//------------------------------// // Chapter 16 // Story: Pandemic: Picking up the Pieces // by Halira //------------------------------// Devon paced the tent as she waited for Paul to arrive. Jessie trotted back and forth following her mother with no apparent concern that that they were just going in circles. Jackie, now happily leash free, chased after Jessie without seeming to realize that they were going in circles either, and collided with Jessie more than once. Robby sat on his mat and seemed to be struggling to stay awake. Amanda just sat watching with one ear lowered. "Devon, you don't need to be so nervous. If he said he'll come then he'll come. It's a long drive from Charleston, and he probably needed directions when getting here," Amanda said as she watched Devon go back and forth. "Or he could have just flaked out and stayed home," Devon said waspishly. She then paused in her walk, causing the two fillies following behind to collide with the back of her legs, and looked at Amanda. "Sorry, I don't mean to be snappy." "I understand, this is a big deal for you and your foals," Amanda said with an understanding smile. "Just try not to get yourself worked up before he gets here. Maybe we can discuss something else to distract you at the moment?" "Like what?" Devon asked as she headed back to her mat and sat back down. The two fillies had gone back to playing with one another after their most recent collision. "Um, not really sure," Amanda said as she held a hoof up to her chin. Then smiled and held a hoof up as she seemed to remember something. "I forgot to tell you. I was asked to help out tomorrow with prepping the fields. Farming isn't something I really am interested in, but the reason why in this case sounded pretty cool." "What's that?" Devon asked as she started running a hand over her sleepy son's mane. "After we get the fields all prepped they were going to have Wild Growth come and use her powers on them. That should be really exciting to see," Amanda said cheerfully. "Who's Wild Growth and what's so exciting about that?" Devon asked, sure she was out of the loop on something. "Oh, I forgot you didn't talk to many ponies before coming here," Amanda said apologetically. Then continued with a tone of a teenager talking about meeting their idol. "Earth ponies like to gush over her a lot, she's kind of an earth pony celebrity in a way. They say she grew a full set of woods in a minute or so by herself. That might not be my thing, but that's something I'd really want to see." Devon smiled and couldn't help giving off a small laugh. "Better watch it, Amanda. Your earth pony nature is starting to show if you're gushing about stuff being grown; but yeah, that sounds like it would be something interesting to watch. I'm assuming she's going to be making crops grow instead of woods, right?" Amanda blushed, probably because she was acting earth ponyish. "That's the idea. It's not going to be a regular thing. The other earth ponies would get upset she's pushing them out of their jobs, but the humans in particular need a restock of food, and it needs to be done quick. That's why we're doing this." "Were you needing to have me watch Jackie while you were doing that, and isn't your interview tomorrow too?" Devon asked as she remembered what tomorrow was. Amanda shook her head. "I'll bring Jackie with me, so you don't need to foalsit her. They told me that other ponies are bringing their foals, and they'd have some ponies there just to watch foals while we work. I'm a little more relaxed with her now that she finally stopped surging. I'll be at the interview too. I'll work in the fields for a few hours in the morning and then head over to the school for the interview." "I guess that works," Devon said as she pulled her hand away from Robby as he brought a wing up to wrap over his head. It seemed his need for sleep finally won out. "I just realized that I'm not sure what to do about Robby tomorrow. The interview is late enough that he'll need to be asleep at the time. I can bring Jessie with me, but I need to figure out something for him. Even if I went early, and let him sleep there, I would end up having to wake him up again and making him walk home with us while he's exhausted." "Well, hopefully Paul will be here, and he could watch Robby for you, or maybe you could get Tonya to watch him for you," Amanda offered. Mention of her husband brought Devon back to thinking about him, souring her mood again. Devon got back to her feet. "I'm going to step outside for a few minutes just to be more visible. Will you be okay with the foals for a few minutes?" "Of course, I'm perfectly okay with them. You're just outside anyway, not even actually gone," Amanda dismissively waving a hoof at the two roughhousing fillies. "Go ahead and get some air and clear your head." Devon gave the fillies one last look before exiting. They were getting fairly rough with one another, even though they seemed to be enjoying themselves, almost like kittens. Young foals must not have gotten the memo that ponies were supposed to be passive and gentle. As long as they weren't hurting each other she guessed they were fine. She shook her head as she realized she was trying to distract herself. She needed to focus on what she would be saying to Paul when he got here. She looked up at the sky as she exited out of the tent and walked a few tents down. It was overcast right now, and by the looks of the pegasi moving through clouds that was done deliberately. Maybe they were trying to cool things off after days of bright sun and heat? Or if they were planning on having crops being attended to tomorrow maybe they were just getting the clouds ready for it to rain tomorrow? It was a little bit cooler today no matter what the goal, which she was thankful for. "Devon?" A voice broke her from her gazing at the ponies above. She turned and saw Paul. "Paul...," Devon said completely at a loss for words. "You're here." Paul walked over to her. "I told you I'd be here. Where are the kids?" "The term is foals, and they're inside the tent," Devon gestured towards the appropriate tent. "Jessie is playing with another filly, and Robby just fell asleep a few minutes ago. He was trying hard to stay up to see you." Paul moved to try to embrace her, but she backed away and held a hand up. "None of that right now. I'm still furious with you, and it will take time for me to get over it, if I get over it." "I didn't come here to fight. I want to have my family back," Paul replied as he spread his hands in frustration. Devon replied calmly, "And I don't intend to fight either. I need to see you committed to this family. Let's just get you inside, where you can see the foals, and you can meet Amanda as well, okay?" "Is Thomas here too?" Paul asked. "Tonya lives in a house somewhere in town. She and the town's pony leader are apparently a couple," Devon said with annoyance at him misnaming his sister. "Don't call her Thomas. She stuck up for you, and was the only reason I reached out to you. You need to show some gratitude to your sister, and treat her with respect." "Sorry," Paul said quietly. Devon gave him a hard look. "Apologizing to me is nice, but you owe her an apology in person at some point. Just follow me so Jessie can see her father." She turned and started walking back to the tent with the expectation that he would follow. Before she stepped inside she heard the wails of an upset filly, and she quickened her pace inside to find out what was wrong. Amanda was sitting on her haunches holding Jessie in her forelegs, gently rocking the crying filly and trying to sooth her. Paul followed in close behind Devon. "What happened?" Devon said worriedly as she hurried over to gather her daughter from Amanda. "Jackie gave her a good pop on the tip of the snout with her wing, and those are sensitive spots. She'll be okay," Amanda said as she passed the crying filly to Devon. Devon put Jessie over her shoulder and started rocking her. "It's okay, baby girl, you'll be okay. This might be your payback for pinching Jackie's wing yesterday. You two need to be less rough." "Hi, I'm Amanda, Amanda Wilson, you must be Paul," Amanda said in an upbeat tone as she held a hoof out in greeting as Devon kept soothing Jessie. Paul walked over and hesitantly reached out a hand to shake Amanda's foreleg, only to realize it was a little big for him to grip. Amanda gave a little giggle, and then pressed the frog of her hoof up to his hand. "The Equestrians told me the other day that's the way we're supposed to do it, though normally it would be hoof to hoof. Hand to hoof seems kind of weird," Amanda explained. Paul withdrew his hand with a look of distaste. "Yeah, it does." "Okay, baby girl, are we feeling better? Ready to see your daddy?" Devon said closely to Jessie's ear as the filly began to quiet. She then gave Jessie a kiss on her snout which made the filly coo happily. She then carefully set Jessie back down to the ground and looked over at Paul. "She gets fussy if she gets held and wasn't the one to initiate trying to be held. I'm guessing she only let me get away with it just now because she was already upset." "I see," Paul said as he looked down at Jessie. The little filly had her back to him as she stared up at Devon. Jackie was interrupted from going after Jessie's tail by Amanda biting into the scruff of Jackie's neck, earning an outraged squeak from the filly, and casually taking her back to their mats. Devon bent down and pointed at Paul. "Baby girl, your daddy is here to see you. Don't you want to see your daddy?" Jessie followed Devon's arm with her eyes straight to the finger and then on to where it was pointing. When she looked at Paul she let off an excited gurgle, and then trotted over to him. She then started trying to climb his leg with her forelegs. "I'm jealous now. She must have really missed you," Devon said. Letting some of her anger at her husband go. Seeing that Jessie recognized him and clearly missed him made her feel warm. "She's okay to pick up?" Paul asked uncertainly as he stared down at Jessie. "Yes, she clearly wants you to. She's a smart little filly, she knows who you are, and she wants attention from her daddy," Devon said as she looked briefly over at Robby's sleeping form and debated waking him. Paul hesitantly reached down and put his hands around Jessie before picking her up and cradling her in his arms. The little filly cooed and rubbed her head up against his chest. "See? She can't hurt you. She's small, helpless, and loves her parents," Devon said as she bent down next to Robby. She then gave Robby a light shake. "I know it's really late for you honey, but your dad is here." Robby unfurled his wings with a sleepy mumble and did a full body stretch and yawn. He blinked sleepily and turned his head. When he spotted his father, his eyes popped open wide and he jumped to his hooves, giving an ineffectual flap of his wings as he did. "Dad! You came back! Momma wouldn't say where you went and wouldn't let anypony talk about you," Robby said excitedly as he hurried over in front of his father. Paul looked dejectedly down at Robby as he continued to cradle Jessie. "I had some things that I needed to work out. I'm here now, and not planning on going anywhere." "You can spend a few minutes talking to your dad now, but I want you back to sleep soon. I don't want you exhausting yourself," Devon told her son firmly. "You will have more time to catch up tonight, after you wake up." "Can't I just stay up late? I don't mind being tired tonight," Robby whined as he lowered his ears. "You want to defend us all, right? You can't do that if you're exhausted," Devon stressed. Robby seemed to consider this argument for a moment then his ears dropped lower as he nodded. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking about that." "It's okay, baby. You've got a few minutes now. Your dad will still be here tonight and we'll all go talk with your Aunt Tonya tonight," Devon said with an encouraging smile. "Okay, I like Aunt Tonya," Robby said as his ears picked back up. He turned to his father and started speaking. "Why didn't we get to meet Aunt Tonya before? She's funny, and she said she's going to teach me to fly when I get bigger." Paul seemed to struggle with how to respond to this question. "She's been...gone for a while. Since before you were born. I'll be looking forward to seeing her tonight too." Devon let them talk for a few minutes. It was mainly Robby talking and Paul listening as Robby recounted everything he had been awake to see the last few days, whether it was worth talking about or not. She was actually rather impressed with how closely he could recount conversations. Not word for word, but not far off. He remembered many of them better than she did. Some she rather he didn't remember. She watched as Paul silently listened to Robby yammering away with enthusiasm about everything he remembered about every night pony he had seen. He told Paul all about Phobia, the night ponies he had seen flying, Tattered Wing, as well as Brick and his friend. Paul looked up at Devon with concern while still holding Jessie, who seemed to have actually fallen asleep in his arms, and asked, "What's this about something bad in the woods?" Devon shook her head. "I never found out. Tattered Wing showed up briefly after we left the woods and just reasserted that we weren't to go in, and that we weren't supposed to discuss it with anyone. I probably shouldn't be saying anything about it with you and Amanda." "I noticed that they had blocked ponies from going into the woods just outside this area, but I didn't know why," Amanda piped up. "Now I'm worried about whether there's some chemical spill or something in there." "Whatever it is, it can't be that bad or they'd make us move from the tents here," Devon said with a shrug only her shoulders, and narrowed her eyes at Robby. "Anyway, pretend Robby didn't just disobey the lead night pony by saying all that." "Sorry, Momma," Robby said as he looked down at the ground. He then let off a large yawn. "Just listen to what you're told to do from her from now on. She is making sure you stay safe," Devon said with a sigh. "Anyway, it looks like bedtime for you. We have a rare instance where your sister is passed out at one in the afternoon, and you're not." "Okay--" he paused to yawn again, bringing a hoof up to cover it, "--Momma." The colt walked back to his mat and laid down on it, wrapping his tail around his body. He then looked over at his father. "See you tonight, dad. I'm glad you're back." "Sleep tight, Robby," Paul said as they watched Robby wrap a wing around his head. With both her foals asleep Devon had a rare opportunity to speak with Paul alone. She turned to Amanda, but Amanda beat her to the punch. "If you want to leave Jessie with me I don't mind watching her. You two go take a walk, I've got the foals," Amanda said with a glance between the two humans. Devon smiled. "Thanks Amanda, I don't know what I'd ever do without you." Amanda sat up on her haunches and held her forelegs out to Paul to take Jessie from him. Paul gave Amanda an apprehensive look, and then looked at the sleeping filly in his arms. Her husband looked hesitant to release Jessie over to anyone else. He gave Jessie a light kiss on the head and then reluctantly passed her over to Amanda. "We'll be back soon," Devon said as she motioned Paul to follow her out the tent. Paul walked next to his wife in a state of silent dread. Devon wasn't talking, and he wasn't talking. He was terrified of being the one to break the silence, and was more terrified of what might be going on in her head. He had no idea where they were walking to. The town was unfamiliar to him, and Devon wasn't being forthcoming about their destination. Yesterday, after getting off the phone, he had wandered around their house and just looking at the remnants of their life. Spending extra time looking at Robby's room and the nursery that they had set up for Jessie. Robby's room had been a cluttered mess, and many of Robby's toys had been pushed into piles to make walkways, rather than picked up. The nursery had plenty of never opened, and now useless, diapers sitting in one corner of it. When he had finally motivated himself to do something it was to start packing up his clothes and Devon's clothes into the car. He had almost started to do the same for Robby and Jessie's clothes, and had actually grabbed two sets of Robby's clothes before he realized what he was doing and stopped. What did his children even need? That was something he had no clue on. Human children were hard enough to do right by and provide for, the needs of pony children were a complete enigma. After a few minutes of walking he finally broke the deafening silence. "I have some of your clothes in the car, along with some hygiene items. I didn't know what to bring. If you think of anything I can go back and get whatever it is." His wife pulled on her shirt and looked at it. "A change of clothes is very welcome. I'm sure I smell terrible having been in these clothes for days. Thank you for bringing those." "I didn't bring anything for the kids," Paul continued. "I just didn't know what they needed, wanted, or would even be useful." "Foals, Paul. They're foals, not kids," Devon said with an exasperated shake of her head. "And I'm not sure what to bring for them either, to tell you the truth. Maybe a small stuffed animal or something for Jessie to play with, maybe some colored pencils and something to draw on for Robby. I don't want him biting down on crayons, they might be toxic or something for all we know, but wood should be alright. As for hygiene items for then; I'm not sure if human shampoo and soaps will work on fur and manes, but we can try. Bedding and towels would be good things to have. I'd love for us to have Jessie's crib." "I'll start making a list," Paul replied. He felt a little more confident with plans being made. But there was still a lot of things that made him uncomfortable. "What's happening with your job?" Devon asked as they stepped out next to the street. There were no cars on the road and most of the ponies seemed to be walking right in the middle of the road. Paul sighed. "No word on when we are getting back to work yet still. Rumor is that they may start laying people off at the plant. There's to be a huge drop in demand for new cars now that a quarter of the population isn't going to be driving them, so production is going to be cut back dramatically. They might just shut the plant down." "If I get this teaching job I won't be starting till the fall. We'll need money before then. My loan for the house is pretty open ended so we can pull from that if we need to, but I'd rather not if we can help it. Hopefully they'll give you unemployment checks," Devon said as she absently looked around. He felt himself getting frustrated at what wasn't being said, and blurted out,"Are we just not going to talk about the two of us?" Devon stopped in her tracks and gave him a disapproving glare. "What's to talk about? You left me and the foals to fend for ourselves. You had to be convinced to come here. We've already started moving on with our lives here, and have support here, so there is no point going back home. As for our relationship, that's going to be frosty for the time being. That you abandoned us isn't something I can just ignore, or get over, right away. We'll see how things progress as time goes by." "Am I just supposed to do whatever you say without question until then?" He responded in a tight voice. "No, you get to have your say, and I'll listen if it's worthwhile," Devon said like she was talking to a small child. "I make the final decisions involving anything with Robby and Jessie though; you gave up your veto rights when you did what you did. Are there some suggestions you wish to give?" "You really intend to move us here?" Paul asked as he gestured around the street. "I think that was your idea to start with since you left us by the convention center with all the ponies planning on coming here," Devon said with a snort. "It's actually for the best for our foals. It might be for the best for you and me too. A fresh start in a new place." "Maybe," Paul conceded, not feeling convinced. "I just don't know how comfortable I am around all these ponies." "Get comfortable, you have foals," Devon said harshly. "And if Roper hospital hadn't done what they had done we'd probably be ponies now too. That might have been better for us as a family if we were, but things happened in a less than ideal way. We'll just have to figure out how to be a mixed family." "It's hard seeing our kids as our kids when I look at them now. Robby sounds the same, but I could tell when he was talking that he wasn't the same--not even getting into the fact he's got wings and a tail," Paul confessed. Robby was the more disconcerting of the two. Jessie was too young to have developed much of a personality yet to see a dramatic change in it, but it was obvious with Robby. Devon surprised him by coming over to him and gently taking his hand. "He is different, and I do miss the way he was. He has a lot of instinctual stuff going on in his head that's completely unlike what he would have there before. I'm having to relearn what I knew about him. He's still my little boy though, and I'm going to learn all I can. I want you to do the same with me." "Maybe they'll find a cure soon and they can both go back to being human," Paul offered. "Robby doesn't want to, and I'm not going to make him," Devon said quietly. "Jessie has spent most of her short life as a pony. She doesn't know anything about how to be human, and she might not even be alive right now if she hadn't become a pony. Becoming a pony saved her, and it gave her a chance at a happy and healthy life. It wouldn't be right to make her human. For all we know if she was cured she'd go back to having to be on life support." "We don't know that," Paul asserted. "She could come out a happy little human girl." "And she might not," Devon said as she withdrew her hand and stepped back glaring at him. "I know she's happy and healthy now. I'm not going to risk her ever losing that." It was hard to argue against that. He definitely didn't want Jessie reverting to having an underdeveloped immune system and lungs. It was better for her to be a pony than risk that. He could love and accept her as a pony. Accepting Robby's transformation was another matter altogether though. He had been perfectly happy and healthy as a human. There was no good reason for him to stay a pony if a cure came. It wasn't worth fighting over right now though. If they announced a cure was found and the details of how it worked then things might change. "Let's just drop the subject for now," Paul said in a defeated tone. "Where are we going? Are we just walking just to walk?" "We're finding your sister. I want you and her to clear the air between you without the foals hearing it if anything gets heated," Devon said as she gestured for him to resume walking and started off again. "I haven't seen Thoma...Tonya in years. She and I barely talked even when we were growing up. I wouldn't know what to say to her," Paul said. He really didn't know what to make of the fact his sister was here. Thomas had been bad tempered, secluded, and just all around miserable to be around after he reached puberty. Paul had spent many days out with friends just to get out of the house, away from the constant back and forth arguing and screaming between Thomas and their parents. Paul knew about the transgender thing, even if his parents unsuccessfully tried to keep it hushed . After coming out Thomas almost never left his room except to go to school, eat, and go to the bathroom. Their parents sent him to counseling, and that only seemed to escalate things. When nothing worked to dissuade Thomas their parents eventually kicked him out of the house, not to be seen again--until now. They reached a large building that looked like a school and Devon led them in. Inside the lobby was an information desk with a blue pegasus stallion with orange mane sitting at it. Devon went up to it and got the stallion's attention. "Is Amber off today? I was hoping she'd help me find Tonya," Devon asked the stallion. The stallion gave a hearty laugh in response. "Amber got a promotion, and is trying to rapidly get things with the weather teams together and organized. It seems Tonya was really lax with that when she had Amber's job, and she left Amber with a lot of work to do. First time I've ever seen Amber start cuss'n." Paul groaned internally. It seemed Thomas wasn't that responsible and got fired from his job. Hearing about that was probably not the best first impression if they were going to reunite. "Do you know where I can find Tonya then?" Devon asked. "I'm sure I could find her in five minutes by myself. I'm pretty sure she's out and about just flying around. She said she hadn't had a good chance to stretch her wings since ending up in charge of ponies. She let Amber know what needed to get done, then just took off, leaving our new lead pegasus gaping about how much she had to do and asking me if I wanted the job...I turned her down flat," the stallion started braying laughter. Devon let out an aggravated groan. "If we stay here, and let everyone know you'll be right back, can you find her for us and bring her here?" The stallion flew over his desk and landed between Paul and Devon. "Sure thing. It'll be just a few minutes." The stallion left, and Paul and Devon just waited in silence. Several minutes passed by, and luckily no one came looking for information. A few minutes later the stallion returned with a orange coated pegasus mare with an unruly purple mane and tail. "Here she is for you. Told you it wouldn't take long," the stallion said as he retook his place behind the desk. Paul just stared at the pegasus mare trying to connect the image of this pony with the brother he had known. The mare stared back with a wide-eyed expression, and wings spread slightly in a way that made it seem like she was ready to bolt away at any moment. That was the only familiar thing about her to him, the desire to get away from a bad situation--a trait they both shared. "Maybe we should go somewhere else more private to talk," Devon suggested. That seemed to snap the pegasus mare out of her stare, though she still eyed him like he was a rabid dog ready to attack. "Y-yeah, that might be a good idea. I think there are some empty administrative offices. Follow me." The voice was completely unfamiliar and clearly feminine. Still nothing of significance that indicated this was Thomas. The mare led them to a door behind the information desk and pulled it open before walking through. He and Devon followed quickly behind. After all of them entered the door swung closed again. "So...Paul. Are you just going to keep quiet, or are you going to say something to your sister?" Devon asked as she crossed her arms and leaned against a wall, glaring at him. How long before she stopped being this openly hostile to him? He was trying to make right. Couldn't she see that? "Um," he looked at the pegasus, lost on what to say. He wouldn't know what to say to his brother, and he had no clue what to say to this pony. "Long time no see. You look...different...from the last time I saw you." "I looked pretty different even before becoming a pony. I changed a lot," the mare said as she looked downward, while nervously crossing her forelegs as she stood. She still seemed ready to flee at any moment. "You just kind of vanished off the face of the Earth. Mom and Dad wouldn't talk about you, and I never heard another word," Paul said as he tried to treat this pony as if she was Thomas. "I'm guilty of not reaching out to you, I admit that, but you must not have tried too hard to find out where I was either," the mare said as she looked up at him with tears and hurt in her eyes. "Why didn't you even try? I spent nearly a year living on different people's couches, homeless shelters, and more than a few days sleeping on park benches right after leaving home." "You just admitted you didn't reach out to me either. Don't pin this all on me, Tom," Paul snapped back at the mare. Oh this was definitely Thomas, still not willing to take responsibility for what he did to himself. "Don't call me that!" the mare said with pure fury. She then pointed a hoof back at herself. "My name is Tonya, and you have no idea what I had to do to get my name. I had to work multiple crappy jobs getting treated like a freak by customers the whole time to pay for hormones, keep a roof over my head, and get just enough food I didn't starve. I had a period early on where I earned extra money by letting perverts fuck me before I got to where had enough money to pay for legal fees for changing my name, doctor fees to even start hormones, and getting off the street. I went through hell for the right to never be called that name again and I expect you to call me Tonya!" "Well, that is your own poor decisions. You're the one who chose to be transgender and fuck your life up," Paul said as he advanced at the mare pointing a finger at her accusingly. "I didn't choose shit!" The mare snapped back as she flapped her wings and flew up in order to stare him face to face, spitting as she spoke. "I am what I am, and I got no support from the family! Mom and Dad treated me like I was the biggest embarrassment ever and like I was mentally diseased, and you--and you just did nothing and let it all happen. You condemned me with your silence. The opposite of good is not evil, the opposite of good is indifference--and you were indifferent through it all." "Cute, did you read that in a book somewhere?" Paul asked sarcastically. "Yes, but it's true," the mare said as she landed with ears laid flat and glared up at him. Paul glared down at her. "Okay, Tonya, what do you want to say to me?" The mare's eyes widened slightly before narrowing. When she spoke there was an odd undertone to her voice. "What do I want? I want you to feel bad for turning your back on your family. I want you to dedicate yourself to giving your foals a happy life. I want you to accept me as your sister. I want you to give a damn about me rather than ignoring I exist. I want a brother, not a coward unwilling to stand up for his loved ones. I want Devon to give you a real chance, and I want you to rise to the occasion in every way. Last but not least, I want you to want this too." Paul didn't know what happened, but suddenly he felt like he was going to be sick. His vision faded out for a moment as he dropped down to his knees to steady himself as a wave of vertigo hit him. He felt like there was extreme pressure on him, like he was deep underwater. He just barely saw out of the corner of his vision Devon stagger as well. "No...what did I just do...," he heard Tonya whisper in horror. "What the hell hit us?" he heard Devon ask. His vision cleared, his balance returned, and the pressure let up. He looked immediately at Devon, then at Tonya. Devon was shaking her head as she got back to her feet. Tonya was staring at the two of them with a look of pure terror as she backed away with her wings outspread and tail tucked between her legs. After he could stand he hurried over to Devon first. He steadied her as she got back up. "Are you okay?" He asked her. "I think so...are you okay?" Devon said as she gripped onto his arm to steady herself. "Yeah, just a quick wave of something that hit all of us. Maybe a sonic boom or something like that," he said as he turned to Tonya, who still looked terrified. "Are you okay, sis? Are you still feeling whatever that was?" Tonya's eyes widened further in terror after he spoke to her. She shook her head in denial as she spread her wings wide and took to hovering. "I-I have to go...now," Tonya spluttered as she started crying. "I'm so sorry..." And with that Tonya immediately flew for the door and crashed straight through it, completely knocking it off its hinges. She didn't even pause in her flight as she took off away from them.