//------------------------------// // Chapter 31: City of Fear // Story: Pandemic: What you are Meant to Be // by Halira //------------------------------// The flight to Charleston proper took around thirty minutes rather than forty-five. Remedy had factored in too much time because of how long it took them to reach Hannahan the other day, forgetting that they had taken a bit of a zigzag course to Rosetta's home. Charleston was more of a straight shot following the interstate. The city was as inactive as the towns that fed into it, without a soul in sight. What was different was every single possible light, be it street lamp, porch light, or old gas lamps were lit. A large number of houses also had every single light in the house turned on. It they quickly started realizing that the only darkened houses had no occupants. "Charleston wasn't this brightly lit before ETS started. Why are they wasting all this power?" Rosetta asked as she glanced at all the houses. "Maybe they are on edge about the night ponies," Remedy answered. "But the night ponies only go after criminals. I highly doubt that every resident of the city is up to no good," Rosetta said with a flick if her tail. "They might be worried those attacks will progress to them, or it may be simple anxiety knowing there are large amounts of night ponies prowling at night," Remedy replied as they slowly flew through the city. "We haven't seen another night pony yet, we haven't seen a human yet either. This place is silent as a tomb. Where is everypony?" The blue furred pony asked as she continued scanning all the buildings for signs of life. "Don't know. It does seem strange that we haven't run into any night pony on patrol or spotted any in the air. How many night ponies do you think could be here?" Remedy kept her gaze divided between the streets and the sky above. "Well, they said it is most of the night ponies from this part of the state. I know there were at least six nearby the hospital. Except for you I haven't seen any of them in days. Using that dismemberment of night ponies as a guide for how they might have been dispersed over the entire Lowcountry and the number gets large; dozens, perhaps more than a hundred," Rosetta said as she worked it out in her head. "With that many night ponies we should be colliding into some on patrol, if patrolling is what they are doing. Judging by the way the humans are turning on all their lights it's a safe bet they think the night ponies are out and about," Remedy said as she glanced at a well lit house. "Okay, so are we going to just keep flying aimlessly through the city until we run into them?" Rosetta asked with a sigh. "There must be somewhere they can find us. If almost all the night ponies in the region are here and came in from elsewhere they had to join in somehow. Where is the most obvious place to be found at?" Remedy asked after some consideration. "That's easy, the old exchange market. Easy to spot us and almost certainly an area that needs to be guarded," Rosetta said as she altered her course. They flew a little higher and easily picked out the appropriate landmarks for where they wished to go. In a mere minute they were settling in for a landing at the old merchant's exchange. "Look, over there. Not a night pony, but maybe a human might have a clue where they are at," Rosetta said as she pointed a hoof at a woman walking down the street. "First soul we have actually seen here. Might as well try," Remedy said as she picked herself back into the air. She quickly angled herself into a slow glide towards the late night pedestrian with Rosetta close behind. The woman didn't notice them at first, despite them landing clearly in sight not far ahead of her. She didn't seem to be noticing much at all. Remedy could pick up the scent of alcohol even at a distance and realized that the woman was likely completely inebriated. "Um, ma'am?" Rosetta said after the woman was almost on them. The woman looked around like she was confused about the source of the voice. Eventually her eyes settled on them and widened in horror as she took several steps back. "I ain't done nothin' wrong. I'm just walkin' home from my friend's. I ain't hurting nobody or no thing. Please let me go," the woman begged. She was clearly expecting them to attack her at any moment. "We don't want to hurt you. We just wanted to ask you a question," Remedy said. The woman being terrified of them seemed further confirmation that the entire city was on edge about the night ponies. "You ain't gonna hurt me for havin' too much to drink?" The woman asked hesitantly. "No, you aren't hurting anyone. Why should we do anything to you?" Rosetta asked in a calming tone. "They'd just says that y'all rough anyone up for any bit of little sin," the woman said, her back plastered against a building. The two night ponies exchanged a glance between them. Hopefully something like this wasn't something the ponies here would attack over. "At most we are concerned about your safety getting home on your own in your condition. We would want to make sure you didn't get hurt, not hurt you," Remedy explained. "That's a kind offer, but I cans get home fine. What's you want to ask me?" The woman asked, still not relaxing her defensive posture. "Do you know where all the other night ponies are at? We just flew into Charleston and haven't seen any sign of any," Remedy asked. "Oh theys here. Theys likely all around us rights now, watchin' from the shadows. You never spot them less they wants you to, but theys always watchin'. Theys here, you bet your bottom theys is," the woman said as she glanced around all the buildings with fear. "Alright, do you want us to escort you home? You seem a little..well, it doesn't seem like you should be walking around by yourself," Rosetta offered. The woman broke out laughing, further confusing the two night ponies. "I just said theys always watchin'. If they ain't gonna hurt me then theys ain't gonna let anything hurt me either. I ain't need you to watch me get home. Theys already do'in that," the woman said, relaxing her defensive posture at last. "O..kay then," Remedy said as she glanced around the area again for any signs of other night ponies. "Just get home quick and hope your hangover isn't too bad." The woman didn't need to be offered a chance to leave twice. She took off at a brisk walk quickly, after first crossing the street to put herself on the other side of it from them. The two mares just silently watched her take off. "You two looking to join the enclave?" Came a deep voice from behind them. The two jumped in startlement and quickly turned to face the speaker. It was a night pony stallion with fur so dark it was nearly pitch black, with a blue mane several shades darker than Rosetta's fur. He seemed mildly amused that he had caught them by surprise. "God dammit, you are sneaky. You about gave me a heart attack," Rosetta said as she caught her breath. "I'll take that as a compliment," the stallion said with a smile. "Have you been following us around the whole time?" Remedy demanded as she finished catching her own breath. "Not me personally. I've only been watching you since you came down in the exchange. You've been watched by somepony or another since you came into the city though. We're spaced a bit apart through all the city like a net, but where we can easily signal the next in line. So, we've all been aware you're here for a while," the stallion explained. "And you just let us flap around all of town, without doing anything to greet us or let us know you're there?" Remedy demanded as she narrowed her eyes and flicked her tail. "Sorry, we're supposed to watch all new arrivals for a while before approaching. Have to gauge intentions and all that. We know ponies aren't likely trouble, but the Broken Ones insist," the stallion said with an apologetic shrug of his wings. "What did you ask if we wanted to join?" Rosetta asked. "The Enclave of the Night,"the stallion said with a laugh. "Sorry if the name seems a bit presumptuous. The Broken Ones let Tattered name things, and I think she played way too much Dungeons and Dragons or something. Whatever they want to call us all doesn't really matter in the end I guess." "These Broken Ones are the ponies in charge?" Remedy asked. "Yep, they make the rules, get ponies trained, organize all the coverage of the city, and all that. They're the ones that got us together," the stallion explained. "Is there any chance we could meet these Broken Ones?" Remedy asked, feeling stupid asking about such a silly named group. Really, this wasn't some fantasy adventure, this was real life; despite the fact they were all magical ponies. The idea that she had what might be considered a silly sounding name never entered into her mind. "Sure can do. I'm kinda supposed to take you to them anyway so they can give you the talk. You two got names?" the stallion asked. "Phobia Remedy," Remedy introduced herself. "Rosetta Stone," Rosetta said quickly after. "All these silly names ponies come up with. I don't know how we show our faces in public..oh wait..we night ponies don't," the stallion laughed at his own joke. "My name's Gerald by the way. No silly name for me." "Speaking of silly names, why are the ponies you're leading us too called the Broken Ones?" Rosetta asked. Gerald's good mood seemed to evaporate in an instant as he went stiff. "That one's not so silly unfortunately. A little dramatic, but not silly. You'll see when you meet them," he said. Remedy picked a hint of anger in his voice as he spoke. "Come on, were going to the medical university. See which ones are up to speaking right now, and make sure none of them have gone and died on us." Gerald took a quick trot and then jumped into the air with his wings spread. The two mares gave each other a quick glance before following his example.