Sunset Blessing considered herself a simple mare with simple wants. What she wanted from life was to do God's holy work. Beyond that she just wanted to be a good mother to her daughter and a good friend and lover to Tonya.
To this point things had been going well overall. There had been some hiccups here and there, but overall she was doing an excellent job laying the groundwork for the pony world that God intended. It wasn't always easy, but serving the Lord wasn't supposed to be always easy, and it had provided her with opportunity after opportunity to further his work. She'd been given many blessings for her hard work, and new opportunities she never thought possible continued to open up before her by God's grace.
But now she was facing a trial of faith that she hadn't expected to face. The two things she loved most after God, her daughter and Tonya, were pitted against one another. For the first time in weeks she was uncertain what God wanted her to do.
Without realizing how it happened she found Rosetta hovering in the air with her muzzle planted right in her face.
"Did you put her up to that? You were ready to try to kill him that night. Did you just wait to have it done out of sight and took advantage of Tonya to do it? How could you take advantage of a mare that loves you as much as she does?" Rosetta demanded.
She heard Tonya speak up. "Rosetta, please, this was all me. I was the one that used my powers by my choice. She didn't ask me to do it. I just did it."
Technically that was true. She hadn't wanted Tonya to use her powers that way. She hadn't wanted poor Tonya to harbor that kind of guilt. Tonya harbored that guilt anyway. Tonya would never have even been put in that position if she hadn't asked Tonya to go to Number Crunch. Tonya's guilt was Sunset's guilt.
"How could you do such a thing...?" She heard Lavender ask in horror. She couldn't see Lavender; all she saw was her future daughter-in-law's judging face.
"I was angry! He had raped my best friend! I wanted him dead!" She heard Tonya yell. Still all she saw was Rosetta's judgemental face.
"I can't believe..." Lavender began shakingly then hardened her tone as she continued. "I have to go to Tattered Wing. A murder is a crime under her jurisdiction. She must be informed."
Sunset wanted to yell out an objection, but she couldn't actually think of an objection beyond the fact she didn't want Lavender to do that. She was stuck just staring silently at Rosetta's still scowling face.
She heard the door open and close, signaling Lavender's departure. She needed to snap out of this. Why was she not taking action? Tonya needed her right now.
She searched for what to do and zeroed in on something she didn't understand. "Why is Phobia going to judge you and kill you?"
"Because I used mind magic to..."
"No," Sunset said sternly. "I want to know why my daughter is going to be the one to do this. I know what you did already."
Rosetta finally decided to remove herself from Sunset's face and she could now see Tonya sitting beside her, tears in her eyes. Tonya sniffled and whiped her nose before answering. "Phobia is one of the ponies that punishes ponies for misusing mind magic. She's not the only one, but she'll be one of the ones that punishes me. She has to do it, it's her job."
Tonya's answer didn't answer all the questions, it actually added more questions. She needed to keep focused and keep her questions focused, short, and to the point. "Since when is this her job? Who gives her the authority? Why have I heard nothing about this?"
Tonya turned her eyes to Rosetta and Sunset followed them. Rosetta looked at the two and sighed. "I can't give you any information on that. These are night pony secrets. Tonya knows some things because she uses mind magic and is getting tried for her actions."
Sunset grit her teeth. She needed answers. "What if I ask Tonya to compel me to secrecy? I need to know. This is my daughter and Tonya we're dealing with."
"Sunset, we agreed no more messing with your mind," Tonya objected. I don't want to hurt you by accident because I keep layering it on over and over."
Rosetta gave Tonya an appraising look. "Always devoted, aren't you? Since she's consenting I don't think they'll have an issue with it. If they do then I'll take the punishment for saying it was good enough. I still won't tell everything though."
Sunset looked over at Tonya and touched a hoof to Tonya's face. "One last time. I'm doing this for you, not for me. I need to know everything I can to protect you. I love you, and I love Phobia too, and I need to know what I can to help make this right."
Tonya's eyes glistened. "You never say that...that you love me. I know you do, but it's nice to hear it from you. You've always dance around saying it. You say I deserve your love, you say you desire my love, you told me once about how I was brave for doing something that might risk your love, you never say you love me--not directly."
Sunset's chest tightened up. "I'm telling you now, and I'll make a point of telling you more often from now on. I might have neglected making you feel loved, and I'm sorry for that. I do love you though. I might also have neglected my daughter yet again. She obviously has had things going on that I failed to see...again."
Sunset choked up as realization hit her. "Despite everything that has changed I'm still a horrible lover and mother. I can't change what I've done wrong already, but I can do better. God is telling me that I need to do better. Right now I need you to help me do better. If me getting compelled to secrecy is what I need to do to help you two then that's what I'm want to happen, and damn any side effects."
Rosetta snorted. "Well, I see some things that Phobia gets from you. When you two commit to something you're both willing to charge in without a thought about the dangers to yourselves." Rosetta smiled. "It's actually very admirable by night pony standards. You get a gold star, Sunset. Pick up a few more and you might get me to begrudgingly call you Mom."
Earning a few more gold stars would be worth it just to have to watch squirm when she finally uttered the word Mom. She didn't actually hate Rosetta. The mare did make Phobia happy, and that was what was important. She also appreciated how fiercely protective Rosetta was of Phobia. What she didn't care for was Rosetta's snide little attitude towards her and treating her like she was some sort of villain. What had she done to earn her future daughter-in-law's enmity? Nothing, that's what. It was completely uncalled for.
That didn't matter right now though. Right now what mattered was Tonya. Phobia was supposedly going to do something terrible to Tonya. Sunset knew that Phobia couldn't be doing this because she wanted to. Tonya was too dear to Phobia for that. Tonya was also the one that had gotten Sunset to start really thinking of Phobia as her daughter instead of her son. It was only because of Tonya that any rift between Sunset and Phobia that had developed over the years had been mended at all. Tonya was only in this position at all because of how much she cared about her friend. Tonya did not deserve this, Phobia didn't deserve this, and she wasn't about to let either of them get hurt by this.
Tonya was looking at her now with sad eyes. Tonya was facing judgement for essentially murder and even now Tonya was still more worried about her. "Tonya, if it hurts me I don't care. There are times for worrying about what might happen so you must consider everything with care and proceed with caution and foresight, and there are also rare times you just have to take action and worry about the consequences later. Protecting you is worth getting hurt for, and this is a time for action because time is not on our side. The Equestrian has already gone to the Broken One. Please, just do it."
Tonya looked down briefly then nodded. She gave a few brief flaps of her wings and joined Sunset on the bed. Sunset scooted over just a little bit to give Tonya some more room. Tonya then took off her medallion using a wing and passed it to Rosetta who accepted it with hers.
"Alright, look me in the eyes and let me think about what I need to say," Tonya instructed. "I want to make sure I can word this right using wants and I'm horrible with words. I really can't afford to mess this up though."
Sunset nodded and did as instructed. She sat there admiring Tonya's violet eyes as the pegaus sat and thought.
"I'm going to be right back," Rosetta informed then. "I'm going to go talk to the front desk pony and have him delay Tattered when she arrives, then I'm going to wake Rudra up and have him watch over Phobia as she sleeps. When I'm done with those things I'll be back "
Sunset did a brief nod of her head while Tonya mouthed a quick okay to the night pony. It hadn't even occurred to her to ask where Phobia was up to now. It should have struck her as strange that Rosetta was here and Phobia wasn't. Why did they need the doctor to look over Phobia in her sleep? Motherly instinct rose up in her and made her want to go rush to her daughter to find out what was wrong. The only things stopping her were the fact that Rosetta wasn't in a panic and Tonya's beautiful eyes still holding her gaze.
Tonya started speaking slowly. "You want to keep the secrets entrusted to you. Whatever happens you don't want to betray the trust Rosetta and Phobia place in you. You don't want to use your daughter's secrets for your own gain. You don't want to use your daughter's secrets to advance any other plan. You want to keep all you learn about how night ponies enforce justice among themselves secret from those who don't know. You do not want to ever take vengence for what decision is given for me. You will comply with Phobia's wishes involving this. You will keep the trust given to you today."
Sunset's mind and vision went fuzzy for a moment, as was common when Tonya used her powers. She heard Tonya speak as her head started to clear. "I love you, Sunset Blessing. No matter what happens, thank you."
Tonya then wrapped her legs around her in a hug and they sat silently as they heard Rosetta and Rudra speaking somewhere close by. A moment later the door opened and hoofsteps could be heard entering before it shut. The two of them released and turned to look at Rosetta.
Rosetta looked worried as her tail twitched and she kept glancing at the door. Rosetta finally turned back to them with tear filled eyes and spoke. "Phobia is suffering in her dream, not normal nightmare suffering. She's in intense physical pain. I don't dare wake her, she said this might happen. It doesn't make me any less scared for her. I told Rudra not to wake her no matter what, and to just try to make sure she stays alive. Let's get this done quick. I want to be in there with her. We all probably want to be in there with her."
Sunset's ears flattened as she jumped to her hooves, nearly dislodging Tonya from the bed. Tonya had to flap her eleings a few times to not going tumbling off. She glared down at Rosetta with full motherly fury as her horn lit up.
"What's wrong with her? You didn't say anything about her being hurt, or possibly dying! Why are we dealing with this if she could possibly be dying right now!" She bellowed.
Rosetta bravely held her gaze. "What's wrong right now will be explained to you if you two are done with the compulsion. And she's doing what she has to do. She chose this and you will respect this. She promised me she would come back to me okay. I trust her, no matter how worried I am. Are you ready to learn what's going on or are you going to be difficult again?"
Sunset grit her teeth and sat down. "I won't betray her secrets. Tonya did what was needed. Now explain what's going on."
Rosetta looked over at Tonya briefly to see Tonya nod and then looked back to Sunset. "Phobia is part of a very small group of night ponies that are responsible for making sure dreamwalking and mind magic are not misused. This group holds an enormous amount of power while dreaming. Every night pony that can dreamwalk knows and fears them."
"And this is why Shadow Dancer complied to her when he was so obstructive to the rest of us?" Sunset asked.
"In part," Rosetta replied as she flew back over to her chair. "He complied because he had used mind magic maliciously and he knew that he was facing judgement from her and her group. He's hoping for some mercy. I highly doubt that Phobia will give him that mercy, but he's still trying for it. They are going to do horrible things to him, and nothing can stop them."
Sunset looked at Tonya who was trembling beside her and then looked back at Rosetta. "And Tonya faces judgement as well for what she's done?"
Rosetta gave Tonya a sad look. "Yes, she does. I didn't think it was going to be that severe till today. But if she really forced Number Crunch to do murder that is likely to be very bad. I hadn't even imagined she have done something like that. I don't see her getting out of this without severe punishment now. Everything else she did she could have gotten off lightly on, but not that."
Sunset tried to think she needed more information. Things looked bad, really bad. Even if Tonya somehow got out of the problem with this group of night ponies she still faced being an accessory to murder at the very least from regular law enforcement, if not being charged with murder herself. That she herself had tried to arrange it wasn't even worth thinking about, it was Tonya who mattered now.
"What about Number Crunch; can we get her to testify on Tonya's behalf?" There was still the issues Number Crunch would be facing with law enforcement too, but Number Crunch was at least not facing these night ponies. Perhaps she could negotiate something with Tattered Wing. They already kind of had a gentlemare's agreement about this. One issue at a time though.
Tonya tapped her forehooves together. "I think Number knows what I did. She was very angry at me. She said I betrayed her."
Sunset blinked. How was that possible? Number Crunch hadn't come to her about any of this, and hadn't shown any hostility to her. If Number Crunch had realized what Tonya had done she surely would have come yelling at Sunset about it, not simply going on business as usual--at least not if she was already venting rage at Tonya. Something felt off about that. That was something to look into.
"What will I be doing to defend Tonya?" She asked. It seemed a silly question, but this was clearly not a normal trial.
Rosetta shook her head. "I don't have any idea. You'd have to ask Phobia. I don't know the full instead and outs of this. Only that the old bitch is going to be head judge and there will be a prosecution, defense, and witnesses are allowed. All the judges, which includes Phobia, will come to some decision."
Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Who's the old bitch? Also, who's the prosecution?"
Rosetta frowned. "I have to ask Phobia if I can say who she is, but I don't think I'm allowed. I can say she's pretty damn fanatical about this kind of stuff. They all are to some extent, but she dials it up a level. She's extremely harsh and she won't hesitate to hurt anypony that crosses her. She can be reasonable about things done in ignorance, but if you did something diliberately or when you should know better she's the devil made flesh."
God help me. She needed some favors. "And the prosecution is who?"
Rosetta shook her head. "I don't know. I'll still stand in defense for Tonya. I don't want Phobia to be hurt by this."
That was a small favor at least. It did bring back to mind the pressing issue in the other room.
"What's happening to Phobia right now? Why is she in pain?" Sunset asked as she narrowed her eyes at Rosetta.
Rosetta rubbed her wing and her eyes started watering again. "To be what she is she has to undergo a certain process. It's a process that can kill her if she's not ready for it. With how fast things are going to go with Shadow Dancer she has an urgency to undergo that process sooner rather than later. Luna was helping her get ready, but then the rape happened and everything got put on hold. Now she's forcing herself to get ready at an accelerated rate far faster than what Luna would have done and it's painful, but if she isn't ready the process afterward will kill her. I hate seeing her in pain, but I'm not going to risk losing her. This is what she wants to do though."
The room suddenly felt very cold. This could kill Phobia and Rosetta was letting it happen?! She had to stop herself from lighting up her horn, hurling Rosetta through a wall, and charging over to where her daughter was sleeping. The only thing stopping her was she was unsure if this process that Rosetta mentioned was an inevitability. If that was the case there couldn't be anything worse she could do. She had to do what she was good at, look at the big picture.
Plus, this was what Phobia wished.
Rapid hoofsteps could be heard and the door swung open to reveal Rudra Patel. "All of you come over to Phobia Remedy's room quickly. She's awake and she wishes to speak to all of you."
Sunset didn't need to be told twice. She jumped down from her bedand quickly pushed past the doctor to make her way into the hallway. As soon as she was out in the hallway she picked up on Phobia's scent, which was strangely stronger than usual, yet clearly her. She quickly followed it to the appropriate room with Rosetta hot on her tail and Tonya right behind the two of them.
Her eyes went wide as she saw her daughter laying on the floor. Phobia's fur was soaked in sweat, so much so it actually dripped from her and her tail and mane hung limply with the caught up moisture. She was panting and her eyes were red. Her chest was visibly sucking in as much breath as she could as she sat up on her forelegs with her rump twisted on it's side on the ground.
Her first instinct was to go grab up her daughter, but she needed to be focused. She instead turned to Rudra. "Get her some water quickly you dolt! You see how much she's sweating and how much fluid she's lost! You call yourself a doctor?"
Rudra immediately hurried off as Rosetta zipped by Sunset to grab Phobia up first.
"Is it over? Are you bound? Please tell me it's over," Rosetta pleaded as she gripped Phobia in a tight hug.
Phobia didn't seem to have the strength to return the hug. Instead she just spoke. "No, not done. Psy is done. I'm next. Needed to make sure I didn't thrash. Need to make sure I get fluid. Need to make sure I see you...in case goes wrong."
Sunset couldn't stand this. Her daughter was clearly not in shape for some new ordeal. This was just getting ready for the thing that might kill her and she was planning on jumping right back into it? Was she insane?!
"Can't this wait for a little while so you can regain your strength? A few hours at least? Surely it can wait a few hours," Sunset pleaded.
Phobia looked at her tiredly. "Rosetta been talking to you?"
Sunset came over and put a hoof on her daughter softly. "She has. I had to take a God damned compulsion to keep my mouth shut about everything, but whatever it takes. Please don't do this if it can wait. I want to see your wedding, and my grandfoal, and I can't stand here and lose you. Don't you care about me, your father, or Rosetta? Don't you care you're carrying a foal that will be lost if you die? Why does this override all that? Why is this so important that you'd risk all that? Risk your life?"
Phobia just hung tiredly on Rosetta's shoulder as Rudra returned with a thermos of water and held it up to Phobia's lips with a wing. Phobia sipped slowly from it as they all waited. Rudra would pull back for a second here and there to let her swallow and breath then bring it back to her lips. This continued on until Phobia finally shook her head she didn't want any more.
"You all matter to me, and that's why I have to do this," Phobia explained with a little more strength than before. "You can't defend yourselves against ponies like Shadow Dancer or Tonya or me. I have to make sure you're safe. I have to protect. I'll be okay, I just need you to watch over me and keep me alive while I do this. In a few hours I'll never be able to be taken away from you."
"It can't wait just a little while?" Sunset pleaded one more time.
Phobia shook her head. "If I wait now it will have to wait days. I don't have days. I committed myself to this happening in my haste by declaring two days on Shadow Dancer, but now I have to follow through with what I said. If my credibility faulters now it will take a long time to get back. A long time while ponies and humans are getting hurt by mind magic."
Sunset bit her lip hard, hard enough if bled. She wasn't going to be able to sway Phobia. She just had to accept that. That meant the next thing was making sure Phobia lived through this.
She looked at the other ponies in the room. "Help get her on a bed. Find something to help strap her down so she won't thrash. Get her some tranquilizers and sedatives to make sure she stays asleep and not moving too much. Do whatever she needs, but I'm not losing my daughter today."