//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Pandemic: Picking up the Pieces // by Halira //------------------------------// Amanda tended to wake up early as a human and that hadn't changed when she had become a pony. When she awoke the sun had not yet risen and it was dark outside still. Hopefully that meant most ponies were still asleep and she could do a few things quickly without having to deal with crowds. She looked over to the quiet sleeping form of her daughter and smiled. Jackie was a hooffull, but she still felt a certain joy at looking down at the little life that had come from her. It was amazing how much Jackie looked just like her, and she wondered if that was because she had been born a pony rather than a human. Technically Jackie was a transformed human too, since she had been human in Amanda's womb till that last month. Jackie had never experienced a day of her life as a human though. Being a pony was all Jackie had ever known; even Devon's foal Jessica had a few miserable days as a human. Amanda shook her head. Jessica's misery was a special case, being human hadn't been so bad. She certainly missed her hands, most ponies she talked to didn't think lack of hands was anything to be concerned about, but most ponies she met weren't earth ponies trying to deal with a hyperactive pegasus foal. She sighed as she yet again wished she could have turned out as any other type of pony but earth pony. She turned and looked at her own flank. No greater purpose had come to her yet, no sense of who she was supposed to be. There was no mark on her flank yet, and it seemed every day that the number of ponies with cutie marks increased, and those blank flanked like her were slowly moving to becoming a minority, at least among grown adults. Maybe she would be more content if her mark would just appear, or if she were a unicorn or pegasus instead so she could better take care of her daughter. She wanted to be content, but another part of her wanted to be anything else so she could deal with tasks easier. She felt guilty for feeling that though, like she was being ungrateful or something. She didn't feel like a human in a pony body, but she didn't really feel any contentment being an earth pony either. That wasn't something she could concern herself with at this moment. Right now it was time to get up and get something to eat. Devon wasn't back yet, but considering she slept most of the afternoon yesterday and had a nocturnal son that wasn't a big surprise. Late night was probably a good time for her human friend to get things done. Amanda would go eat while Jackie was still asleep, and hopefully Devon would return by the time Amanda got back to the tent. Then she could leave Jackie with Devon long enough to try to get some things done herself. She carefully used her mouth to pick up her filly by the scruff of her neck and deposited the sleeping filly on her back. Jackie thankfully didn't wake up through this and quickly resettled herself on Amanda's back. The filly was still leashed to her so if she woke up she couldn't get away, which meant there was no need to apply the even more uncomfortable straps to keep Jackie in place. With Jackie snuggled on her back, Amanda trotted out of the tent into the early morning air. She took a moment to take a deep breath and look up at the first rays of sun in the sky. This time of day was always her favorite time of day; it was calm, peaceful, and beautiful. It was a time of day where everything was good and the rest of the day showed nothing but promise, a time of serenity and optimism, a time of day she could temporarily set aside her worries. She quietly made her way through the aisles of tents towards the back of the area. She could hear a few noisy sleepers among various tents she passed. There were a small number of other early risers just starting to emerge from the tents as well who seemed to have similar feelings about the morning. There was even one stallion going through a series of stretches that made her think that he was planning on going on an early morning run. She might enjoy a run herself, especially since she hadn't gotten to try pushing herself. She enjoyed running as a human and she kind of wanted to see how fast she could go since becoming quadruped, but that wasn't happening with Jackie on her back. She arrived quickly at the community haystacks and looked at them with disappointment. Hay was probably the dullest food possible, but it was food. There was also a pair of water fountains set up for drinking that were operated by stepping on a pedal. Long hoses ran from them to some unknown place in the distance, and similar hoses could be seen among the tents running to the outhouses. They were pretty easy to see and avoid stepping on, but she hoped no pony accidentally tripped or disconnected any of them by accident. It seemed like it would be a pain for everypony if they had to be traced back to their source for reconnecting. Amanda took a moment to look down at the ground. It was grassy, but a lot of the grass had been trampled flat by the constant stream of hundreds of hooves over the course of the last day. She bent down and considered it. To this point she really hadn't attempted to help anything grow. She'd been too concerned with dealing with Jackie to spend time finding out about her own earth pony abilities. Grass wasn't anything special, but it seemed like it might be something simple to practice with. She had a few minutes, so why not take a shot at it? Maybe it would make her feel better about being an earth pony. The rose pink mare focused on the ground just below one forehoof. She really had no idea what she was supposed to be doing, just imitating what she had seen other earth ponies do. Hopefully her pony instincts would just take hold and guide her. Her strength was obvious, but it didn't feel like something magical. She wanted to be able to do something magical, and this was supposed to be her magic. Did she feel anything? There was the grass beneath her hoof, it was cool, and damp with morning dew. She focused on the sensation of the grass and started to feel something else. She could feel the water and nutrients moving through the grass, she could follow that sensation down into the soil, beyond the touch of her hoof. Amanda let off a excited gasp as she realized she was feeling something she shouldn't be able to without some sort of magical aid. Her magic was there and she was using it. It was exciting to feel, because it was one thing to know it should be there and a whole other thing to feel it at work for the first time. Calming herself, she kept her focus on the sensation of what was going on in the soil, and her perception reached out further than the roots into the surrounding soil. She could feel other life down there. There were worms and bugs moving through the soil just below the surface. She wasn't particularly interested in any of these, but it was still amazing to know they were there. If she had a shovel--and hands--she could easily dig right down to the exact spot each one was moving with pinpoint accuracy. She allowed herself to feel just a small sense of pride now; this was the earth beneath her feet and she was an earth pony, they were in tune with one another, and it it held no secrets from her. Her senses reached further and she found grass seed as well as the seeds of other things. She could recognize the grass seed as grass seed since it had a harmony with the grass, a sense of sameness. She couldn't really tell what the others seeds were, some of them held that sense of sameness for one another, but not with anything growing. Without having a plant to connect them with they were a mystery to her. The fact she didn't know what the seeds were bothered her for some reason. She just didn't like not knowing. Determination welled up in her to know and she turned her full focus to them. They weren't growing right now, simply dormant in the soil. To find out what they were she needed them to grow, and she needed to help them do that. She felt along the seeds, feeling out their shape and how they operated. There was no way of putting into words what she was doing other than that, it was like explaining color to blind pony. It was something that would be completely alien to others to understand and completely natural to her. Using that sensation she felt the nutrients in the soil around the seeds. There was food and water here to help whatever plant they were survive. They just needed to grow. She focused on that thought and gave it as a command to the seeds. There was another sensation, magic that followed her stream of awareness and went down from her into the soil. It came in contact with the seeds and immediately the seeds responded. She pulled her hoof back up. A few small leaves slowly pushed out of the grass. They were instantly recognible as some sort of wild lettuce. She wanted to clap her hooves together in joy for making it grow, but didn't for fear of dislodging Jackie. A silent cheer in her head would have to do. She bent down and bit into the freshly grown lettuce leaves. They were nice and fresh, and tasted really good; far better than hay. Unfortunately they were not enough to make a meal of though. Still it gave her a sense of accomplishment that she had done it, and it was a nice victory snack. Amanda turned her head to look at her flank again, and felt mild relief that it was still as blank as it had been just minutes before. She might be able to use her magic, and that felt good, but this magic wasn't her purpose. That was still a mystery for another time. She already knew she had no desire to be a farmer, and might have cried with despair if she had actually gotten a cutie mark for growing a little bit of lettuce. Still, it was nice knowing she had the capability to use magic and to have actually done it, so she felt a little better about her circumstances. She looked back to the haystack and sighed as she looked at it. Her small victory snack had just been a snack, not a meal. Her breakfast was still going to be bland as hay...hay. She needed to hurry and eat her breakfast and then get back to the tent before Devon got back. After taking a few minutes to eat and drink Amanda turned to head to the closest outhouse. Jackie was stirring on her back by this point, but if the filly was awake she still seemed perfectly content for the moment to just lay in place on Amanda's back as Amanda walked around. All and all this was a good start on the day overall. Hopefully soon she would be finding out about work, permanent shelter, and getting her life together. Things looked a little less bleak than they had before. She could get used to mornings like this one. Tonya wandered back to the house she shared with Sunset. She had been up all night and wanted to collapse from exhaustion. Her mind was twisting and turning though, and so was her stomach. She felt dirty for what had gone on over the night, like she was permanently stained. She made her way to the kitchen first and flew up onto the kitchen counter overlooking the sink. She then drank from it like she would a water fountain or hose, just to wet her throat after sobbing herself hoarse, and splashed a little bit of water on her face just to wipe away the crying before she turned the sink back off. She flicked her wings free of water, and with a sigh she hopped back down to the floor and turned to head up the stairs to her shared bedroom with Sunset. After coming through the bedroom door she looked over to see if Sunset was awake or not. The mare was laying down on their nest of blankets that they had gathered together until they got a proper bed. Sunset didn't stir as the door opened, but Tonya could tell by the sound of her breathing that Sunset was awake. The pegasus made her way over to the blankets and cuddled close to her lover. "It's done," Tonya said she stared forward at the wall. Sunset turned and faced her with a considering look. "Number Crunch agreed to do it? I didn't think she would." Tonya's felt sick as she made herself answer. "I had to...persuade her, just like I have to persuade the humans sometimes to trust you or when I need to help you focus." Sunset sat up and looked down at Tonya with sympathy. Tonya didn't want to be looked at, she felt like an abomination, she didn't deserve to be looked at by anypony. "You didn't need to do that," Sunset said in a low pained voice, heavily laced with sympathy. "I could have found some other way to put that bastard down. I was already considering finding a human to do it. I didn't want you having to carry that kind of guilt." "I do a lot of things by my own choice, Sunset. You aren't the only one that wanted Swift Strike dead. I'm just as guilty as you are; more so since I made Number kill him. He hurt Phobia, who was the only pony that was always nice to me growing up, who is like a sister to me, and I wanted him to pay for what he did," Tonya said as she started crying. Sunset leaned over her and gripped her with her forelegs, holding her tight. Tonya turned and buried her face into Sunset's fur as she just let herself sob, and the unicorn mare softly laid her head down on top of Tonya's. They sat like this for several minutes while Tonya's chest heaved with her sobbing. Eventually she cried herself out, but just continued to lay with her face pressed up against Sunset's fur, taking in the musky scent of her. Her lover then started to just brush her mane with a hoof in a soothing fashion. After a few more minutes of this she felt ready to speak again. "I'm such a monster," Tonya finally said with a sniffle. "Number wouldn't have done that without me invading her emotions. It isn't right for a pony to have a power like mine, it's not natural." "But you do have it, and it isn't going to go away," Sunset said as she continued to brush Tonya's mane. "You don't need to use that all the time though. You've been getting very loose with using it. God's showing you that you need to have more care about using your abilities so you don't misuse them." Tonya sighed before answering. "You know how I feel about God, but I get what you're saying. This was a wakeup call about how dangerous I can be if I get too used to using my power to get ponies to do what I want." "Your power isn't a bad thing in itself. You can use it to help ponies like you help me focus on goals, but things like this are probably an abuse of it. There's a difference in helping a pony focus on what's important to them and what happened last night. You can see that now, and you're a better pony for it," Sunset said as she turned her head to kiss Tonya on the forehead, seemingly ready to blow off Tonya's ill doings. "Never again, I'm never doing something like that again. It was just evil," Tonya agreed as she brought her head up to nuzzle Sunset's neck, enjoying the physical companionship of her lover and the feel of her love. It always made her feel better, more reassured. "You're a monster only if you don't care that you did wrong. You can repent if you feel the burden of guilt," Sunset said with a hint of her preacher tone entering voice. Tonya rolled her eyes just slightly. "You're bound and determined to make a good Christian out of me, aren't you." "You know what I want well enough since you're the one who helps me with understanding my wants. You have a good Christian heart, even if you lack belief. I have faith one day you'll come around on the belief too," Sunset said with a smile that could be heard. "Stranger things have happened, but you might have to just be satisfied with my good Christian heart. I don't see myself changing on that anytime soon," Tonya said dismissively. "If it works out that way I know God will forgive your lack of belief, so I can live with it. I'm still confident you'll come around eventually though," Sunset replied with a sigh. "There's something slightly off topic I need to talk to you about," Tonya said as she thought back to her conversation with Number Crunch, trying to focus on something other than her guilt. There was Devon to think about too, but this was more of an immediate concern. "What? I'd figure you'd be wanting to get to sleep rather than spend the morning talking with me--not that I mind," Sunset asked. "I'm pretty sure Phobia is like me in more ways than I originally thought," Tonya said as she sat back up and looked at Sunset. "More ways how?" Sunset asked with a raised brow. "I think she can get into ponies' heads too. Not in the same way exactly, but still getting into their heads," Tonya answered as she sat considering how to better explain what she suspected. It was ironic that she had magic powers that required talking, but her ability to explain things was rather poor. "What makes you think that? She's never said anything to me about that," Sunset asked with growing concern in her voice. "I think she got into Number's head the other day when Number said...what she said to Phobia," Tonya said carefully, worried that she might rouse Sunset's temper with a reminder of the event. "So, when Number Crunch said she didn't know what came over her you think it was my daughter doing something to her head," Sunset said in an even tone. Tonya definitely needed to tread carefully with this. "I don't think Phobia has the same fine control as me, not that I even have fine control myself, and I think her ability is linked with her obsession about fear. I think she pulled all the things Number was afraid of about herself to the surface and Number lashed out as a result," Tonya explained slowly, hoping she wasn't screwing up this explanation. "So you're saying that my daughter can fuck with ponies heads in ways that can possibly bring the worst out of them," Sunset said in a grim tone. Tonya nodded as she pressed on to why she needed to talk to Sunset about this to begin with. "Yeah, that's what I'm saying, and that's really important to know right now because she is not in the best state of mind herself after what happened last night. She could start doing things to those around her without meaning to. Something needs to be done before she does something we'll all regret." Sunset sat quietly for a minute as Tonya waited for a response. There was no way Sunset was taking this news well. There was nothing the unicorn was more protective of than Phobia. Sunset finally let off a long breath and looked Tonya in the eyes. "I know I promised never to ask you to use your abilities for me, and I just gave you a talk about laying off using them, but do you think you can use them to help her?" "I can try, and would have even if you didn't ask me. I want her to get better too. I need a chance to get back to doing good after last night," Tonya said as she gently brought a hoof up to touch her lover's fave.. Sunset raised a hoof up to touch Tonya's face in turn while smiling, then leaned forward and gave Tonya a kiss on the lips. As she withdrew her head she spoke. "Thank you, Tonya. I don't know what I'd do without you." "You don't have to worry about finding out. I'm never going to leave; though right now I really need to get some sleep," Tonya said with a yawn. "Get some rest then, I expect I'll be busy soon. Tattered Wing will almost certainly be sending some pony to alert me about Swift Strike any time now. I'm surprised she hasn't sent anypony yet," Sunset said as she looked at the door. "Probably trying to figure out how to break the news of his escape without having you try to set her on fire," Tonya said with a smirk. "Probably," Sunset agreed with a small chuckle. "Anyway, get some sleep and I'll see you this afternoon." "I'll try," Tonya replied with a sigh. "What are you going to be up to while you wait for the messenger?" Sunset's ears dropped before she answered. "For right now I need some time to myself to think about what needs to be done for my daughter before Tattered Wing sends for me." Tonya's ears lowered as well as she thought about what Sunset must be feeling. Tonya cared deeply for Phobia as well, like a sister, but her feelings couldn't begin to compare to what Sunset must be feeling right now. "Are you sure you don't want me to help?" Tonya offered, not wanting to see Sunset suffer. "Not this time, at least not right now," Sunset replied. Tonya saw her lover's eyes start to water. "You get your sleep. We'll be there for one another later today. Both of us need time to ourselves to cry before we spend more time crying together." "Okay," Tonya said, as she tried unsuccessfully to get comfortable in the blankets. After Sunset finally left Tonya pulled the blankets close to herself, making a large cushion of them between her forelegs. She then buried her face into them and cried as she thought again of the evil she had done last night and the evil that had incited her to do it. The hints that said Tattered was in over her head as a law enforcement official kept on coming. She was starting to wonder if she should just give up on this job before she screwed too much up. Sometime over the course of the night Swift Strike had escaped the room that he had been held in. She had the night ponies out looking for him in force, but there seemed to be no sign of him. She had managed to let the first pony she had taken into custody escape not even a whole eight hours after having him put under guard. This did nothing to help her confidence. or demonstrate to anypony that she was competent. Sunset Blessing was going to rip her a new one, and Tattered didn't even want to think of how she was going to explain herself to Phobia or Rosetta. She looked at the method of escape and questioned how he had done it. There was a large air conditioning vent in the room. She had recognized it as a potential escape means before she had even locked him in, and had triple checked and had other night ponies check if there was any way a night pony was going to be able to get it open without a tool. It had seemed an impossibility after those checks, but here she was staring at the open grate of the vent and the screws of it laying out on the floor. She had no idea how he had been able to unscrew them with just his hooves and wings, hooves and wings shouldn't have been able to manipulate something as small as those screws, but he had somehow done so. Now he was on the loose again. Sunset Blessing would need to be contacted soon. It was after sunrise now and her night ponies had been searching for nearly two hours with no success. Pegasus teams would soon need to be brought in to help, and that meant getting Tonya, and by extension Sunset, involved. She would have had to be informed regardless, but this wasn't a talk that Tattered was looking forward to. One of her night pony patrol stallions, Shadow Step, walked into the room beside her. She raised a questioning eyebrow to him as she waited for his report, hoping for good news. "We've found no sign of Swift Strike still, Broken One," Shadow Step said apologetically. She sighed and nodded. The title Broken One was starting to feel like some cruel joke playing on the fact she was a broken part of the system. Things needed to improve drastically and soon or she should just resign. "Go ahead and go find Sunset Blessing. She tends to sleep late so you may need to wake her. Tell her that I need to see her urgently about Swift Strike. I'll be waiting in my office for her," Tattered said in a subdued tone. "Yes, Broken One," the stallion said before quickly exiting again. She probably should contact Pale Oak as well. He wasn't technically involved, but he was part of the pseudo-pony council they had going and was in charge of the earth ponies. This wasn't really earth pony business, but he had a right to know there was a rapist at large. She'd send word to him soon. Yet another pony she could be an embarrassment in front of, hooray. The ragged night pony walked back to her office and sat down at the desk. She pulled up her messenger service and sent a quick message to her brother that she would be home late and to make sure he went out by the tents to eat some hay for breakfast. She wasn't sure when they would get proper groceries, or something to store them in for that matter, but would figure that out when she could. She hoped that she wasn't going to have to worry about Sunset deciding she needed to be evicted in retribution for her failings. Tattered could deal with being out without shelter herself, but she really didn't want Alex to have to deal with that. He was used to a fairly comfortable life, and though what she was providing was already a massive downgrade from what he was used to, she didn't want him to have to go through any further drops in his standard of living. As she waited for Sunset's arrival she did a few quick searches for things like police procedures and legal codes. Honestly she should be going to some sort of academy or something for this, but things were going to have to be done by self education for now. She found several sites that were useful and bookmarked them for reading later. She made a mental note to find time to consult with the town sheriff about things as well. He was mainly just there for show, and had been a figurehead for years from what she understood, but perhaps he had some information that could be of use to her. She really wanted to be doing this right, she was tired of being a disappointment, and determined to show she could handle this position and give the Enclave legitimacy. After several minutes searching and reading information Sunset Blessing entered into the room without knocking. The unicorn mare looked exhausted and her orange eyes were bloodshot. She had obviously been crying, and Tattered's opinion on her softened a little. She still despised the unicorn on principle, but there was no denying she was a mother that cared for her foal. It was hard to feel animosity to a pony in this kind of situation. "So what happened? You wouldn't have had me rush over here if everything was fine. Out with it, Broken One, tell me the bad news," Sunset said flippantly as she climbed wearily into the seat opposite Tattered. "You know, you could call me by name other than title," Tattered responded as she leveled a flat look at the red furred unicorn. "Oh, I know. Out with it, Broken One," Sunset answered in the same aggravating tone. "Okay, Preacher," Tattered said with heavy emphasis on the title. Sunset didn't actually have a title as far as Tattered knew, but that was close enough if Sunset wanted to play this game. The alternative title was cultist, but she wasn't going to press her luck--especially considering what she had to tell the unicorn. "I regret to inform you that Swift Strike has escaped custody. I have every available member of the Enclave out hunting for him now. I would appreciate you telling Tonya to give me some additional air support from the pegasi so we can find him again quickly." "What the hell, you couldn't even keep him contained for a full day? How are you supposed to protect ponies if you can't keep one rapist locked up for a full night? How is my daughter going to be avenged?" Sunset demanded with fury. "Believe me, when I find him again he won't be able to pull that again. He won't be going anywhere even if I have to bind every one of his limbs and muzzle his mouth shut," Tattered answered grimly. "This wouldn't have happened if you had done as you were told to begin with," Sunset growled. "I'm sorry. I was under the false assumption you wanted us to be seen as trustworthy, happy, friendly ponies to the humans and to the government above them. I was also under the impression ponies were supposed to be above killing, that we're suppose to represent something better," Tattered said in a lecturing tone. "Killing somepony for rape might make you feel like you got your vengeance, but it flies in the face of what we're supposed to be representing. You want to act like something worse than humans go right ahead. Let's see how long we maintain legitimacy and are trusted after doing that." Sunset Blessing looked like she was ready to explode on Tattered, and the night pony awaited the outburst. Instead the unicorn took a visible breath and glared at the top of the desk. "Fine, you're right. You'll have those pegasi to back up your search party. If that bastard does anything else to my daughter it's on your head and I'll make sure to make your life a living hell," Sunset said as she hopped down from her chair. "I'm going to go make arrangements now. You'd better stop being a disappointment, Broken One." With that last declaration made Sunset Blessing stormed out of the office, slamming the door shut behind her. All and all, that meeting had gone better than Tattered expected in would. She still had her job. The crazy unicorn bitch hadn't tried to beat the crap out of her. Additional air support was going to be provided. Overall that could be counted as a fair list of positives. Another night pony stallion, one who had a much darker shade of red fur than the mare who had just exited, Brick Pounder, came in after Sunset departed. "We still are finding no trace of him, Broken One. What are your orders?" Brick asked her. "We're getting additional air searchers. I want us to pull down to the ground and search for him on hoof. I want the surrounding woods combed as well as every abandoned building in town. Find me at least a trace of him. Come back at eleven, I won't have you all exhausting yourselves carrying this on until afternoon," Tattered instructed. After the stallion left she pulled her messenger back up. There was a line message acknowledging that Alex had seen the earlier message. Taking a pen up in her teeth she quickly typed out another telling him she wouldn't be back until afternoon and that she still expected him back at the house by six that evening if he choose to go out and to please wake her around six so she could be at work on time again. A moment later she got another message saying that he had read the most recent one she sent. She reconsidered her instruction for a moment and then sent yet another message telling him eight instead of six. She had a doctor's appointment later that would push to getting home extremely late. She'd just have to make arrangements to come in later tonight. She gave a frustrated sigh as she closed the messenger service. She was off to a great start taking care of her brother too. Just neglect him completely for days on end so she could focus on work, work she wasn't even paid for. Big sister of the year, that's what I am, she thought sarcastically to herself. At least he was fifteen and not younger, he didn't actually need her watching over him all the time. Still it stung that she wasn't doing better at seeing to his needs. There was nothing else to do at the moment. There was no way she could really go out searching for Swift Strike herself, and somepony had to be here to receive reports of what was going on. All she could do for the moment was just start reading about legal and police procedures and hope that she understood everything well enough to start applying things to her own work. This was not the start to her job that she wanted, but she could either give up or find ways of getting better, and she wasn't a quitter.