//------------------------------// // Chapter 19 // Story: Pandemic: Picking up the Pieces // by Halira //------------------------------// Tonya waited patiently outside of Phobia's house for Sunset to exit. She could just go in and find her lover, but the risk of Phobia learning that Tonya had possibly done something to hurt Sunset's mind was enough to keep her outside. It was well known to her how bloodthirsty Sunset could be when her family was at risk, Tonya didn't want to learn how like her mother Phobia could be after learning that her mother's mind was possibly damaged. Phobia had already made it abundantly clear how she felt about misuse of mind magic and that Tonya would not be spared her wrath. It was well after the sunset that Sunset finally decided to make her way out of the house. The red unicorn paused on the porch as she saw Tonya hovering over the yard and gazed up at her with a confused expression. "Tonya? How long have you been out here?" Sunset asked. Tonya came down and landed next to her lover and gave a light nuzzle before answering. "I'm not really sure. It's been a while." "Why didn't you just come in then? You're family, you know you're welcome here," Sunset asked her with a concerned brow raised. Tonya bit her lip. She had no idea how to have any of this conversation. She couldn't talk about Phobia, she was also terrified of what Sunset would do after finding out that there might be long lasting damage due to the constant mind manipulation. The entire time she had been outside waiting she had been considering what to say and she still had nothing. "Can we talk somewhere secluded? It's kind of important," Tonya said as she brought herself down from her hover in front of her lover. Sunset kept her brow raised and then gestured with her head to a spot in the grass of the front yard. The unicorn then started walking to the indicated spot with Tonya following close behind. When they got some measure of privacy Sunset turned and spoke. "What's this about? You didn't say much at all in bed last night while I was talking to you, and your normally very open with me. I'm worried about you." Tonya bowed her head and spoke quietly. "I'm worried about me too. I lashed out with my powers this morning on Devon and my brother. It was strong, and I think I forcibly altered both their minds. I didn't mean to...it just happened." "Tonya...," Sunset said with sympathy as she came close and embraced her. "We'll get you better at this, you just need more practice working on me and you'll learn to control things better." Tonya jerked away from the embrace and looked at Sunset as she started crying. "That doesn't make what I did today okay or better. Plus, there's more to it. I might be hurting you by using my powers on you. Not just hurting you, but doing permanent damage to your mind." "What are you talking about?" Sunset said with a disbelieving shake of her head. "I'm fine, you help make me better." "You're not fine," Tonya said as she took a step back. "All that anger and lack of control of your emotions. I think me suppressing so much in you is screwing with them in ways I don't understand. I don't know what I'm doing, Sunset, and you're paying for my lack of understanding. Not just you, but my family, ponies like Number Crunch, and who knows who else. I don't want to hurt all of you. I want to be a good pony." Sunset stared at her in shock and seemed to be looking for what to say. Tonya had more to say, even though she was terrified of what she needed to say. "I love you, Sunset," Tonya said as she looked at Sunset through her clouded vision. "I love your conviction, I love your passion, I love how you're always ready to comfort me, I love you at your best and your worst, but I'm terrified. I'm terrified that you might only feel for me because I've made you feel that way, because I want it. I fear that you're addicted to me like a drug, and I keep you hooked on me with constant meddling with your mind. I'm scared that my selfishness makes everything a lie." Sunset sat staring at her still with a stunned expression while Tonya went silent and waited for a response. Sunset eventually looked downwards as her face went through a series of different warring emotions. The unicorn then walked over to Tonya stiffly with a stern expression on her face, and Tonya stiffened as she prepared herself for the worst. Would Sunset denounce her, strike her, or do something worse like say she wanted her to leave and never come back? Then to Tonya's amazement Sunset quickly pulled her into a tight hug. The amazement lasted only a moment before she broke down crying on Sunset's shoulder. Sunset spoke quietly. "Whatever you may have done without meaning too, your love still shines through. You've always done what you can to support me, and now you come to me because you're concerned about me, knowing you risk my love for you in doing so. You aren't selfish Tonya, you're a good mare, and you deserve my love." Tonya kept crying happy tears as Sunset gripped her tight. There was more she needed to discuss though. "I need to tell you so much still," Tonya said as she pulled back from her lover's embrace. "For starters, Luna entered my dreams the other night and she saw part of what happened with me, Number Crunch, and Swift Strike. She saw me using mind magic. Also, I went to the Equestrians today because I was desperate for help." "Luna seems to get around," Sunset said with a grimace and flick of her tail. "I had my own encounter with her. We can talk about that later though. What did the Equestrians say?" "They had some sort of magic medallion that protected them from mind magic. They used it to measure how strong I actually am," Tonya recounted. "I'm strong, really strong. They had to stop me because I was going to exceed what their little knick-knack could handle. They say they are going to have a stronger medallion meant for me to wear that blocks me from using mind magic while wearing it. They also said they'd find somepony to teach me to have better control...as well as examine your mind for any damage I might have done." Sunset looked uncomfortable. "While I appreciate what they will be doing for you I'm going to insist they don't touch my mind." "But...," Tonya started to protest before Sunset put a hoof on her mouth. "No buts," Sunset said firmly. "If you've done anything to me we're going to count it as over and done with. You've helped shape me to what I need to be, and I won't let them reduce me back to my cowardly and bigoted beginnings. If you feel uncomfortable continuing to use your powers on me I understand, but I don't want your work undone. I'm a better pony because of what you did." "If you say so. I wish you'd at least let them check to see if I hurt you, but I respect your decision," Tonya said after Sunset removed her hoof. "I didn't like who I was," Sunset said as she looked downward with a frown. She then looked up with a smile and continued, "but I'm proud of whom I've become. You love the current me too, and I want to stay that way." "Always," Tonya said before leaning in and kissing her marefriend on the lips. After the kiss Sunset gave her a coy smile. "Now let's head home. I seem to remember I owe you snuggle and smooching time. I intend to give you far more than just that though." "Oh, I could really do for a peppermint stick," Tonya responded as she looked up at Sunset's horn. "Peppermint stick?" Sunset asked in confusion. "Your horn tastes like a peppermint stick," Tonya said with a chuckle. Earning a blush from Sunset. Sunset looked back at Tonya and smirked. "Well, I think I could do with something creamy and salty myself." Tonya blushed herself as the two left the yard. Megan laid in her bed staring at the ceiling listening to the sounds of the house. It had been over three hours since Alex had sent his last message and she was still waiting to be sure her parents were asleep. She couldn't allow a confrontation to happen when leaving. She never liked this house. Her parents had moved them all here away from their home in Spartanburg a few years ago so they could be official Charleston residents. Her dad wanted to run for congress in Charleston as it was considered more politically important than Spartanburg, and the family name carried more weight in Charleston anyway. They were Rutledges, descendants of the first official governor of South Carolina and second Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who had also signed the Declaration of Independence; and her dad had big political dreams because of their family history. And until recently she was gearing herself to follow in her dad's footsteps. She was a political science and criminal justice double major at Harvard. Her dad had already been having her start coming to fundraising parties with him in order for her to start meeting people. There were a few congressmen that he had been talking her up to about taking her on as an aide after graduation just to get her foot in the door. She was about to do as her sister had done and toss that all in the trash. Mandy had told her this was a bad idea, and maybe it was a bad idea. Megan had something that her dad seemed to have lost track of though, convictions and love of family. Her parents had tossed her siblings aside like they didn't even matter, and she couldn't stay under a roof with her parents if they only had love for their status, she didn't want to become that. She sat up and looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost midnight. Her parents had gone to bed around nine, but she knew they watched the news and read a bit before going to sleep. They were hopefully asleep by now though. She quietly got up and pulled her large luggage bag out of the closet and opened it up. Earlier in the day she had already gotten some of her clothes and blankets into her car. Her parents had caught her doing it but she had been prepared. She had them all in laundry baskets and had deliberately dumped chocolate pudding all over her largest comforter. She claimed that she was going to take them to the laundromat because their washer wasn't big enough to properly wash her comforter--which wasn't a lie--and she already had a huge bag of quarters and laundry detergent at the ready. They had bought it. Now it was time for more personal belongings, things she couldn't have made excuses about taking out to her car earlier. Things that were sentimental in value. She couldn't bring everything, but she could bring the things that mattered most to her. Her gazed passed around the room as she tried to start making decisions. So many things, so many memories. She went back to her bed and grabbed her teddy bear, Mr. Roosevelt, from the bed. Her mom and dad had given him to her for Christmas when she was five, and she had never stopped sleeping with him; she even brought him to Harvard with her. He may be a tie to her parents, but it wasn't something she was leaving behind now after years of snuggling with. Into the luggage Mr. Roosevelt went. The teddy bear reminded her of her sister's lost collection. She went over to her closet and carefully pulled out a sealed cardboard box and opened it with care. Inside were toys from her childhood that she had wanted to save to give to her own future children. This would need to be abandoned now, but she knew one thing that she wanted to take. She reached in and pulled out a rainbow-colored unicorn stuffed animal and looked at it. When Megan was six- or seven-years old Mandy had gotten one just like this and Megan had pitched a fit that she didn't get one too. Their parents decided to buy one for her as well. Mandy's was now just ashes in the backyard. Megan could give this to her sister to give some small gesture of condolence for what she had lost. She frowned. Was it possibly rude to give her sister a stuffed unicorn considering unicorns were now a real thing? This one didn't look anything like an actual unicorn, that probably made it alright. Mandy would understand the intent of the gesture if anything was weird about it. Into the luggage the unicorn went. She stood back up and looked at what else was in the closet. She grabbed her senior high school yearbook and placed her high school diploma as well as her acceptance letter from Harvard into its pages. Into her luggage then went the yearbook with its contents. She looked at the rest of the closet's contents and sighed. There was a lot here, but nothing that stood out more than the other things surrounding them. She walked over to her dresser and mirror and looked over the contents. She grabbed a velvet bag and started stuffing all her jewelry into it. She'd pause and look over certain pieces of jewelry that had special meaning; pieces given as gifts for special occasions or were heirlooms handed down. Many of those heirloom pieces were rightfully Mandy's as the oldest child, but their parents had bypassed giving them to Mandy in favor of her. She didn't know if Mandy had any desire for jewelry as a pony, rings in particular seemed useless to a pony. Megan would still be the owner of all this, and she intended to hold on to them. Into the luggage the bag filled with jewelry went. On her mirror there were photos stuffed into the edges or taped up. She carefully removed each one and placed them with care into the pages of her old diary. The diary with the photos went into the luggage. She pulled open a drawer with important papers in it. She grabbed up a folder that had all her bank statements and information. She added to it her title for her car as well as her birth certificate and passport. Into the luggage those went. She wished she knew where Mandy's and Alex's birth certificates were, they might need them, but she had no clue. The passport made her think of a few other items and she walked over to a nearby hanging shelf. On it were souvenirs of her summer tour of Europe she had taken right after graduating high school. She couldn't take them all, but she could take a few. She decided that she'd bring the snow-globes that she had collected representing each country that she had visited; United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Italy, and Greece. She carefully wrapped each in a separate small towel and placed them into the luggage. At this point there wasn't much room left in her luggage, those snow-globes took up a lot of space alongside the two stuffed animals. She did one last quick scan around the room to see if there was anything else important. She grabbed her cellphone charger and hairdryer, and those took up the remainder of the space she had. She zipped the luggage closed and set it down on the floor. Next, she walked over to her work desk and grabbed the bag for her laptop computer. She put the laptop in and triple checked to make sure she had all the plugs, USB drives, and wires that she needed. She placed a set of ear buds into the bag as well and closed it up. The laptop's bag was placed over by her luggage. She then grabbed up her purse and opened it up. She double checked to make sure she had her bank card, credit card, social security card, driver's license, insurance cards, and everything else of that sort. She didn't want anything important to be left behind by accident. Once she was satisfied that everything was there she added her cellphone to the purse and pulled out the car keys. She carefully slipped the purse over one shoulder, the bag for her laptop over the other, and then grabbed the handle for her luggage before looking around her room one last time. She then opened up her door and went out into the dark hallway. Looking down at her parents' closed bedroom door her courage faltered for just a moment. Was she really going to do this? She could just go back into her room and forget the whole thing. Mandy and Alex would understand. Mandy had actually advised her to just stay. Her resolve hardened as she thought about what their parents had done to her siblings. She needed to go. "Goodbye mom, goodbye dad," she said in a whisper as she held back tears and turned and started walking for the front door. In the living room she paused briefly to pull a note she had written earlier out of her purse and set it carefully on the middle of the living room coffee table. She then carefully opened the door, making sure it didn't make too much noise and then exited the house, shutting the door behind her. Once she was at her car she carefully loaded everything in her car, and it was now that fear really started setting in. What if her parents woke up when she started her car? What would she do? She shook her head. She couldn't worry about that right now. If they woke up they would probably just think it was some other car nearby or something. If they did realize it was hers all she could do was get on the road as quick as she could and just hope they didn't try to come after her. After getting everything loaded she got into the car and did a quick check over everything inside. She did a double check of the glove box and found her taser. Her dad had wanted her to get a concealed weapon permit and a gun, but she really didn't like guns. Right now though she was kind of wishing she had done that though. She was driving out to somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the dead of night and it was scary to think about. A little more protection and security would have been nice. She took a deep breath before starting up the car and backing out of the driveway. As she reached the end of the driveway and the beginning of the road her heart about stopped as a light flickered on in the house. She didn't wait to see if her parents would come out the door; she pulled onto the road and drove off. She got all the way onto King Street and almost to the interstate exit before her phone started ringing in her purse. She let off a sob as she ignored it. The car was stopped at the light to turn onto the interstate and she was tempted to just run the light and get farther away from her parents as quick as possible. It must have been only a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity for the light to turn green. The car turned into the interstate and was soon going seventy down it. There weren't many other cars on the road at all, and she had to restrain herself from going faster. The last thing she needed right now was to be pulled over for speeding. Seventy was all she was willing to risk for the moment. Twenty-five minutes into driving she reached Summerville and decided to turn off to make sure she was completely topped off on gas. After Summerville there wasn't any twenty-four-hour gas stations for a pretty long stretch. She had filled up earlier that day but wanted to be absolutely sure she was good for the full trip. Plus, she could really use something to calm her nerves, maybe a coffee or something. After pulling off the exit ramp and into the parking lot the phone started ringing yet again. Again after a few rings the voicemail caught it. She then heard a series of blips from the phone that indicated she was being texted. She pulled the car in front of a pump and turned the car off. She pulled the phone out of her purse and saw two missed calls and a large amount of texts from her parents. Not bothering to read the texts or listen to the voicemails she sent off an angry text back saying to leave her alone and she wasn't coming back. She then turned the phone off and connected it to the car charger. The gas station wasn't busy, but it was open. She topped her car off on gas and then walked into the gas station. There was one cashier on duty, an older man who watched her warily. There was also a pegasus stallion standing right on the checkout counter who seemed to have been having a conversation with the old man. The pegasus watched her as well. She tried not to pay them much attention as she walked around the store and browsed for some sort of snacks. She grabbed an energy drink from the cooler and a bag of beef jerky and headed to the counter. "Will this be all for you?" The man asked as she laid the items down on the counter. She looked at the cigarettes behind him. She really wanted alcohol, but she was only nineteen and they'd check her ID for sure. She had never smoked before, aside from a single marijuana joint when she was traveling overseas, but tonight seemed the kind of night to start. "Pack of Marlboro lights, and a lighter," she responded as she started pulling out her ID. The old man turned back to go gather the item. "Hundreds or shorts?" "Hundreds, I guess," she said with a wave of her hand, not really knowing the difference. The pegasus raised an eye at her as he listened to her voice. "Having a rough night?" "Really rough night," she answered as the older gentleman took her ID and scanned it. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about Riverview, would you?" "Just that most the ponies in these parts took off and left for it," the pegasus said with a shrug. She passed her debit card over to the cashier and took her ID back as she looked at the pegasus quizzically. "Why are you still here?" "Family is all still human except for me. No reason to leave my family, or to ask them to uproot themselves to let me be around more ponies," the pegasus explained with yet another shrug. "Still a few ponies left on the area. I'm not completely alone." "You should be going home to bed, Phil," the old man said. "You know you don't do so well staying up late. Your family will be worried." "Probably right on that," the pegasus said with a yawn. He looked back at Megan. "Hope whatever's bothering you works out little lady." "It will work out," Megan answered as she took back her card and took her bag of items. She left the store and went back to her car. A moment later she saw the pegasus come out of the store with the old man seeing him out. They said their goodbyes to one another and the pegasus took off into the sky. Megan took a moment to pull out the pack of cigarettes and started packing it down like she had seen people do before. She then opened it up and put one in her lips and lit it up while inhaling in. She started coughing for a good few seconds after and scowled, then tried again. She kept at it till she felt she had the hang of it and even felt a bit of a buzz from it. She then rolled down the window to let the cloud of smoke that had built up out. Within a minute or two she was back on the road and then back on the interstate. She punched into her GPS system Riverview and the system started giving directions. It would take a little over two hours of driving to get there. Forty more minutes into driving she left the interstate. It would be back roads for most of the rest of the way. Most of these roads passed in and out of small towns with lots and lots of nothing in between except for woods. They were still technically state highways, but they were now down to just one lane going each direction, and many of them were in poor condition. Many of these required her to make turns onto other roads and without her brights on she would never have even noticed the side road. Boredom and anxiety became more oppressive as she spent the final hour on the road. She quickly ate through all the jerky and drank all her energy drink. She wished she had bought more of each, the energy drinks in particular, but far too late to worry about that now. To pass time, and to distract herself, she practiced smoking. It gave her a bit of a headache after about four cigarettes in a row and she started feeling ill. She figured she was having too many too close together and decided she needed to space those out more. This left her with nothing to do for longer stretches but focus on the road, and it made her surroundings feel more oppressive without something to focus on. At around three-thirty in the morning she finally saw the sign for Riverview and slowed down to only fifteen miles per hour. It was a simple enough sign that gave a big welcome, and had a new sign hammered onto it that stated population over fifteen thousand with a happy face drawn next to it, and a message beneath it saying the pony capital of South Carolina. The word Carolina seemed to have been tacked on at the last moment. She felt a certain relief as she saw it. Even though she had driven much farther and for greater periods of time in the past this trip felt like the longest of her life. For better or for worse she had reach where her new home would be. Very shortly after passing into town she spotted two night ponies sitting on the porch of a house, watching her. Neither was her sister; one was a dark blue and the other was grey, she knew her sister was brown. The light of the car's light caught their eyes and seemed to make them glow, despite not shining directly at them at any point. She couldn't help being reminded of wolves when she saw this and shivered. Continuing into town she saw similar houses, though the rest were devoid of night ponies. As she drove deeper into town the scattered houses gave way to brick buildings placed close together, all of which were clearly shops. Signs hung on all the windows that looked fresh, but she couldn't read what any of them were. Very few of these had any signs hanging above declaring what the business happened to be. She spotted night ponies again sitting on top of many of the buildings watching her drive by, and a few shadows darted through the air that she was sure were more night ponies. They didn't seem to be making any effort to keep hidden, unlike when they were in Charleston and knew they were there but couldn't see them. After a minute or two past these she saw her destination. The very obvious town hall. Sitting just outside the doors was a pony that was very clearly her sister. Megan had spent a lot of time looking at the picture Alex had sent her and Mandy had a very distinct appearance. Mandy stood to her hooves and started walking out to her as Megan pulled her car into park in front of the town hall. As soon as she had the car parked and off Megan threw off her seat-belt and dashed out of the car towards Mandy. She caught her sister by surprise as she rushed over to her and bent down to grab her into a hug. Mandy quickly brought one of her forelegs up to hug back, as well as put her wings around her. Megan started crying as she and Mandy sat silently hugging one another outside the town hall. Eventually Megan released her sister and looked down at her. "You look like shit." Mandy smiled and raised an eyebrow at her. "You look pretty crappy yourself, and you smell terrible. Have you been smoking? You reek of it. Since when do you smoke?" "Since tonight, it was something to distract myself with and help with nerves," Megan said as she deflated. "Mom and Dad heard me leaving, and I probably have a dozen voicemails on my phone by now from them. I'm afraid to even check." Mandy looked down the road as if expecting their parents to come speeding down it at any moment. Megan couldn't help but feel the same way as she glanced anxiously in that direction as well. Back when she had stopped in Summerville she had a small fear then that they would pull into the parking lot and try to force her to return home. Mandy looked upwards and Megan followed her gaze to a night pony perched on a nearby building. Mandy made some sort of gesture at the night pony and then pointed with a wing back down the road. Megan saw the night pony nod and take off in that direction. "We'll make sure they don't trouble you," Mandy said in a consoling tone. She then rose to her hooves. "Let's get in your car so I can get you to the house and get you settled in so you can get some sleep. I'm sure you have to be exhausted. I warn you, it isn't much, and it is pretty empty. I'm already making plans for the three of us to find someplace bigger though." "Alright, Mandy," Megan said as she stood back up. Mandy gave her a disapproving frown. "I stressed that a few times, but will again now; my name is Tattered Wing, not Mandy. You can use some variation of that, but I'm going to stick to my guns about that. I have many reasons I want to leave that name behind me." "Yes, Tattered," Megan corrected herself. She wanted to ask about what those reasons were, but it was late. Her sister was right, she was tired and ready to get some sleep.