Phobia was glad she had wings and could perch on top of buildings, that saved her from some of the crowds; repeat some.
The streets of Riverview looked like New Orleans during Madi Gras or Times Square during New Year's Eve. It was a mass of ponies with a few humans mixed in. Even the tops of buildings were not safe havens from the crowds as pegasi swarmed on top of them to catch a break from the crowd below to the only slightly less crowded tops of buildings.
Phobia could only imagine the what the original townsfolk were thinking now about their decision to invite ponies into the town.
Their were lines reaching down the street to get into all the stores that the town had. Actual line monitors had to be put in place and the amount of ponies that were allowed in any at a given time was monitored closely so there would be space to move around. Phobia would not be surprised if every single one of those stores was sold out of merchandise by the end of the day. She was actually mildly shocked that the fishing and tackle shop had a line just like the others. What were ponies going to do with fish?
Another store front that was getting a lot of activity was the First Pony Bank. Loans were being made at an astonishing rate. There was an official from town hall that spent a great deal of time making his way back and forth between the bank and various vacant storefronts removing for sale signs and posting notices about incoming shops. A cheer went up when the Woolworth building had it's for sale sign removed and notice put up. A pegasus let the night ponies know that a grocer was planning on setting up a fruit and vegetable market in the large building.
In a short time the night pony couple decided to take to the air and see what was happening away from the packed business district. They saw that most of the rest of the town was no where near as congested with hoof and foot traffic, but was still very active none the less.
In the housing area there were lots of humans who were all looking at all the houses posted for sale. A few were actually being given tours by the owners. Many others had notepads or their cell phones out and were taking notes about properties that they were interested in finding more information about.
Moving out further into the completely non-operational industrial district they found a few ponies and humans doing the same kinds of note taking there as well.
They continued flying on the past this to one of the shelters for the humans. A few were standing around outside and looking on in interest as an older man hammered a sign into the ground. The night ponies flew down to take a brief look at what it said before taking off again. It was declaring that the school was looking to reopen in the fall after years of being closed, and giving a phone number for anyone with teaching experience to call if interested in a job, as well as declaring it would be looking to fill cafeteria and custodial positions.
On to the edge of town was the tent city, this like the shelter had few individuals actually at it currently, as most of them were running around elsewhere in the town. Phobia was shocked to spot Devon among those occupying the tent city. She would have to discuss that with her mom. That must be an oversight on the organizers' part that a human got put into the tents rather than in one of the shelters. There was nothing to do for it at this moment though so they didn't stop their flight.
Flying beyond the tents they came upon the farmland. There was a lot of fallow fields covering far more area than the actual town did. That was a good thing, those fields would be hopefully growing crops soon and very soon or the town wouldn't be able to keep up with the strain on food. There was no major chain grocery store in town and that meant less food coming in from the outside. There were over fifteen thousand mouths to feed between ponies and humans.
Thankfully there were already teams of earth ponies starting to look over the fields and seemed to be discussing what crops should go where. This had been one of the big sticking points of the ponies coming; the earth ponies were getting those fields.
A certain amount would be used for the production of hay, which would act as a ration crop. All ponies would get hay from the ration crop on a regular basis at no charge, and the rest of the crops would be produced for sale; with the town grocers and restaurants getting a discount on prices and the rest to be exported. Earth ponies they were assured could grow hay at a remarkable rate, eventually all ponies in town would pay a small hay tax for their ration and the tax would be used to pay the workers and costs of distribution. No pony would ever be left to starve, even if hay might make them wish they were. It was considered encouragement to have them buying other foods and frequenting restaurants. A pony could only go so long eating hay before they would do anything for an opportunity to eat something else.
They considered flying on further to see the sister towns that had received ponies as well, but the hour was getting late for them and they were supposed to meet Roger soon to take care of an important matter before they got married tomorrow. They turned in their flight and went to the house the family had chosen. Roger was waiting for them by the family car as they came down from their flight.
"I was starting to wonder where you two were at. It's past noon and know you must be tired. We can do this tonight if you want instead," Roger said.
"We'll get a little nap in during the drive there and get another nap in when we get there. Thanks for doing this," Phobia said.
"I know I'd be pretty upset if I wasn't at my daughter's wedding. Of course I'm going to help you get your dad to come see it," Roger said with a smile.
"Still, it's very last minute. He doesn't even know yet that the wedding is tomorrow. He doesn't really have anything else to do right now, but I'm not sure if he'll come or not," Phobia said with worry.
"I haven't met him, but I assure you that he'll probably want to be there," Roger assured her as she opened the door to the back seat. "Get in, get comfortable, and get your nap in. I've got the address and will wake you two up when we get there."
The two night ponies were asleep before the car even got out of the driveway.
"Alright we're here," Roger said as he gave each of the night ponies a shake to rouse them.
"Five more minutes...," Rosetta mumbled beside Phobia.
"You said he'd let you two nap inside. Come on, you just have to get up and walk a few feet. Tell him what's going on, and then you can collapse in bed," Roger said.
The two ponies managed to get themselves to their hooves and out of the car. Phobia stretched her whole body like you might expect a cat to do. Rosetta came up next to her and gave a sleepy nuzzle. They then walked to the front door and gave a knock. It took about half a minute before the handle and the rest of the door lit up in a blue magic aura and opened.
"Who's this?" Phobia's dad said as he looked up at Roger.
"This is Rosetta's dad, Dad. Mind if we come in? I needed to tell and ask you something, and then I Rosetta and I need to crash for a few hours. We had a busy few days and it will be busy again tomorrow," Phobia said before yawning.
"Of course, you know you're always welcome here," her dad said as he opened the door wide for them. He then looked at Roger. "I'm Tom, good to meet you."
"I'm Roger, likewise," Roger said with a smile.
The group filed into the living room and the two night ponies quickly took up spots on the couch, leaving enough room for Roger to sit. Her dad grabbed up the television remote in his magic as he walked into the room and muted the TV.
"Take a seat on the couch, Roger," Phobia's dad said as he went and took his typical sport on his chair.
As Roger sat down Phobia turned to her dad.
"Dad, we're getting married tomorrow. It isn't going to be anything big and formal. Just us and immediate family. We'd really like it if you came," Phobia said.
"Is your mother going to be there?" Her dad asked with a slight hardening of his features.
"Yes, she will be. I know you two don't want anything to do with each other, but do you think you could put it aside for a day just for this?" Phobia pleaded.
Her dad stared at them for a long moment before taking a deep breath and and letting it out.
"If she can manage to be civil for the sake of you for a day I can too," he finally said.
"Thanks, Dad. This means a lot to us," Phobia said with relief.
"So who all is going to be attending this shindig?" Her dad asked.
"On Rosetta's side it will be her parents, grandmother, two younger brothers, and her sister. All of them are human except for her sister who's an earth pony. On my end it will be just you, Mom, and Tonya," Phobia listed off.
"If this is just family why is that Tonya mare coming?" Her dad asked with a look of confusion.
"Um, I'll tell you, but you're really not going to like it," Phobia said with hesitation.
"Tell me what?" Her dad said with his expression darkening again.
"Mom and Tonya are kind of...a thing...together. It's been going on for weeks," Phobia said, nervous about the reaction that was inevitably coming.
"Tonya...as in Tonya who was your classmate, and was a boy named Thomas," her dad said slowly.
"That would be her," Phobia confirmed, still waiting for an explosion.
"And just to make sure I'm understanding the rest of this correctly. My wife has gone lesbo and they're screwing. As in my wife and that mare," her dad said in a growl.
"I'm lesbian dad, and about to marry another mare. Do you still have an issue with lesbians?" Phobia asked in a tight voice.
Her dad looked at the two night ponies and blinked. Looked like he was about to say something, then reconsidered.
"I apologize...I didn't mean...," he struggled for a moment with what to say. "She wasn't attracted to women before, you were. I know she is attracted to men because she was with me."
"I'm attracted to both, your daughter isn't the one that got me pregnant," Rosetta cut in. "Sunset is clearly just like that too. She was just closeted, like your daughter was."
"Okay, but it still doesn't change the fact that she immediately threw herself on some other person as soon as she tossed me away, and that this mare is the same age as her own child," Phobia's dad said defensively.
"Dad, at this point does it matter to you what Mom does with her life?" Phobia asked with a sigh. "The two of you are through; there is no getting around that fact. I struggled with it when I found out too, but I have to admit that Tonya seems absolutely devoted to Mom. She also does a good job with calming Mom down and stopping her from doing things she will regret. Remember that it was Tonya that called her out when Mom was going to deny you food."
"I do remember that," her dad answered. He then looked down at the carpet and sighed. "It's just hard to wrap my head around. You're right though, it's none of my business what she does. Tonya seems to be a decent person and I guess I wish her the best of luck with dealing with your mom. Lord knows that's not an easy task."
"So are you coming to the wedding?" Phobia asked hopefully.
"Yes, I'll be there, and I'll be civil. Just make sure your mother remains civil too. Better yet, tell Tonya to make sure your mother is civil if Tonya is really able to keep her under control," her dad said.
"Thanks Dad," Phobia said and then yawned involuntarily. "Rosetta and I really need some sleep right now. Mind if we all stay here a little while and when the two of us wake up you can ride with us back to Riverview? You can spend the night with us there and we can show you our new house."
"You have a house all your own already? You'll have to explain that to me after you wake up. To ahead and get some sleep. Roger and I will keep each other company and swap embarrassing stories about each of you while you do," her dad said with an honest smile.
Phobia rolled her eyes and then directed Rosetta to follow her up to her old room.
The old room was much as she left it, it even had the same discarded clothes on the floor. Rosetta had been here a few times now, but she still rolled her eyes at the room.
"I still can't picture this room as yours, no matter how many times I see it," Rosetta said with a laugh.
Phobia looked around it. "I suppose it isn't mine. I'm not the person who lived in this room anymore."
"Are you happy or sad about that?" Rosetta asked as she kicked away some of the dirty clothes piled on the floor.
Phobia laughed. "What kind of question is that? Of course I'm happy to be who I am today. I'm content with who and what I am, and I'm going to be married soon to a very pretty and sexy night pony."
Rosetta blushed a little at the compliment before she came over and kissed Phobia. She seemed like she was getting ready to do much more than kiss for a moment based on how she brought her hooves and wings up against Phobia, but she broke it off and stepped back before things advanced to that.
"I'm glad, and you make me very happy. I'm looking forward to spending my life together with you," Rosetta giggled.
Phobia felt a warmth in her chest as she thought about that. Tomorrow was the start of a new life elsewhere. There was still a lot of uncertainty about the future, but she was satisfied that this was what she was meant to be.
Phobia found herself once again in the dreamscape and instantly knew that Luna was near to her.
"Luna? Are we going to be doing some more training?"
The dark alicorn stepped out in front of her and smiled. "That we shall, but there is another matter that I must discuss with you first. I have a proposition for you, for your world has urgent needs that I cannot fill and take care of pinies back on my own world."
Phobia looked at the alicorn in confusion. "What kind of needs can I fill that you can't? What kind of urgent needs."
Luna looked at the stars of the dreamscape. "It has become increasingly clear the extent of damage Sunset Shimmer's vision has done to the ponies of your world. There has been a severe abuse of mind magic, and I fear with the large number of night ponies that other abuses will soon arise in great numbers. I have already had to put a stop to many such abuses and I cannot spend my entire time in your world's dreamscape to keep watch."
"So, you want me to watch out for abuses?" Phobia said while wide eyed. "How am I supposed to do that? Even if I caught them how would I stop them?"
Luna looked down with a serious expression. "I have picked out five others along with you to combat this problem before it becomes a plague. As for how...it requires a certain sacrifice on your part, but you will gain the abilities in the dreamscape that would be equal to mine."
Phobia backed up a few steps. "You aren't talking about trying to make me an alicorn or anything, right. I'm not up for that."
Luna laughed. "No, not an alicorn, something else entirely. And it would only be a position you held while asleep. You're waking life would continue down a normal path. This position is not one I give lightly, and it carries a heavy burden of responsibility to go along with power. I will not force you to take it if you are uninterested. As I said, there is a sacrifice to be made in taking this, but you could be an important force for stability with the night ponies and prevent things like the Sunset Shimmer's vision from ever happening again."
Phobia blinked. She wanted to preserve free will, and this seemed like what Luna was offering.
"I need to know a little more about this before I accept," she replied.
Luna nodded. "Of course, to explain further I have to explain what else I am in addition to an alicorn; the thing I am and I hope to make you is called a Dreamwarden..."
Story continues in Pandemic: Picking Up the Pieces