//------------------------------// // Chapter 66: North Charleston Coliseum // Story: Pandemic: What you are Meant to Be // by Halira //------------------------------// Phobia reflected as she looked about that having fifteen thousand ponies within a mile of one another was probably one of the most impressive things she would ever see. It was the early evening before the migration and every pony and human that was going had been gathered together in and near the North Charleston Coliseum. The building itself technically only had capacity for about thirteen thousand and the nearby outlet mall was being used for overflow. In addition to this hundreds of buses, massive semi truck sized flatbed trailers used normally for hauling lumber, and a few hundred cars were parked in the nearby parking lots. All standing by to transport a fair sized town's worth of ponies to their new home. Not all the ponies in the area were moving. Phobia had heard all and all there would be about three to four thousand still on the immediate area that intended to try to continue their old lives as best they could. A higher amount than she had expected. A few of those still wished a return to humanity, but the majority of those remaining simply didn't see where becoming a pony should require themselves to uproot themselves from their homes and jobs. The majority of those remaining were unicorns or pegasi. A surprising amount of crystal ponies, in terms of percentage of crystal ponies, were determined to stay as well; more than half the crystal pony population, though the entire population of crystal ponies in the area only amounted to about ninety ponies, the only type of pony night ponies outnumbered. The night ponies were almost all here as well. Three large buses and an ambulance were here to carry them on to Riverview. Only six of the night ponies had chosen to remain behind, and one of those was a Broken One that simply could not be moved at this point. Much to the distaste of Phobia and Rosetta John-or Swift Strike as he was now known-wasn't among those few staying behind. They had spotted him early on, and he had spotted them as well. Glares were exchanged, but nothing more so far. Set up just inside the entrance of the coliseum was a station that had a crew working to assign transportation for which buses or other transportation to be boarding in the morning, as well as giving information about where they would be staying for the time being when they arrived at Riverview or one of the other participating towns. Sunset Blessing, Number Crunch, Tonya, Tattered Wing, Pale Oak, over three dozen other ponies, and sixty government workers were working frantically to process each and every one of the fifteen thousand here. They had been at it since morning, and would be at it for hours yet. Phobia didn't envy them at all. Every pony and human that had already been processed was now wearing a red band on either their foreleg if a pony or arm if a human. Teams of pegasi, and a few night ponies who had been drafted by Tattered Wing, moved through the area searching for any that were not yet wearing an identifying band to get them moving to the coliseum to be processed. Amber and Joy were the ones coordinating the searchers, and aside from the few night ponies Tattered had ordered to help had chosen every pony searching. Phobia and Rosetta were not part of those searching or trying to process ponies. They hadn't escaped work though. They were out by the various means of transportation, standing on the front of a bus with a banner declaring this was where to go to get directions for where to find the appropriate bus or whatever else a pony had been assigned. A few ponies were boarding early rather than try to deal with the chaos that would come in the morning. Most simply wanted to be sure to know where to go in the morning. "Nine-T? Okay, the T's are over in the outlet mall parking lot. Letters are in order in rows over there with the M's being closest to the mall buildings and each letter further out in order. Since you are a T you'll actually be on the other side of the street from the mall. Once you find your row they're in number order going down the row. I'm pretty sure they're all buses on that row," Rosetta explained to an earth pony couple who had three foals with them. "Are you sure you heard that right? There is no sixty-A. The numbers don't go that high in any of the rows. I think they might have said sixteen. Please go back and check that again. You want to be sure that you're going to the right place," Phobia explained to an older pegasus stallion. "I know what I heard, I'm not deaf," the stallion insisted. "I'd don't mean to imply you are, but there is a lot of noise going on in there, and anypony could have misheard anything. Or maybe whoever told you misspoke," Phobia said as patiently as she could. "Well, I was told sixty-A and I want to know where sixty-A is," the stallion insisted. Lord save me from this pony. Phobia thought to herself as she resisted facehoofing. "Sir, I already told you, there is no sixty-A. You need to go back and double check with whoever gave you that assignment and let them know that they gave you the wrong location," Phobia said slowly and deliberately. "So where am I suppose to go?" the stallion demanded. "I don't know, sir. That's why you need to go back and check with the pony that told you the wrong information," Phobia said through partially gritted teeth. "Why don't you tell me where I'm suppose to go? I don't want to have to go back there and wait in line again," the stallion said with a huff. Phobia lowered her ears and stared down at the stallion. "Go to sixteen-A. That's the row closest to the coliseum. It'll be the sixteenth bus down the line," Phobia said in a flat tone. "Is that where I'm supposed to go?" the stallion asked. "Sir, I can't confirm that, but if you're unwilling to go check with the ones that do know then that is my best possible guess given the information you gave me," Phobia said in an overly sweet tone. "But what if that's not right?" the stallion whined. "Then you are up shit creek without a paddle. I really recommend biting the bullet and standing in line again. If you go to Tattered Wing-that's the night pony working-and tell her that Phobia said you needed clarification on what you were told you can bypass the line," Phobia said in a tired voice. "Why didn't you just tell me that to begin with?" the stallion demanded with a stomp of a hoof. "Because if ponies see one pony cutting in line a lot of ponies might start trying the same thing, and the ones processing everypony have enough to deal with right now. You're going to be special, and you had better make it loud and clear you were ordered to go to her directly," Phobia instructed. The stallion finally flew off and Phobia shook her head in exasperation. She hoped she didn't get chewed out for ordering the pony straight to Tattered. She figured Tattered was the scariest looking and less ponies would try cutting to her. "Um, excuse me, where is twelve-R?" Came another voice right away from below her. Phobia looked down at the source. There was a human woman who had to be in her twenties. She had a very young night pony colt following close to her and a very unhappy looking early pony filly that had to be under a year old bundled up in a baby blanket in the woman's arms, and she had a large overstuffed backpack on her back. The woman had obviously been crying very recently. "Rosetta, I hate to do this, but do you think you can deal with these ponies by yourself for a few minutes? This one looks like it needs personal attention," Phobia asked her fiancee. Rosetta turned from the pony she had been dealing with and gave her an annoyed look. The midnight blue mare then glanced down at the woman with the foals and her expression instantly softened as she took in the nature of the problem. She then nodded back to Phobia it would be alright. "Ma'am, I'm going to walk you over there. Please walk with me," Phobia said without giving the option of rejecting aid. She was afraid if she did she would be told it wasn't needed. "Thank you," the woman said with a sniffle. "She's just like me, Momma," the young colt declared happily. "I see that, sweetie, but don't be a bother to the nice pony," the mother said in a tired voice. "He's no bother to me. Though I can imagine he might be a hoof...handful for you. He's the first night pony foal I've seen so far," Phobia said as they began walking. "He's...he's a good boy. I'm just not sure how to cope with his sleep schedule just yet," the woman said with a shake of her head. The filly in the bundle started crying and the mother tried to urgently calm her. "Hush, it's okay, please calm down. Please calm down." "How old is she?" Phobia asked the woman with a gesture at the foal. "Just under a month old. She's had a rough time. She was born premature and we didn't think she was going to make it. She was so tiny. They had her in isolation and we thought we were going to lose her. Then she somehow got the flu and we lost hope. But then it turned out she had ETS and everything just went so crazy after that," the woman said with a joyless forced laugh. "She seems to be healthy now," Phobia observed. "Is she walking? An Equestrian doctor told me foals start to walk at about a week old." "I didn't know that," the woman said with a sob. "Yeah she's been trying to, but I keep stopping her. I was afraid she was going to hurt herself. I guess she deserved to lash out like she did." "Lashed out?" Phobia asked. "She kicked my husb...her father, and hurt him. She's just so frighteningly strong. For two weeks straight she was breaking things left and right. She seems to have calmed down the last few days, at least she isn't breaking anything anymore, though she's clearly still very unhappy," the woman said, sniffling again. "I was told about that too. It's called a surge. All newborn foals apparently get them. For about two weeks their magic goes all crazy, and they do things they wouldn't even be able to do as adults. It sounds like that's what you dealt with, and if she hasn't done it the last few days then I guess it's over," Phobia explained. "Oh thank God," the woman said with a deep breath. "That's one less thing to worry about with them." "How did they both get infected but you didn't?" Phobia asked. "Robby was staying with some friends while we were staying at the hospital dealing with Jessica here," the woman said, indicating each of the foals in turn. "I still don't know how Jessica got it, but the friends Robby was staying with all got it while we were at the hospital. We were kept in isolation after everything started happening. They wouldn't let me in to my baby and they took Robby to a shelter and wouldn't let us go there with him." "Is your husband here?" Phobia asked, afraid of the answer that was coming based on the woman's earlier correction. "No, no he's not. He dropped us off here and left. He said he couldn't deal...," she paused and looked at her son. She looked ready to break down crying again. "I can't talk about this right now." Phobia nodded in understanding. The woman gave a look of gratitude for not pushing the subject before continuing. "Now I'm taking them somewhere we can get a fresh start. I don't know how I'm going to do this," the woman said as she started tearing up again. "Robby is awake all night long and I can't get him to sleep at night. Jessica is awake all day long. Both of them need my attention, Robby's only five. I don't know when I'm supposed to sleep, or what I'm supposed to do for them, or how I'll support them, or anything. They're my babies and I don't know what to do." The woman paused and just started sobbing into her hands. Ponies all around paused and stared with sympathy. Her little colt, Robby looked particularly distressed. "Momma, what's wrong," the little colt said as he came up against her leg. "Your momma just needs a moment, kid. You've all had a rough month. Give her a minute, okay," Phobia told the colt. "Okay," the colt said uncertainly. The woman bent down and grabbed her son into a hug with her daughter still in her other arm. She sat there hugging him for a moment before the filly started crying. The woman then sniffled as she released her son and stood up to try to sooth her daughter with light rocking. "It's okay, baby girl, it's okay. Momma's alright. Momma loves you," the woman said lovingly. She looked over to her son and gave him a little smile. "I love you too. Even if you keep me up all night." "I can try harder to sleep at night if it will make you feel better, I can stay in bed," the colt said with concern. "I have a feeling that isn't going to be possible. We'll figure something else out," the woman said with a sad shake of her head. She looked at Phobia next. "I'm okay, you can finish showing us where the bus is at. I don't want to hold you up." "It's no trouble ma'am. I'm here because you looked like you could use somepony taking some extra time and care for you," Phobia said with a comforting smile, as they resumed walking. "You didn't need to do that. I'm not the only confused human around here," the woman said. "You're the only confused human dealing with two foals that are on completely different biological sleep patterns wandering the area with just yourself and them. You need somepony to care and help right now. I have a foal on the way, and my spouse and I are scared stiff that it'll be a pony type that needs to be awake during the day while we need to be awake in the night. I can only imagine the difficulties that you're having now, not even taking into account everything else going on in your life. It's not wrong to say you need help," Phobia said as she looked the woman in the eyes. "What kind of help can you give?" The woman asked "Well, being kind right now for starters, but after today? If you need a foalsitter for Robby for a few hours overnight from time to time my wife and I have a house and can keep an eye on him. We're night ponies like him so we'll be up. You need time to sleep, you're no good to your foals exhausted. I've made friends with one of the local restaurants in town that intends on hiring some more staff if you need a job. There's lots of things that I or others can do to help. You just have to ask," Phobia insisted. "Thank you...," the woman said. "I'm Phobia Remedy-Stone," Phobia introduced herself. She technically wasn't Remedy-Stone yet, but close enough. "Devon Middleton," the woman, Devon, answered. "Well, Devon we're here," Phobia said as they came up to the bus. She noticed the bus had a few ponies in it already and motioned for Devon to follow her on. After they both got on the bus a cry went out. "Watch out! Flying foal on the loose!" Some pony yelled. Phobia was lower to the ground, but Devon had to duck as a very fast and energetic pegasus filly that was no older than the one she was carrying zipped by her head, and collided hard with the front of the bus. "I'm so sorry, she just got completely away from me. She's been doing this constantly the last two weeks," a frantic earth pony mare said as she tried to climb over the seats to reach her, for the moment, stunned filly. "See you already have a pony in here you have something in common with. Newborn filly doing magical surges. I'm sure she is feeling just as overwhelmed as you right now," Phobia said to Devon. "Oh you have no idea. How am I supposed to deal with a foal that takes off like a rocket through the air without warning?! I don't have wings, I can't go chasing off after her if she's in the air," the earth pony mare said as she reached her filly and gathered her up in her forelegs. "At least she seems to be durable. I about freaked out the first five times she collided with something at full speed. Now that she has done this at least thirty times I'm more concerned she'll do it outside and fly somewhere I can't find or reach." "It's called a magical surge, it should go away in a few days and it should be years before she can fly again after that. You just have to endure it for a little while longer," Phobia told the mare. Then gestured to Devon. "This is Devon. She'll be on this bus with you with her two foals. She just finished dealing with surges from her earth pony foal. I'm sure she can empathize with you." "Well, it will be nice to have somepony...," the earth pony looked again at Devon as she corrected herself, "someone to talk to who's been dealing with a foal that as a human shouldn't be crawling yet, but somehow becomes the daredevil from hell now that she's a pony." The mare set her foal down and gave her a nudge. "Can you walk it off? Come on I know you can, get up," she said as she continued to nudge. The little filly gave herself a shake and ruffled her feathers. She looked up at her mother with a slightly dazed expression and then stood up and came and nuzzled against her. "Two weeks old and can walk just fine already. She keeps close to me most of the time like a fly on honey, except when she decides to take to the air and scares me half to death. I should be dead ten times over from heart attacks in the last two weeks," the mare said with a shake of her head. "I'm Devon, and these are my...foals, Robby and Jessica," Devon said as she seemed to gather some confidence. "Nice to meet you. I'm Amanda and this little missile is Jacquelyn. Come sit by us and we can talk about dealing with foals," Amanda said. Then tilted her head. "Is Jessica not able to walk yet? I know I only have Jackie here for experience, but figured it was just a foal thing that they could walk early in." "Um, I don't know. She tried but I stopped her. I didn't realize that it was even possible yet and I've been so scared for her," Devon said uncertainly. "Well, let her try. If she's like Jackie here she'll keep right by you," Amanda encouraged. Devon looked down at her foal and then carefully bent down and set the blanket and foal down in the ground. She then carefully untangled the foal from the blanket and gave Jessica a smile. "I know you're grumpy, but do you want to try? Maybe you're grumpy because I've been holding you back. Come on, try," Devin encouraged. The little filly looked up at her mother and then looked around with seeming confusion at her sudden freedom from her mother's arms. The filly then carefully set her hooves underneath herself, and very carefully and shakily pushed herself to her hooves. Once standing she blinked as if unsure what to do next, then looked back at her mother again for some guidance. Phobia watched silently as Devon seemed to struggle with what to do to encourage her filly. "Come on, come to Momma," Devon said. The filly blinked again and then looked down at her hooves. She then lifted one up and put it back down with a slight shakiness to her balance. She repeated this a few times with each of her legs until it seemed she had her balance under control. She then turned and once again looked at her mother for guidance. "You're doing great," Devon said with a happy gasp as she briefly covered her mouth with her hands. "Come on, you can walk. I believe in you." The filly blinked as she tried to process far more language than she likely was capable of. She did pick up on her mother's encouragement and let off her own excited giggle. She then looked down at her hooves again as if trying to figure out what to do with them. Phobia took a few steps backwards to give them some more space. The filly's ears swiveled towards Phobia as the filly heard the hoovesteps, and she watched Phobia backing away. Her eyes were briefly glued to Phobia's legs as if figuring out a puzzle. After a second she seemed to realize what she was supposed to be doing with her appendages. The filly looked at her mother again and her face took on as much determination as a two week old's face was capable of taking on. She looked down on her legs again and took a tentative step. It was a bit shaky, but it was a successful step. Pleased with herself she took another. When the second ended with no disaster she turned back towards her mother and took a series of rapid shaky steps that ended with her colliding into her mother's legs. Devon held her breath, apparently waiting for an outburst to start as a result of the fact her filly had fallen down. No such outburst came. The filly gave herself a shake, and then carefully brought herself to her hooves again, much quicker and more sure of herself this time. Then stared up at her mother again as if looking for direction. "Go ahead and walk forward, she'll follow you. She knows who her mommy is," Amanda assured Devon. Devon stood up with a look of doubt and then carefully stepped over her filly and then took a few steps down the aisle of the bus before turning back and looking at the little earth pony filly. The filly stared for a moment before carefully, one step at a time, began to follow after her mother. Phobia smiled. She knew that family would make it through. They just had to do like that filly, take things one step at a time.