Partial

Rebecca stood in an old high school gym in the center of a basketball court. The school had long ago shut down. Not for any terrible reason just the state felt the need to build a bigger, better school. The old school facilities had gone through a few different owners before ETS and served as a shelter for the infected during the ETS pandemic. Afterward, a cabal of crystal ponies bought it, hoping to establish a base to fight for their rights in a world where they were distrusted by both humans and other ponies. Then came the alliance with the regional night ponies. By combining their voices, they hoped that they could be heard and they could address each others' issues with their combined efforts.

However, she wondered if these crystal ponies had considered the night pony tribe's unique relationship with the Dreamwardens when they made that alliance.

In the bleachers surrounding her sat crystal and night ponies. The lights were dim, but not too dim. She guessed that most of the night ponies in the city were present. As for the crystal ponies, they came in lesser numbers, some because they were currently at jobs, some others because they didn't want to be tied up with a Dreamwarden and had refused the contract of secrecy. That was their choice, and she didn't feel any resentment they felt that way.

She spread her wings wide. “Hello! I am Dreamwarden The Marshmallow, Warden of Creativity, but my actual name is Rebecca Rice. This handsome man standing next to me is my husband, Russell Rice. This sulking lady wearing a hoodie sweater and gardening gloves is Fain, but I think you know her already.”

“Why is she here?” an official-looking crystal pony stallion asked. “She has been nothing but a blight on the community since she arrived in the city. If you have apprehended her, shouldn't you be going to the police?”

Rebecca smirked. “No comments about me, just her, huh? Oh, I suppose you might be more interested in her, given her recent history. Here that, Fain? You’re stealing my thunder.”

“Sorry,” Fain replied in a low voice.

“Oh…it's okay. At least you're famous,” I assured her.

“Do you have to be so cheerful about everything?” she grumbled.

“No, but I try to be as cheerful as possible. Got to lift those spirits!” Rebecca answered.

Fain snorted.

Rebecca turned back towards the crystal pony stallion. “To answer your question, I'm taking her on as a reformation case. We Dreamwardens love reformation cases. It makes us feel proud of ourselves—you know, giving us that sense we’re doing good for the world,” Rebecca happily answered.

The stallion gave her a doubtful look. “You are trying to reform Christina Fain? What in the hell positive can come from her? She inflicts pain on others for fun.”

“That might all be a misunderstanding,” Rebecca replied.

“It's not. I do that,” Fain said dryly.

The stallion pointed at Fain in confirmation.

Rebecca sighed. “Fain, you are making it very hard to defend you. Also, your name is Christina?”

Fain gaped at her. “You’re one of the mighty Dreamwardens, and you went out of your way to recruit me, but you didn't know my first name?!”

“Everyone always just calls you Fain. I never looked into it. I guess that's my bad,” Rebecca said sheepishly. “You even do it. You've got that whole, Fain rhymes with pain, catchphrase. Great marketing move, by the way, even if we need to do away with that and rebrand.”

“Urgh! I could kill you!” Fain fumed.

“Don't do that. It takes a lot to get me mad, but getting murdered would probably do it. I don't know how you would make an apology that would make me get over being mad about dying. It is possible, but that would take a pretty epic apology. It would definitely need to include a musical number, a Broadway show-worthy one. Do you do musical numbers? How's your singing voice?”

Fain sat down and shook her head. “Why'd I agree to this,” she muttered.

Rebecca redirected her attention to the guy who seemed to be the leader. “I'm going to try to put her powers to better use than terrorizing random people and causing public disturbances. I literally just employed her a few minutes ago and haven't gotten around to setting her on her tasks yet or trying to smooth out her wrinkles. Don't worry, she'll behave herself around us. She will be leaving town for a bit, although she should return as long as she doesn't die. Don't die, Fain. It makes it very hard for me to honor my side of our contract if you’re dead. I could still honor the contract with your corpse, but it would be a lot of extra hassle, and I don't think it's what you had in mind when you entered into this agreement. Plus, I would be almost as upset about you dying as I would if I died.”

“I'll keep that in mind,” Fain muttered.

“You're going to fit right in with Blanche. She's a grumpy goose who has to be oh so serious all the time, too,” Rebecca said, still as cheerful as ever.

“I'm surprised you haven't tried to tickle Blanche to make her laugh,” Russell commented.

Rebecca flapped her wings with agitation. “I have! She's not ticklish!”

“I’m warning you, I can't be held responsible for what happens if you try to tickle me,” Fain asserted, stepping away.

An older night pony mare spread her wings. “If the Dreamwarden says that Fain is under control, I do not question her.”

“Have we even established that this fat pegasus is even the Dreamwarden?” the crystal pony stallion asked skeptically. “She hardly looks the part.”

“No one would make such a claim without telling the truth. The Dreamwardens would not take it well,” the mare replied as she folded her wings. “Even if she were lying. We could ask the Dreamwardens upon falling asleep if she is lying about being one of their number, and they could confirm. It is too easy a lie to be caught in. She may not look the part, but I am sure she is telling the truth.”

The other ponies quietly whispered among one another. It seemed clear that the two who had been speaking were the heads of this group.

The stallion snorted. “If that is the case, then perhaps we should get down to business. What exactly do you want from us, Marshmallow? We have numbers, but we're a rather financially poor enclave. Most of our funds were used up buying this property. We can't afford utilities beyond keeping the lights on in this gym. We also have a reputation within the city we are working to build, and I do not wish to endanger that.”

Rebecca sat down. “This wasn't my idea to reveal myself to the local enclave; it was Phobia's. I do not intend to reveal my identity to the public until she retires. It is just way too much stress and attention for me, and everyone will want my opinion on silly things like politics. Still, you'd be standing by to guard me and my hubby whenever I do reveal myself—more like guard my house since I already have bodyguards who can follow me and my hubby around, like Fain here.”

“And what do we get out of this?” the stallion asked.

The mare hissed at him. “We don't need to get anything. Guarding a Dreamwarden is a great honor.”

“For you night ponies, maybe, but crystal ponies don't have your religious zeal about Dreamwardens. We need to be getting something else out of it. Something that advanced our goals,” the stallion said in an exasperated tone. “I heard Dreamwardens like to make deals and sign contracts, so what kind of contract and deal are you offering?”

Rebecca perked her ears and rubbed her hooves together. “You got me there; I do like a good contract. Quick, itty-bitty question—why did you invest so much money in buying this old school if you can’t afford to do anything with it or even pay to keep the lights on? I’m betting it needs some massive repairs for the other buildings as well.”

The stallion hung his head. “We had wanted to turn this all into a massive community center—providing job training, a food bank, affordable child care, and a free clinic. We also wanted it as our headquarters to make us seem more legitimate as a group. Unfortunately, we counted too much on outside investment that just never came. We’ve been debating selling it.”

She grinned. “What if I could get you that big investor you wanted? Although, there might be some additional conditions required.”

His gaze was full of distrust as he lifted his head. “What kind of conditions?”

She stood up and started pacing. “Old Mister Potty-Mouth…that’s Ghadab to you…does this service where he helps track down victims of kidnapping and foalnapping. It’s been a good program and one I fully support since I hate seeing kids get hurt, but it has some logistical problems that keep it from reaching its full potential. You’ve got four buildings here, in addition to this gym. We’d like to have one of those buildings and some of your members used to help optimize that program.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You’ll need to be clearer. Exactly what would the building be used for, and what would we be volunteering to do?”

“Our biggest problem is getting the information from the sleeping victim to the right authorities promptly,” she replied. “We can find volunteers willing to do it; that’s no problem, but that doesn’t mean those volunteers can do that quickly and efficiently. They have to wake up and find out who they are supposed to be contacting, forgetting details because they are groggily waking up, which can cause vital information not to get transmitted. We need a group of professional employees to take up this job. I envision a center where a few people are always asleep, ready to receive messages, with others standing by to take those messages quickly before anything is forgotten. The center will have all the resources to find where the data needs to be transmitted and do it quickly, and in this, time is essential to saving lives. This will make the program much more effective and efficient. Of course, this would be a subdivision of the OMMR, and as such, everyone working there would be an OMMR employee entitled to a paycheck. Heck, you can even funnel unemployed people to work there once they’ve been properly trained, and the OMMR would happily keep investing in your community center while paying for utilities to the entire complex.”

“And you expect us to hang around your house. How is that supposed to work and be explained?” the stallion asked.

“I'm an architect employed by the OMMR, so I would happily come on to help restore and refurbish this place, as well as set up an office on one of the floors. That would explain my regular presence here, close to where you can guard me. No need to hang around my home, at least not until I reveal myself, but that's a long ways off. Whatya think? I think that offer advances your goals and ours.”

The stallion blinked and turned to whisper with the night pony mare. A few other crystal ponies gathered close and exchanged whispers with the pair as the remaining crystal ponies and night ponies watched from afar, occasionally whispering among themselves. Rebecca waited as this continued for a minute, then another minute, and then another minute. Okay, she was hoping for a quicker, positive reply. That was the best sales pitch she could come up with. These crystal ponies must be really distrustful of Dreamwardens.

“Babe, if they decide to open this community center, do you think you could get me a job here?” Russell asked. “This is a good gym. The hoops need to be replaced, but that isn't such a big deal. It has holes in the floor for the volleyball court nets, so we could also set up volleyball. I bet this place also has a weight room, even if the equipment is long gone.”

She smiled at him. “This would still be their place, so that's up to them, but I'll put in a good word for you. I'm sure they'd be interested. Want to continue coaching kids?”

“Yeah, I enjoyed that and don't want to give it up,” Russell replied. “I had planned on checking around the city for a position, but I'd probably end up assisting someone, not running a gym. This could be an opening to run a program.”

“Sounds great!” Rebecca chirped. It also would have him close to the night ponies to keep him safe.

The chattering ponies separated, and the official-looking stallion looked at her.

“We're intrigued by the offer, but we'll need to see the offer in writing. Dreamwardens always try to get as much wiggle room as they can out of the wording, so we'll need to see the exact wording of the contract. Draw up your contract, and we will review it.”

“Sounds fair!” she replied. “I'll have the lawyers draft a document and have it to you by tomorrow. Take your time to discuss it amongst yourselves. You know how to reach me when you're ready, have any additional concerns, or decide to tell me no.”

The stallion looked confused..”Um, no, we don't. You've given us no contact—”

“She's a Dreamwarden. We do it via dreams,” the night pony mare replied exasperatedly. “And since she's a day pony, it will probably have to be one of you crystals that gets in touch with her just because of sleep schedules. All you have to do is have the intent to speak with her when you fall asleep. She or one of the other Dreamwardens will find you.”

“The mare is on point,” Rebecca announced. “I think that takes care of everything I needed to take care of. If you get this place up and running, my hubby would love to help do some athletics programs with kids. He's got lots of experience. He used to work at a community gym in Skytree, doing after-school programs with kids.”

“We'll keep that in mind,” the stallion muttered. “Have a good day, Miss Marshmallow.”

“Dreamwarden Marshmallow,” the night pony mare hissed in correction at the stallion. Several night ponies got up and spread their wings aggressively at the stallion.

Rebecca stuck her wings out in front of herself placatingly. “Hey! No need for ya'll to get hostile with each other. Just breathe. I don't care much for violence…well…unless it involves bad guys getting hurt, but I don't think that applies to anyone here. Not you either, Fain.”

“Ya'll?” Fain asked with a smirk. “Guess you are from the south.”

Rebecca shrugged. “Partly, and partly some AAV from hanging around my mother-in-law. The odd bit of it slips in from time to time. More importantly—you smiled…sorta. That's great!”

Fain gave her a bigger smile, showing all her teeth.

Rebecca jumped back. “Maybe not smile like that. It looks kinda predatory. We want the kids to feel safe. That smile says, I just ate your cat, and now I'm going to eat you. Don't worry, we'll workshop that smile.”

“I'll give you a better smile once you fulfill your end of the contract,” Fain said as she stopped smiling.

“So, what do we do now?” Russell asked.

She considered. “Hmm…food sounds good. Food usually sounds good, but it's been a busy morning, and my tummy is rumbling. Fain, you can pick the place for us to eat…provided it’s vegetarian, and Russell and I will pay.”

“I'm banned from every restaurant in town, and there are multiple warrants for my arrest,” Fain said bluntly.

“That does present a conundrum,” Rebecca said thoughtfully. Darn, she wanted to at least try some of the overpriced pizza and ice cream. “Guess we'll head back to the hotel and then order delivery. Hopefully, we won't all waste away before it arrives.”

Fain looked at Rebecca's belly. “I don't think that is a big concern in your case.”

“I call that my unique evolutionary adaptation against delayed meals! I can survive missing lunch with only moderate discomfort other than extreme unhappiness. I'm more concerned about you two,” Rebecca replied.

“And here I thought Dreamwardens couldn't lie,” Fain said dryly.

“She didn't expressly say why she was concerned about us. She's concerned about other things. She's probably worried if you'll work out and also worried about my safety, but she doesn't want to let on she's worried, so she attached it to a joke about herself. I know my wife well enough to guess that. She does things like that,” Russell pointed out.

“Ah, I see. I need to learn to pay attention to her wording,” Fain said with a nod.

“Pay attention to this. This jiggly belly needs to be filled,” Rebecca said as she headed to the exit.

Jessica tapped her finger anxiously against her leg as Adam drove. She didn't like riding as a passenger. She tolerated it when she sometimes rode with her dad and, on rare occasions, with her mother, but that was just them. They'd driven her around when she was a kid, so it was just a continuation of that. Even with them, she still preferred to be the one driving. Despite being a mechanic familiar with many vehicles, she also didn't like being in an unfamiliar vehicle. In her car, she had a gap in the seat that allowed her to slip her tail through. This car had no such gap, so unless she sat on the edge of the seat, every little bump would cause her tail to get pinched against the seat. Even sitting on the edge of the seat, it could happen if they hit a pothole. That was another reason to dislike being a passenger; she'd be extra careful to avoid anything like that if she were driving.

“You okay?” Adam asked.

Her ears flicked. “Yes. Why do you ask?”

“You're sitting on the edge of your seat, tapping your finger a lot,” Adam said worriedly. “Have I done something wrong?”

Her ears went erect. “What? No! If you must know, it's my tail. Your car seat isn't a good fit for it.”

“Oh…” he said, taking his eyes off the road briefly to glance at her fluffy blue appendage but quickly returning them to the road. “You know, I never really paid your tail that much attention. My eyes get drawn more to your ears and hair. I hadn't thought about how much of a nuisance it must be with chairs, benches, and car seats. Does it hurt?”

Her ears flattened slightly. He never paid her tail much attention? Sure, she didn't want to be stared at like a freak, but she liked the look of her tail. She thought it was one of her better features, and he didn't notice it? Further, her tail wasn't a nuisance; all those seats were. She shouldn't be offended, but she was.

“Okay, now I'm sure I did something wrong. Your ears flattened.”

Blasted ears! Now, there was a body part that was a nuisance. They always betrayed her mood. This date was not off to a great start.

“Sorry. I'm not used to riding a passenger. You might say driving is one of my hobbies. As for just now, I'm just being moody, I guess. I don't know why since I normally don't like people staring at my tail, but having my tail ignored just annoyed me for some reason. I like my tail.”

He went wide-eyed and blinked. “Wow…I'm not used to women being so open and direct. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just that I'm used to having to bend over backwards to figure out what they're thinking and why. It's strangely refreshing, yet unnerving at the same time, to have you just come out and tell me. Not that I'm happy that you’re annoyed! Please don't take all that the wrong way.”

“This is feeling very awkward,” she said as her ears flattened even more and rubbed her arm.

He looked at her in horror. “Sorry! Sorry!”

She reached out and grabbed the steering wheel, pulling it just in time to have them avoid hitting a car. “Eyes on the road!”

He refocused. “Sorry….”

She released the wheel and rubbed her temple, then let off a short laugh. “I was worried about making a fool of myself doing this date, but you seem to have it way worse.”

“Well, when I asked you to come to this jazz club, I didn't mean it as a date. I just said that to say it. Then I freaked out, wondering if you thought it was a date. I've been freaking out about it for days until I finally convinced myself that I was creating some fantasy in my head. Then you showed up clearly expecting this to be a date. I didn't expect you would ever agree to something like that, but here you are, and here I am, feeling like I'm with this woman I've always idolized who is completely out of my league but somehow agreed to a date that I asked her out on by accident, and if I mess up you'll lose all respect for me,” he said rapidly, leaving him gasping for breath.

Okay, what was she supposed to say to that? He hadn't meant for this to be a date? She stressed out about going on a date that he hadn't meant to ask her out on?? Did that mean he wasn't even interested in having a relationship with her? No…he had gone along on this being a date…but maybe he felt it was an obligation due to the misunderstanding—which was, of course, all his fault. No…that wasn't right either. Why was it so hard to think logically about this?

No matter what, she needed to pull this conversation back. It was getting worse and worse. “Answering your earlier question, it does hurt when my tail gets pinched in the seat. It is literally like jamming your finger against something, only it is jamming your tailbone. Stepping on my tail is typically just pulling the hair since the tail is small compared to all the hair around it. If its hair gets pulled, it feels similar to the hair on your head getting pulled, which isn't pleasant. As for mobility, since I'm sure you'll ask, it moves more stiffly than my other limbs. I hear some ponies have a lot more flexibility with their tails, even being able to grab things with them, but that takes either natural talent or a lot of practice trying to use it that way, and I don't have that natural talent and have never put any serious effort into trying to train my tail to bend that way. I can lift it, lower it, move it side to side, or give it a good whip or spin, but I cannot bend it beyond curling it around myself.”

“I wasn't going to ask. I already knew how pony's tails operate, so I figured yours operated similarly. I just wasn't sure if the seat was hurting you,” Adam replied.

She crossed her arms and let out a long breath. This was not going well. “Okay, it is my fault for over-explaining. I think this will go better once we get to that club and can talk about what I found at-”

She had to stop as her phone started buzzing. She reached down into her purse and pulled out her phone to answer.

“Hi, Jessie! Um, how are you doing?” Jordan asked quickly as soon as the call was answered.

“Jordan?” Jessica replied in confusion. “I'm okay…why are you calling? You know I was going on this date at the moment.”

“Yeah…sorry for interrupting…but I have a teensy problem that I need some help with,” Jordan said sheepishly.

“I AM NOT A TEENSY PROBLEM! HAVE THE HOMEWRECKER COME HERE NOW!!”

“Can you please behave yourself? You are trying to get her to help you, and she can hear you yelling at her best friend and calling her a homewrecker.”

Jessica's eyebrows shot up. “Charlotte's there with you? Who else is there? Who was yelling? What's this about me being a homewrecker?” She looked at Adam. “Wait…are you married?!”

“No!” Adam protested.

“Um…this has nothing to do with that guy you are with,” Jordan said quickly. “But can you please come over here? I have a giant shape-shifting bug here who just figured out she's Mark's aunt and that you are trying to adopt Mark.”

Jessica silently mouthed the words giant shape-shifting bug before she could try to respond. “What?”

“It's hard to explain. Please come over here before she does something we'll all regret. She isn't exactly the most reasonable or patient creature…or the brightest.”

“THAT'S NOT MY FAULT!! IS THE INSOLENT CREATURE THAT WOULD STEAL MY NEPHEW AWAY COMING?”

“You didn't even know you had a nephew until ten minutes ago!” Charlotte protested. “This is all your fault.”

“Just following orders,” another unfamiliar voice said. “Doctor Middleton, can you please come to Wabash Manor before Bursa does something stupid?”

“I WILL NOT DO SOMETHING STUPID! I DON'T KNOW WHERE MY NEPHEW IS TO GO SEARCHING FOR HIM!”

“So you admit you'd do something stupid if you knew,” the stranger replied. “God, Rebecca has some crazy plans, but this is up there with the craziest.”

“I SHALL SLAY MY COMPETITION FOR MY NEPHEW'S AFFECTIONS!”

“So how do you think your nephew will react to you killing someone he might have some affection for?” the stranger asked.

“I…UM….I…”

“Yeah, I thought so. You didn't think this through,” the stranger said smugly.

“DON'T MAKE FUN OF ME!”

What in the fudge was even going on? Rebecca was involved? That explained the insanity. What mattered was there was someone who was claiming to be Mark's aunt, and that wasn't something she could ignore. She should probably call her dad as well.

“I'm coming,” she said. She had considered issuing a challenge to the bug, but thought better of that. She had no idea what she was even dealing with.

“Thank you! See ya soon!” Jordan said, then hung up.

She sighed and looked at Adam. “Sorry, we're going to have to postpone this date. How do you feel about meeting giant shape-shifting bug monsters?”

He looked at her in confusion. “Giant what?”

“Eyes on the road!” she yelped as the reached for the wheel again.