a hand down on the boardroom table.

"I was just...," she began to say as she shrunk back at the obvious anger in the room.

"She's shirking her duties and obligations. She's completely useless," one of the board members yelled.

"What did you expect? The little tramp walked in here naked," another added in.

"But I'm always nake...," she tried to say as she rose a leg up to ineffectively cover herself.

"We need to call this little foal's mother!" The CEO declared as he picked up a phone and started dialing.

Suddenly everything seemed so much bigger for some reason and Wild looked down at herself was shocked that she'd been reduced down to a foal.

"Please, I can do this, let me prove it. I'm not a foal!" Wild begged as she laid down, buried her face into her forelegs, and cried. Laughter erupted from the meeting table.

Then all sound abruptly ended and Wild looked up to find out what was going on.

All the board members and the CEO were gone and walking into the board room was a large dark furred mare with both wings and horn, and a sparkly mane that moved like it was caught in a breeze that wasn't there.

"An interesting anxiety dream," the mare said with a grimace as she looked about then looked down at Wild with a harsh gaze. "It is not my present concern though. Who are you and what is your connection to Phobia Remedy?"

"I'm Wild Growth, my sister Rosetta is marrying Phobia. This is just a dream?" Wild asked. She sighed with relief as she noticed her adult form was restored.

"Yes, a dream, and I entered it because you share some connection to my student that I was able to trace. Her dreams are a mass of fear and pain and her magic makes it worse. It is hard for me to even enter them at the moment, and forcing myself in could damage her mind, so I must seek answers elsewhere. What has happened to her?" The pony demanded. It was then Wild realized who she was dealing with, Princess Luna and the alicorn was angry. Maybe not at her personally, but still enraged.

"She was raped, by a pony named Swift Strike," Wild answered with fear at being the bearer of bad news to this pony. The sheer level of magic this pony gave off was indescribable. Wild was really strong in magic, but Luna was stronger by many magnitudes.

"Where is this, Swift Strike, now? I will have justice for my student," Luna said, sounding like she was ready to end John's existence.

"We don't know; the Enclave ponies took him, but he got away. Now nopony knows where he is," Wild said apologetically. She really didn't want Luna angry with her. She could feel the rage in the magic coming off the alicorn and it terrified her.

"My search continues then. I know leader of the Enclave. She and I will have words about her failure to keep my student's assailant incarcerated," Luna said as she turned away and started walking out of the room. Then turned back to Wild. "Why is your sister not asleep? I would have words with her as well."

Wild shook her head. "I don't know. I'd assume she is watching over Phobia. She's really protective of her and might not want her to be unguarded."

"Tell your sister to go to sleep once you wake back up. She does Phobia Remedy no good if she exhausts herself. Plus I can't communicate with her if she isn't asleep," Luna said firmly.

"Yes, ma'am," Wild replied as she inched away from the alicorn.

"You have been helpful, and I'm sorry for letting my anger show to you. Know it is not directed at you," Luna said in a gentler tone. "I now recall my servant Tempest Shadow mentioning you and your capabilities. Wake from this dream and remember you are more capable than you give yourself credit."

Wild Growth bolted up from where she had been sleeping, finding herself still on Number's couch. The unicorn was in a chair across from Wild with a book held in her blue aura and a cigarette in her lips.

Number raised an eyebrow at her as she removed the cigarette from her lips and snuffed it out with her magic. "Bad dream?"

"Yes, but more than that," Wild said with a hurried nod. "Princess Luna found out about what happened to Phobia, and she's pissed."

Number let out a surprised gasp. "Princess Luna, as in the alicorn that Phobia has been in contact with? She reached out to you? Are you sure it wasn't just a dream?"

"Yes! And I need to get home right away to let Rosetta know that Luna wants her to go to sleep in order to be contacted," Wild said in a rush as she roused herself from the couch.

"Be careful, you haven't had enough time to completely sober up. You should be alright for the most part now, but try to take it easy," Number said with concern. Then gave her head a shake before sighing and hopping down from the chair. "Actually, I should probably walk you home just in case, at least most of the way. Hopefully your sister won't assault me if I leave before I get too close to the house."

Wild was going to protest she didn't need to be watched over, but then realized she had a splitting headache. That made her just nod in response. "Don't worry about Rosetta, she doesn't control who I spend time with. She isn't my mama, and even if she was I'm a grown mare."

"It isn't just her being protective of you, she doesn't want me anywhere near Phobia. Combine her protectiveness for both and the fact that she's likely on edge right now and that adds up to a night pony ready to break bones," Number said as she levitated a few things out of the way of Wild's path to the door.

"So why are you walking me home then?" Wild asked with annoyance.

"Because just because I think you're good to walk now doesn't mean you are. I have experience being drunk, but no experience with pony drunkenness," Number explained as she came up beside Wild. "I'm only going part of the way, as I said, just to make sure you're okay. I'm trying to be a better pony, and that partially means trying to look out for others."

"Whatever you say," Wild replied while trying to not seem too irritated that Number was foalsitting her again. Her headache was painful and she was not in a good mood as a result. She wanted to go back to sleep, but wasn't going to ignore an order from an angry alien pony that could probably turn her into a bug or something. She'd get this done quickly then go curl up on her bed till morning.

"How many times am I going to have to relive all of this until you leave me alone?" Tattered asked her dream. The dream, not actually being a pony, didn't answer.

This time wasn't as bad as most of the rest of the times. She was only an observer this time around and fully aware that this was only a dream. That didn't make what she was seeing hurt much less though. She was just now sitting helpless as she watched her friends get massacred doing something she had encouraged them to do.

The bloody form of Gail crawled towards her and she averted her eyes so she wouldn't see this again.

"Mandy, I told you this would happen. Why didn't you listen to me?" Gail's pain filled voice called out to her.

Tattered shut her eyes, refusing to look at the specter. "You're not real. You're just a memory in a dream. You aren't really here."

"Why, Mandy? If you had just listened to me everything would have been okay," Gail's voice demanded as it hardened.

"I screwed up. I'm sorry," Tattered replied as she started crying. "I know saying sorry isn't going to make this right. Nothing is ever going to give this a silver lining or anything like that. You're dead and it's because of me. All I can say is I'm so sorry."

"Sorry isn't good enough. You should be dead like..." The voice suddenly cut off.

"Well, this dream needed to come to an end anyway," came the familiar voice of Tattered's savior. "I would have words with you Tattered Wing."

Tattered looked up at the scowling form of Princess Luna and took a few timid steps back. Seeing a pony that was effectively a god scowl was not a thing you wanted to be around for.

"What can I do for you, Princess?" Tattered asked after she regained some of her courage.

"I've spoken to you about calling...never mind, I have more pressing concerns than your insistence on showing fealty. Tell me about this Swift Strike who assaulted one of my intended Dreamwardens and how did he escape you?" Luna said still scowling down at Tattered.

Tattered gulped and tucked her tail under herself. "He's dead, or at least I'm pretty sure that he is. The body that we found was a mangled mess that was barely recognizable as a pony. I still don't understand how he escaped, but somepony murdered him. And I heard of dreamwalkers, but what's a Dreamwarden?"

"You're sure of this?" Luna asked with a raised eyebrow, ignoring the question about Dreamwardens.

"There's no way to be sure with the shape the body was in, but I'm fairly certain. We found the body just a few hours ago. I'm almost certain Sunset Blessing or somepony acting on her behalf killed him. It had to be a unicorn or an earth pony, no other pony type could do the that kind of damage to a body," Tattered explained, hoping the Princess wouldn't get angry at her for letting it happen.

"How well did you know him?" Luna asked in an even voice as she continued to stare down at Tattered.

"I talked to him daily for several weeks. He helped gather the Enclave together for me," Tattered explained.

"That means I can get an impression of his mind from you, enough to track it down if he is still living and asleep, or track the dreams of anypony thinking of him. I'll find time to visit the dreams of Sunset Blessing as well. I have heard enough talk of her at this point that I think she and I need to chat. As for Dreamwardens, that you will learn about in time when they are fully trained. When that happens they will make themselves known to the dreamwalkers," Luna said in a hurry as she turned to depart.

"Is there anything you want me to..." Tattered let her question end as the alicorn vanished without even saying goodbye.

What the heck was that about Dreamwardens? Luna had made it sound something distinct from dreamwalkers. She'd have to ask Phobia about that when Phobia was feeling better.

After a moment a smile appeared on her lips. Sunset Blessing was getting a visit from Princess Luna, and Tattered wished that she could have front row seats for Sunset Blessing actually getting divine judgement.

Tonya barely slept, and after only getting an hour or so of sleep over the course of the morning finally just gave up on trying to get any real sleep on the day. She'd just have to spend the day exhausted. She silently cursed Sunset Shimmer for giving them all such over-exaggerated instincts that made things like sleeping through the full morning so hard to do.

Of course, it could just be her mind was running and she was doing this to herself. It felt better blaming a dead unicorn from another world though. Get a bad cramp in a wing muscle? Blame Sunset Shimmer for giving you wings. Ever need to shirk responsibility? Just blame Sunset Shimmer for not strengthening your sense of responsibility enough. Stub you hoof? Blame Sunset Shimmer for giving you hooves. You could blame Sunset Shimmer for anything, and since the unicorn was dead she couldn't defend herself. Tonya was a Shimmerist and she had no problem blaming Sunset Shimmer for any perceived problem.

The question now was what to do with her time now that she knew she was going to be up.

Sunset Blessing was out doing a long list of tasks that ranged from organizing town affairs, keeping lines of communication going between her and government officials, recruiting unicorns and crystal ponies for the research facility being built, and trying to slowly trying to expand her sphere of influence to other communities like this one that were soon going to be forming throughout the south. She was busy enough that Tonya knew she shouldn't bother her. That left a few options still.

First, she could try to see about seeing how Number was doing. The big problem with that was Number probably wasn't very happy with her right now, and had right to be unhappy. It was probably best that she gave the unicorn some space for a day or two at least after last night.

The next option was to go check in on Phobia. She had a feeling that Phobia might be asleep right now and she definitely didn't want to disturb her if that was the case. Rosetta might still be awake, but not for much longer. Plus the prospect of dealing with Phobia's magic when Tonya didn't have her own emotions in check might be a very bad idea.

The last option was to try to follow up with her sister-in-law, Devon. Before last night she hadn't seen Devon in years, not since before Tonya had started actively trying to transition and things had gone to hell with her family. She hadn't gotten to know Devon when Paul had been just dating her, and hadn't been invited to the wedding. She'd already become persona non grata before that point. Tonya hadn't even been aware she had a niece and nephew before last night.

The chance to actually have blood family again was something that she didn't dare hope for before today, but she and Devon had something in common now; being tossed aside by the family when they became inconvenient.

She got to her hooves and started making to leave the house. Getting to know Devon and the foals was probably the best thing she could be doing with her time right now. She'd need to go check the census logs to find out where Devon was being sheltered right now, but being Sunset's number two had it's advantages with getting that done.

Plan decided on she left the house and took to the air as she headed off to town hall.

When she reached town hall she made her way into Sunset's office and got to work on trying to find the various census files and locations each human had been placed.

After several minutes looking Tonya decided that she could stand being a director or supervisor with no problems. She could also deal with going off and doing any sort of manual labor or flying that was asked of her. At this moment she decided that one thing she would never be is a mare that spent her days in an office. Reading through papers and reports was boring.

Sunset had all the census records loaded into her computer. This should have made it easy for Tonya to quickly find all the information on Devon and her foals. Unfortunately, Sunset seemed to have an organization system for files that completely dumbfounded Tonya as she tried in vain to find the proper records; there wasn't even a search option she could find. It might make sense to her lover, but to her it was pure chaos.

"Adding to my list of things to do; find Sunset a proper secretary or office assistant," Tonya grumbled to herself as she continued to just randomly click through files hoping to find something that resembled what she was looking for.

After several minutes the door to the office opened revealing her very surprised lover.

"Tonya, what are you doing here? I thought you would be trying to get some sleep after being up all night long," Sunset said with concern as she entered.

"Couldn't really sleep, so decided to try to do some research. Whatever system you have for organization really sucks by the way," Tonya said with a yawn as she continued to click away. She wasn't even sure what files she had already checked at this point.

"Well, it works for me," Sunset said as she walked over beside Tonya and looked at the computer screen. "What are you trying to find? I can find it for you."

"Information on a human that migrated here with us named Devon Middleton," Tonya said in a dejected voice.

"Middleton? Is this a relative of yours? I thought you had no contact with any of your family," Sunset asked in suprise as she grabbed the mouse from Tonya with her red magical aura.

Tonya leaned back in the chair as she let Sunset take over the search. She stifled another yawn before answering. "She's my brother's wife. She's still human but has pony foals. Apparently my douchebag of a brother couldn't stand to have pony foals for children and just abandoned them. You can see where I might have some empathy for them."

"Yes, I definitely understand," Sunset said as she rapidly moved through a file string. A moment later Devon's file was open on the screen. "Here we are, all her information."

"She's out in area four? Why would a human get assigned there?" Tonya said with shock as she read through Devon's information.

"You'd have to take that up with the Broken One. Your sister-in-law has a night pony colt, and I conceded decisions about the placement of any night pony to that cunt when trying to get her cooperation," Sunset said with a sneer.

"You really should try being nicer to Tattered Wing. She's not a bad pony," Tonya said as she tried memorize details from the file.

"If she had taken action against that bastard, like she should have, before he had a chance to rape Phobia, or put him down maybe then I'd be nicer. As it stands she doesn't like me, and I don't like her," Sunset said with barely restrained animosity.

Tonya frowned as she turned to look at her lover. "It's going to cause problems for us if you and the Enclave are at odds."

"I'm sorry, but I'm having a hard time letting her negligence go all things considered," Sunset said as she sat on her rump and crossed her forelegs in a sulky position.

"Do you need me to help you with that?" Tonya asked as she looked down towards the older mare.

Sunset let off a long breath as she lowered her forelegs and went back to a proper pony sitting position. "Probably. I actually will need help getting through a few things. We're still at a critical stage in getting this town in order and I need to be able to focus on what needs to be done. Let me think about what I need you to help me with and I'll let you know later tonight."

"Alright, we'll talk about it tonight. Just remember you owe me some serious cuddle and smooching time sometime soon," Tonya said as she lowered her head down near Sunset.

Sunset leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the lips before pulling back to look Tonya in the eye. "I know, I've been neglecting you the last few days, and we both could use a little bit of that kind of comfort."

"I know you've been busy," Tonya said, then sighed. "So, what's on the agenda still that wasn't earlier?"

"I've got to speak with Baker again later about the level of military presence that will be here. I have a string of video calls scheduled early tonight with other southern pony leaders who will be working with the government for similar arrangements as we have here in Riverview. Supposedly they are supposed to come in person sometime next week to tour the town and discuss with me what I've learned setting this place up so they have a smooth start," Sunset explained as she propped herself up on two legs while leaning onto the chair.

"I'm guessing the suits want you to try to assert a leadership role with those ponies," Tonya said as she scooted over in the chair to make room for Sunset.

Sunset hopped into the chair and cuddled close to Tonya. "That was heavily hinted at. I'm going to keep doing all I can do to be their pony. They're having trouble with the more heavily populated pony areas and might start cracking down hard on them soon. If I can get these other southern communities to listen we can hopefully not have the same happen here."

"But what about the ponies where the crackdowns are going to occur?" Tonya asked with a raised brow as she laid down in the chair, wrapping her tail around Sunset.

"I'm trying my best to do what I can. I'm listening to reports and trying to plan a course of action. That pegasus, Laura Tanner, that I told you about, she seems to garner a fair amount of respect. I'm hoping that once I get the chance to reach out to her she'll help get ponies in line with the big picture," Sunset explained as she laid down as well to cuddle.

"And if she doesn't listen to you?" Tonya asked as she laid her ears back in worry.

"Then hopefully those ponies will realize what must be done on their own before it's too late,"Sunset answered with a frown. "And if they don't we'll do our best not to have the south pulled into that mess."

"I don't like it. We knew we were going to have problems with humans and the government, and the only option was appease as much as possible and maintain the fiction of business as usual. Why don't they see that too?" Tonya asked as her ears wilted.

"Because of numbers," Sunset answered. "It isn't like over here. They dominate in terms of numbers over there, and as a result they're more determined to do things the pony way than the way we've done things forever. They think they can be autonomous. We know what would happen if we tried to pull that, Phobia ingrained that idea onto me. We can't risk conflict with the government. The long route working from within human society is the only way we or our descendants will ever see an all pony world."

"How's she doing?" Tonya asked, changing subject.

"She's asleep, but she's having nightmares according to Rosetta. Rosetta is being stubborn and staying awake to guard over her when Tom is right there to do the same. The physical injuries don't seem that bad other than...that one area," Sunset said as her face hardened.

Tonya restrained from grimacing at the name of Tom. It wasn't really rational that the name should make her anger rise, but she always got mad she heard that name on anyone. She really needed to get over it, that hadn't been her name in a long time. It still felt like the worst curse word imaginable though.

"What about your ex? Have you talked with him now that he's marked?" Tonya asked, keeping worry about the idea of Sunset rebounding with him from her voice.

"Not much, just about Phobia. We'll talk more in the weeks to come; Phobia needs all her family right now...," Sunset trailed off as she turned and gave Tonya an appraising look. "You're worried I'm going to get back with him, aren't you?"

"A little," Tonya mumbled.

Sunset pulled Tonya into a hug. "You don't need to worry. My feelings for Tom had shifted well before we became ponies. The drama that followed pretty much cemented that we're done. I'm not going to abandon you to get back with him."

"So you don't have any feelings for him at all?" Tonya asked. She shouldn't be feeling this way, but she wanted to hear more reassurance straight from the horse's mouth.

Sunset seemed to consider her answer and that made Tonya's heart drop. After a long moment of silence Sunset finally answered. "I'm not going to say I feel nothing, that would be a lie and I won't lie to you. But I don't have any more romantic or sexual feelings about him. He's Phobia's father and the stallion I spent more years of my life married to than you've been alive. I hope that while dealing with Phobia he and I can shelve the hostility and become friends again--for Phobia's sake, but it's over between him and me."

"I believe you. I just can't help worrying about being abandoned," Tonya said as she nuzzled her head up against Sunset's.

"Well, hopefully you will find some family in that human. She's a human, so it isn't the best family, but it's something. But we are going to stay Riverview's odd couple," Sunset said then shifted and kissed Tonya.

"That's the word for us. Who would have thought I'd be coupled up with the Sunday school teacher who paddled my bottom for wearing nail polish as a child," Tonya said with a giggle.

"I don't actually remember that. I just vaguely remember you being a brat from the little time I had you as a student," Sunset said with a frown.

"Well, I might have been. I was seven at the time so I can't remember all the details well either," Tonya said with a shrug. "I remember the spanking you gave me over the nail polish though."

"I'm don't remember that, but I'm really sorry. I'm not that human anymore," Sunset said remorsefully.

"Oh, don't get all pouty about it. I know you're not the same. I wouldn't be with you if you were remotely the same. Ponies forgive," Tonya recited before yawning.

"That we do," Sunset said with a smile. She then rose to her hooves and jumped down from the chair, which left Tonya pouting about the loss of her cuddle buddy. Sunset looked back at her still smiling.

"Try to take a nap. You really need to get at least a little bit of rest if you intend to play bedroom twister with me tonight," Sunset chuckled. "It would be a little insulting if you fell asleep on me in the middle of that."

"I'll try," Tonya acquiesced. "See you tonight."

Author's Note

Have updates the coming daily this week Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for this week only.

Chapter 35**

Chapter 35**

Tattered watched out of the corner of an eye as Lavender socialized with the ponies in the Augusta party. The humans were no longer in attendance, but Lavender had already spoken with them earlier. The Equestrian had on a medallion, very similar to the one Tonya wore, and would touch a hoof to it every so often as she was speaking to them. Typically Lavender's face would go grim briefly when she touched it; that pretty much confirmed that Tonya was right.

The crystal pony with Shadow Dancer, named Crystal Dreams, was watching Lavender just as much as Tattered was, and had actually taken Shadow Dancer aside at one point to talk with him. Now Shadow Dancer seemed to be much more amicable when talking with them, he knew they were on to him and was going to play things safe.

Tattered and Garner Cut kept close by Sunset Blessing at all times. She hated the unicorn, but she wasn't about to let this bastard try to play his mind tricks on Riverview's leader. Sunset Blessing was bad enough without having this monster making her even worse.

Tonya had returned a moment ago with Phobia and Rosetta in tow. That had gotten a raised eyebrow out of Sunset Blessing, but she thankfully hadn't opened her mouth to ask any questions, or worse introduced Phobia before Lavender could finish her testing. For right now they were going through the motions of showing off the town and their plans for expansion.

Sunset Blessing gestured out at the woods. "This particular stretch of woods stretches for about thirty miles westward and about ten miles to both the north and south. While most of it's outside the current town borders I have negotiations in place to obtain the remainder for the town. About half the woods is currently under private ownership, about a quarter is unincorporated to any owner, and the remainder technically belongs to some towns further west. It'll take a few weeks to claim all of this, but the parts closest to town I should have in our possession by the end of the week."

"You waste time with negotiations, you should simply begin clearing so it can be made useful for farmland and settlement," Shadow Dancer said with a sneer.

"I think you fail to understand. If we simply took these woods without securing the rights from the current owners we face extreme backlash from the humans," Sunset said with forced calm. "How many ponies are there in Georgia and South Carolina combined, two-hundred thousand to two-hundred fifty thousand? There are over ten million or more humans in that same area."

"Florida and the west have large numbers of ponies, they could support us," Shadow insisted. "And Equestria would not let anything happen to us if the humans tried anything."

Sunset snorted. "You mean those ponies out west trying to live in hovels without electricity or running water? And the Equestrians that stopped ETS and are even now sending unicorns to the rehumanization centers to aid in transforming ponies back into humans, not to mention are negotiating treaties with the government to limit where those out west live? You think those are your allies to protect you from humans? You're incredibly naive if you believe that."

"Something would be worked out," Shadow muttered. He clearly didn't have a good counter to Sunset. He then looked at the woods again. "In any case, we have to have somewhere to put ponies and we can't wait on your stupid negotiations to be completed. The humans will just have to accept we need this land."

Sunset nodded. "I understand the urgency in securing this for our ponies. I actually want to begin clearing of the land we do have legal rights for starting tomorrow. My general plan was to take the Augusta ponies in different waves spread out over a month and a half. This gives us time to make arrangements for each wave instead of trying to accommodate all of them at the drop of a hat."

Shadow stomped a hoof. "The humans are pressuring us now. There isn't time for delays."

Sunset gave a satisfied smirk. "Oh, I wonder why with such a well mannered leader in charge? So, you're ready to face whatever the humans throw at us if we try to seize the land illegally, but you're also running in terror from them in order to do that. Tell me, how have you managed to hold leadership to this point?"

"You will..." Shadow began, but was stopped by Crystal, who punched him with a hoof on the shoulder and gave pointed looks at both Tattered and Garnet. Tattered narrowed her brow and glared at the pair from Augusta. Shadow must have been trying something and Crystal was aware that he'd be caught. There'd been a tiny surge of something as he had begun talking. She shared a quick glance with Garnet and the crystal pony nodded his head just enough for her to notice.

It was only a matter of time at this point before Shadow and Sunset did more than trade barbed words. Phobia needed to step in soon and deal with him before this whole Augusta pony migration turned into a brawl.

Shadow frowned and turned back to Sunset. "Perhaps we should discuss this in private later on. I think after a few minutes alone you'll see things my way."

Luna save me, was this idiot really so stupid he didn't realize they knew exactly why he would want a private meeting? Tattered thought to herself. She wasn't the only one that was thinking that; Crystal literally facehoofed after he said that. Maybe they should be negotiating with Crystal instead of Shadow Dancer. She at least seemed to have two brain cells in her head, even if she was likely as much a rabid Shimmerist as he was. He had to use mind magic to have gotten his way to this point, he was too stupid and brutish to have done so otherwise.

Tattered spotted Lavender walk over to Phobia and the two turned away from the group and started whispering. It was time to clip this asshole's wings.

Tattered stepped forward and got his attention. "I'm sorry to interrupt your negotiations, but I was curious about something. Every night pony in town knows how to dreamwalk. I'd like to know if you know how to dreamwalk as well. We take great pride in the fact we're all dreamwalkers."

Shadow raised his head high. "Of course I know how to dreamwalk. It's how I'm able to keep in contact and organize the shear amount of ponies under me. I've been dreamwalking for almost two weeks now."

Tattered smiled. That was all they needed to know to trap this bastard. "Then you are aware of certain rules that night ponies should be adhearing to at all times, and the consequences for breaking those rules."

Shadow's expression darkened. "I'm aware of them. That's only if word is given to certain parties though. I'd hope you wouldn't betray a fellow night pony who is trying to make a better life for all of us."

Tattered narrowed her eyes and growled. "You already betray yourself by what you've done. There's a pony here who would have words with you." She turned her head to Phobia. "Phobia Remedy, I accuse Shadow Dancer of malicious use of mind magic. He was about to try to use it on your mother, and I think Lavender has already confirmed to you everything else you need to know."

Every pony looked at Phobia with mixed reactions of shock and confusion, with the exception of the Riverview night ponies--Phobia included, who all stared at Tattered with a scowl for some reason. Why were they scowling at her?

Phobia walked forward with her mother staring in confusion at her. Phobia looked first at Tattered with a sour expression. "You and I are going to have a talk later about keeping things from reaching the wrong ears. There will be consequences. Don't do that again."

Tattered's ears laid back. She just realized she potentially just gave out night pony secrets, and she was going to be punished for it. She wrapped her tail around one of her legs and stepped back with her head held low.

Phobia turned her attention now to Shadow Dancer. The Augusta leader was looking at her with his mouth agape and was also taking several steps back with his tail tucked between his legs. The rest of the party of Augusta representatives looked as confused as the non-night ponies from Riverview. Crystal was the first to realize that something seriously bad was about to happen to Shadow Dancer and stepped in front of Phobia defiantly.

The crystal pony lowered her head in a fighting posture, dug at the ground with her hooves, and gritted her teeth at Phobia. "I don't know who the hell you are, or why you have my friend so scared, but you won't hurt him while I'm around!"

Shadow stepped forward again. "Crystal, please, step aside. You have no idea what you're trying to fight. You can't win this."

The crystal pony turned and looked at Shadow. "I only need to know you're afraid of her. You don't get afraid. Even when you should be afraid you still just stupidly charge forward like nothing can hurt you. Why are you afraid of her of all ponies?"

Shadow shook his head. "It's a night pony thing. There are things too terrible to talk about, and this is one of them. Please stand aside, I don't want you getting caught up in this."

Tattered watched how others were taking all this. Sunset still looked shocked, but was now looking at Phobia with a questioning eye. Phobia's mother clearly had no idea what Phobia really was. Rudra was trying hard to hide behind other ponies, since the Dreamwardens seemed to terrify him. Wild Growth, strangely, had a satisfied smirk on her face. Number Crunch was looking around at ponies with a look that said they'd all gone mad. Tonya was trying to look inconspicuous as she stepped behind Sunset. Rosetta was watching Crystal as if waiting to pounce on her. And most the rest just wore looks of confusion.

Phobia seemed to just ignore Crystal and focused her attention on Shadow Dancer. "Shadow Dancer, you haven't feared what is coming nearly enough. Judgement will be coming for you very soon. How you're judged depends on what actions you take now. Are you going to cower behind your marefriend, or are you going to face your fear and speak to me?"

"He isn't my mate, you damn bitch!" Crystal yelled. "I don't know what you're up to, but keep away from him!"

Shadow Dancer took a few hesitant steps forward and laid a wing on Crystal, startling her and making her jump. He looked down at her pleadingly. "Crystal, I'm sorry, I should've listened to you before about...well...everything. Just stand aside for right now and let me deal with this. This's the consequences of my actions and I have to face them."

Crystal's face filled with anguish and then swiftly contorted into rage. She turned around and started charging towards Phobia. Tattered spread her wings to jump to Phobia's defense, but the charge abruptly ended.

Crystal was lifted into the air by a red aura and pulled towards a very angry Sunset Blessing. Sunset held the crystal pony in front of her and glared daggers at her. "You will not lay one hoof on my daughter!"

The crystal pony screamed in outrage and Sunset's magical aura immediately evaporated, leaving the crystal pony glowing brightly. Crystal then turned and bucked Sunset hard in the head, dropping Sunset down on ground and out like a light before the unicorn even realized what was happening.

Rosetta and Tattered then both sprung into action and both collided from the air into the crystal pony in the next second, sending the crystal pony skidding across the ground and knocking up clods of dirt in her wake. Crystal seemed to still be undeterred and tried to rise, but as she tried to rise Wild Growth casually walked over and put a hoof down on her, pinning her to the ground.

"Just stop, you aren't going to win this fight," Wild said down to Crystal. "Go ahead and try using your crystal pony absorbing powers on me, I dare you to try."

Crystal looked like she was going to try just that for a moment then let off a gasp of disbelief. "How fucking strong are you? Nopony is that full of magic! Are you a fucking alicorn in disguise?"

Wild smiled down at her. "I'm Wild Growth, and I'm one of a kind. Now yield, because I'm not letting you back up until you do."

Crystal laid down, muzzle bloody from Tattered and Rosetta's combined attack, and sobbed.

Tattered turned her attention back to Phobia, and was shocked to see that Phobia wasn't particularly phased by the fact that this crystal pony had just tried to attack her. That was surprising considering the fact she was supposedly a nervous wreck since the night of the rape. Phobia did spare a slightly worried glance over at her mother though, and Rudra and Lavender quickly moved to go see to Sunset. Tattered couldn't really care less about Sunset, it was about time somepony had managed to knock her around.

Shadow looked over at Wild. "Please don't hurt her anymore. I promised that I would protect her. She isn't responsible for my actions."

"Nothing will be done to her," Phobia said to him as she took a few more steps forward. "Now, listen to me." Shadow bowed his head. "You're going to do whatever it takes, without doing anything forbidden, to ensure a smooth transition of your ponies to Riverview. You shall do this in a way that does not provoke the humans against ponies. In a two days time you'll be judged for your crimes. Until that time you may consider how you can make amends. Your friend, Crystal, can stand in defense of you if she agrees to our terms of doing so, and you may suggest other ponies to stand as witness and defense of you as long as they're willing to agree to our terms of involvement."

Phobia then turned to Tonya. "You and Tattered made the accusations. You two should come forward to prosecute in this judgement. Tonya, if you wish to be involved you'll be given terms of doing so. You'll have to agree to them or you'll not be allowed to be involved."

Tonya took a long look at Sunset's limp form and turned back to Phobia. "I'll agree to whatever terms you have."

Phobia nodded and her face hardened. She walked over to Tonya and whispered something in her ear. As Phobia stepped back Tonya had a terrified look on her face that matched Shadow Dancer's. Tattered could guess why. Shadow Dancer wasn't the only pony who was going to face judgement soon.

Phobia looked around at the still confused looking crowd of ponies. "I'm done here. This was night pony business, and the rest of you don't need to worry yourselves about it. I'm going to see to my mother now, and I'm sure Number Crunch can continue the negotiations on my mom's behalf until we're sure my mom is alright."

With that she simply walked over to Sunset Blessing and began helping Rudra get the unicorn on to his back, with the assistance of Rosetta and Lavender. Tonya followed them away, likely concerned about her lover. Once they were done with that they all simply walked away, leaving the gawking crowd to figure out what had just happened on their own.

All ponies from earlier save Sunset Blessing and those that had taken her away were in attendance for Shadow Dancer signing his agreements in the main hall of town hall. Both the human directors for South Carolina and Georgia as well. Number Crunch felt the entire situation was somewhat surreal.

Number Crunch set out yet another form for Shadow Dancer to sign. Director Baker and Director Maxwell were both sitting off to the side watching. The two humans had admitted they were surprised that things were going so smoothly, and they had expected more disagreements to be going on. Nopony felt the need to enlighten the humans about what had happened so far. Most ponies themselves were still trying to wrap their heads around what had happened, Number Crunch included.

Number started citing off terms of agreement. "So, we are agreed. In a week's time you will move the first wave of ponies, totaling eighteen thousand to Riverview, along with one thousand humans, and with each subsequent week you shall move another wave of ponies of humans of equal size until all are moved."

Shadow Dancer kept his head hung low, "Yes, we're agreed." He then picked up a pen in his mouth and signed the document before setting the pen down again.

Number put another document in front of him. "You also agree that each wave will commit to helping prepare for the next by having the adults taking up employment with various construction crews, farming crews, and transportation crews so that each new wave is properly prepared for before they arrive. Each of these workers getting paid a fair wage for their efforts."

"I agree."

Shadow then went through the actions again of picking up the pen in his mouth and signing the document, before putting the pen down again. He kept his head lowered the entire time.

Number passed a final document to him. "And you agree that you'll submit to the authority of the leadership of Riverview in all decisions and will answer all questions asked by your settlers with answers provided by Riverview's leadership."

Crystal stomped a hoof. "This is ridiculous! You shouldn't be surrendering all your rights to these humans in pony skins, these god damned forsaken! What's gotten into you? Are we just not going to talk about what went on out there with that mare?"

"No, Crystal, we aren't going to talk about it," Shadow said without lifting his head. "You have no idea what you're dealing with when it comes to her."

Crystal put her hooves around him and hugged him. "Only because you won't tell me. Why're you keeping so closed mouthed about this? Why're you just doing whatever she says? You never back down from a fight, but this one puny pony comes out at you and you roll over and surrender without so much as a peep. What's wrong?"

Number Crunch grimaced. She would love those answers as well, but they didn't seem to be forthcoming. Tattered Wing just reiterated that it was night pony business and wouldn't say a word. Shadow Dancer was even less forthcoming. No other pony seemed to have a clue either. Well...Wild seemed know something, but hadn't been talkative either. She didn't even know what to tell the humans. What was she supposed to say? Was she just going to say that Sunset Blessing's daughter had just come out and scolded the stallion for things unknown, told him how things were going to go, and just left? The humans would want more than that.

Who controlled Riverview; Sunset Blessing or Phobia Remedy? Until today Number Crunch would have said Sunset Blessing, it was obviously Sunset. Now she was not so sure, and she didn't have a clue how Phobia ended up calling the shots. The sudden shift, with no indication that it was even in the realm of possibility of occurring, left her feeling shell-shocked.

Shadow looked up at Crystal with a sad gaze. "I screwed up, I screwed up really bad. Nothing can protect me from what's coming. I can just pray for mercy and hope that if I comply with all this some mercy might be had."

"If you are signing these documents under duress they can't be counted as valid," Director Maxwell said aloud.

Shadow gave a small chuckle. "Director, duress doesn't begin to cover this. I am not facing duress, I'm facing a death sentence for crimes against the mind. I'm a dead pony walking. I've earned whatever judgement comes down on me. All I can do until then is hope to make amends and hopefully some mercy might be shown. Perhaps if I make enough amends I'll be left for you humans to judge. That would surely be a mercy."

"I'm not going to let her hurt you," Crystal said in a near crazed tone. "She doesn't look that tough. I can take her."

Shadow chuckled again. "No, Crystal, you cannot take her. Nothing can defend me against her. You could put me in the most guarded room of the most secure place in the world. Put up some shield to block all magic, and have me watched non-stop. When my time comes I'll be dead if she so chooses. You could even kill her and it wouldn't stop anything. I'm guilty of crimes, night pony crimes, and I cannot escape the consequences. There are controls that stop night ponies from doing wrong, and I've violated them."

"And what exactly is it that you think you are guilty of?" Baker asked. "If you're guilty of a crime we can take you into custody and have you given your day in court."

Shadow looked at the humans then looked back at the document. He calmly picked up the pen in his mouth again and signed it. He simply spit out the pen this time after signing. "You know all those five thousand or so humans that Augusta is so eager to get rid of? I forced them to want to be ponies. I used mind magic and turned their minds to what I wanted. You can't undo what I did, it'll do far more harm to them than you can imagine if you try. I've done a serious crime, and now I face the consequences; judgement day is coming. In two days I expect to be dead. An example made for all night ponies who might try to do the same. Human courts don't have the laws or the punishments for me, you're so inadequate."

Baker and Maxwell both looked at the stallion in shock. The rest of the ponies in attendance looked just as shocked, even Crystal. It wasn't every day that a pony claimed to have mind controlled five thousand humans and then shrugged off any punishment humans could do in response as inadequate, preferring instead what he assumed were harsher pony given punishments. He was a die hard Shimmerist through and through, even when facing extreme punishment he mocked humans for not being able to do it as well.

He wasn't done mocking the humans though. He sneered at the humans. "Tell me humans, what crime do you think I should be charged with? Coercion perhaps? My victims felt no duress. Your legal definitions can't even come up with a crime to charge me with, as brainwashing doesn't have any formal crime to charge with. I was a married to a lawyer when I was a human, I remember that coming up once. How would you stop me from doing it again? How would you stop me from doing it to you right now? You're so pathetic and helpless."

Baker stepped forward with fists clenched. "Terrorism and treason, perhaps?"

Shadow Dancer laughed outright. "To charge me with treason you'd have to know I'm a citizen of the United States, you don't even know who I was as a human. Terrorism? Who did I terrorize? Attempts to overthrow the government? I could care less about your government. I simply persuaded some humans to see things the way I do. You've got nothing. Ponies will judge me, because humans are incapable."

Number at this point had heard enough of his rambling. He gave a bad name to Shimmerists everywhere. "Since all the documents are in order I think we're done here. Tattered Wing, I think this pony needs to be taken away and put into custody, and I think these gentlemen will want him guarded so he doesn't try to pull any mind control shenanigans. I think I can safely speak for us all when I say I don't ever want to see this pony in our town again."

Tattered flicked her tail and laid her ears back. "Agreed. I'll provide whatever assistance needed to make sure he's properly contained."

Maxwell raised a hand. "We're far from done here. The legality of those documents is highly questionable under the circumstances. We also still don't have any answers about the pony that he seems convinced will judge him, or what went on earlier."

One of the unicorns from the Augusta delegation stepped forward. "We've spoken among ourselves on the matter, and we'll abide by these agreements."

Crystal glared at the unicorn. "Like hell we will!"

The unicorn shook his head. "You're outvoted, Crystal. All of the rest of us agree to follow with these. It's in the best interests of everypony."

Maxwell looked at the delegation and did a sad shake of his head. "Alright, I can't really complain about that turn of events. I still want to know what went down earlier, and about this mare that was talked about."

Crystal's eyes went wide and she turned to Maxwell. "Her name is Phobia Remedy. She just walked out there and told Shadow he was facing judgement and to just accept whatever terms she said!"

"Phobia Remedy did this?" Baker asked in disbelief.

"Yes!" Crystal said with maniacal Glee. "You should go arrest her right away. She threatened Shadow! I press charges about making threats against a pony's life!"

"Weren't you on the same wavelength as Shadow Dancer just a moment ago of dismissing humans as having no authority over ponies?" Number asked in a skeptical tone.

Crystal threw back her head making a big flourish of her mane. "I changed my mind. Punish her for what's she's done, and what she said she was going to do."

Wild coughed into her hoof. "I never actually heard Phobia make any sort of threat. She just walked over to him and said he would face judgement for what he had done. If that makes her guilty I think you need to go out and arrest a lot of preachers."

Crystal's eyes went wide. "No! She said....she said..."

Number leveled her own gaze at the crystal pony. "She said nothing. Shadow Dancer was the one who stated every single thing he said would happen to him, and there was no sign he had met Phobia before today. She was with the group for several minutes with him not seeming to care. It wasn't until Tattered made the accusations about him to Phobia that he cared about her. Phobia made no threats."

Crystal rounded and pointed a hoof at Tattered. "Well, she was a threatening presence, she responded to those accusations. She started this."

"Accusations that he held confirmed after they were made," Baker said in an even tone. "I'll take some time to ask Phobia some questions, but as far as I can see she has done no crime."

"Y'all are just plain loco is all there is to it. Just look at the way you two act, y'all're both nuts," Amber said, adding her two cents in. The other Riverview ponies nodded in agreement. Number was sure there was something more to Phobia, but it was clear that Shadow Dancer was somewhat unhinged, and Crystal was so desperate to save him she was grasping at straws and failing that looking for some vengeance in Phobia.

"Let it rest Crystal," Shadow said, looking defeated again. "You're only making yourself look bad. You need to pull yourself together, you're my defense once I go to trial after all. I don't know if they'd toss you out for contempt of court, but I'd prefer to have you able to defend me."

"There isn't going to be a trial. I'll stop this," Crystal insisted stomping all four hooves in a foal-like manner. It was embarrassing just to watch.

Number had enough of this. "If there is nothing left to discuss then can you all clear out of here now? It has been a long morning and everyone needs to just take a breather. Tattered and Garnet, please help the directors with Shadow Dancer. Amber, please go check on Sunset Blessing and let me know how she is doing. Wild, please stay so we can discuss some things. The rest of you go do whatever it is you need or want to do, but do it somewhere else."

As they all filled out Number looked at Crystal Dreams exiting, and made a mental note to get in contact with Tattered or Ms. Rivers about the pony. She did not want another Swift Strike incident. That particular crystal pony was angry and vengeful enough to try something stupid. Crystal ponies were just as strong as earth ponies, and their added ability to absorb magic might make a disgruntled one far more dangerous.

After all the hall was empty except for her and Wild she turned to her friend.

Wild apparently anticipated what was coming and held up a hoof. "I can't tell you, Number. I don't even know all the details myself, but I promised my sister and Phobia that I'd keep my trap shut."

Number raised a hoof to her head and rubbed it. She felt a headache coming on. "Wild, I have to know something. Ponies are going to ask questions. If your sister and soon to be sister-in-law don't give Sunset answers then Sunset is going to ask me questions. I'm grateful that Phobia was able to get everything to work out, but I don't have a clue what the hell just happened today."

"Rosetta stressed to me that I shouldn't talk about what goes on with Phobia, under any circumstances," Wild said as she hoped up on a chair to sit. "She made it clear that this could be very dangerous to her well being and my future nieces' or nephews' well being. I'm not going to put them in danger."

Number levitated together the documents and carefully put them in a folder before setting it back down in the table. "This is a big deal, Wild. Ponies aren't the only ones that are going to be asking, the government is going to be asking. I will do everything I can to deflect them, but I need to know what I'm deflecting from. Their well being is already in danger because of today, especially if Shadow Dancer turns up dead. That isn't even counting they have a potential psychopath in that Crystal Dreams that is probably going to be trying to pull something."

Wild snorted and flicked her tail. "It isn't like they don't already have one psychopath to worry about and are doing okay. Swift Strike hasn't tried anything since he escaped. Maybe they up and killed him, he certainly deserved it."

Number froze at the mention of that stallion. She had thought about him today, but as something past. It sometimes slipped her mind that others still thought he was out there.

She looked over at Wild. Maybe a secret could be traded for a secret? She needed to know what she was dealing with in Phobia, she wasn't going to be put into the same situation she was with Swift Strike again. Wild just said he deserved to die. Wild was her one real friend and wouldn't betray her confidence. There was a threat of Phobia possibly killing Shadow Dancer right now and Wild wasn't betraying Phobia despite that.

"If I tell you something important about Swift Strike, something that almost no other pony knows, can you please tell me what you know about Phobia? A secret for a secret, both that we will keep in confidence? I want to protect your family,"

Wild frowned and laid her ears back. "You know something about the my sister's ex, and you haven't told her or me it already? Why would you do that? You know how terrified they have been of him returning, yet you have information about him that could keep them safe?"

Number spoke slowly and deliberately. "I have kept them safe, and I need the information you have to keep keeping them safe. A secret for a secret, and you can feel they are more secure for both. I won't tell whatever you tell me, and I trust you won't tell what I tell you. We both use what we learn to make things better for them. I'm risking a lot, my very well being telling you this. I just want to make sure no more ponies get hurt."

Wild flattened out her ears to the side and looked downward for a moment. "You can't let them know you know."

"I won't, just tell me what it is and I'll tell you what I know." Number felt sweat building up. Was she really going to do this? What would Wild think of her after she found out? Why was she even doing this?

The answer was simple. As much as it was for buying a secret, what she really wanted was absolution.

Wild took a deep breath and spike quickly. "Phobia is kind of the mind magic and dreamwalking police. She can find anyone who had misused either, and she can kill them while they dream. The night ponies hold her in a combination of high regard and absolute terror."

Number nodded. It didn't explain how Phobia came to this position, or how she did it, but it answered the pertinent question of why Shadow Dancer was as scared of her as he was and why she talked about judgement. She didn't need to know the rest, she knew enough. It also let her know that Crystal Dreams likely was not going to be intimidated or threatened by her, and that meant Crystal Dreams was just as potentially dangerous as Number had suspected.

"Now it's your turn," Wild said as she looked up at Number.

Number gulped and took a deep breath. She looked at the door and strained her ears for any sound that indicated somepony was about to walk in.

It was time for the moment of truth, the moment she could clear some part of her conscious.

She looked Wild in the eyes and spoke. "Swift Strike will never trouble your family again. I killed him."

Author's Note

Chapter release schedule is kind of out the window at the moment since I personally don't have a schedule for anything anymore. So, chapters will come when they come. There should be between 2-4 chapters a week until I am done with part 1.

Comments always appreciated and welcome.

Chapter 62

Rosetta yawned as she triple checked to make sure the blinds for the bedroom were not going to let too much light in. Phobia was waiting for her in their covers. In a month they'd be getting Phobia's actual bed from when she was human. It was meant for one human, but for them it would be very spacious. Sleeping curled up in some blankets wasn't that bad, but she enjoyed the luxury of a good bed. The two of them would probably come to appreciate it even more as they became fat and bloated with advancing pregnancy.

Tempest stood at the bedroom doorway, still wearing that black dress. They'd told her she didn't need to worry about them seeing her flanks, but the broken horned unicorn insisted on wearing the thing. Rosetta clicked her tongue as she wondered how many days that garment could go before wear and tear made it look raggedy.

"We're perfectly okay, Tempest. We're not foals. You don't have to tuck us into bed," Rosetta said with mild annoyance.

"I'm learning your bedtime routine," Tempest explained. "I've been ordered to make sure Phobia Remedy is kept safe, and I need to know what kinds of habits she typically demonstrates during different points of the day."

Rosetta raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure it's not that serious to know that much detail. We don't want you constantly hovering over us."

"I didn't chose to be in this position, but I will take my orders seriously, little pony," Tempest said in a flat tone.

That earned a blink from Rosetta. "Do you resent being here, protecting Phobia?"

Tempest went stony faced. "How I feel is irrelevant. I was given orders and I'll follow them. Even if it means be exiled indefinitely as a civilian on a different world."

A definite yes then.

"Why do it if you really don't want to be here?" Rosetta asked. "You could be here a long time, why not just say no and worst case resign from your position so you couldn't be ordered here?"

Tempest scowled. "And what exactly should I do instead? I'm a broken horned, blank flanked unicorn. If I'm not being avoided for one then I'm being avoided for the other, and more often than not both. Without being given a purpose by Princess Luna I'm left driving myself insane trying to solve one or the other problems. My horn can't be fixed and if my cutie mark hasn't appeared this late then there's a good chance it won't. This is better than walking around as an outcast on the streets, striving in vain for things that aren't going to happen."

"You dictate your life based on fear of rejection and fear you don't matter," Phobia said softly.

"I'm not afraid. It's just the way things are," Tempest growled. "You aren't from Equestria, you wouldn't understand."

Phobia sat up. "I'm not from Equestria, but I have seen fragments of what it's like there through Luna's eyes. You're right that there's a great deal of prejudice towards those like you, but there are also far more than you give credit to who would overlook those things. You're angry, hurt, and afraid of so much. You renamed yourself well when you named yourself Tempest Shadow because that's what's in you; an angry storm and shadows."

Tempest stomped a hoof. "How do you know I renamed myself?"

"I told you I've seen fragments of Luna's life, I didn't say how big the pieces were. I don't know everything Luna knows because it was a lot to watch, and I just got done watching fragments of her predecessor who had a whole lot more; but I picked up some information here and there out of it that caught my attention, including her knowing your original name," Phobia explained calmly.

Tempest actually blushed. "Would you please keep my original name to yourself, as a courtesy."

Phobia smiled slyly. "Sure thing, but if the bun in my oven turns out to be a filly I might make it her middle name. It's such a cute name."

Rosetta had no idea what the name was, but by the look on Tempest's face Rosetta hoped that Phobia was bluffing. Still, she couldn't help being curious how bad it could be given how pony names went.

They already had names sort of picked out for the foals. First naming them after her parents' middle names or Phobia's parents' first names and using their own human names if they went to a third of the gender. That gave the possible named as Alfonso, Thomas, and Matthew for colt names in that order; Tabitha, Charlotte, and Haley for the filly names in that order.
It gave the foals a connection back to their human roots. In their opinion pony names should be more a reflection of who the pony is and not given by the parents at birth. If the foals ended up wanting pony names they could pick then out themselves after they got marked.

Tempest got a curious look on her face. "How much of the Princess's knowledge was passed down to you?"

"Hard to say," Phobia said with a shrug. "There are a lot of missing gaps and I paid more attention to some things over others. If it felt really interesting or useful I paid more attention; like how to properly use mind magic and major events in her life after becoming Dreamwarden--some of it I really don't know how to feel about. Other things weren't so useful; like information about magic types I can't use or details on Equestrian government--I'll never need those things."

"Yet you took the time to remember details about me," Tempest said in a flat tone.

"I knew you so I was curious enough to pay more attention," Phobia said as she laid back down. "Don't worry, I'm not going to go blabbing your personal information all over the place. I'd be an incredible hypocrite if I did. We're going to be spending a lot of time together though. I'm not Luna or do I think like her, but I'd like to be your friend. If you ever want to talk about anything I'll be happy to."

"We shall see, but don't hold your breath," Tempest said as she flicked her tail. "I shall go downstairs and keep watch from there. If Crystal Dreams comes to attack you she'll have to come in by the ground floor."

Rosetta flicked an ear. "Can you please actually answer the door and take a message if anyone comes?"

That earned her another glare from the broken horned unicorn. "I'm not a house servant, but I'll consider answering the door."

Well, it's better than a straight no. Rosetta thought to herself as she laid her head down. Hopefully Tempest would soften up eventually if she was going to be here for a long time.

After Tempest left and closed the bedroom door Rosetta wrapped one wing over Phobia and one over herself. Phobia stiffened at the touch of the wing initially, but then cuddled into it before wrapping her own head up.

Rosetta found herself dreaming almost as soon as she closed her eyes. She didn't take the time to learn what her own dream was about, though she could tell it was a nightmare. After quickly exiting her dream she began focusing on Sarah. She had meant to go to bed earlier to have a better chance of catching the unicorn, but they had been so busy.

She did a mental sigh of relief when she found that Sarah had slept in and quickly dived into the dream.

The dream wasn't the most well formed of dreams. The landscape was indistinct in form. From her limited experience this wasn't really that uncommon. Many dreamers didn't use fully formed settings all the time.

What was fully formed was a lightning storm and a tornado. Sunrise Storm was trying to deal with both of these weather conditions at once while Sarah called out to her daughter to reach safety.

Rosetta flew down by Sarah startling the unicorn into forgetting about the storm and letting it vanish.

"You're in a dream Sarah, sorry it took me so long to get to you," Rosetta said slowly, hoping it registered through Sarah's foggy dream filled mind.

Sarah blinked a time or two and the tornado and Sunrise Storm vanished in turn. "Late? What time is it?"

Rosetta did some math in her head. "For you? At least ten, but not quite eleven."

Sarah's eyes widened. "I'm sleeping in that late?! Everypony is going to think I'm sick or something now."

Rosetta dug a hoof across the grey nothingness as she looked down in shame. "Sorry again. I really wanted to get here earlier, but it's been a crazy week. Thank you for staying in bed so late to see me."

More things seemed to register, and Sarah's eyes lit up with excitement. "What did she say? Is she going to fund me?"

"Yes, she's going to fund you," Rosetta said slowly as Sarah pumped a hoof in triumph. "She has conditions though."

Sarah's excitement died as she narrowed her eyes. "What kind of conditions?"

Rosetta sat down. "First, she gets to choose who your security team is and will provide them. You get to pick everypony else you have working with you, but she has control of security."

Sarah flicked her tail and flattened her ears. "Okay, I'm not happy about that, but if I get to actually control my research team and pick them out I suppose I can live with that. You said that's first, what else is there?"

"She wants to have unicorns of her choosing get a look at any artifacts that you may eventually find. They won't take them, but they want to examine them," Rosetta said slowly as she looked Sarah in the eyes.

Sarah's face hardened. "She wants me to let her have strange unicorns have access to historical treasures that belong rightfully to the tribes that live on the reservations?"

"She said they won't take them and I believe her on that," Rosetta said with a frown. "She's hoping you find more Equestrian artifacts, and that they have runes on them that ponies here don't currently know. From what she says she fully expects you'll learn those runes too. She wants you to keep any runes you learn to yourself."

Sarah crossed her forelegs. "That's a deal killer. That's me providing a black market spread of illegal magic. That would ruin my career if the government found out."

Rosetta shook her head. "Not in this case. Sunset Blessing is employed by the government and she's telling them exactly what you find and discover, including magic runes. She says as long as you keep your discoveries in terms of runes from going public the government will turn a blind eye to it."

Sarah blinked and looked worried. "They could seize my research and notes at any time then."

Rosetta smiled. "I told you. I'll keep copies of that stuff for you too. She isn't going to go after me, or let the government do so if she suspects I have them. She's far too protective of family for that. I'll make sure your research is safe."

Sarah chewed on her lip with her ears flattened. "I really don't like this. I just wish I had other options."

"There's something else you should know," Rosetta said with hesitation. "She already knew about you and had been researching you. Not just you, but also Sunrise Storm and your nephew. Both she and the government have their eyes on all of you."

"Why would they..." Sarah began then shook her head. "Bob has a head for magic better than any other unicorn I know, my research could be valuable to the right parties, and Laura...oh god. I can look after myself, but what am I going to do for Laura and Bob? I don't want them getting pulled into these things, they shouldn't have to be shouldering those kinds of responsibilities. They should just be worrying about normal teenage stuff."

"What's normal teenage stuff anymore?" Rosetta asked with a laugh. "I know how you feel. My little sister is about Sunrise's age. She's an earth pony and she's really powerful...like crazy powerful. She tries to take on responsibility for everything; our food, jobs for everypony, fighting deforestation, my protection, my parents' health, the list goes on. She's seventeen years old, she should be worried about school. Instead she's worried that if she loses her temper she'll level whatever building she's in with a single stomp of her hooves."

"I'm sure it's not that bad," Sarah said sympathetically.

Rosetta sighed. "No, it's probably worse. She did level a building yesterday with the stomp of a hoof. She just lost control of her temper. Nopony got hurt, but it could have killed somepony. This big corporation has her signed to a multi-million dollar contract to have her grow forests now too. Earth ponies look at her like she's the biggest celebrity ever. She shouldn't have to be dealing with all this."

Sarah nodded and looked down. "That's like Laura...or Sunny like she named herself. Ponies all around look up to her and look to her for answers. When we were in the shelters she really stepped up and took responsibility for everypony. She's always been so level headed and responsible, and I'm proud of her for it. This is all so much now though, and I worry about all the things she's taking on. She's seventeen just like your sister. She shouldn't have to have everypony coming to her for answers."

"And that's not even getting into my fiancee," Rosetta said mournfully. "We're not that much older; I'm twenty-two and my finance is only twenty. I can't even tell you how much she's taken on herself. I get this mix of pride and unease as I see other night ponies look at her in awe and dread. I love her more than anything, but I feel like I'm with somepony so far beyond my comprehension when I'm with her sometimes. She has so much power yet she's so scared and vulnerable, and she's so scared and vulnerable because I failed to protect her."

Sarah stared downward with a sad expression. "So much power and responsibilities put into the hooves of foals. The world has truly lost all its bearings."

Rosetta nodded in agreement. She wouldn't call them foals, certainly not Phobia, but it was insane that so much power had been invested in so many so young. She hoped that Phobia, Wild, Sunny, and whoever else could bear the weight.

Chapter 78**

Chapter 78**

Tattered laid her head against the railing and did a very improbable thing, she yawned. It wasn't a yawn of being tired, because she was already asleep, it was a yawn of being bored.

This trial hadn't gone as long as yesterday's trial yet, but it was close to that length already. This one had large amounts of downtime where nothing was happening though. She certainly felt sympathy for Number Crunch after seeing what she went through, but the time spent letting Number Crunch pull herself together, and now additional time letting the defense discuss things just made things drag on.

Fortunately there were some things to distract her. The Dreamwardens had apparently seated them by where they were from, which meant that she was sitting smack dab in the middle of all the Riverview ponies. She had the whole Enclave here with her, at least the night pony part of it. It was a rare opportunity to just socialize with her fellow night ponies, something she rarely could do when sitting around the office.

To her left Brick Pounder was socializing with Rudra and Gerald. The three stallions didn't seem aware they had an audience of about a dozen mares watching them. Looking around the amphitheatre it would be obvious to many that there was a severe gender imbalance with night ponies. There were about a dozen stallions out of the Riverview night ponies altogether, two of whom were more rightfully called colts since they were only in their mid teens. Add to that one younger colt that wasn't present. There were more crystal pony stallions in Riverview than night pony ones.

There were nearly ten times as many night pony mares in Riverview though. While there was nothing stopping a night pony mare from trying to start up a relationship with a day pony, but the fact they had conflicting sleep schedules made such relationships less than ideal. With those facts in mind, most mares had come to the realization that competition for stallions would get fierce, and night ponies were naturally aggressive. Most of the stallions hadn't yet realized that supply and demand made them hot commodities, and that mares might start soon coming to blows over them. Abandoning the idea of monogamy might be a good idea, but Tattered doubted most were ready to skip out on that idea yet.

It would have been amusing to watch how oblivious the stallions were, if not for the fact that if Tattered ever wanted a mate she'd be facing those same long odds. Being a night pony mare was kind of depressing with that in mind. It almost made her wish she was a lesbian. There might actually be more lesbian mares than available stallions for all she knew, not that it would be enough to balance out the numbers of mares looking for stallions.

Even the mares that were already married to stallions were likely feeling the troubles of the night pony gender imbalance. If their husbands were day ponies they barely got time with them. Made worse was the fact that night ponies were all active in their own way when sleeping, which meant six to nine hours more they weren't spending with their mate each day. Add to that that night ponies had different temperaments than most day ponies and it made these existing relationships all the more frayed. Tattered knew that at least two of those mares watching the stallions were already married. It was only a matter of time before they turned their attention to the colts due to desperation.

She sat up and turned to her right. Dan was speaking with Nocte. The two were discussing their new roles in the structure of the Enclave, typical business related socializing. Nocte didn't seem to have any interest in Dan, but three other mares were watching the conversation. Dan might be crippled, but he was male, and that made him a commodity. Tattered had a feeling that any claims Melissa might have were going to be challenged.

Tattered enjoyed being a pony, but Sunset Shimmer really screwed up whatever prerequisites made a human transform into a night pony. Like many things it would balance out in future generations, but right now it was a one of the many ways the world was a mess. There would be plenty of infighting to come among night pony mares, driven by the basic need to mate and breed.

On a whim she decided to try something.

"Yinyu?" She asked aloud, though the Dreamwarden wasn't with her. "Can you hear me? I have a question."

"A question? For me? I feel special," Yinyu said, having suddenly appeared perched on the railing in front of Tattered.

Tattered took a deep breath to begin saying her Oaths, but the Warden of Lust put a hoof over her muzzle.

"You said your Oaths earlier while here. I'll take them as said for today, and we are short on time anyway," Yinyu said with amusement. "What's your question?"

Tattered nodded as Yinyu removed her hoof. "What are the Dreamwardens' plans for dealing with the fact there are about ten mares for every stallion with night ponies?"

Yinyu tilted her head in confusion. "Plans? What makes you think we would get involved with that?"

"You're kind of in charge..." Tattered said slowly.

Yinyu laughed. "No, we're not. We decide what happens to those that do bad things dreamwalking and those that use mind magic for bad things. We don't govern night ponies. We don't even limit our dealings exclusively to night ponies, otherwise we wouldn't be having this trial. We get a little harder on night ponies and take more interest in them because they fall more universally into our purview, particularly with dreamwalking, but we don't govern them. We govern the dream realm."

"But night ponies have to universally follow your rules or we get punished. That sounds like governing to me," Tattered asserted.

"As far as dreamwalking, mind magic, and showing us respect when you're in our realm goes, yes, but what goes on in the waking world, if it doesn't involve those things, is none of our business," Yinyu said with another tilt of her head. "We can try to encourage some behaviors, but we can't force them."

"But there's a crisis with this gender imbalance. Don't you care?" Tattered demanded.

Yinyu looked hurt. "Of course I care, I'm the Warden of Lust. All the Dreamwardens care about what happens with night ponies, we're night ponies after all, but it isn't our job to fix everything or something we should try to forcibly do. We'll give advice, but we can't make ponies take it. We may not even have the right answers when giving that advice. Our strict authority is limited to just a few things and for good reason. We have our own Oaths baked into our binding to the dream realm because we need limits."

"What are your Oaths? You mention them sometimes, but you never say what they are," Tattered said with frustration.

Yinyu raised a hoof like giving a pledge. "As a Dreamwarden I swear I will not violate the uniqueness of the lights, even those I judge will keep their light unique. As a Dreamwarden I swear that I will only take action against those that can dreamwalk or use mind magic, no matter how much I may wish to intervene I will not bring judgement to those who have no magical power to bend minds. As a Dreamwarden I swear that if I grow tired of my burden of guarding the lights against those who would dominate them I will first find an heir to my legacy and then bind myself into an eternal dream, never to interact with another again. The lights shall always have a Dreamwarden guarding them. I swear that I will never seek to end all magical life by any means."

"That still sounds like you technically can govern night ponies since we can use mind magic and dreamwalk," Tattered paused as something occurred to her. "Wait...is that why you wouldn't consider judging against Sunset Blessing? Because she has no mind magic or ability to dreamwalk?"

Yinyu frowned. "We believe Tonya is responsible for her own actions, but if we found Sunset Blessing responsible for whatever reason we would make no judgement against her because of our Oaths. We'd might have found some way of leaking information of what she did to the human authorities and leave it to them to figure out what to do about her--or we might have just made ourselves look intimidating, made some empty threats, and hoped she was intimidated enough to not do it anymore. Trying something like that too often would destroy its effectiveness though; ponies would eventually catch on to the fact we can't do anything to them."

"That's not really helpful," Tattered said flatly.

Yinyu shrugged again. "We can't deal with everything."

"And the fact that your Oaths actually do give you wiggle room to govern night ponies, even if they might not give that room to with other ponies?" Tattered asked.

"We agree," Yinyu said with a nod. "Though we see it as an oversight in the Oaths that we intend to correct when we eventually choose heirs. We can blame Luna for that oversight, most our Oaths came from her after all. What a shock that an immortal absolute monarch over night ponies in the waking world didn't think to include an Oath against being an immortal absolute monarch over night ponies in the waking world."

The sarcasm about Luna was something Tattered could have done without. It felt like some sort of sacrilege. For a pony that was chosen by Luna's wisdom it was surprising how often Yinyu questioned Luna's wisdom. However, there was something else that caught her ears in that. "Most of the Oaths?"

Yinyu hung her head with her ears flattened. "The last one came from something else. We won't discuss who or why. There's a good reason it's there, trust us on that. Seeing the mistakes of the past Dreamwardens and what they have taken from the universe is rather humbling and terrifying. We owe the universe far more than it owes us. Hopefully someday the debt that earned us that Oath will be paid."

Tattered wondered what the past Dreamwardens had done that the current ones were so deeply ashamed of. In any case, if Luna didn't see fit to stop them from taking waking world authority over the night ponies then she must have wanted to leave that as an open possibility, and because it was Luna Tattered trusted that wasn't a bad idea. It was clear that there they had problems that needed leadership to help solve. Why was Yinyu so opposed to the idea?

"But you can take authority over the night ponies in the waking world," Tattered insisted.

"How?" Yinyu asked. "You saw from Shadow Dancer's trial we can't even count on all of you to report when mind magic abuses are happening, and you expect us to try exert more authority over you in the waking world? What a joke! Part of the reason we'll eventually need to reveal ourselves is we'll need to make it so every intelligent being on the planet has an opportunity to report such abuses, because we clearly can't count on night ponies to see that mind magic abuses don't happen there."

Yinyu leaned forward on the railing so she was right in Tattered's face. "And furthermore we just plain don't want to govern all of you. I'm the Warden of Lust, I care about inspiring ponies passions and their sexual health. Phobia cares about having ponies understand their fears. Psy is a psychologist, he wants to just help ponies. Sha'am cares about taking care of the dying, Krik those grieving, Ghadab those angry. We want to do our own special little things, not foal-sitting the lot of you non-stop on everything. Ensuring the rules we gave you are upheld is more than enough foal-sitting for us."

Tattered cringed back from the Dreamwarden. "So...we just have to figure out the problem with the gender imbalance ourselves."

Yinyu went back to a regular sitting position and huffed. "I'll try to give some advice when I've gotten more time to figure out what advice to be giving, but ultimately all of you will have to work it out."

Great, the Dreamwardens were just going to let the inevitable fighting between the mares happen. Tattered hoped that it wouldn't come to that, but night ponies were instinctively aggressive so that hope was pretty frail. She might as well start reading up on laws about assault and battery, and perhaps even laws about sex with minors, because she was sure things were going to often come to that. The joys of law enforcement.

Yinyu looked behind herself briefly then looked back. "Anyway, I answered your question as best I could. I'm going to leave you for now. Things are about to start again with the trial. I think you'll find this next part very interesting."

And with that Yinyu just vanished.

"Alright, the defense has had enough time to consider the evidence presented," the Warden of Death declared and then looked at the Tonya. "Is there any change in your plea?"

Tonya shook her head which made Sunset scowl.

"No, ma'am, I'm sticking to my plea," Tonya said, seeming to have suppressed her fear for the time being.

The skeleton nodded. "Very courageous of you. With that matter settled we shall look at our next witness's memory." The Warden of Death turned to the Warden of Silence. "The floor is yours."

The great minotaur bull jumped down from his pillar with trident in hand and landed on the court floor with a very loud impact. He then turned and looked out at the starry expanse and lifted his trident up high.

It didn't seem at first that any image appeared in the expanse, but slowly it focused into a view of Swift Strike. This was apparently the Dreamwarden's memory of Swift Strike in the dreamscape.

Swift Strike looked around with confusion, seeming to be unsure where he was. This was his first visit into the dreamscape then.

"Fuck. I didn't wake up. I'm still in a dream," Swift Strike growled. "When I wake up I'll find that bitch and give her what she deserves."

Okay, it wasn't confirmed yet, but that probably placed this right after Number Crunch had knocked him out. Though it could have been right after Sunset Blessing knocked him out too. Those were the only times Tattered could think of that Swift Strike would have been asleep and making threats against some mare in his dreams. If this was right after Number Crunch then these were his final moments alive.

A loud bell rang out and Swift Strike looked around rapidly again.

The stars around him rearranged themselves into writing one word at a time.

Night pony, you have entered into the dreamscape for the first time. There are rules that must be obeyed if you are to be allowed here.

Guess that explained how Tikhiy Krik managed to introduce himself to dreamwalkers without saying anything. Tattered had to admit he was definitely committed to the silence thing.

"What in the hell?" Swift Strike asked as he stared up at the writing. "I'm sick and tired of others trying to tell me what I can and can't do!"

If you do not agree to follow the rules and swear your Oaths to me you will be removed from here. The writing spelled out.

Swift Strike laughed. "Well, send me out of here then. I was trying to get out of here anyway. That mare might have caught me off guard, but I had put the fear into her. When I wake up she'll pay for everything."

Put the fear in her? What did this mare do to you that you are so eager to be banished from here?

"She tried to hold me tight in her magic and take me back to the authorities. She wasn't prepared for my magic though," Swift Strike bragged.

And your magic put fear into her?

Swift Strike snarled. "Are you deaf as well as mute? I made her feel fear, and I was going to punish her for what she did. I have to act all nice and everything around them most of the time, but when they get out of line they need to pay. I always make them pay!"

The pale white furred stallion with a jet black mane appeared before Swift Strike. The words continued on writing above the stallion's head.

You intend to kill this mare? And you intend to use magic to force her to fear you in order to do it? This is forbidden. You must swear your Oaths now and await trial. You must not use your magic to commit murder. This is an abuse of your power.

"You aren't one of the ponies from Riverview. I don't know who you are, but you're not in any position to stop me from doing shit!" Swift Strike said with bared teeth as he spread his wings threatenly.

I'm Tikhiy Krik. I'm a Dreamwarden, and threatening a Dreamwarden is not wise. The writing continued as the old writing vanished.

Tattered watched as Swift Strike did the totally moronic thing and tried to charge the Warden of Silence. He kept on charging forward long after he should have closed the distance and Tikhiy Krik sat seemingly motionless continually just outside of Swift Strike's range, looking completely unconcerned.

It eventually occurred to the dolt long after it should have that he hadn't connected with anything, and Swift Strike came to a full stop. Swift Strike then tried to take a swipe at Krik with his hooves, only to be met again with the result of just falling short. A duplicate Krik appeared to Swift Strike's side and the idiot tried taking a swipe at that one, only to again miss. Krik made more duplicates, one after another, and Swift Strike tried in vain to strike at each one as they appeared. Swift Strike was fast, hence his name, but against a Dreamwarden in the dream realm that didn't mean anything.

When Swift Strike finally figured out that his attempts to fight Krik were completely futile he came to a stop and glared at the now dozens of duplicate Kriks encircling him. The Kriks for their part all continued to sit in the same way the original had, and were all staring calmly at the enraged night pony. The writing began again after that.

You cannot overcome a Dreamwarden. Stand down, give your Oaths, leave the mare be, and await trial.

Swift Strike narrowed his eyes. "No. She's getting what she deserves. Just like all the others."

A chill ran down Tattered's back as she heard that. What did he mean all the others? There was Phobia, but that was only one. He had used a very clear plural. What had he done?

Krik seemed to have the same concerns.

Allow me access to your memories so I can see what you are speaking of and then I will end this.

Swift Strike laughed cruelly. "You're going to pull some Star Trek Vulcan mind meld crap on me? Sure, why not? Go ahead and have your look. If that is what it takes to get out of here. You aren't from Riverview and this is just a dream, you can't do anything to me."

Tattered shook her head. Oh, how gravely mistaken Swift Strike had been.

An image appeared over the various Kriks' heads, and on it played out the same events that had happened from Number Crunch's memory beginning with his discussion with Tonya and on till he had been thrown into the tree.

"Bitch deserves to die," Swift Strike said when it finished.

The Kriks all frowned and another memory started playing out. This one the rape of Phobia.

Tattered was disgusted and horrified as she watched that particular memory play out. It wasn't surprising that as they all watched this play out that Rosetta broke down crying where she was sitting, and Tattered wasn't really surprised when the black swirling mass of Phobia's nightmare avatar simply vanished from sight a few seconds after the memory had begun. Yinyu's seapony form gave a worried look at the pillar while the other Dreamwardens glanced briefly at it, though the expressions of the others were near impossible to read in their forms.

As the memory came to an end, with Swift Strike still being held tightly against the wall by the magic of Phobia's father, Swift Strike continued to voice his lack of shame or regret. "She made my mare turn on me. She deserved what she got. I'm only sorry I couldn't finish making her pay."

The frowns of the various Kriks turned to scowls as another memory began to play out. Tattered frowned. There was still more?

This time the image turned to a human, a younger Latino woman, cowering and crying on the floor of what looked a kitchen. She was covered in what looked like mashed potatoes and bits of meat and a broken plate scattered on the floor. Fresh scald marks could be seen on her arms.

A beer can was thrown, and it struck the woman right in the face as the alcohol spilled all over her and the floor.

"How can you be so stupid and screw up so much?" Swift Strike's voice demanded. "It was meatloaf and mashed potatoes, not some complex french cuisine. The meat isn't cooked all the way through and the potatoes are soupy. Despite all that it's far too hot. How could you screw up cooking it?"

"I'm sorry," the woman wept. "I got distracted and didn't pay attention when setting the timer."

A hand ran down Swift Strike's view. "You're lucky, Haley, no one else would put up with your fuck-ups. You're lucky I love you or you'd be all alone. I should just break up with you."

Haley gasped and crawled towards him. "Please, no! I'm sorry. I'll do better! I'm so sorry!"

Swift Strike shook his head. "I must be stupid to keep giving you chances. Clean this fucking mess up. I'm going out for a little while to clear my head and get some food from someone who actually knows how to cook. This better be cleaned up when I get back."

With that his view turned and walked out of the kitchen into a living room. He grabbed up some keys and stormed out the front door.

They had apparently been living in an apartment complex from the view. Swift Strike walked out to his car--which despite them living in what looked like run down apartments was a black jaguar--and got into it. He started up the engine and the radio started blasting some song about how they had bitches, money, and how much of a badass the person rapping though they were. Even though it was a memory the bass hurt Tattered's ears.

Swift Strike drove out of the apartment complex at a slow pace down the road. It wasn't a very long distance covered until a traffic light could be seen ahead. However, before he reached that he turned his attention to the side and noticed another young woman walking back behind a grocery store and he let off an appreciative whistle as he turned the car off the road and towards where she was.

He pulled the car into park in front of her, cutting her off, and got out. He then walked slowly towards her as she took a few hesitant steps back. Swift Strike looked her over.

While he might not have recognized what it was at the time Tattered saw that the girl had a blue stripe running through her hair that wasn't hair dye. That put a definite time table on when this event occurred. She was wearing a Food Lion name tag which read Melanie that Swift Strike's gaze lingered on for a moment.

"Hi there, Melanie, what're you doing back here? It's dangerous walking out behind stores or for a lady to be walking alone at all for that matter. You should let me give you a ride home," Swift Strike said in a friendly voice completely opposite his tone at any other point in this memory.

Melanie took a few more steps back. "No thank you. I'm perfectly fine on my own. I don't even know you."

She tried to adjust course so she could walk around him and his car, but he stepped out in front of her. "Come on. I'm a nice guy. Do you have some sort of problem with me?"

Melanie backed away a few steps again. "I just don't accept rides from people I don't know. Now please, just let me get going. I just want to go home."

"Why go home? We can go off somewhere secluded where we can have some fun. Don't you want to have some fun?" Swift Strike asked.

Melanie scowled at him and reached into a purse she was carrying. "No, I don't want to have some fun. Just get out of my way or I'm calling the cops."

Swift Strike moved quickly and grabbed for the hand that was reaching into the purse. Melanie screamed and started running away before he could, but she was running further back from the road and isolating herself further in her panic from where anyone could see what was going on.

He chased after her. As she was nearing the back door to the grocery store he caught her and hurled her against the side of the building. By what was likely blind chance her head collided hard with an exposed jagged strip of metal jutting out from the cinder block wall that Tattered was unsure what it once belonged to. When her head connected there was an audible crunch and her eyes went blank as blood started to drip down the wall.

"Fuck..."Swift Strike said slowly as he shook his head and took a few steps back. "Fucking serves you right. You should have just let me take you for a ride. We could have had some fun and none of this would have happened."

The memory ended with Swift Strike hastily departing the scene.

The dozens of Kriks stared at Swift Strike with contempt.

"She got what she deserved. Treating me like I wasn't good enough for her," Swift Strike insisted to the Kriks. "Now let me go, like you promised."

You present a clear and present danger to a mare if I let you awaken. You clearly don't value life. You now have mind magic which you have shown you intend to use to commit more of these atrocities. By all rights I should be hauling you to trial now, but I'm the only Dreamwarden present in the dream realm right now. So you cannot kill again I am forced to take action.

It hadn't been writing this time. This time it had been a disembodied voice dripping with fury. It seemed Tikhiy Krik could indeed talk, but that he saved that for when he was truly furious.

All the Kriks opened their mouths as one and a deafening otherworldly scream could be heard and it kept on going. The form of Swift Strike vanished and was replaced with a ball of light. Out of the mouths of each of the Kriks came nightmarish long green tongues that wrapped themselves around the ball of light and crushed it into oblivion.

The memory came to an abrupt end and Krik's bull form lowered its trident. The entire amphitheatre was silent after seeing the memory of the execution of Swift Strike. All quiet except for the sobs that were coming from Rosetta.

Tattered turned and looked down at Rosetta. Tonya was holding her tight and Sunset had left her seat to come around and embrace Rosetta as well.

Rosetta looked up at the Dreamwardens with tear filled eyes and a snarl appeared on her face. "That fucking bastard! He got what he deserved!"

Only then did Tattered realize that Haley and Rosetta were one in the same. She could only nod along in agreement. Swift Strike had been a monster and deserved to die.

It also confirmed to her that if she had prosecuted this case in the waking world, as she was supposed to, that Number hadn't killed him, but all evidence would have painted her as a murderer.

"We shall take another recess," the Warden of Death declared.

Author's Note

Yeah, this would have been an extremely long chapter if not broken up. Next up. Tonya's memory.