//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 // Story: Pandemic: Picking up the Pieces // by Halira //------------------------------// After Wild left Number Crunch for the evening she decided to head back by her sister's house to check on her and Phobia. She gave a quick knock on the door and it was promptly opened up yet again by Tom. "Hello again. Coming in this time around?" Tom asked her as he did a quick look around. "Yeah, I wanted to check on the two of them. I don't have any off-limits friends with me this time around," Wild said as she walked into the house. "I heard what was said with Number Crunch. I'm not sure I'd want her around here myself after hearing about what she said to my daughter," Tom said as he flicked his tail. "We'll leave that decision to my sister and Phobia," Wild replied without getting offended. She looked over at the stallion's cutie mark and then back to his face. "Are you going to be taking a pony name now that you have your mark?" "Not particularly interested in one. I don't see any particular reason to change my name, and I don't understand the strange fascination most of the rest of you have with changing your names," Tom replied as he looked at his mark as well with lowered ears. "Never wanted this thing anyway, and I'm guessing I'm a pony for life now because of it. Just another damned soul that isn't what they're supposed to be." "There's nothing wrong with being a pony, you talk about it as if being a pony is a bad thing," Wild said, actually feeling offended that he was saying that like it was a curse. It had been nothing but good for her, and she would be able to do good she wouldn't have been able to do otherwise if she wasn't a pony. She loved being a pony and hearing him talk that way about being a pony was just insulting to what she loved. "If you all could only see it the way I do," Tom said with a shake of his head. "I won't spend my days complaining about it though, not much point to doing that; it won't undo what's already been done." She briefly narrowed her eyes at him. When she had been questioned by her sister about how she felt about a pony that didn't want to be a pony she had told her sister that she never met a pony that wanted to go back to being human. It seemed fine if they really wanted it. Now she had met one and couldn't help feeling anger at him, and wondered if she should reconsider her stated position. Her parents and brothers secretly wanted to be ponies--her brothers not so secretly, and though she had mixed feelings about that this felt like an insult to them too. She took a deep breath and reigned her anger back in. Until she had fine control of her powers she had to at least have fine control of her temper. Even though she disliked what he was saying she understood he was under a great deal of stress himself. His daughter had been raped and he lost his chance at what he wanted in one fell swoop. He deserved her sympathy, not her anger, and could be forgiven for some things. "I'm going to be turning in a bit early tonight. Just make sure they lock the door behind you when you leave. They're both awake upstairs," Tom said with a yawn. The stallion took time to make a pit stop at the downstairs restroom before going to bed. Wild dismissed Tom and his insulting attitude towards ponies from her mind and headed up the stairs to find her sister and Phobia. She stopped outside their door and knocked lightly on the door, doing her absolute best to keep the knock just loud enough to announce her presence. Phobia was very easy to startle at the moment, and Rosetta had stressed to all the family that extreme care had to be taken to not startle her. "You can come in, Wild," Rosetta called out. Wild pushed the door open and stepped through the door, letting light into the room from the dimly lit hallway. It was extremely dark inside and Rosetta and Phobia were busy trying to get books from Rosetta's boxes transferred to her bookshelves. Phobia was carrying over one book at a time with her forelegs to Rosetta while walking awkwardly on her hind legs, and Rosetta was collecting the book in her hooves and flying it over to wherever she felt the appropriate spot was to place it. It would probably be more efficient to just take Phobia out of the equation, especially with her trying to carry books in a bipedal fashion like that, but this was obviously busy work to distract her. "Why are you two working in the dark?" Wild asked. "Night ponies, duh," Rosetta said. "We like the dark. This is our home and we like the idea of keeping it darker in our room. We see perfectly fine in this light." "Did Luna speak to you in your dreams today?" Wild asked as she entered in and sat down to watch the activity. "Yes, she did. I had a not-so-fun few hours of crash course dreamwalking," Rosetta said with clear aggravation. "I'm sorry about that again," Phobia said as she paused and hung her head and ears. "I don't know why my nightmares should be that bad to try to enter. I mean, they are bad, but I'm pretty sure I've entered worse and it was nothing like what you described." "Luna says it has to do with your magic intensifying the effect. Don't apologize, it isn't anything you're consciously doing," Rosetta said as she shifted one book from one side of a shelf to the other with a hoof. Phobia still looked like she felt guilty, and Wild could see that her future sister-in-law had been crying due to the red in her eyes. "Now, let's talk about you coming to this house with Number Crunch. In fact, let's talk about you spending time near that bloody bitch at all," Rosetta said in a far too even a tone. Wild drew herself up straight. "She didn't come into the house." Rosetta landed and stared daggers at Wild. "She shouldn't have been anywhere near it or any member of this family, including you." "She wanted a chance to apologize for what she did before," Wild asserted as she matched her sister's stare. "Not going to happen. Do you know what she said?" Rosetta demanded. "She threatened Phobia and the rest of the family. That mare is not welcome around any of us or you." "I do know what was said and she apologized for it," Wild said as she matched her sister's glare. "And you don't get to decide who I do or don't come near. I make that decision, not you, and not our parents." Rosetta walked over to Wild and sneered. "I heard you got drunk today. It shocked the hell out of me to hear and apparently shocked the hell out of the rest of the family too. How damn drunk did you have to get to believe anything that came out of that mare's muzzle?" "I wasn't that drunk, and she made sure I sobered up before coming over," Wild said as she took a few steps back defensively. "You're just a filly, you shouldn't have been drinking at all. The fact that Number Crunch gave a filly alcohol is all the more sign she should not be anywhere near you," Rosetta said as she gestured up and down Wild with one wing. "I'm a grown mare!" Wild yelled as she got angry. "If I choose to have a drink it's my call and my consequences. I asked her for it and she gave it. She also helped me out when it turned out I had too much. I slept it off and no damage was done." "Oh, look at me. I'm a grown-up mare because I drank alcohol and got drunk when I'm only seventeen. Clearly I'm a responsible adult," Rosetta mocked as she awkwardly danced around Wild. "Who's acting foalish now?" Wild asked as she stomped a hoof in front of her dancing sister. Rosetta said as she switched over to sneering at Wild in Spanish. Wild fired back in Spanish. Rosetta's eyes went wide and it seemed for a moment as if she was going to strike Wild. Wild said back as she relaxed her posture slightly. The comment about Rosetta failing to protect had been a low blow that she knew was out of line. "Excuse me," Phobia spoke up. The two sisters turned to the distressed looking night pony. "If you two are going to argue right in front of me can you please do it in English so I can follow what's being said?" Rosetta sighed and turned back to Wild. "And what about you deciding to just have a security system install here without consulting us? Or how about you insisting I need to listen to a pony that I want nothing to do with? Seems to me that since you became Miss Moneybags you seem to think you should be able to just make decisions for others. That we poor penniless ponies shouldn't even be consulted about things." Wild sat and considered that for a moment. Everything she did was for trying to help the family. There wasn't any selfish reason for it. She wasn't looking down on them or anything. She had the resources and they didn't so she used what she had for their sakes. And she did it without being asked because they shouldn't have to come beg her for help. She took a deep breath. There was something else she needed to consider at the moment. Her temper, which had been getting out of control during this visit. If she didn't get it under control it could end with the house being leveled by a freshly grown stretch of woods. "Fine," Wild said in concession. "I'll consult with you if it's alright before making a decision to spend money for your benefit. I won't press you about talking to Number Crunch either. I want you to not get on my case about who I choose for friends or what I choose to do when spending time with them." "She isn't a pony you want to be friends with. Even if she hadn't threatened us she is still a horrible influence and a potentially dangerous pony. I don't want you hurt or misled because you're seventeen and naive. I was naive once and I ended up engaged to John," Rosetta said in a pleading voice. "Well, thankfully both she and I are straight mares who wouldn't have romantic interests in one another. So, that's one mistake you made that I won't," Wild said crossly. She felt a need to clarify, fearing it would come off as directed at Phobia. "And I mean John by that. I like Phobia, and I'm glad she's joining the family." "Are you going to keep on drinking with her? I don't like the idea of my little sister doing that. You're too young," Rosetta questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Perhaps, it did make me feel less stressed for a bit," Wild said with a dismissive shrug. "I learned my limits today though, and I don't intend on getting drunk to become a regular thing. I can be responsible while doing things like that. Abuelita was actually happy today to see I had loosened up a bit and did something risky. Did you know that?" Rosetta shook her head in frustration. "Can't you see that you're already starting to make bad choices associating with Number Crunch? As for Abuelita, much as I hate to say this about family, she's old and crazy." "Let me make my own choices without fighting with me. If I make a mistake I'll learn from it. I think Number is trying to learn from whatever mistakes she's made too, and I think you should give her a chance. If you don't feel like giving her a chance don't get on my case just because I choose to be friends with her and do some minor things you don't agree with," Wild said as she set a hoof on her sister's shoulder pleadingly. Rosetta looked at the hoof for a moment then shook it off. "Fine, do what you want. Just keep that pony away from me and Phobia." Before Wild could respond they heard the sound of knocking at the front door. "Stay here with Phobia, I'll go check to see who it is," Rosetta said as she walked out of the room. A moment later she could be heard saying. "Go back to sleep, Dad. I've got it." "When did she start calling your dad that?" Wild asked Phobia. "Don't know, maybe just started today," Phobia said as she laid down looking miserable. "You were awfully quiet through that discussion. Did you have anything you wanted to say too?" Wild asked as she slowly walked towards Phobia. Phobia eyed her warily and scooted backwards slightly. "Do you mind keeping a little space between us? It's nothing personal, I'm just not comfortable with anypony being too close to me other than Rosetta." Wild paused and felt her earlier anger evaporate into sadness. "I'm sorry. I should've thought about that." "It's okay," Phobia said with a groan as she tried to settle into a comfortable position. "As for what I think; I don't personally trust Number Crunch. That mare scares the piss out of me. When she threatened me she didn't speak with rage, she spoke like a cold-blooded killer. She admitted that as a human she had arranged murders. That pony is not one I would trust." Wild took a few steps back in shock at hearing this. She couldn't match what Phobia described to the desperate mare she was coming to know. "She arranged murder? She told you that? She didn't tell me that," Wild said as she tried to continue to reconcile what she was hearing about Number with what she had seen. "She admitted it outright. Rosetta doesn't even know or she would be even more dead set against you speaking with Number Crunch." Phobia said as she seemed to struggle with looking Wild in the eyes. "Why are you telling me if you didn't even tell Rosetta?" Wild asked. Phobia sighed before replying. "I'm telling you because I want you to know what your dealing with when dealing with her. I wouldn't confront her about it, but do be wary. My mom and Tonya both know about her past as well." "You think I shouldn't be friends with her then," Wild said. Hearing this did make her question whether she was being a stupid filly again for not listening to her sister. Maybe she owed Rosetta an apology. To Wild's shock Phobia shook her head and said, "Actually I think that's your choice. Tonya is my best friend and she vouches for Number Crunch, and told me about what went down between Number Crunch and my mom. Maybe she really is trying to turn over a new leaf and you're the pony that can help her do so." "You are sending me very mixed signals about this," Wild complained as she sat back down. "Rosetta and I fear the worst, and it's a good rational fear to have in this case. But ponies shouldn't run from fear, they should confront them and learn from them. I'm just telling you to be wary and be aware. I want our fears to amount to nothing, but I want you to have just enough fear you can be on the lookout for anything that could end up hurting you. Fear is a good thing, it keeps us safe," Phobia explained. Everything came back to fear with Phobia. It was in her name after all. "If Number Crunch is honest about wanting to be better you're more effective in helping her be that better pony if you know what she's suppose to be better than and can take her fears of slipping back into what she was seriously." "So...that's an endorsement?" Wild asked with confusion. She couldn't help feeling a little afraid after hearing Phobia talk about this. "It's me saying use your own best judgement," Phobia answered. "I think you should be instilling more fear in her about this," Rosetta said as she entered back into the room with Tonya close behind her. "Actually, I think Phobia should avoid talking about fear altogether for the moment," Tonya said with a grimace. Rosetta turned and gave Tonya an angry glare. "Why? I didn't hear anything but the end of the conversation, but if she is making sure Wild is being cautious I think talking about fear is very appropriate." Tonya looked between Rosetta and Wild for a moment and then helplessly over to Phobia before letting out a long breath. "I'll explain in a moment, but I need you all to promise that what I'm about to tell you doesn't leave this room. I'm actually tempted to just tell you all to just leave me and Phobia alone to talk, if I'm being honest." Wild's ears perked up in curiosity. "I want to hear what this is about. I'm staying. I can keep my mouth shut." "If it involves her it involves me. I'm not going anywhere," Rosetta said harshly. Phobia didn't say anything, she only watched Tonya intensely. Tonya sighed and shut the door to the room, making it even darker with only a little bit of light peaking through the curtains to see by. Rosetta apparently decided to be considerate and opened up the curtains, letting the light of the moon in, then settled down next to Phobia. Tonya looked over to Phobia and started speaking. "Phobia, I need to ask you something and I need you to be honest with me. This is really important and I want to help you, but I can't if you don't open up to me." "Ask whatever it is and I'll do my best to answer," Phobia said in a neutral tone. "When you talk to ponies, do they respond in ways that they seem like they normally wouldn't?" Tonya asked as she sat down and hung her head. Rosetta started looking very uncomfortable for some reason and Wild looked at all the other ponies in the room with confusion. What did Tonya mean respond in ways they normally wouldn't? Number had insisted that she didn't understand why she acted the way she did to Phobia. Had Phobia done something to her? "Yes, I noticed that after Luna pointed it out to me, and Rosetta and I have talked about it. It's like I have some magical way of getting ponies to open up to me when talking to them," Phobia answered calmly. Tonya's ears went erect and she seemed to stiffen up. "What did Luna say about it?" "She didn't really say anything other than it was another area I would need training on," Phobia said with a grimace. "I hadn't realized any pony had realized I could do that. It hasn't happened much." Wild watched as Tonya seemed to take a moment to gather her courage before speaking. What was all this about? After hearing Phobia confirm that sometimes others opened up to her where they seemed they shouldn't made her uneasy. Like the night pony might do something to her to force her to say things as well. "I have to stress again that this doesn't leave this room. Sunset Blessing knows about it, but no other pony is aware. I want to keep it to a minimum of ponies knowing. Can I trust you all?" Tonya asked. Phobia nodded right away. Rosetta glanced at Phobia and then gave her own stiff nod. They all turned to Wild and Wild gave her own nod under the pressure of their combined gazes. Tonya took a deep breath and continued. "I realized you had strong mind magic after I spoke to Number Crunch about what happened between the two of you. Number Crunch is really trying to be a better pony than she was a human and has a lot of regrets. She's talked to me about it several times before and I have done my best to help her move on from that and leave her past behind," Tonya explained and then looked back briefly at her own cutie mark. The mare then looked back at them and took another deep breath before continuing. "Phobia, I have magic similar to yours, that was how I was able to recognize what you had unintentionally done with Number Crunch. It isn't exactly the same, but I can make ponies focus on certain things they want to the exclusion of other things." "That sounds dangerously close to mind control," Wild said in a harsh whisper. Tonya looked at her and nodded. "You're right about that, and it scares me that I will fall into using it that way if I'm not careful. Sunset asked me to use it on her to help her manage her temper and not get distracted by things that could derail her work. I help her focus on what's really important to her and move on from less important things. She would've murdered Swift Strike right in front of you, Phobia, if I hadn't used my powers to stop her from becoming a murderer. She didn't want to have you see murder in your state, and didn't want to be seen as a murderer to you. That gave me the power to reach her. The want has to be there for me to bring it to the surface." "Are you saying Phobia brings the wants of others to the surface and Number Crunch secretly wanted to hurt Phobia?" Rosetta said as her voice hardened again. Tonya shook her head in response. "No, that's not what Phobia is about. Phobia is about fear, not want. Phobia brought what Number Crunch fears the most to the surface. Her ruthless and cold-blooded side. She hates and fears it like nothing else, but it's part of her. Phobia, I don't know if you used your power intentionally or unintentionally with Number Crunch, but you poked a hornets' nest and almost got stung." "But is it part of Number Crunch? Does she have a ruthless and cold-blooded side willing to do murder?" Rosetta asked Tonya while looking at Wild with an almost smug expression. It made Wild want to slap her sister. "What we were as humans isn't gone. Number Crunch was a ruthless business woman who had no remorse about going to any end to get what she wanted, including seeing people get hurt or worse.," Tonya said with her ears and tail hung low. "She doesn't want to be that anymore though. She's desperate to move on from her past and be a decent, caring, and compassionate pony. She sees becoming a pony as her second chance, a lifeline of salvation that was given to her." "I've talked to Number and she does seem desperate for forgiveness and approval," Wild said thoughtfully. "Any sign of disapproval from me makes her seem extremely hurt." Tonya looked at Wild with a raised eyebrow. "I hadn't realized you and she talked, but that does seem in line with what I see in her." "We're drifting off topic discussing her. What does this mean for Phobia?" Rosetta said with frustration. Tonya drew herself back up and turned to face Phobia. "You have mind magic, and powerful mind magic at that. Just like I need to be responsible to make sure mine isn't misused so do you. You've been through a very traumatic event and I know your head isn't in the right place at the moment. That makes it all the more important that you be extra careful. You might do things to the minds of those around you without meaning too, bad things. I know you, and I know you don't want that." "I'm guessing that means I definitely shouldn't bring Number anywhere near Phobia," Wild observed. She was very bothered by what she had heard said about Number, but also felt like Number had been vindicated in some way too. "Definitely not," Tonya agreed with a nod. "Number Crunch near Phobia right now is a very bad idea. We'd likely end up with a repeat of what happened before or worse, and it wouldn't be the fault of either one." "And do you know enough to help Phobia control her powers?" Rosetta asked, looking worried. "I wish I did, but they aren't exactly like mine and I have only just enough control of mine to get by. I'm still learning myself," Tonya said with frustration. "I can try to use mine on Phobia, with her agreement, to help her with getting her head back on straight. You can supervise me doing it too. Maybe watching me in action can give her some insights on how to better control herself." "I'm not sure I'm comfortable with some pony messing with my wife-to-be's head. Is there any other option you can think of?" Rosetta said while getting increasingly anxious. "Maybe she can consult with Luna. Luna almost certainly knows more than I do," Tonya offered, then got a worried expression. "Please don't talk to Luna about me though. I really don't like ponies knowing about me. Even alien princess ponies. I just don't want to have ponies treating me with fear and suspicion, or risk having those that would use me in bad ways find out about what I can do." "Yet you let Sunset Blessing know about you," Rosetta said harshly. "Sunset refuses to use me that way. I only help her with herself at her approval. She knows she has a horrible temper and without me to help her control it and focus her she would cause herself many problems, and problems for the ponies of this community by extension," Tonya said flatly as she gave Rosetta a challenging look. "I love Sunset, and don't like her being treated like a monster. She does what needs to be done. Please don't talk about her like that." "If you say so, but I'm going to be watching you, and her as well," Rosetta said in a skeptical tone, then glanced at Phobia with ears lowered. "Luna can't give Phobia any advice right now anyway. She can't get into Phobia's dreams because of that mind magic causing a barrier while she sleeps. Luna came to me today because she thinks I can get through it somehow. I'm getting rushed training in dreamwalking now." "Speaking of things that might be considered a gateway to mind control. Dreamwalking definitely fits that bill," Tonya said. "If I can trust you to not mess with ponies' heads when they're sleeping you should be able to trust me not to mess with their heads when awake." Before Rosetta could retort Phobia cleared her throat to gather attention to her. "I can say with certainty that dreamwalking won't be used that way. The reason Luna is personally training me along with a few others is to have us act as guardians to make sure that dreamwalking isn't abused that way. Since you have been open with us about you I'll be open with you on that. I also trust you won't discuss what I'm being trained to do with anypony, even my mom. Me and the others who will become the Dreamwardens will keep ponies safe from unscrupulous dreamwalkers. We don't want to be pulled into political games." "How many of these Dreamwardens are there going to be?" Wild asked. The logistics of that seemed mind boggling. "Six, and that's enough," Phobia said flatly. Six? They were going to police the whole world with just six ponies? How was that supposed to work? "We'll be powerful enough in the dreamscape to take down any pony dreamwalking with ease if they start doing bad things. It's a matter of training, not natural talent, and we'll be trained by the best. We're committed to making sure ponies don't try to start mind controlling others using dreams or to try hurting other ponies' minds. Most of us didn't even spread the vision because we were that adamant about making sure ponies aren't mind controlled." "If we can get your own dreams sorted out first," Rosetta said as she looked Phobia in the eyes. "You shouldn't be talking about this with non-night ponies, Phobia. Not even my sister. Keeping you and Luna's other students secret is important to making sure ponies don't try to use all of you." "I trust these two to keep our secrets, just like we would keep theirs. They're family," Phobia said calmly. "But I won't be discussing it with any other non-night ponies, and the night ponies who learn of it will learn of it when me and the rest of the Dreamwardens lay down the rules of dreamwalking to them and the consequences of breaking those rules." "And what kind of consequences are those?" Wild asked, feeling uneasy. "We'll take the ability away from the offender, and that's the preferable option. If it's something truly horrific and deliberate they've done there will be no mercy, we'll break their mind," Phobia said in a voice like steel as she looked Tonya in the eyes. Both Tonya and Wild took steps back at Phobia's harsh commitment. She kept gazing at Tonya. "And I think Luna would see that the same way for mind control from non-night ponies. So watch yourself Tonya, because the Dreamwardens will be watching you. I don't want to have to hurt you because you're my best friend, but I will if it comes down to it and you'll be helpless to stop me. That's another reason I'm telling you, you deserve the same warning that the night ponies are going to get, even Rosetta." Tonya actually shivered and Wild couldn't blame her. If Tonya did wrong then she would have no mercy, even though Phobia was her best friend. It chilled Wild far more that Phobia had implied that Rosetta would get the same treatment and that Rosetta seemed perfectly fine with this. Wild understood that night ponies were more aggressive and harsh than other ponies, but this was family that was being casually threatened. It seemed hypocritical to her that Phobia could so casually threaten both Tonya and Rosetta yet Number was treated so harshly for what was said to Phobia. She wanted to scream at both her sister and future-sister-in-law for the injustice of it, but kept her mouth shut. "I'll definitely keep that in mind. I have to give it to you Phobia; you managed to scare the piss out of me. I don't intend to ever put you in a position you have to do that to me. I also hope I never do something to earn it," Tonya said in a trembling voice. Wild couldn't help wondering if Tonya had reason to be afraid already. Number had said that she and Tonya had issues between them and whatever had gone on between them felt wrong. Did Tonya do something to Number's mind too?