Tattered wandered into the large room that was used for town hall meetings and court hearings. Already the audience seats were filled to the brim with crystal ponies, every single one in town most likely. They all looked around with eager, anxious faces. A herd of glittery ponies that wanted to be told that they had purpose, that they were useful, that had felt lost since their transformation. Today was the day they would be told their purpose and use. Whether they would be glad after they heard it was still left to be seen.
She walked to the head of the room with the others who would be telling these ponies their purpose, and to hopefully try to sway many of the ponies into jobs with them.
First was Sunset Blessing, who looked around the crowd, tail slightly swaying, with little emotion other showing. She had plans of some sort and Tattered had no idea what they were. Since it was Sunset Blessing it could be good or bad. What she wanted was likely some mixture of the two.
Next was Director Baker, who was flanked by two crystal ponies himself. Those crystal ponies had been working with the government since the day that the counterspell had been cast. They knew what crystal ponies were capable of. They continued their work with the government even after the cleanup of transformation magic was done. Tattered wasn't sure what purpose they served now, but she wasn't sure she trusted them. What use the government had for them was something she would learn today.
Next was Rudra Patel, her fellow Enclave member, as well as the town's non-Equestrian doctor. He was chatting quietly with one of the crystal ponies that worked with him at the clinic. Ponies could get illnesses that could cause havoc with their magic, and crystal ponies could be very important in helping treat such illnesses as they started to manifest in the population. It was inevitable that some Equestrian illness would eventually cross the worlds and they needed ponies at the ready to treat such things.
The human town council that had existed before the migration had a representative here as well. They were interested in businesses and shops, as well as reopening factories. Such interests were not specific to crystal ponies, but if there were those that had no interest in the other possible options presented today those more mundane things were acceptable alternatives.
It was going to be a long meeting, with lots of talking, and even though she was hopefully getting some new Enclave crystal ponies by the end of the day, she still wanted time to fly by to when she and Alex would get to talk with their sister.
She took her seat at the far end of the officials and waited for the meeting to be called to order.
After several minutes of waiting with crystal ponies and council members chattering away Sunset Blessing walked up to the podium with her head held high and climbed up on the stool provided for ponies to actually be seen over the podium. Tattered looked at it and decided that when her turn to speak came she'd choose to simply stand in front of the podium instead.
Sunset touched her hoof to the microphone on the podium a few times causing feedback which brought all attention to her. Tattered could only see her backside from where she sat, but she imagined the unicorn was giving the crystal ponies her most welcoming and happy smile. Sunset was good at giving smiles, ponies should learn to be worried when Sunset Blessing smiled at them.
"Greetings, all our crystal pony brothers and sisters," Sunset began, sounding like she was addressing a church rather than a town meeting. "We're all overjoyed that you all turned out for this meeting today. There's a lot to cover, and I know you all are eager to see where you fit into the future. Let me assure you now, you're all invaluable and all fill a unique purpose in God's vision of our collective future. A future you'll help build."
Tattered wanted to snort. God had little to do with this unless you considered Sunset Shimmer a god. If you did then she was a pretty sorry excuse for a god.
The preacher continued. "I know many of you have felt lost and confused about what your purpose is after your transformation. Crystal ponies have the lowest percentage of cutie marks. The vision didn't provide you much for answers either. It has taken us longer to realize your full potential, but I'm happy to say that it's better late than never, and that I'm going to be answering that for you right now."
The crowd's interest was high. They were all hushed and leaning forward with ears angled towards Sunset. These ponies were desperate for answers. Tattered could feel some degree of sympathy for them. Her life as a human had been much like theirs now, directionless and depressing.
"So, the question of the hour is what do crystal ponies do?" Sunset said slowly. All the audience looked at her with baited breath. "If you think about it you should already know the answer. You were all there front and center the day of the counterspell. You all felt your purpose being carried out. What crystal ponies do is absorb, redirect, and alter magic."
Nods of affirmation greeted this announcement. Many of them might have already been aware of this. What they wanted now was practical applications of those abilities.
"While many of you might not realize the full significance of your abilities many of us have been thinking of those applications and are eager to employ crystal ponies as a result," Sunset said in that same happy voice. "The first to speak to you will be Doctor Rudra Patel. He's already employing a few crystal ponies, and is eager to employ more. I'll let him explain to you what crystal ponies mean to the medical field."
Sunset jumped down from the stool and made to start heading back to her seat. Rudra called out to her as he got up from his own seat. "Miss Blessing. If you would be so kind, I would like for you to stay for the sake of a demonstration. I assure you as a doctor that no harm shall befall you."
Sunset stiffened and laid her ears back for just a moment as she looked at the doctor. Tattered wanted to grin at her discomfort. What Rudra wanted to demonstrate was a crystal pony's ability to siphon magic off a magic user. It really wouldn't do her any harm, but a loss of magic for any period seemed to bother her a lot.
"Of course, these ponies need to see what they're capable of. I'd be happy to help," Sunset said with a smile that Tattered imagined was forced.
Rudra and his crystal pony helper made their way down to the podium. Rudra flew straight from his seat to the podium and then waited for the crystal pony stallion to walk to the podium. After the stallion reached the front he stood next to Sunset Blessing. Rudra turned back to the crowd to address them after he was in place.
"Medical treatment of ponies can be a bit more complicated than medical treatment of humans. More complicated because of the presence of magic and mana flows within a pony's body. Extra care must be taken when treating illnesses and performing surgeries to not damage these mana flows. In addition, there are specific illnesses that exist in Equestria that target what we will call the magical circulatory system, causing damage or causing magic to behave erratically as a result. While such illnesses are not known here yet it's likely that some will develop over time. A crystal pony's ability to syphon magic from patients is essential for some treatments, as well as essential for keeping the staff and patient safe from wild magical surges that may happen," He gestured with a foreleg to the stallion and Sunset Blessing. "My assistant and Miss Blessing will now demonstrate this syphoning and show that it's easy, and safe for the patient."
The stallion turned and looked at Sunset Blessing and she looked around seeming a little lost. She looked up to Ruda and asked, "What do you need me to do?"
"Just draw some magic into your horn and hold it, not for any particular spell, and nothing too strong, but make sure your aura is clearly visible for the audience," Rudra explained to her then smiled. "Scott here will be touching your horn gently, so please don't buck him for it."
The audience gave off a small chuckle. From what Tattered understood unicorns didn't like their horns being touched, much like winged ponies didn't like having where their wing joined their body being touched. It was just a sensitive area of the body.
"Alright, I can do that," Sunset said as she lit her horn up in a soft red aura and held her head high.
Scott, who was a pearly white crystal pony with a glittery orange mane, walked up to her and gently placed a hoof up on Sunset's horn. The horn started dimming almost immediately and Scott started getting more crystalline and sparkly. After a few seconds of this he removed his hoof. He remained all shinny after doing so. Sunset gave her head a shake and blinked a few times.
"Are you alright Miss Blessing?" Rudra asked her, as he looked her over with concern.
Sunset blinked another time or two before answering. She then lit her horn back up and smiled after it lit with no problem. "I'm fine, just felt a little lightheaded for a moment. It feels like getting blood drawn. Nothing too bad."
"And it shouldn't be," Rudra agreed. He then gestured to Scott as he turned back to the audience. "Now Sunset Blessing was not doing much for magic. This allowed Scott to absorb with no problem by himself. If something stronger was being done with magic, or if wasn't a weak magic user being absorbed from, it would have taken more crystal ponies. Having multiple crystal ponies available is critical in case of urgent care needs."
Tattered wanted to laugh again as she watched Sunset's ears flatten at being called a weak magic user. She wasn't sure how strong Sunset actually was, but the preacher definitely caught the veiled insult.
"What are we supposed to be doing the rest of the time?" one of the ponies in the audience called out.
"Excellent question," Rudra replied as he point out to the questioner. "Plenty of clinic and hospital jobs can be performed by anypony, and we would like to fill those with crystal ponies since it allows us to have crystal ponies available if needed. Jobs range from regular secretarial positions, accounting positions, data entry, nurses, equipment technicians, and more. I'll be taking information after this meeting for anypony that wishes to pursue a career in the medical fields."
Scott and Sunset returned to their seats as Baker started walking up front. Rudra detoured and came over by Tattered. He whispered in her ear. "Melissa Rivers has agreed to be rehumanized. The Equestrians have sent word to their home about her situation, and they've agreed to proceed with haste due to her medical condition. A team will be here tomorrow night. I thought you would want to know."
"Have they confirmed that it will heal her?" Tattered whispered back as her ears stood erect.
"That is part of the reason they're willing to work with haste. They haven't done extensive testing with ponies injured as badly as her. They're fairly certain it will work, but they needed more testing to confirm. Melissa Rivers has agreed to let herself be a test subject, so it'll be confirmed before the centers go active," Rudra explained.
The idea that something could go wrong, and Melissa would have those injuries carried over, was horrifying to think about. Things were in motion now, so all there was left to do was hope.
Baker was discussing various government positions, including helping with the upcoming rehumanization centers. This was the first time many of these ponies had heard of the rehumanization centers, and a lot of questions and answers were going back and forth. This would take a while.
Her ear flicked as she turned back to Rudra and kept her voice low. "What about Dan? How is he taking this? Did he reconsider rehumanization for himself?"
"Mr. Castillo has expressed his concerns repeatedly. He's not opposing Miss Rivers decision, but has made it very clear that if she comes out of this in pain he'll become violent. He shall be separated and restrained through the process," Rudra said, his voice still down low.
"How long a process are we talking? A few weeks like the original transformation or something quicker like the later ones that only lasted a few days?" Tattered asked.
Rudra shook his head. "Nothing like that. They explained that if things go smoothly it should only take a few hours. They're estimating between six and seven hours for the procedure, mainly because they want to do this with extreme care. Miss Rivers will be sedated through everything."
Tattered looked at Rudra with disbelief. "That quick? I feel cheated, it took me nearly two weeks to transform into a pony. I guess we should be thankful she doesn't have to deal with awkward in-between stages then."
"The biggest concern is we can't actually tell if she has a cutie mark or not due to the severity of her injuries. If she's marked this won't work. She has expressed she is fairly certain she isn't marked, but we won't know for sure until they begin the procedure," Rudra said with a sigh.
"Let's hope not," Tattered mumbled. "How big an affair is this going to be? Will I get to watch?"
"You are not allowed to watch, but you can wait outside while it is going on. They are sending three Equestrians and will have three crystal ponies standing by, and only that many of each because they are taking such extreme care with her. Afterwards she'll be examined briefly by a human doctor and psychologist," Rudra explained. "Provided she gets a clean bill of health, she'll be kept at the clinic only long enough for us to find her appropriately sized clothes. You can see her during that period, provided everything goes smoothly."
Tattered let off a long breath. "I really hope this works."
Baker's talk with ponies was drawing to an end and her time had come. She wished she had paid more attention to what he had gone over so she didn't repeat things, or fail to know something herself. The discussion about Melissa was too important to put off though.
She rose to her hooves and walked to the podium area. Ready to see if she could add crystal ponies to her Enclave and thoughts that were heavy for the founding member that was going to be treated soon.
Alex paced in the lobby of town hall as he looked impatiently at the time on his floating cell phone. It was nearly eleven and Tattered was still at the meeting. If she didn't hurry up they were going to be calling Megan late, and that might cause Megan problems. What was taking so long?
"You're going to wear a hole in the floor kid," the unicorn stallion sitting at the information desk, who had earlier introduced himself as Chase, said as he watched Alex pace.
"My sister is taking way too long with this meeting. There is something we need to do right at eleven," Alex complained as he continued to pace and whip his tail about in frustration.
"Who's your sister? Is she one of those crystal ponies in there?" Chase asked as he pointed to the doors. "You know that isn't a private meeting, it's open to the public, even though it was only inviting crystal ponies."
"My sister is Tattered Wing, she's the night pony leader of the Enclave. She's one of the ones actually conducting the meeting," Alex said with frustration. He looked at the time again, four minutes till eleven.
"Maybe you should stick your head in and get her attention then. They've got like close to a hundred crystal ponies in there that are all vying for jobs. She might be swamped by ponies trying to touch hooves with her," Chase said as he looked over to the doors and ran a hoof along the back as his head.
Alex watched his phone switch over to three minutes to eleven and shook his head. Yeah, she was probably unaware of the time. He would just go in and find her as quick as he could. They might be late by a minute or two, but hopefully it wouldn't impact anything.
He started towards the door, and when he was almost at it the door came flying open, smacking his floating cell phone from the air down to the ground. As Tattered exited out the door he floated the phone back up from the ground, finding massive crack on the top right corner of the screen.
Tattered spotted him and looked flustered. "I'm sorry. I've been trying to get free of the glitter bombs for a while, but they just kept on coming up to me to talk. I meant to be out here a while ago."
Alex pulled his stylus out and did a few quick tests of the screen. The one corner wasn't going to respond, but the rest seemed fine. The phone would be good to make the call. He'd fuss about his destroyed property later, calling Megan was the priority now.
"Lead the way back to your office. I'm pulling up her number now and getting ready to call," Alex said in a hurry.
Tattered took off at a trot towards one end of the hall. As she took off Chase called after her in a hurry. "Miss Tattered Wing, ma'am, I was wondering that since you are accepting pegasi and glitter...I mean crystal ponies into the Enclave if you were accepting unicorns too? I've got several years of..."
"Thank-you-for-your-interest-holding-interviews-tomorrow-morning-can't-talk-right-now-see-you-there!" Tattered yelled back in a single breath as she reached her door with Alex hot on her hooves.
Alex had already hit the button to start the call as they got into Tattered's office and shut the door. He hit the speakerphone button with his stylus and they waited. A moment later the phone was answered.
"Hello? Alex is that you?" Megan's voice came over the phone with an odd resonance like she was somewhere that echoed.
"Yeah, Tattered and I are here. Can you hear me okay?" Alex said with relief that the phone seemed to be working. Tattered came up and stood close beside him and he floated the phone between them.
"I hear you fine," Megan said excitedly. "Is Mandy there too?"
"I'm here, and it's Tattered Wing, or Tattered, or Tat if you insist," Tattered said towards the phone.
"Alright...Tat, I won't argue with you about your stupid pony name; I'm just glad to hear your voice," Megan replied.
"It's not a stupid name. It's a perfectly good pony name," Tattered stated flatly.
"Tat, don't start fighting," Alex pleaded as he looked at her with his ears laid back. He didn't want this to descend right away into his sisters yelling at one another as usual with them.
"Fine," Tattered said with a roll of her eyes.
"I apologize, I'm being insensitive. I should be treating you better after everything that happened," Megan said in a quiet voice over the phone.
"I know you and Alex got to chat last night, but I didn't get to hear what was said. I've been working from when I left last night till just a few minutes ago. What's going on back home?" Tattered asked as she gave her wings a light flap that Alex just barely dodged.
"Mom and Dad gathered everything you and Alex own, took it all out into the backyard, and started a bonfire," Megan said hesitantly.
"Even my stuffed animal collection!" Tattered's mouth fell in horror. Alex gave his own roll of the eyes. His sister, terror of the night, vigilante scourge of Charleston, police chief of Riverview, and collector of stuffed animals.
"Well, you can get new ones," Megan offered on a helpful tone. "Anyway, I'm not even allowed to mention either of you. They're trying to wipe out all proof you ever existed around the house. I'm over in the restroom of the grocery store so I can have this conversation without them hearing."
"Are they treating you alright at least?" Tattered asked as both Alex and she lowered their ears.
"They're getting on my case about everything!" Megan hissed in frustration. "It's like they're trying to find things wrong that I do. School is still out indefinitely, and they've been yelling at me that I'm not studying every day. If I want to visit a friend they require a full biography of whoever I spend time with. I’m nineteen, not nine!"
"Wow, sounds familiar," Tattered mumbled. Alex could only nod along. Both he and his eldest sister had endured that regularly. Megan had always been the one that had gotten the blatant favoritism. With both him and Tattered gone it seemed Megan was getting all the crap they normally would have.
"You don't have to be snide about it. I get it; Mom and Dad treated you both unfairly way before you became ponies and I treated you like you deserved it too. I'm getting it now and I'm sorry," Megan said. Alex was pretty sure he could hear her trying not to cry.
"We're sorry too, we didn't think you were much different than them. There isn't anything we can really do to help you, but you have our sympathies," Tattered replied.
"There's one thing you can do," Megan said with her tone firming up. "I don't want to be here with parents that treated you like you aren't even family and treat me like shit. I want to move in with you two."
"Are you sure?" Alex blurted out without thinking.
Tattered hushed him and gave him a hard glare. What was her problem? This was their sister and she needed their help. If she needed a place to go she should be able to come here.
"Megan, you know we have pretty much nothing right? Alex has what he left with, I don't own anything. We have a roof over our head, but that's about it. If you came here you would have to quit college, especially since Mom and Dad wouldn't pay for it anymore, and probably find some minimum wage job just to help us try to get by. I know things suck right now, but coming here would sabotage your future," Tattered said calmly and firmly into the phone.
"Would you turn me away if I came there?" Megan asked.
Tattered's posture slumped and she looked at the phone mournfully. "No, I wouldn't. I really advise against it though. I'm a night pony, Megan; do you know what that means? It means I protect, and I want to protect your best interests in this case. Your best interests are to endure Mom and Dad, finish college, and move out on your own then."
"I appreciate you wanting the best for me, and what I really appreciate is that you do it for my sake instead of for making you look good like Mom and Dad would," Megan could be heard crying through the phone. "Family comes first though, and Mom and Dad turned their back on you and Alex. They don't deserve to be called parents and I don't want to be here anymore. I'm not spending another day here if I can help it."
Alex stared at Tattered waiting to see what his sister would do. If Megan wanted to be free of Mom and Dad and come here she should be able to. They could find a way to make do.
Tattered sat silent for a moment, and both Alex and Megan waited for their oldest sibling to respond.
"Make sure your car is filled up all the way with gas. When Mom and Dad go to sleep tonight gather up everything you absolutely need into your car and come here. Leave a note so they don't send a search party out after you," Tattered said in a quiet voice. "I'll be awake at town hall no matter how late it is. Come there and I'll show you where home is after that."
"Thank you, Mandy," Megan said with relief.
"There are going to be ground rules for living with us," Tattered cut in, flicking her tail. "One is my name is Tattered Wing, not Mandy, and you will call me by my name or some variation. There will be a few others, but nothing too demanding. Mainly respect that I need to sleep during the day and not do anything to wake me unless urgent, and to keep me aware of when you won't be at home. I don't need to know where you are, but I need to know when you'll be out. Are those fair?"
"That's more lenient than Mom and Dad by a lot. I can accept those rules...Tattered," Megan said, seeming uncomfortable with the name still.
"Good, we'll see you tonight," Tattered said in a tired voice. "I'm going to leave and let you and Alex talk some more without me. I have things that I have to attend to."
And with that Tattered left quickly without even saying goodbye. Alex watched her go and wondered what was so urgent now.
Tattered entered back into the room she had left all the crystal ponies in just a few minutes before. A few had filtered out of the room, but the room was still largely filled. As she made her way through the crowds a few crystal ponies would try to ask her more information about the positions she was offering with the Enclave, and each time she would politely tell them that she would be happy to discuss positions with them tomorrow in her office, but she needed to attend to something now. Hopefully she wasn't turning them off from wanting to work for the Enclave, but this was urgent.
She found her target after a half a minute. Sunset Blessing was standing off at the side of the room talking with a few crystal ponies about whatever positions she had in mind. Tattered had no regrets interrupting the conversation as she was doing these ponies a favor by decreasing the chances that Sunset Blessing would be their employer.
"Sunset, you and I need to talk in private, your office, now," Tattered said in a commanding tone as she cut whatever Sunset was saying to them.
The unicorn gave her a glare and then considered the two crystal ponies for a second.
"Excuse me, it seems the Broken One has need of me for a few minutes. I will be back shortly," Sunset said, then looked at Tattered with a raised eyebrow. "I will be back shortly, right?"
"This won't take long, just a very short talk, in private," Tattered said in a neutral tone.
They left the large meeting hall and made their way down the hallway to Sunset's office. After entering in Sunset closed the door behind them.
"What's this about, Broken One, I have positions that need filling and I need as much time as I can fit in getting a feel for the candidates," Sunset snapped.
"We found Swift Strike's body and we're going to have a talk about what's going to happen," Tattered said as she stared the unicorn in the eyes. She caught a brief flash of fear in Sunset's eyes, quickly suppressed.
"You know I didn't do it. You knew exactly where I was that night," Sunset said quickly.
Tattered laughed and Sunset looked at her uneasily. Tattered went back to staring at the the unicorn, only now with a big smile on her face. "Sunset, you're going to hang yourself if you aren't careful. No wonder you have to have Tonya hanging around you all the time watching you. You realize I didn't say anything about when he was killed, and you just incriminated yourself, right? Don't worry, that's why we're talking now so we don't have to discuss Swift Strike any further."
"Are you planning on blackmailing me?!" Sunset said in shock.
"I'm just making sure that you don't try to try to pressure me ever again, or make me worry about the welfare of my siblings," Tattered said simply. "My little sister is moving to town. I want you to have Number Crunch personally assist her in getting one of those fast track mortgages from the government so the three of us can move into a house owned by her instead of one owned by you. In addition, there had never ever be a hint of a dead body connected to you again or I might not fail to connect the dots again. That's all I'm asking out of you. Nothing illegal, nothing that should be a burden or pressure on you. I'm just making sure I'm out from under your hoof, making everything all fair. We come to that arrangement then I won't try to connect you with murder, and we forget Swift Strike ever existed."
"I suppose that's an acceptable arrangement," Sunset said thoughtfully. "I agree to your terms. Let's bury this particular matter and cooperate together as good ponies should."
Tattered relaxed slightly. She had expected more fight from the unicorn. She didn't like that she was sweeping a crime under the table, but it was unlikely she'd even be able to have useful evidence gathered by the time she could order an autopsy anyway. There was no need to tell Sunset about how the government had pressured her on the matter already.
"On an unrelated note. I heard word that your friend was going to be rehumanized," Sunset said casually as she stepped back towards the door.
"She has a right to a life without pain," Tattered said cautiously. What was Sunset going to pull now?
"That she does," Sunset replied. "I just wanted to see if she was going to be staying on with the Enclave or not after the procedure. Just because she isn't going to be a pony anymore doesn't mean she can't still work for the greater good. Plus I found the discussion this morning about rehumanization very enlightening."
"I don't know what her plans will be, and I doubt she will consider what they are herself until after things are done," Tattered said with full honesty.
She personally wouldn't blame Melissa if she packed up and tried to return to her old life. Her life as a pony had been far too painful to want to keep associated with it. Tattered wished she had payed more attention when Baker was speaking. Sunset clearly had gotten something else out of the discussion about rehumanization that she was going to use to her advantage.
"I would suggest you at least drop a suggestion about it to her. I'm not one to so easily let those who've been blessed fall back into an accursed state. A pony state of mind can be maintained still if she stays with us, and that is better for her and us. I have some high hopes for the futures of the rehumanized. I'll leave that to you to convince her though. For now, I have crystal ponies to get back to talking too," Sunset said as she made her way out the door.
"Sunset!" Tattered called after her, causing the unicorn to turn and look at her.
Tattered gave her an evil smile. "Did you have any interesting dreams last night?"
Sunset's face briefly contorted with rage before she lit her horn and slammed the door shut behind her.