//------------------------------// // Chapter 40 // Story: Pandemic: Picking up the Pieces // by Halira //------------------------------// Tonya sat by Sunset's bed with her head hung low. Sunset hadn't awoken yet, but the fact she had seemed to stir a few times was promising that she might wake up soon. Lavender sat in a corner casually flipping through a human magazine of some sort, and would check Sunset on and off. Aside from the occasional sounds Sunset made in her sleep it was silent in the room. Tonya was fine with silence for once. She wanted the next words said to be from Sunset. It called her that more ponies weren't concerned. Amber had come by briefly to check in her and then left. No other pony had bothered to come by. Rudra had gone away soon after arriving and was asleep in one of the other rooms. Phobia and Rosetta were also asleep in another room. She still didn't know how to feel about having messed with her best friend's mind. If she was a religious mare she would be praying right now that this time she did good. It galled her to admit it, but the idea of praying to some invisible sky spirit was becoming a more appealing thing as time went on. She needed some higher power to give her a help. If there was a pony that was lost and confused and in need of spiritual guidance that would be her. When Sunset was better maybe she could ask Sunset to talk to her about God. That would make Sunset happy, and she loved making Sunset happy. She could go through the motions for Sunset. If she went through the motions enough maybe she'd even start to believe in it. Tonya looked up as the door to the room opened and Rosetta walked in, looking tired. Lavender looked at Rosetta with confusion. "Shouldn't you be asleep? I thought you were helping Phobia with her nightmares? And you Earth night ponies are usually asleep around this time of day anyway." Rosetta found a chair and climbed up into it. "The old mare told me to scram while she and Phobia do whatever it is they're doing. I got punished while I was asleep for rudeness and figured waking up would be better recovery than trying to keep dreamwalking. When do you sleep anyway? You always seem to be awake whenever anypony comes over here." Lavender gave a brief flap of her wings. "You certainly are taking whatever punishment she gave you well. As for my sleep I take naps when there isn't anything to be doing around here. Being an on-call nurse I don't have much that resembles a regular sleep schedule. Two hours here, another three if I'm lucky there. I'm used to it. I'll be happy when I get back to Equestria and get a well deserved vacation. But enough about that, what exactly did the old mare do to you, and are you sure your alright?" Rosetta shuddered. "She drowned me. I suppose I should be grateful she didn't decide to get creative. She was probably being nice because she didn't want Phobia mad at her. It's my own fault. I knew better than to mouth off to one of them, the old bitch most of all. Being wife to one just further highlights how little excuse I had for making that mistake." Tonya listened with wide eyes. "You probably hear this all the time, but you night ponies are crazy! Some pony tries to drown you and you just shake it off as if it's your own damn fault? You shouldn't put up with that!" Rosetta sighed. "I knew better than to do that, especially before doing what I was required to do. The old bitch will probably calm her flanks down eventually. For now they're establishing order. Order we obviously need if there are any more ponies like Shadow Dancer out there." Tonya shivered as she remembered that she was due up for judgement. "Um, any chance you can tell me what I can be expecting when my turn comes up? I'd really appreciate it if I knew what I'm supposed to do to defend myself." Rosetta gave her a long look then sighed. "I can't tell you everything, and I'm not sure on all the details myself, but I suppose I can give you some help. First thing to know is the old bitch seems to be the one pulling you to judgement. That means the old bitch is the one that will dictate how your trial will go. That doesn't bode well for you." Tonya's ears flattened. "Why's that?" Rosetta looked her in the eyes. "Because she's probably the most punishment happy of the group, and she goes in harsh as possible. If it were some of the others you might have an easier time." Tonya trembled. "So, I'm just screwed then?" Rosetta shook her head. "Not necessarily. The old bitch might dictate how the trial will proceed, but they all have to come in agreement about judgement. They also do take into consideration intent and outcome. They also don't like killing ponies if they don't have to." Tonya hopped down from her chair. "Wait! Death is a possible punishment here? And you and Phobia are not helping me out more?" "Calm down," Rosetta said firmly. "I don't think there's a realistic chance they'll kill you. I don't know what they'll do, especially since you aren't a night pony, but not kill you. You haven't done anything with intent to harm or deliberately force anypony to do anything, right?" Tonya kept her ears flat. If they found out about Number Crunch she was so dead. They didn't know though, and it was just a one time thing she'd never do again. She just had to keep that information from reaching them. She shook her head. "No, nothing like that." "Then even though I don't know what they'll do, you'll live," Rosetta assured her. "It won't be pleasant, but it won't be a death sentence. Maybe they'll just offer for you to swear the Oaths or offer you take some other compulsion as an option. The fact you aren't a night pony who should know better works in your favor too. Maybe Sha'am will just repeatedly kill you in the dreamscape, which is the equivalent of a spanking from her." Tonya wondered if she could turn as green as Wild Growth. Killed repeatedly? And that was a light punishment? Night ponies were insane! Rosetta stared at her and then spoke slowly. "I keep asking and I keep thinking you're hiding something. Did you do something worse? I don't want the worst to happen to you. It would devestate Phobia if she had to hand down the worst kinds of punishments on you, and I do consider you a friend too." "Phobia wouldn't kill me," Tonya asserted. She hoped she was right about that. Rosetta's gaze hardened. "Death isn't the worst kinds of punishment. Death is a mercy when the worst kind of punishment is in order. I don't think Shadow Dancer is going to die for what he did, I think he's going to get worse than that. He's going to get their justice, not death. It's better to die than to get their justice." Tonya tried to imagine what could be worse than getting killed, she wasn't a very imaginative pony though. That might be a good thing in this case. "Who's going to be in charge of his trial? The same pony as for mine?" She asked. Rosetta shook her head. "No, Phobia is, she's the one who declared he'd get judgement. This's the first trial of it's kind and an example needs to be made. She's going to have to essentially throw the book at him if he's found guilty, and all signs seem to point to he will be." "And I'm the second trial, and getting the nasty judge leading it," Tonya said slowly. Rosetta scratched her ear with a wing. "I would take that as incentive to come clean about anything you've done. Both Phobia and I can tell you're hiding something, and I'm sure the old bitch will know too. Even if she didn't, Phobia would be duty bound to find out and she's still one of your judges." The room felt uncomfortably hot all of the sudden. Tonya felt herself sweating. They were going to find out. What was she going to do? Her thoughts were interrupted by a groan from the bed as Sunset finally seemed to wake up. Lavender hurried over to the bedside as Sunset slowly sat up. "Don't move too fast. You've taken a hard blow to the head," Lavender instructed. Then put the edge of her wing out in front of Sunset's eyes. "How many wing fingers am I holding up?" Sunset groaned and looked at the wing. "You only have a useless thumb that sticks out, you can't even hold up the rest because they're in the wing. Why bother asking?" Lavender withdrew her wing with a smile. "It felt like it would be a familiar type of question based on what I read your human doctors do. The fact you were able to give me a coherent response is what I was looking for. My thumb is not useless either, I'll have you know. I can grip things with my wing thumbs pretty well and they also make night ponies better climbers than any other pony type. I was a three-year champion in tree climbing as a filly and two-year cliff climbing champion." Sunset groaned again and glared at Lavender's wing thumbs. "Good for you and your ability to climb trees and cliffs you could just fly up anyway. Mind telling me what happened to me?" Tonya couldn't hold back talking to Sunset anymore. "That crazy crystal pony Crystal Dreams bucked you in the head after absorbing your spell." Sunset's face hardened. "I remember that now. Where is that pony that tried to attack my daughter?" Rosetta answered first. "Last I saw of her my sister had her pinned to the ground after Tattered and I bloodied up her muzzle. She's not going to be an issue." Sunset tried to rise. "I need to get back to negotiations then." Lavender put a wing on Sunset and stopped her from rising. "You need to stay in bed. Number Crunch has everything in order. Once your daughter got involved Shadow Dancer pretty much caved in on everything." "Phobia?" Sunset said with a shake of her head. "I remember she was there. She was speaking like an avenging angel to Shadow Dancer. I'd never seen her that way before. It was like she was some prophet come down from God declaring a revelation." "Right..." Lavender said with confusion. "I have no idea what any of that means. You may have more after effects from that blow than I thought. Anyway, he did what she wished after she declared he would be judged." "Like a prophet!" Sunset said joyfully. "Um, Sunset, I think you're still a little loopy from the buck to the head," Tonya said carefully. She put her wing on Sunset. "Look at me. What you saw was not Phobia being a prophet. Phobia is a judge...of sorts, but she isn't a prophet. Do you understand?" Sunset shook her head. "No, I don't. What happened then?" Tonya took a deep breath. "It's a night pony thing, and apparently a me thing too since I can use mind magic." Sunset jerked her eyes around to Rosetta quickly and Tonya quickly reached out a wing and guided Sunset's eyes back to her. "They know about me. Every night pony in town knows about me. I need your help Sunset, they're going to judge me. I need you to help defend me, otherwise Phobia might kill me." Sunset narrowed her eyes. "Kill you?" Rosetta growled. "I told you, they aren't going to kill you. If you want Sunset to defend you that's all well and good as long as she abides by the conditions they give for doing so. I was already planning on offering to stand in defense of you, but you aren't in that kind of danger." Tonya looked over at the two night ponies and shook her head. "I am in danger. A lot of danger...I have a confession to make. She paused and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She opened them and held the gazes of the two night ponies. "I used mind magic maliciously. I used mind magic on Number Crunch to make her kill Swift Strike, and I need whatever mercy I can get."