Devon had wanted answers. She had gotten answers. Now that she had answers she had more questions.
Paul and Tom seemed just as stunned by what they had learned. Tom was staring at his daughter as if staring at a stranger. She could see Paul turning things over in his head as he looked at Robby. Robby, for his part, seemed pleased as punch about this whole thing.
She looked over at Phobia Remedy. Phobia Remedy was a complicated pony to know how to feel about right now. In part, Phobia was a kind and caring pony that cared about the well-being of others. Phobia had been the first kind face she had seen when everything had been bleakest.
But as Devon had just learned, Phobia had another side to her. Phobia was willing to inflict unspeakable punishments on ponies for percieved crimes, even go so far as killing them, all without batting an eye about it. She did this by her own authority, answerable to no one, and night ponies apparently firmly believed that she was more than capable of doing anything to them and they were helpless to stop her.
Even worse, even slight indiscretions could lead to torture of ponies. Slight indiscretions like being rude or refusing to accept her authority could lead to inhumane acts being inflicted. Phobia made it very clear, the Dreamwardens maintained their authority over night ponies with exceedingly brutal methods.
There were some things that were positive. There was a blanket ban from them on other night ponies doing the same types of things. There was zero tolerance for night pony vigilante activity using dreams. They didn't care how justified the night pony was or thought they were, they would not allow it. The same went for mind magic.
But again, it was impossible to ignore the sheer brutality or the fact they were answerable to no one. They made the rules and no one else had a say. They made the punishments and no one else had a say. They made the judgements and no one else had a say. They were in charge by the simple fact they were stronger. It was the strong dominating the weak and no one was even allowed to object. It flew in the face of everything she understood about fair governance.
There was a chance this was all bluster and they weren't actually that powerful, but the night ponies in general seemed to believe it.
There were still some pertinent unanswered questions though.
"With as much authority as you claim you and the other five like you have are you going to try to dictate my son's life?" Devon asked in as calm a tone as she could manage.
Phobia smiled despite everything. "What your son does with his life is of no concern or jurisdiction of the Dreamwardens. What we have jurisdiction of is the rules we laid out. We might sometimes encourage ponies to do something, but the choice to follow that suggestion is completely up to them. They'll receive no punishment if they disregard our suggestions. They're only punished for breaking the rules. The only exception to that being if they're already on any kind of provisional probation from us and they do things that make us regret giving them mercy."
"Can you give an example of that exception?" Devon prompted.
Phobia nodded. "Speaking in hypotheticals. Let's say Robby grows up and does something extremely bad with mind magic. For whatever reason we decide to show mercy to him after considering him and his situation. Then Robby goes out and gets drunk and does things that are against regular human laws. We might take this as a sign he wasn't worthy of the mercy that was afforded him, and take action against him as a result."
"I wouldn't do that. I'm a good pony," Robby protested.
"Hush. She's only giving a made up example," Paul said to their son.
Phobia continued as if no interruptions had happened. "Now let's say he wasn't already in trouble with us for breaking our rules and he went out and got drunk and broke human laws. In that case we don't care as Dreamwardens. What the average night pony does in the waking world is none of our concern. I might be disappointed in him as Phobia Remedy the pony, but that has no bearing on me as Phobia Remedy the Dreamwarden. Understand?"
"And can't order him to do something in the waking world?" Devon asked just to clarify.
"I can make suggestions just like any other pony, but that's all they are, suggestions and advice. If he disregards them then that's his free choice, and he'll see no consequences for it from us," Phobia said kindly. "Even if his choices annoy me they aren't breaking any rules. It is not disrespectful to me for him to make his own choices."
Paul coughed. "And what kinds of things are disrespectful?"
Rosetta lifted a hoof and Phobia allowed her to answer. "Mouthing off to a Dreamwarden in the dream realm, physically attacking a Dreamwarden in the waking world, refusing to say your Oaths to a Dreamwarden, not greeting a Dreamwarden in the dream realm with the Oaths, trying to leave a Dreamwarden's presence while in the dream realm when they're in the process of talking to you. That's not an all inclusive list since there might be some obviously rude things that somepony can do that I didn't think of, but you get the idea."
"And what kinds of punishments do those earn?" Paul asked.
Phobia shrugged. "It depends on who he disrespects and to what degree. In my case I would give a single warning to immediately correct his action. If he refuses I would typically toss him into his worst fear and dial the intensity up."
Rosetta's ears went flat. "I disrespected Sha'am Maut earlier today. She's the same pony that took your son's Oaths when he dreamwalked for the first time. Sha'am is very unforgiving if you should already know better. She gave me no warning. I just found myself in a room full of steadily rising water with no way out. She kept me there till I drowned, then released me back. That's her idea of light punishment."
"Drowned?!" Devon exclaimed in horror. Did this pony just shrug off a pony drowning her?
Rosetta shrugged. "It's only a dream, it can't actually hurt me. It's still terrifying though. On the plus side, I can call her..." She glanced at Robby. "...something very uncomplimentary in the waking world and suffer no consequences. Though she'd probably do worse than drown me if I tried calling that to her face or in the dream realm."
Devon shook her head in disbelief and stared at Phobia. "How can you be like this to your own tribe?"
Phobia's face hardened as she pointed a wing towards the center of town. "Because my tribe can do incredible harm to others. There's a night pony stallion in custody in this very town that brainwashed over five-thousand humans in Augusta. One pony did that to five-thousand humans. Do you think he was even an unusual case in terms of his capability? How long could you keep your mind intact if a night pony started invading your dreams every night? Controls have to be in place, controls they won't dare try to violate. It's for the good of all."
"But the government...they should be dealing with this," Devon tried to reply.
"Which government? We have night ponies all over the world. Plus, governments can't do crap short of exterminating every single night pony," Phobia snarled. "This has happened before, a long time ago in Equestria. Do you want the government coming for your son because they are that scared out of their wits of night ponies? They'll do it, if they're scared enough."
Who did this pony think she was to be saying things like that in front of Robby? Devon balled her hands into fists. "Don't say things like that. You're scaring my son."
"Does he look scared to you?" Phobia asked as she pointed a wing at Robby.
Devon looked over at her son. To her surprise, he actually didn't look scared. He looked a little uncertain, but she could tell that was because he was being put on the spot.
"Robby is this upsetting you?" Devon asked. "It's okay to say your scared."
Robby shook his head. "I'm not scared, Momma. The Dreamwardens will keep us all safe. They'll make sure we aren't bad and nopony will be mad and want to hurt us."
"Aren't you worried the Dreamwardens might hurt you?" Devon asked.
Robby looked confused. "Why? I'm a good pony who follows the rules, Ms. Sha'am said so. They only hurt rulebreakers, it's a rule, and every night pony knows the rules."
"I'd like to point out most of the time Robby isn't even going to deal with a Dreamwarden in the dream realm," Rosetta said. "There's six of them, once they've gotten their Oaths they don't have the time to stand around holding every pony's hoof. Unless Robby is trying to hurt a pony they'll pretty much ignore him."
Paul cut in. "But he is going to be encountering Phobia if we live here. So, he is running into a Dreamwarden often."
Phobia sighed. "And I will not be acting as Dreamwarden when awake. I doubt Robby is going to do anything that is going to invite my wrath as Dreamwarden in the waking world." She paused and then looked over at Robby. "I am acting as Dreamwarden at the moment though. Can you say your Oaths for me?"
Robby nodded vigorously and when he spoke Rosetta said them along with him. "Psychic Calm, we promise ponies shall dream in peace. Yinyu Wu Yan, we shall not allow our passions to lead us to folly. Ghadab, the Wardens' anger is unyielding and just. Phobia Remedy, fear of the Wardens keeps us safe. Tikhiy Krik, we shall keep the secrets of the Wardens. Sha'am Maut, better to die than to face the Wardens' justice."
Phobia smiled at him. "Very good. You've done a very good job learning those. There are some tricky words in that for a colt your age."
"Ms. Rosetta taught me most of it, and Ms. Sha'am helped me get all the hard words right. She even told me all about what each part means and why each part is important," Robby beamed.
"Well, you're a very smart and talented little colt," Phobia complimented, then turned back to Devon and Paul. "And I do want to stress he is a very talented colt. Most night ponies can't dreamwalk at his age. Him dreamwalking at five years old shows he's likely going to be a remarkably talented dreamwalker. Your son is gifted."
"How old would night ponies normally be when they start dreamwalking?" Paul asked.
Phobia flicked her tail. "We're still establishing a median age to expect those powers to develop. I can only go by what I have observed so far. I'd say the median is closer to ten years old."
"He's doing things that foals twice his age would have just started doing then," Devon said as she looked at Robby. She should be proud for having a talented son. Every parent liked being told their child was gifted and special, but all this stuff was unnerving. "Can he just...not do those things?"
Phobia shook her head. "It'd be like telling a unicorn not to use their horn or a pegasus not to fly. They're going to do it one way or another. You don't even have a way of stopping him from doing so."
"I like dreamwalking, Momma. Don't make me stop," Robby insisted.
"He does need to get a little training in that so he knows more of what he's doing," Rosetta cautioned. "I don't think a five year old should really be dreamwalking unsupervised, or even the older foals for that matter. He could hurt somepony without meaning to...or stumble into some adult dreams he really shouldn't be seeing at his age."
Devon hadn't even considered the possibility of what kinds of dreams her son could get into if he was unsupervised. There was no stopping him from dreamwalking. Robby could disregard her telling him not to and she'd have no way of telling. She actually started to consider whether she should be pressuring him to rehumanize rather than have him exposed to all of this. She had no way of watching or protecting him if he was going to be going around different dreams.
She looked at her son. He was upset now, and she knew it was because he was afraid that she was going to take this away from him. She had promised him that she wasn't going to force him to do anything just a few days ago. That promise still stood. That meant she had to accept all this as part of the package.
"Paul, I think it's best that we keep letting Rosetta look after Robby," she said after thinking everything through.
Paul looked at her in shock. "What about..."
"Robby's a good boy, he won't have to deal with the Dreamwardens," Devon said, knowing what his objection was. "He's going to end up dreamwalking no matter what. I just want someone to keep him out of trouble when he's dreamwalking."
Paul looked sullen, but nodded after a second. Devon sighed with relief, she didn't want to have to argue about this. She was already uneasy as it was.
Phobia wasn't done though. The night pony looked at them with unease. "There's another matter that I need to talk to you about, one that I'd rather your son didn't overhear. Do you mind if my dad and Rosetta take him for a walk or something?"
Paul frowned. "Does it involve him?"
Phobia shook her head, looking unhappy. She looked far less confident than she did just a moment before. What could possibly make her so uneasy?
Devon looked over at Tom. "Do you mind?"
Tom had been silent through the entire discussion. All this was new information to him as well. He had to have a million questions of his own.
The unicorn looked at Robby then looked at Phobia. "You and I are going to have a long talk later on, but I'll take the boy out if this is something that might upset him."
Phobia nodded. "Understood. Thanks Dad."
Rosetta went and grabbed her purse from the desk and looped it over her neck. She then went over to Robby and nudged him towards the door with a wing. "Come on, we'll go down to the restaurants in town and get you an ice cream."
Robby looked at his parents uncertainly. Devon just gave him a smile. "Go on, it's okay. Just remember to thank Ms. Rosetta for the ice cream when your done."
Phobia waited a full minute after the other ponies exited before she began speaking again. "Sorry for the silence. I just want to make sure my Dad and your son were out of earshot. Tonya wanted this for your ears only."
"This is about my sister?" Paul asked in confusion.
Phobia nodded then sighed. "Yeah, Tonya's gotten herself into trouble, a lot of trouble--Dreamwarden trouble. I'm still shocked at her admissions of what she's done."
"Tonya isn't a night pony, how has she gotten into trouble with the Dreamwardens?" Devon asked. "I can't even imagine her doing anything seriously wrong to begin with."
"Before I tell you just let me remind you that this is what came from Tonya. I'm not accusing her of anything. I'm just going by what she's admitted to doing," Phobia cautioned them. "She's my best friend. I don't want to have to be the one punishing her for these things, but we can't let these go. She wanted to make sure she came clean to you."
Paul sighed and sat down at the chair for the computer desk. "What did my sister do?"
Phobia backed up, moving into a corner. "She did two different things, one is far worse than the other." The night pony laid down and wrapped her tail around herself and lowered her ears. "If you aren't aware, I was raped a few days ago by another night pony. Tonya...Tonya went out and did something with mind magic to take vengeance on him. He's dead now."
Devon's heart about stopped. "Tonya murdered a pony?!"
Phobia lowered her head so it was laying on the floor. "Not directly herself...but he's dead because of her."
Paul stood up, knocking the chair over. "My sister would never do something like that! She might have a lot of failings, but she is not a murderer!"
Phobia raised her head and looked at Paul sadly. "She's the one who came forward telling us what she did. We still have to examine some things, but it isn't something she'd lie and say she did if she didn't actually do it. I was shocked when I heard it too. I actually feel guilty for it. If I had been more careful, and didn't end up getting raped, then she wouldn't have gone off seeking revenge."
Paul balled up his fists. "And now your going to be the one to punish her for it? What are you going to do to her?"
Phobia laid her head back down. "She is getting a trial. That will determine what happens to her. Rosetta and my mom will be defending her. Tattered Wing is prosecuting her. I don't know what my mom and Rosetta are going to be able to say to get her out of severe punishment though. I hope they come up with something, but I just don't see it. I'm not the only judge, and Sha'am Maut is in charge of the trial. Sha'am is the strictest of us."
"So... there's no hope for her?" Devon asked as she held a hand up to her mouth.
"There's always hope, but it seems pretty dim," Phobia said mournfully.
Paul started pacing around the room and Phobia cringed back whenever he got close to her. Devon just sat in shock. She'd only known Tonya for a little while, but she couldn't picture the fun loving pegasus she had met as a murderer. And Paul...he hadn't been close to Tonya...well since they were young kids, but they were still siblings.
Paul stopped his pacing and turned to look at Phobia again. "You said she did two things. What's the other thing."
Phobia looked even more unhappy, if that was possible. "Do you two remember any point in the last few days you were both together with Tonya and no one else?"
Devon thought about it for a moment, there was only one time that it was just her, Paul, and Tonya together alone, that first day Paul had come back.
"Yes," Devon said with a stuff nod of her head.
"Did anything strange happen?" Phobia asked.
Paul frowned. "Yes, both Devon and I had this wave of...something...come over us, like nausea or vertigo." He paused as realization could be seen in his eyes. "Tonya got really upset and took off right after."
Phobia sat back up slowly and turned to each of them before continuing. "That feeling you felt was her hitting you with a heavy dose of mind magic. From what I understand she didn't mean to do it. She lashed out unintentionally because she was angry and upset."
"And what did she do to us with that mind magic?" Devon asked, afraid of what the answer might be.
"She..." Phobia began before Paul stopped her with a stomp, making the night pony cringe back and whimper.
Paul stomped towards Phobia. "I don't care what she did. It doesn't matter. Whatever she did can't be that bad because Devon and I are fine. We're fine! You hear me! We're fine!"
Devon got to her feet and rushed over to them. She then pulled Paul back from where he was lurched over Phobia.
"Paul stop! You're scaring her. She's just the messenger. Don't take this out on her," Devon pleaded as she pulled Paul away from Phobia, who was now starting to hyperventilate.
Paul shook her off and rounded on Devon a cold glare. "I still don't want to know. We're fine and that's all there is to it. I don't want to hear whatever she claims Tonya thinks she did to us."
Devon stepped back. "There's no need to get so hostile over it. Think of what you're doing. You're charging over and making threatening gestures to someone who was raped only a few days ago. She didn't do any of this and your giving her a panic attack because she has a huge man looming over her making violent gestures."
Paul looked down at Phobia, who was still shaking and breathing rapidly, and then he turned and headed for the door. "I'm going out and clearing my head. The great and powerful Dreamwarden can deal with feeling a little small and powerless for a few minutes."
"Paul!" Devon shouted in outrage.
The shout fell on deaf ears as he stormed out of the house.