//------------------------------// // Chapter 45: Forming Bonds // Story: Pandemic: What you are Meant to Be // by Halira //------------------------------// Remedy wasn't sure what to do with the town representatives, and found herself sitting in a corner of the room just watching for the most part. There were five different towns that sent between one to three representatives a piece, all middle aged or elderly. A total of eleven representatives in all. This was their first face to face exposure to ponies for most of them. Only one town had any ponies at all for residents, which happened to be Riverview. They had a lone crystal pony mare, which Remedy found somehow strangely ironic. Most of the representatives seemed highly interested in Peter, the white earth pony stallion, and spent a great deal of time talking about farming. He really seemed to hit it off well with all of them. Turned out that Peter had been a frequent shopper at the local farmers market over the years and was actually familiar with several of the various towns farmers from when they attempted to do business at the market. It led to story swapping about said farmers and discussion of the crops currently grown in the area. All and all adding up to a lot of smiles and a little friendly laughter between them all. Tonya was eager to talk about what the pegasi could do for these towns, with scheduled controlled weather. Some of the representatives seemed her skeptical of her claims, and after some pestering Baker gave in to allowing a small scale weather demonstration later on, localized strictly to the church. Blessing and Number Crunch weaved through the representatives exchanging pleasant small talk. Blessing did the majority of talking of the two, and would occasionally ask some questions to clarify some details that her reports of the towns were hazy on. Number Crunch would dutifully record the answers on a floating notepad as they were given. The humans seemed very amazed with the levitation, and had asked about things about weight limits, strain from extended periods of doing it, and what it felt like to do it. All the while Remedy sat in a corner watching. From time to time one of the humans would come over and inquire about night ponies. She would give simple answers that didn't delve too much into night pony capabilities; mainly informing them about the fact night ponies were nocturnal, had excellent night vision, and had a strong protective nature. She also talked about how they were all perfectly capable of doing various more mundane jobs at night. The few representatives she spoke with seemed to get the impression that they were a nighttime police force and enthusasticly talked about how they support the boys in blue and would be glad to have the bat winged ponies watching over at night. Overall this was mainly a meet and greet rather than discussing the actual resettlement. They would all be out doing tours of different shelters and seeing ponies in action over the next day or two, with most of the ponies here acting as guides. After that the actually details of resettlement would start being hammered out between Blessing and the towns. And it was an unspoken assumption by all the ponies that Blessing would be the one leading those discussions. Baker informer her she wouldn't need to tag along for all this. She was here today just to make a positive first impression about the night ponies, and she was doing that. He expressed his hope that once he spoke with Tattered Wing that evening that they would have her act as representative for the night ponies considering her sway within the Enclave. Having an Enclave leader actively involved with these talks would go a long way to getting the Enclave included in the migration and out of trouble in Charleston. Remedy had mixed feelings on that. On the one end she wanted to be involved and wanted to help bridge the gaps between humans and ponies. On the other end she wanted to focus on her training with Luna and better connecting with Rosetta's family; plus there was a foal on the way, even if the full implications of that hadn't hit her yet. There wasn't anything stopping her from doing all this, but she felt the need to keep focus, rather than divide her attention between too many things. There was also no denying the logic of having Tattered Wing be the one involved either, provided she could downplay the degree of violence the Enclave had been using. Her injuries might actually work in her favor as the humans might be more sympathetic to what the the viewed a law enforcement officer injured in the line of duty. That kind of thing had always been positive police and military propaganda through much of small town America, and it was easy to see where it could be carried over to night ponies if marketed right. She would have to talk to Tattered Wing, her mom, and Baker about that; it was what little contribution she could provide by doing so. After a two hours of this she finally excused herself, claiming the need for sleep. She wasn't lying, she was very tired. She just wanted to find Rosetta and go cuddle up next to their oak and sleep. She had a fairly good idea where to find Rosetta once she got outside. With a few quick flaps of her wings she was in the air and flying to the patch of nearby woods the earth ponies were working in. There was plenty of pony activity to be seen as she landed. There wasn't much organized farming going on though; most seemed focused on there own little patches of land. Remedy quickly found Rosetta and her family sitting around watching a very focused Cathy patting a freshly moved bit of dirt. "How did the meeting go?" Rosetta asked sleepily as Remedy came up to them. "It was alright, mainly just getting to know one another. I didn't do a lot of talking, though don't be shocked if they start offering you a police badge after we move. They took the idea of night ponies protecting and immediately clung to the idea of us being police," Remedy said as she sat down next to her marefriend to watch Cathy do whatever earth pony thing Cathy was up to. "You didn't miss too much. We spent a few minutes getting everyone recorded with the census takers. Then we came over here and introduced Cathy to some of the earth ponies. She found some seeds somehow for some apples, don't ask me how, it must be an earth pony thing to track down seeds. Now we're watching her trying to get an apple seedling to sprout. "That kind of takes at least days if not longer doesn't it?" Remedy asked as she watched the young earth pony mare stare at the dirt intently. "A few of these earth ponies seem to be able to get things to sprout within minutes of planting them. There's one here who managed to get some tomato seeds to sprout within a minute if planting them. Farming seems overall boring to me, but I've got to admit that it's impressive what some of these earth ponies can do," Rosetta said as she gestured a wing towards some of the other earth ponies nearby. "If Cathy can do this them she is like the Hulk crossed with Poison Ivy," Miguel said excitedly as he watched his sister. "Miguel, we've gone over you comparing your sister to comic book characters. She doesn't like it and you need to stop," Jean scolded. "Okay, fine. I still think it's cool and wish I could be a pony so I could have cool super powers," Miguel said as he crossed his arms in annoyance. "Why couldn't you have just let Cathy stay with us when she got sick and let us all get the pony stuff too? It's unfair that Haley...I mean Rosetta and Cathy get to be ponies but the rest of us are stuck being human," Jose added to his twin's complaints. Remedy couldn't help but think that her mom would get along great with the twins. The parents were actually taken aback by the twins complaints and seemed unsure how to answer. It was easy to imagine the kinds of things going on in their minds, but those weren't things they would want to say in front of their daughters, or have overheard by the many earth ponies that were working close by. Luckily Rosetta came to their rescue. "Boys, Mom and Dad did what they did to try to protect you. They didn't know if everything would turn out right if you all turned into ponies, and had lots of reasons to think it wouldn't. Ponies still have things that they've got to worry about that're very scary to think about. Cathy and I can do a lot of things to be sure, but you've got a lot of opportunities as humans that Cathy and I'll struggle to have access to. Mom and Dad love you and want the best for you, and they did what they did with that in mind," Rosetta explained calmly. The two boys muttered half-hearted acceptance of this, but voiced no further complaints. Rosetta's mother quietly walked over and sat down next to the night pony couple. "Thank you for that," Jean said quietly. "I meant every word of it, Mama. They should not blame you for trying to do right by them," Rosetta said with a sigh. "Do you think we made the right call though?" Jean asked in a near whisper than would only be clear to the ponies. Rosetta looked at her mother and then turned to look at Cathy. She then turned back to her mother again before speaking. "It would be easier on me and Cathy if you had chosen the other way, but the two of us are grown mares that can take care of ourselves. There is no way of telling if you made the right call or not, but you made the best decision you could under the circumstances. Do I think we're better off as ponies? Yes, but my views are pretty prejudiced in that area. I won't have you second guessing yourself on my account or Cathy's," Rosetta said in an even tone. "That's very fair of you," Jean said. Rosetta wrapped a wing around her mother and embraced her. "My mama taught me to be fair and kind, and I'd like to hope I don't disappoint her," Rosetta said with a smile. "When did my little girl become such a wonderful adult?" Jean asked as she hugged her daughter back. "When her world got turned on its head. I just hope I'm half as good a mama to my foal as you're to me," Rosetta said back quietly. They broke their hug and resumed watching Cathy. Cathy seemed to have ignored all these exchanges and had her hoof planted on top of the dirt with her eyes shut, seeming to listen to something else completely, focus never broken. Eventually Jean rose back to her feet and looked at Remedy. "Remedy, can I speak to you alone for a moment or two?" Jean asked. Remedy and Rosetta looked at one another, ears lowered and worried expressions. Remedy looked back at Jean and then nodded as she stood back up. The two walked a little distance away. When Jean paused Remedy shook her head to her. "If you want to be out of earshot of Rosetta we need a little more distance. Remember ponies hear better," Remedy reminded her. Jean nodded and resumed walking till they doubled their previous distance. This actually much farther than needed, but it definitely allowed them privacy. "What did you want to talk to me about?" Remedy asked as she sat down. Jean took a deep breath before speaking. "You seem to understand I'm apprehensive about my daughter proposing to you as she did. You seem a nice enough pony but she has barely had any time with you, and she has just gotten out of a very poor relationship. You seem better than John, but the fact she was with John at all shows she might not have the best judgement in romantic partners," Jean said. "Are you asking me to leave her?" Remedy asked coldly. "No, I'm not, and I apologize if it came off that way. I just want to understand you a little better. I don't want my daughter hurt again, and I also worry about what kinds of influences you may have on her," Jean said carefully. "You are worried that I will try to get her to turn on her human family because my mom is a very blatant Shimmerist," Remedy said. There was no question in what she said, only a clear statement. "I do worry about that," Jean confessed. "I can see your fears and understand them. See my cutie mark?" Rosetta asked as she lifted a wing to give a clear view of it. "My cutie mark might look a little off-putting, but it means I try to help ponies-and humans for that matter,- understand their fears." "That seems commendable, but it doesn't address my current worries," Jean said as she looked at the mark. "My mom has the same worries as you, though she hides them better. She says she's got to get to know Rosetta better to say whether she approves of our pairing or not. As to what influences I have on her in terms of how she views humans, I can say that I'd never want Rosetta to turn her back on you, and I want to be able to say you're my family too," Remedy explained. "And why are you so ready to commit to her after so short a time and why is she so committed to you?" Jean asked. "I found out that John had hit her from John himself, the bastard had even bragged about it," Remedy recounted, anger at the memory entering into her voice. "My earlier encounters with Rosetta made me think she was a lot like my mom is now, only far more extreme; in short very hostile to humans. Despite my negative first impressions of her I couldn't stand to know that the pony that she loved had done this kind of thing to her. I told him off and went to check on her." "I knew it went on. I tried so hard to tell her that she needed to leave him. She never listened to me, or her father," Jean said sadly. "Well, she had been under the mistaken impression that he was just going to be a better pony than he had been as a human. The fact John had gone back to hitting her again completely disillusioned her about the idea of a perfect pony utopia though. I didn't find a zealot like I had met earlier when I found her again, I found a mare angry, depressed, and withdrawn," Remedy continued. "So you came to her in her hour of need and she latched onto you," Jean stated. "No, I came to her in her hour of need and she proceeded to try to tell me how she was worthless and unlovable. I didn't have much luck with anything I tried to convince her otherwise. She even mocked me at points," Remedy said sadly. "So what happened that changed that?" Jean asked as she stared at her crossed arms. She was no doubt trying to keep her emotions in check as she heard about the state John had left her in. "She realized on her own that she was lashing out at me but turned the tables. She started trying to figure out what my problems were. I went along because nothing else was working. I ended up realizing a lot of things about myself from that, and she gained confidence in herself as she realized she had helped me," Remedy said, edge of her mouth just slightly curling upwards as she remembered that part. "So you two then became friends. How did this progress to relationship?" Jean asked. Remedy blushed as she remembered. She also got a little worried because it would make it seem like it went really fast...which it had...to Rosetta's mother. "She came up and kissed me and said she was in the market for a new partner, and that she had no objection to mares. She didn't even know when she did it if I was into mares or not," Remedy said still blushing. Jean gave her a baffled look. "You must be lying," Jean said. "I'm not," Remedy said with a shake of her head. "Haley was always afraid of her own shadow with other people. I can't imagine any scenario where she would have gotten that bold," Jean said in complete disbelief. Her tone said she really did think Remedy was lying. "You can ask her yourself," Remedy said as calmly as she could when being accused of being a liar. Jean stared at Remedy for a long moment. It seemed like she was ready to storm off in anger for a moment. Instead she turned back towards where they came and put a cupped her hands around her mouth to call out. "Haley! Come over here please," Jean shouted. A moment later Rosetta came to where they were in a low glide. "It's Rosetta, Mama, not Haley. What's wrong?" Rosetta asked as she looked worriedly between her mother and Remedy "Is she lying to me or telling me the truth when she says you kissed her out of nowhere and asked her to be your marefriend?" Jean demanded as she pointed to Remedy. Rosetta blushed in response, but took on an angry look quickly as she realized what was going on. "Yes, that's exactly what happened. I know that's very unlike me, and it was something that could have blown up in my face. I'm glad I did it though as she has been nothing but wonderful to me. She listens to me, she encourages me. She's there for me and I'm there for her. Even when it seems I'm trying to do the impossible, like follow my dreams of teaching university, Remedy will caution me about the challenges, but is still supportive and trying to help me achieve that in any way she can. She's fully deserving of my love, Mama, and I'm asking you to never to question her intentions or honesty ever again," Rosetta said harshly, wings spread aggressively as she verbally defended her lover. Even though Jean was not especially familiar with the body language of wings she got the idea. "I apologize, Remedy. I'm sorry I implied you were lying to me," Jean said with slumped shoulders. "It's okay, you're just trying to look out for Rosetta. I can appreciate that," Remedy said with a more relaxed tone. Rosetta gave another angry glare to her mother before looking at Remedy. Then her posture relaxed and she sighed. "I suppose if Remedy has no hard feelings about it then it would be silly of me be resentful about it. It'll be a little bit before I completely cool down over it though. It isn't just angry daughter coming to the defense of her lover, it's an angry night pony daughter coming to the defense of her lover. Night ponies are very protective by nature so you have to deal with a double dip into me getting riled up with this. I'll settle down, just give me a few minutes," Rosetta explained to her mother in a controlled voice. "How's Cathy doing with her seed?" Remedy asked, hoping to distract Rosetta back into a better mood. "She claims she can feel it's alive down there, but isn't having much luck getting it to grow faster than it normally would. Not all the earth ponies seem to be as good at that as others. She still seems disappointed though," Rosetta said with a saddened look backwards. "Well, she was always the only one of you that really wanted to be like her dad and follow in his footsteps. She had actually just sent her college application for Clemson off before ETS started," Jean said. "What's Roger do for a living?" Remedy asked as she realized she never had inquired about that kind of thing. "He works for Westvaco. He helps them develop new strains of trees that are more resistant to certain plant diseases and insect infestations. He has a dual masters in botany and microbiology," Jean explained. "Always sounded kind of cool, but exceedingly boring to me. Cathy thought it was the greatest thing ever though. Guess that's why she ended up an earth pony, she's just really into plants like Papa is," Rosetta chimed in. "We'll get her out here every day. Maybe she'll get better at it, or realize there is something else she can do. I want my baby girl to be happy," Jean said. Then Jean looked at Remedy and then back to Rosetta. "I want both my baby girls to be happy. If Remedy does that for you, then you two have my blessing," Jean added onto her previous statement.