//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Pandemic: Picking up the Pieces // by Halira //------------------------------// Devon was in her classroom, everyone was finishing their art projects for the day. A simple self portrait. These were elementary school students so there wasn't high expectations for them to be masterpieces, but you could learn a lot about a student by seeing how they depicted themselves in their drawings. It was always one of the best projects to start the year with and get to know what she was dealing with in terms of students. "Okay class, it doesn't matter if you're finished yet, it's time to wrap it up for the day. Leave your pictures in a neat stack on my desk and I will look over them. Make sure all your supplies are properly put away, and any trash around your desks is picked up. We don't want to leave any extra work for the cleaning staff. It's Friday and they want to go home too," Devon called out to her class. The class complied with her instructions and in short order the room was back in order and a stack of drawings sat on her desk. The class left for the day and she had took a few minutes just to walk around the room and make sure any last scraps weren't left behind. She sat down at her desk and pulled the drawings over to her, ready to see the work of each of her students. She looked at the top picture and rolled her eyes. The student had drawn a pony, it was a nice enough drawing, if crudely drawn, but it wasn't what she had instructed. She noted the student's name and flipped to the next which turned out to also be a pony. She frowned at the drawing and set it aside to go to the next and was greeted yet again with another pony. "What in the world is going on?" She asked out loud. She flipped to the next, and then the next, and the next after that. Every single drawing was of a pony. Was the class playing some sort of practical joke on her? It was certainly a weird one if they were. Something played at her thoughts, but she couldn't place what it was. Something about ponies. Devon shook her head and put the drawings back in order. She'd have a talk with the class next week about this when they returned, but there wasn't anything to do about it right now. She walked out of the classroom to go home. As she walked through the halls she paused as she noticed all the students and teachers all seemed to have a rainbow of hair colors that couldn't be natural. Was there some sort of event going on that she hadn't heard about? She was usually right on top of keeping track of those kinds of things. Devon walked up to the principle, Mr. Alexander, who was sporting pink hair. "Hi, Mr. Alexander, this probably makes me look stupid, but why has everyone dyed their hair, including the children?" Devon asked. "What do you mean? Nopony has dyed their hair. Why is your hair like that though?" Mr. Alexander asked in turn with a critical eye on her hair. "My hair is just the way it normally is," she answered as she brought a hand up to her hair. "That's really unprofessional Miss Middleton. We're going to have a talk about that on Monday when you return. I need to attend to the foals right now. I will see you in my office first thing Monday," the principal said with a scowl as he walked away. Was everyone in on this practical joke? It was starting to feel a little cruel. She left the school building and came to a stop as she looked at the people outside. They too had all the strange hair, but they also had pony ears and tails. A few stopped and stared at her. "Ma'am are you alright? Do we need to call a doctor?" A man with a deeply concerned expression asked her. "What? No, why do I need a doctor? Why are you all wearing those fake ears and tails? Why is everyone's hair dyed?" She asked in return. "Ma'am, I think you need a doctor. Something is wrong with your ears. You must have had some sort of injury and are delirious. Just sit down and we'll get help to you," the man said calmly as he motioned for her to sit. Devon shook her head as her heart started pounding. This couldn't be some practical joke, it was on too large a scale. She started to panic and ran for her car. "Ma'am! Ma'am! Come back! You aren't well! Somepony stop her before she hurts herself!" The man yelled. Devon jumped into her car and quickly put the key into the ignition. She needed to get home. She slammed her foot onto the gas pedal as she put the car into reverse and put it quickly back into drive as she took off down the street going at least sixty. It took her only about a minute to get home. She didn't even bother taking the key out of the ignition, she just put the car into park and rushed inside. Her family had to be okay. Paul came out from around the corner of the kitchen and she gave a sigh of relief as she saw he was perfectly normal. Then she started to worry as she noticed he was scowling at her. "It's your fault. Robert and Jessica are ponies and it's all because of you," Paul accused as he pointed a finger at her. "Paul what're you talking about?" Devon asked in confusion. She started to cry; why was he saying this? "Momma? What's wrong, Momma?" Came Robby's voice from down the hall. Devon looked down the hall and had to squint to make out the outline of something in the dark. She could see yellow hair, but the body was a pitch black that blended into the darkness. "If you hadn't screwed up with your pregnancy. If you had just done everything right, none of this would have happened. But you couldn't manage that could you? See what happened because of you?" Paul accused as he pointed into the darkness. "Please, Momma, you're scaring me. Please wake up!" Robby's voice came from the darkness. "I couldn't help it. It just happened. I didn't mean for it to happen," Devon cried. "You could have done something different. I can't stand the sight of you. You've destroyed this family. You didn't even have the decency to turn into a pony yourself so you could take care of them. I'm leaving, leaving you with your worthless beasts," Paul snarled as he walked past her, shoving her out of his way as he went and knocking her to the floor. "Paul, please, I need you. They need you. I can't do this by myself," Devon begged. "Momma! Wake up!" Robby's voice screamed Devon opened her eyes with a shock. She had to stop to catch her breath, she was breathing so hard and so fast. She had to sit there reminding herself that was just a dream. She glanced up for a moment and nearly jumped as she saw Amanda. It took her another second to re-catch her breath, as the she remembered where she was and that Amanda was supposed to be there. "Momma?" Robby's worried voice said from beside her. Devon looked down at her son who was looking back up at her with concerned yellow eyes. "I'm okay, Robby, just a little nightmare," she said as she forced a smile to try to reassure him. "I know, I felt it. I don't want you to have nightmares, nightmares are bad," Robby said with a surprising amount of firmness for a five year old. Devon frowned. Something was off about that statement, and with how Robby said it. "What do you mean you felt it?" She asked as she zeroed in on the odd part of the statement. "I just did. It was like there was a bad shadow in you. It was upsetting you. Nightmares are bad," Robby said with an angry snort and the same disconcerting firmness. "I'm okay, you're just having your own bad dream," Devon tried to soothe him. "Um, Devon, he wasn't asleep," Amanda said from across the room, giving Ribby a quizzical look as she spoke. "Alright," Devon said as she took a breath. She must have been showing signs of distress in her sleep. "I was having a nightmare, but those are going to happen, Robby. Don't let them upset you too much." "But Momma, the white mare said it's my job to chase nightmares away. Ponies and humans shouldn't have to have nightmares," Robby insisted as he spread his wings. "White mare? Who are you talking about? Did someone come by? How long have I been sleeping?" Devon asked in confusion. "Devon," Amanda said as she held up a hoof and kept her eyes on Robby. "I think he was talking about the mare in the vision. You know about the vision, right?" "No...what vision?" Devon said slowly, growing more concerned. "All of us that transformed had a vision," Amanda explained as she pointed a hoof back towards herself. "It wasn't the same for everypony, but the general message was the same. It's basically welcome to being a pony, please watch this orientation dream and answer the quiz at the end. Has he never mentioned this to you? He must have gotten it too." "No, he hasn't," Devon said, feeling alarmed. She looked down at Robby. "Robby, did you get this vision she's talking about?" "Yeah, right before I first woke up as a pony. I kind of forgot about it until tonight," Robby said with mild embarassment. "And what was in your vision? Please tell me, you aren't in trouble," Devon asked as calmly as she could. "I don't remember everything right, just what the white mare said I'm supposed to do," he said as he looked down in shame. "And what was that? What're you supposed to do according to her?" Devon struggled not to let an edge slip into her voice, but the idea that her son had some sort of shared vision with all the other ponies was disconcerting and scared her. Even more upsetting was the idea some pony was trying to influence how her son thought without her knowledge. "I'm supposed to keep everypony safe, and I'm suppose to chase the nightmares away. Monsters are bad and nightmares are bad," Robby explained, his voice firming up again on the last statement about monsters and nightmares being bad. It took Devon aback how much steel was in her little five year old son's voice as he said that. "Was your vision that kind of message too?" Devon asked Amanda, wondering if she should be concerned about how this white mare might have also influenced Amanda. Amanda shook her head, and Devon frowned deeper. She was kind of counting on Amanda to give her some guide to this. "I'm pretty sure my vision was tailored to me being an earth pony," Amanda explained apologetically. "Mine was about using my strength to help other ponies, and helping things grow; you know, very stereotypical earth pony like stuff. I protested that I was a teacher not a farmer, and the white mare said I could help young minds grow too. This was a vision tailored for me though, but Robby's a night pony. Night ponies aren't going to be the same as me, and I really don't know much about night ponies. Robby is the first one I have actually seen up close. All I knew is they're nocturnal, nothing else. What Robby just said is as new to me is as it is to you." "I guess I need to talk to a night pony then," Devon said with a sigh. Amanda's explanation of her vision at least gave some insights in how Jessie might start thinking as she aged. She looked out the tent entrance. "How long was I asleep? I didn't mean to fall asleep while you were out." "It's alright, I knew you were tired. I'm not sure what time it is exactly, but it is getting close to night. I watched Jessie for you. She and Jackie started playing together, and it was cute to watch. Robby woke on his own just a few minutes before you woke up," Amanda said as she seemed to loosen up again. Both the little fillies were curled up sleeping close to their respective mother's at the moment. "I wanted to give you that contact information about the school though so you could look into that," Devon said, disappointed with herself for failing in that small task. "Don't worry about it, you needed your sleep. I don't think one day will make too much difference," Amanda assured her. "Just give me time tomorrow morning to take care of a few things and I'll be back by afternoon to watch over Robby for you." "Thank you, you don't know how helpful that is," Devon said gratefully. "I'm just sleeping then, Momma. I don't need to be watched," Robby said with an annoyed flick of his tail. "I don't want you by yourself, even if you're sleeping. You're too young to be left alone. I'm going to see about possibly getting you a regular sitter at night," Devon explained with motherly firmness to her son. "I don't need a foalsitter," Robby pouted as his ears lowered. "Yes you do need a foalsitter, it's not up for discussion," Devon said in a no-nonsense voice as she rose to her feet. She didn't trip over saying the term foalsitter. Hearing pony terms so often she'd probably be using them exclusively in no time too. "For right now you, me, and your little sister are going to go out and take care of some things together. We're going to go talk to some night ponies and we're going to see about what we need to do to get our own house. Plus we need to get some dinner in us." "We're going to go see other night ponies?" Robby asked excitedly, bouncing in place and flapping his wings. "Yes, I was told to talk to a pony named Tattered Wing, and we're also going to try to find that nice pony that walked us to the bus this morning," Devon said as a smile formed on her lips at her son's excitement. Devon then looked down at her daughter who was still laying down where she had been, not waking up through any of the commotion. "Okay, going to have to carry you around with me it seems," Devon said as she grabbed Jessie's blanket and then crouched down to gather the small pony up in it. "You just keep sleeping, baby girl. I don't mind carrying you." "I'd offer to watch her for you, but I'm going to need to go eat before I go to sleep, and will be already dealing with one overtired filly as it is," Amanda said with a small frown. "You've done plenty already. I've got her, and hopefully she'll just sleep through everything," Devon said then gave her daughter a light kiss on the forehead. "Alrighty then. Well, I hope you have a good night. I'll probably be asleep when you get back. I'll see you in the morning," Amanda replied with renewed cheerfulness. "See you then," Devon said in response before starting to walk towards the door. She then glanced down at her son. "Come on, and keep close to me. I don't want you wandering off. If you do I'll carry both you and your sister around." "I'll stay close," Robby answered as he trotted up next to her legs. "Good, now come on. We have a lot of walking to do," Devon said as she led him out the door. As soon as they were out into the early evening air she realized they needed to probably detour to the outhouse area to let Robby go to the bathroom. She needed to go as well, but she wasn't pulling her pants down where she was exposed to the world. She took Robby down to the outhouse and waited patiently with her back turned for him to do his business. After a minute he came trotting back out to her. "Did you poop?" She asked him as she looked towards his backend. "Yes," he answered. She pointed back to the outhouse. "Go wash your butt off. You can't really wipe, but you can do that. We are going to keep ourselves as clean as possible." "Okay," he said as he turned and trotted back into the outhouse. A moment later she heard the shower start running. The sound of the running water made her bladder feel even worse. It was a long walk to the human shelter, and she wasn't sure she could hold it. Doing this frequently could lead to health problems. She gave the outlook a mournful look and shook her head in defeat as Robby trotted back out. "Robby, I need to go use the bathroom too. Can you stand right here and keep your back turned?" Devon asked as she pointed down to where Robby was standing. "I can do that, Momma," Robby answered with a bow of his head. She nodded back to him as she walked by him. The outhouse was vacant of ponies at the moment so she rushed over to a spot that was the farthest back from the entrance started opening up her pants. She carefully lowered them just far enough that she could use the toilet, which took extra work with Jessie still in her arms, and sat down. As she started peeing a unicorn stallion walked in and took up a seat directly across from her, causing her to go rigid. "Hello, I didn't know they had any humans out at the tents," the stallion said in a friendly voice as she heard the drizzle of him starting to piss as well. Devon let off a squeak as she stood up in a hurry and tried to pull her pants back up, she nearly dropped Jessie as she did it, but managed to get them up even though they were unzipped still. She rushed out of the outhouse without saying a word or responding to the stallion's shouts of confusion. Robby had to rush after her as she put distance between herself and the outhouse. "Momma, what's wrong?" Robby called up to her, keeping pace with her easily despite his much shorter legs. "I don't think I can explain it in a way you can understand. I'm okay, don't worry, baby," Devon said as finally came to a stop. "Did that pony do something to you?" Robby asked with a low growl as he looked back the way they came. "No honey, he didn't do anything to me. It's okay, you don't have to go rushing to defend me," Devon said while trying to contain a small laugh. She couldn't help herself, he seemed so serious and determined. He was actually bristling up and spreading his wings trying to make himself look bigger; her mighty little defender. Robby seemed to calm down a bit at the sound of her mirth. He looked up at the sky and gave off a happy gasp. "Momma, look! Night ponies!" Robby said excitedly as he pointed up in the air with one of his hooves. She looked up at the sky to where he was pointing. There were indeed four night ponies flying overhead. They weren't in sight long, as they moved quickly through the air. She wondered how something so completely unaerodynamic as a pony managed to fly so fast. The answer was probably magic, but it was still impressive to watch. "We'll find a few night ponies to talk to soon enough, honey. Let's hurry on to meet Miss Tattered Wing and get what we need done, hopefully whoever's serving food serves it late," Devon said to him. "Okay, Momma. Is Miss Tattered Wing a night pony too?" Robby asked, still sounding excited. "Yes, she is. I'm told she might look a little scary, but hopefully she's going to help us, so don't be scared of her. Okay?" Devon instructed. "Why does she look scary?" Robby asked with a tilt of his head. "I was told she is really badly beat up. So don't be rude if she looks a little different, okay?" Devon said. "Okay, Momma," Robby answered obediently with a nod. Walking to the town hall took a while, nearly forty minutes. Thankfully the streets weren't nearly as packed now as they were earlier in the day, as most of the ponies were now settling in to where they would be sleeping that evening. There were still a lot about, but it wasn't like trying to walk through Times Square on New Year's Eve anymore. When they walked into city hall there was a tired looking pony, a pegasus mare with blue fur so dark it almost appeared black, sitting at a table marked as the information desk. Devon walked over to this pony and wasn't noticed until she was standing right at the desk. At least Devon hoped she wasn't noticed, but felt she was instead being ignored. The dark furred pegasus mare gave a yawn before acknowledging her. "What can I do for you? The human shelters should be able to answer any of your needs better than me, human," the mare said sleepily with a bored expression on her face. "I'm looking for a pony named Tattered Wing. I was told she was the one I needed to talk to for my problems," Devon explained patiently. This particular pony didn't seem as likable the last two ponies at such desks, but she wasn't going to be rude. As little sense as it made, having a pony that wasn't super friendly was mildly refreshing. "Tattered Wing? You have something you need to be protected from or something? Some sort of domestic dispute that you want her to sic the Enclave on?" The mare asked with a tilt of her head. "I don't have any problem like that. I don't even know what the Enclave is. I was just told by the pony at the shelter that Tattered Wing was the one I needed to talk to. Is she here?" Devon asked, wondering if she was dealing with some sort of law enforcement officer. "Um, yeah. She just wandered in a few minutes ago. She's temporarily set up an office in the third room on the right down that hall," the pony said as she pointed a wing to a hallway on the left. "She ain't busy with anything right now. Just go knock on the door and let yourself in." Devon mouthed a quick thanks and then briskly walked down the hall with Robby following close by. When she reached the appropriate door she gave it a knock and then let herself in as the pegasus had instructed. The pony that was inside was probably the ugliest pony Devon had ever seen, but that was mainly due to her very obvious injuries. She had dull brown fur and a black mane which made her look more plain if it weren't for the rest. There were scars everywhere on her body, many that looked like they were still healing, and the pony's wings were wrapped in bandages. The pony was sitting at a desk working on a computer with a pencil in her mouth that she seemed to be using for typing and a hoof on a mouse. This pony, like the one outside, didn't pay Devon any attention as she entered and Devon decided to take a seat opposite the pony as she waited to be acknowledged. "What can I do for you?" Tattered Wing asked with disinterest as she spoke around the pencil without turning her attention from what she was doing. "I'm Devon Middleton and these are my children Robert and Jessica...," Devon began. "Foals. Get your terms right, human," Tattered Wing corrected without looking away from the computer. "Okay, foals then. I was told that you were the pony responsible for assigning where we'd stay because Robby here's a night pony and you make all final decisions regarding night ponies," Devon said with a hint of annoyance at the pony's seeming disinterest. The novelty of not-so-friendly ponies hadn't taken much time to wear off. "That's correct. I made that decision," Tattered Wing said, still staring at the computer. Devon was actually impressed that the pony spoke clearly with a pencil gripped in her teeth, but was still annoyed she was being half ignored. "I was wondering why you placed us in the tents instead of with the humans and mixed families in the shelter," Devon explained, letting a little edge slip into her voice. "Your colt needs to sleep during at least the afternoons if not part of the morning too. Those shelters are bound to get loud and offer no where he can escape to for privacy. I had him placed in a tent as a result," Tattered Wing replied in the same tone as she had with all the other replies as she continued to not look at them. "That's very considerate of you on his behalf, but it puts me in a rough place. The amenities out by the tents aren't really set up for humans," Devon said diplomatically. Tattered Wing finally turned her yellow eyes to Devon and stopped paying attention to the computer. She carefully set the pencil down and turned to fully face Devon. She gave Devon a smile that looked like one a store clerk might give a dumb and obnoxious customer. "And what, may I ask, is not to your liking, human?" Tattered Wing asked with a raised brow as she set her hooves down on the desk pressed against one another, giving an impression of clasped hands. "The primary problem for me personally is privacy in the bathroom. I understand that you ponies don't seem to care about the fact that you're naked all the time, but I can't take down my pants or strip naked where anyone can see me," Devon answered firmly. Tattered Wing's mouth twitched, as did her ear. Devon was pretty sure that she could hear the flick of Tattered Wing's tail. "I can only give you one answer to that, human. Get over it. I'm not saying that to be cruel either. You're trying to raise two pony foals; young foals can't be expected to adapt to your human standards and expectations, but adult humans are pretty adaptable if need be. If you want to shower, and don't feel like walking to the human shelter, then you'll shower just like the ponies at the tents," Tattered Wing said firmly. "But someone could see me naked," Devon protested, then winced as she realized that made her sound childish. "Ponies don't give a crap about seeing others naked, and the fact humans do is just really just stupid when you think about it. Get over it. It's unlikely any human will see you out there anyway, as they've little reason to go out to the tents. I'm not here to baby counterproductive tendencies in humans, and I won't. I'm here to protect, and when I say get over it I'm telling you that because I want you to be an effective mother to pony foals, specifically your night pony son. What's more important to you; getting some privacy, or being close at hoof to take care of them?" Tattered Wing lectured in a low voice as she pointed a hoof at Robby then back to Jessie. "Taking care of them," Devon answered in her own low voice, not able to meet the pony's eyes. "Good. Is there anything else I can help you with?" Tattered Wing asked in a satisfied tone as she brought her hooves together on the desk again. Well, at least she could try to get some answers out of this pony about night ponies and salvage some of her dignity. "What does it mean to be a night pony? Other than just being nocturnal," Devon asked, trying to sound like she hadn't just been treated like a stupid child. "Good question. I'm assuming you're trying to understand your colt," Tattered Wing said with an actual smile. "Being a night pony means being a protector. That's what our instincts drive us to be. Whether it be physical danger, nightmares, or some other danger we're here to meet those things and protect ponies, and humans for that matter, from them." "Is the sun bad for night ponies?" Devon asked, trying to think of each pertinent question. "We don't like how bright it is since our eyes are designed for dimmer light, and it makes us sleepy, but I don't believe it will actually hurt him. I know plenty of night ponies that function late into the daylight hours without complaint, myself included," Tattered said as she pointed to herself. "I'm not an expect on pony health, mind you. If you want a more informed answer go to the town clinic. I do know the Equestrian night ponies can function on a daytime schedule just fine if need be, but we seem to be more bound to our nocturnal one. Our instincts aren't the same." "Can night ponies tell when someone is having a nightmare?" Devon asked. "Yes, we can. I know of many night ponies that dispel nightmares and at least one that can actually enter into another pony's nightmares. I'm hoping that one teaches me that skill as well to tell the truth," Tattered Wing said, still smiling proudly about the greatness of night ponies. "I told you, Momma," Robby said from her side in a petulant tone. "I know, Robby, you did, and you definitely are very protective too," Devon said with a sigh. The entering into dreams part sounded like something magical and well beyond her understanding as a human, but at least she had some insight into night pony instincts. Robby really was her little defender. Looking at the pony across the table from her that looked like it could be a dangerous job though. "I'm sorry if I'm asking something personal or inappropriate, but what happened to you that you got injured like that?" Devon asked as she looked at Tattered Wing's many injuries. Tattered Wing leaned over the desk a bit to put herself more on display. And began pointing at injuries. "These sections with the black on the fur, that was a human burning me with an aerosol can and a lighter. A lot of the rest of these were knife cuts. This section here? That one was a baseball bat. I'm not exactly sure what happened with this part here," the injured night pony sat back down correctly after she finished going through her injuries and had a grim face. She continued as she twitched her wings slightly. "My wings were much worse before the Equestrian doctors got to them, but this damage you see was from human slicing my wings into unusable shreds, and all these injuries happened in the course of a few minutes. I was the lucky one out of my friends. We were just trying to do our jobs by protecting, but we weren't up to the task at the time." Devon felt like vomiting. Robby was going to instinctively throw himself into these kinds of situations eventually? Screw flying, this was far more terrifying for him. This could kill him. "I do promise you. I'm going to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen to any night ponies here. Almost every adult night pony, and all the teens, we have here are now trained so they don't end up like me. When your son gets older we'll train him too. I'm not having any more dead night ponies on my watch," Tattered Wing said in a voice filled with conviction. "I don't want my son involved with doing this kind of thing," Devon replied back with a glare. "It's not a matter of what you want. It isn't even really a matter of him choosing to do this. He's a night pony, he'll rush to the defense of others if there's trouble. It's what he is, it's his nature. It's better that he's prepared if it happens so he doesn't end up like me, or worse, dead," Tattered Wing said with her own matching glare. This was unfair. Robby shouldn't put himself in such danger. If this is what he was compelled to do by instinct, and early signs seemed to confirm that, there might be nothing she could do to stop it. "When? When will you want to start training him?" Devon asked in a defeated tone. "After he starts flying," Tattered Wing said with an appraising look at Robby. "Also, please note that he doesn't have to do this as some sort of career. We just want him prepared if something happens. Consider it self defense classes if that makes you feel better." "No, it doesn't really. I don't want him hurt though," Devon said with a downcast look. Tattered Wing softened her expression to one that almost looked like sympathy. "I know you don't, and I don't want that either. I know I can be a little standoffish with humans, and I apologize for anything that I said or did that was rude. You're clearly trying to do right by your son and I respect that. If you need any help with that in the future all you need to do is ask." The door behind them opened without a knock and a blue unicorn mare, with an abacus as a cutie mark, hurried in quickly. She ran over to Tattered Wing and whispered something in the night pony's ear. As the whispering was going on Tattered Wing's face lit up with shock and then contorted to anger. "Speaking of ponies that should have been taught how to properly defend themselves; I've seemed to have jinxed things by saying almost all night pony adults. I've got something that needs to be attended to immediately as a result," Tattered Wing said as she got up and hurried to the door. "Number Crunch here will attend to whatever other needs you might have." And with no further discussion Tattered Wing took off out the door at a full run.