//------------------------------//
// Chapter 16 - Trust 
// Story: Pandemic: Aftermath 
// by ASGeek2012 
//------------------------------//

"Why do these things always happen when I'm about to go to bed?!" Midnight Star yelled up into the Tuesday dawn sky over Greenwood Village.

"Stop being so melodramatic," Moon Racer snapped.

Midnight stared at her. "You just told me some human girl mass mind-controlled about two dozen beings all at once, and I'm the one being melodramatic?!"

"You're lucky I even told you at all."

"And just what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you can be the one to break it to the Wardens."

Midnight's pupils shrank. "Oh, fuck that noise!"

"They have to know!" Moon cried. "You can't just ignore it."

"Oh, yeah? Watch me," Midnight declared. "I'm very good at that. Ask anypony."

"I don't have to," said Moon sourly. "I've seen you ignore common sense on more than one occasion. Like now."

"So common sense dictates that I get an innocent little girl in trouble with the Dreamwardens, huh?"

"First of all, she's hardly little. She's fifteen and pretty damn mature for her age."

"That's beside the point," Midnight said.

"And second, the 'innocent' part is debatable," said Moon. "She effectively used her power to help her and her friends escape law enforcement."

"Hello! She did it for a Partial that we all agreed to help bring safely into the pony sector!"

Moon frowned. "You're using a very loose definition of the word 'we'. I, for one, didn't like the idea."

Midnight narrowed his eyes. "Correction: everypony who's not a goodie-four-hooves like you."

"You were the one who wanted to bash that human's skull in when you found out he was abusing night pony powers!"

"And you were the one who was all like 'oh no, we have no authority here' blah blah blah. What's so different about this suddenly?"

"The sheer scope of it, for one," said Moon. "Do I really have to remind you about that incident in the south concerning the pegasus who could do something similar on such a scale?"

"Oh, yeah, right, that's a great selling point for me ratting her out to the Wardens," Midnight muttered. "Let's put a little girl on trial for something she had little control over."

"I doubt they would do that in this case. Again, you're being overly dramatic. And the fact that she doesn't have control over it means we need to have the Wardens keep a close eye on her."

Midnight rolled his eyes but said nothing.

"And furthermore," Moon continued. "Perhaps what she did was not abuse per se, but if she ever does gain mastery over that power, there's the potential it can be abused. Or exploited."

Midnight's eyebrows rose. "Exploited? By who?"

"I was the one who dreamwalked in Ted's mind the other night and discovered his concern over your aggressiveness," said Moon in a more subdued voice.

That gave Midnight some solace. The one night pony with whom he had the most contentious relationship was the one who had reported him, yet Luna still chose leniency; Moon Racer had likely put in a good word for him.

"In our talk, he mentioned a conversation he had with Mayor Morgan," said Moon. "Something really shady is going on around here."

"Oh, really?" Midnight snapped, though not as forcefully as earlier. "Where have you been for the last six months?"

"I don't mean the general situation, I mean recent events. Ted gave me permission to share some information with you in hopes you'll understand and help out."

"And how does ratting out Jenny help?" Midnight said. "I'm serious this time, I want to know."

Moon stepped closer to Midnight and lowered her voice. "We're talking about corruption at a high level in the FBI. And don't go off on a tirade about the organization itself. This is a very specific systemic campaign to destroy relations between ponies and humans."

"And your point?"

"My point is, as long as that corruption exists, Jenny is in danger of having her ability exploited." Moon hesitated. "Like they may be exploiting that human Ryan."

Midnight's pupils shrank, and he held up his fore-hooves. "Whoa, whoa, back up! Am I hearing this right? Ryan's on the take with the feds?"

"It's possible, yes."

"Well, fuck me with a boulder, no wonder they're not going after him!"

"Ryan, at least, likely made his own choice," said Moon. "But Jenny might not be given a choice. I don't want to think what an unscrupulous person would do to try to get her to use her ability the way they want."

Midnight frowned. "Over my dead body."

"So we're doing her a favor by reporting her," said Moon. "The Wardens would not only supervise her, but they could protect her."

"Or have somepony else protect her," said Midnight. "She's likely not connected to the dream realm any more."

"That remains to be seen. I would imagine the first order of business would be to have one of the Wardens try to dreamwalk her tonight. If that doesn't work, then they'll have to delegate somepony to talk to her in the real world."

"Fine, but I'm going to ask Psychic Calm to dreamwalk her himself. Or Phobia Remedy if he's too busy."

"Why them specifically?"

Midnight frowned. "Because I don't want her subjected to those screwballs on the other side of the planet."

Moon gave him a shocked look. "Midnight! You shouldn't speak about the Dreamwardens like that!"

"Why not? I still respect the hell out of them and do everything they want to be a good little night pony, but they're still grade A nutjobs."

Moon face-hoofed.

"Come on, you have to have a screw loose for that job. How else can you keep millions of night ponies in line?"

"I'm surprised they can keep you in line, to be honest," Moon muttered. "It's a wonder they haven't killed you by now out of sheer frustration."

Midnight smiled. "Must be my natural charisma that's my saving grace."

Moon snorted. "I won't even try with that one. Too easy."

"Aw, you're no fun anymore." Midnight sighed. "All right, fine, you talked me into it. I'll let Psychic Calm know about Jenny."

"Thank you," said Moon. "I would've done it myself, but I know you've been meeting with him more often as a result of that altercation with Ryan."

"Uh, yeah, 'meeting' with him. We'll call it that."

Moon tilted her head. "Is the punishment that bad?" she asked in a tentative voice.

"Mostly real unnerving." Midnight shuddered. "For somepony who used to be a psychiatrist as a human, he can come up with some pretty disturbing stuff."





Jenny felt more on an emotional even keel after having been spared any more magic surges since Saturday. She even felt up to having breakfast in the communal dining hall that the pony residents used rather than having a meal sent up. She was surprised to see she and Eileen were not the only humans present. Most looked a little down on their luck, and Jenny suspected more than one was homeless.

This admittedly made her a little wary, but she couldn't fault the ponies for wanting to help. The homeless humans appeared quite content to share in the repast despite its distinct lack of meat, and the ponies seemed not to be the least bit worried.

Well, most of them, anyway.

"Really wish the residents of this town would be a little more careful who they let in," Wildy murmured as she glanced at one of the other humans.

"Give them a break," Eileen said. "Or is your vaunted friendship for ponies only?"

"He's a perfect example of why humans would be better off as ponies," Wildy said. "Then he'd be a welcome member of the community and never have want for food or shelter."

"He seems to be doing pretty well just as he is." Eileen swallowed a bite of her omelette before she added, "News flash, honey: not all ponies think the way you do. Some actually realize friendship is for all beings."

Jenny was upbeat enough that not even their arguing could disturb her. She glanced to the side to see Beverly smiling at her. "You really seem to be feeling better, Jenny."

"I am better," Jenny said with a small smile. "Not having to deal with the Narrative for the past few days helped."

Wildy looked crossly at her. "You mean it still hasn't come back?"

"What's it to you?" Eileen said. "If you're looking for more community theater, you'll have to go somewhere else."

"I don't mean that. Even her passive ability is incredibly useful. She helped you to evade the FBI for some time."

"What part of 'she didn't want this power' do you not understand?"

"Aunt Eileen, it's okay," said Jenny. "Wildy, I have no idea how this power works. I'm just as glad that it's gone."

"Magic just doesn't disappear like that," said Wildy. "I can sense your magical aura from here. Maybe you have to summon it back."

"Which I'd rather not do at the moment."

"But it would really help to know if--"

"Hey, remember what I said about that sort of thing?" Eileen snapped.

Wildy rolled her eyes. "What sort of thing?"

"Trying to make Jenny do what she doesn't want to. Cool it."

Jenny set down her fork and turned to Wildy. "If you mean me predicting the future, I don't know how much of it was actually precognition or just putting the pieces together."

"May I suggest something?" Fire said as Wildy was about to retort. "Let's not worry about it for the moment. We're safe now. Let's wait until there's an actual threat."

"I think Fire is right," said Beverly. "Perhaps the Narrative doesn't trigger unless there's actually some sort of trouble about to happen."

"Even Equestria has artifacts that work that way," Fire continued. "At least from what history we're privy to."

Jenny preferred that the Narrative was hers to summon at will. That gave her a greater sense of control. All Sunday she worried that even among the ponies someone might take issue with her ability, especially when some of the pegasus patrol she had affected eyed her warily right after the incident.

The worst moment had been that silver-maned night pony mare who gave her a rather critical look when they passed in the hallway Sunday evening. Jenny knew night ponies had the ability to dreamwalk and occasionally other mind-altering abilities. Had the mare been upset that a human had a similar ability? Night ponies were a breed apart, even more so than crystal ponies; she really had no idea what went on in their heads.

"By the way, anypony know where Ted is?" Fire asked.

"He's trying to reach Bev's brother," said Eileen.

Wildy frowned. "Should he be doing that? The feds likely have her relatives under surveillance."

"How else is Sam going to know that Bev is here?"

"I told him to come back to the pony mart this week. That would be Friday. We could've just waited until then."

"I think we might want to consider a different way for them to meet," said Fire. "We didn't expect that the feds would be this adamant about capturing her."

"That alone makes me suspicious something fishy is going on," Wildy muttered.

"Huh, the world must be coming to an end," Eileen said. "We actually agree on something. We've all been oo-ing and ah-ing over Jenny's power, but by all rights, they should've been able to put a dent in it."

Jenny gave her a surprised look. "Wait, what?"

"When I went over it in my head, I realized the one thing that was missing on the part of the feds. Where the hell were their crystal ponies?"

"I don't follow," said Fire.

Wildy made a disgusted face. "I do. They always employ those crystal traitors in operations to take Partials into custody in case they need to nullify their erratic magic."

Jenny frowned. That was the first time she had heard the term "crystal traitors," and she already hated it. She abhorred any derogatory term directed at any pony tribe, though until then the worst she had heard for a crystal pony was "glitter bomb."

"Unless they were there but hidden by Jenny's Narrative," Fire suggested.

"No, the Narrative would've have found a role for them," Jenny said without thinking.

"Are you sure of that?"

Jenny was as sure of it as she was of her own name. She had no idea how she knew, which made her shudder slightly. She just nodded, not trusting her voice.

"That's very suspicious if you ask me," said Eileen.

"Maybe we're getting just a wee bit paranoid," said Fire. "Maybe they just didn't think they were needed."

"You're the one who mentioned they might be monitoring Jenny and knew she had some sort of magical ability. Seems like a really huge oversight to me."

"But to what end? To let us escape? I find that hard to believe."

"Maybe," said Eileen. "But--"

Before she could finish her thought, Ted came cantering towards them. "I just finished talking to Bev's brother Sam."

Bev smiled. "Oh, good. Will he be at the pony mart this Friday?"

Ted gave her an uneasy look. "He wants a change of plans. He wants you to go to him."

Bev's smile faded. "He what?"

"He said he can arrange for it somewhere away from other people," Ted continued. "To minimize the risk of her being discovered."

"No way," Wildy said. "No fucking way."

"Never thought I'd hear myself say this, but Wildy is right," said Eileen.

"He was very insistent," said Ted. "And doesn't it make sense to want to do this without anyone watching?"

"This is a setup," Wildy said. "It has to be. All that bullshit about doing it in private means they'll be no witnesses to whatever the feds want to do to her or Jenny."

Bev laid back her ears. "Sam wouldn't do that to me! Maybe he doesn't agree with me wanting to be a pony, but he wouldn't trick me like that."

"We still can't take the risk."

Jenny's eyes widened. Suddenly, the Narrative was there.

"I hate to say this, Bev, but your brother may not have a choice," said Eileen.

"What do you mean?" Bev asked in a quavering voice.

"The feds may be forcing him to help them."

"Yes, they could ..." Wildy trailed off and stared at Jenny.

The Narrative was a great glowing thing in the distance, beckoning to Jenny like a lighthouse beacon. Her breath quickened as she sensed its power waiting to be unleashed.

"How?" Bev demanded. "You don't mean like at gunpoint, do you? They can't do that!"

"No, but they can threaten him with prosecution as an accessory to a crime," said Fire.

Jenny clenched her teeth. She tried to push it away, but it would not budge. Yet it did not immediately leap into her mind and fill it with purpose like it had before. It was waiting.

Waiting for her.

Bev sighed and covered her eyes with her hand. "All I do is cause grief for--"

"Jenny's surging!" Wildy cried.

Despite the fact that the Narrative remained at a respectful distance, it made its presence known. Jenny felt its magic reaching out to her, reaching into her, filling her with a sense of power she had only vaguely comprehended during her uncontrolled surge on Saturday. Yet unlike that day, her mind was filled with its power but not its will.

Jenny felt Eileen's hand on her shoulder. "Jenny, are--"

"I'm okay!" Jenny cried.

"You don't sound like it."

Power surged inside Jenny, and still the Narrative sat.

Waiting to be taken.

Waiting to be used.

Waiting to be wielded like a great sword of truth.

Other ponies' eyes were upon her, and a quiet had settled over the dining hall. Some looked on with curiosity, some with excitement, some with wariness.

Jenny suddenly came to an insight she had only had a glimmer of understanding before. It was not precognition. All her visions were of the present, like turning the pages of a book to a scene that had happened elsewhere. Events were woven into the tapestry of a great epic that was the Narrative, and another such Scene lay before her.

Jenny closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and dove in.

Their noble benefactor had brought strange news. The brother of the peasant girl insisted on a meeting in his realm, which was met with general alarm and consternation. Did he not understand the girl's predicament and the pall of danger from the Baron that hung over her? Or had his compliance been secured by the sword?

Or ...

... was this man an unwitting accomplice? Was someone else standing in the wings? Another who had less sympathy for her, who would gladly see the Baron capture the girl for a small sum of gold, despite their familial ties ...

Eileen's voice rose over the Narration. "--get Jenny out of here and--"

"She has another brother!" Jenny cried.

"Huh?" Eileen said.

Jenny's vision wavered. The table at which they sat now had the trappings of a noble's palace, complete with an ornate chandelier. Eileen was dressed again as the proud Countess, just as the Scene envisioned her.

The Countess' lieutenant turned to the peasant girl. "You have another brother?"

"Well, yes," said the peasant girl. "His name's Larry."

The noble's consort suddenly blinked rapidly and looked around. "Is it happening again?"

"Is what happening?" the Countess asked in irritation.

"I-I'm starting to see it, too," the peasant girl said.

"Wow, so can I!" another member of the court cried.

"This is so cool!" said another.

"Is it an illusion?"

"No, it can't be, it's more like--"

"Stop!" Jenny shouted.

The costumes and other trappings vanished as the Narrative retreated.

Eileen turned towards the rest of the hall and frowned. "Could you all do us a favor? Stop staring at her and go back to what you were doing."

Slowly, the other ponies turned their attention elsewhere.

Jenny let out a ragged sigh and covered her eyes with her hand. Bev touched her shoulder and said gently, "I think you had better control over it that time."

Jenny said nothing. She wanted to think she hadn't had control over it, as that would be a reality easier to accept than what had just happened.

"What about her other brother?" Wildy demanded.

"Shut up and leave her be," Eileen said.

Jenny lowered her hand. "No, it's fine." She turned to Bev. "Bev, do you know where your brother Larry is?"

Bev shook her head. "Last time I saw him was years ago. He needed some money, and I helped him out."

"Could he be here in Denver?"

Bev paused. "I really don't know. Why?"

Jenny glanced at the others around her, seeing a mixture of concern and fascination. Wildy looked as if she were going to give Jenny the third degree if she didn't start explaining herself. "I think Larry might be involved in this as well."

"How do you know ..." Bev trailed off, her eyes widening. "Was he in the Narrative?"

"I think so, yes, and he's working for the Bar ... um, I mean the FBI."

Bev gave her a shocked look. "Would he really do that to me?"

"You tell us," said Eileen. "You said you had to give him money once. He ever pay it back?"

Bev's ears drooped. "No," she said in a small voice.

"How many times has he done something like that?"

"A few. I think Sam gave him some money once, too."

"Sounds like a deadbeat to me," said Eileen. "Wouldn't surprise me if he sold you out for some cash."

"The FBI doesn't bribe people to work for them," Fire said.

"But the Narrative did say gold ... money was exchanged," said Jenny.

"Then maybe some other organization is involved!" said Wildy. "We already know the FBI is corrupt. Whose to say they didn't use some other group as a front?"

"I don't want to believe this!" Bev cried, her eyes glistening. "I know Jenny's been right so far, but ... I just ..." She sniffled and covered her eyes with a hand. "G-give me a moment."

Jenny didn't want to be right, either, but the Narrative had yet to be wrong. She let out a ragged sigh as she looked over the others. She had been about to affect their minds again. Having them play out the Scene had not been required to express her vision. The power had simply been there, and she had used it, as if it had been a natural expression of the Narrative.

That she had managed to effectively turn it off herself was only partial solace. The Narrative had not been forced on her; it had happened because some part of her had wanted it to happen, like it had to happen.

"We definitely can't let Bev meet up with her brother Sam," Wildy said.

"But it's been so long since I've seen him!" Bev cried, wiping a few tears with her hand. "And I know for sure he wouldn't turn me over to the FBI. Even if Larry suggested it, Sam wouldn't agree to it. Jenny, are you absolutely sure it was my brother Larry? Did it mention him by name?"

"No, not by name," said Jenny. "And to be honest, it didn't mention the man was your brother."

"Then why did you say it was him?"

"It sounded like the only one it could be," said Jenny. "The Narrative said he shared familial ties to you. Your brothers are your only close family right now. Who else could it be?"

"Everyone, let's take a step back," said Ted. "Let me see what I can find out about Larry. I might be able to establish whether he's in Denver or not. I'll head back to my office and make a few phone calls."

Bev uttered a forlorn sigh. "You have to be wrong, Jenny. You just have to be. I admit, I'm feeling a little upset with you for saying it was him when the Narrative didn't."

Jenny frowned. "What I didn't want to happen is having people treat it like the absolute truth. Even my other visions I had to interpret. That's what I did now."

Bev frowned and stood. "Well, you interpreted it wrong this time. Excuse me, I need a little fresh air."

She headed away from the table, tail swishing behind her.

Jenny sighed and stared at the uneaten half of her breakfast. She didn't have an appetite anymore.





Jason was normally a patient pony, but the moment his partner concluded his call, he prompted the man. "Well?"

"Still nothing," said Anthony as he lowered his cell phone.

"What lame excuse did they give you this time?"

"That I don't have enough clearance for the information."

Jason's eyebrows rose. "Seriously?"

Anthony gave him a wry smile. "It was also implied that since my office didn't follow up quickly enough on the fugitive Partial, we're not necessarily entitled to any further information on the topic."

Jason frowned.

"I know what you're thinking," said Anthony.

"Good, because I hate repeating myself."

Anthony leaned back in his seat and folded his hands in his lap. "It's easy for me to say the evidence is still circumstantial."

"Word of advice," said Jason. "Don't say stuff you don't really believe. There's absolutely no reason for Fuller to withhold any information about that botched operation unless he has a specific reason to hide it."

"Botched?"

Jason hopped out of his chair. "Come on, how else would you describe it? With as many agents as they had dedicated to it, they should've had that one in the bag."

"Have you heard anything about it from your pony contacts?"Anthony asked.

"Not a word."

"So they don't know what happened, either, despite having helped them."

"I didn't say that," Jason said. "I meant 'not a word' more in the sense of 'we have a secret and we're not telling you.'"

"Even with that ability of yours?"

"Wildy was too good at spreading the word about me. No one will go near me if they think I'm going to start asking questions. That alone tells me there's a secret to be told. Bottom line: that Partial had a lot more help than just some ponies sympathetic to her cause."

"Which makes the cover-up make even less sense," said Anthony. "If there was a greater threat that actually made it into the pony sector, Fuller would want every agent he can get his hands on and wouldn't be shy about it, not with the way he expects everyone under him to do their duty."

"Normally I wouldn't be harping on this," said Jason. "We've been diverted from our original investigation."

"Interportal incidents have a tendency to do that," Anthony said dryly.

"Even before that. We have to stop dancing around it. This has now become an investigation of Fuller himself. Your little book-phone conversation with the Princess only confirms it."

"You talked to Midnight after the incident, I understand," said Anthony.

Jason snorted. "That was useless as always. Night ponies are the best at keeping secrets. Even my ability doesn't work on them. Only thing I ever learn is, yeah, they have a secret. That tribe is all about secrets, it seems."

"I was hoping you'd be able to pry something out of the pony community."

"You think it's that important?"

"I did some more investigation to the background of the Partial Beverly Kelton," said Anthony. "There are gaps in the record of her time in the interment camp."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Like what some of her potential abilities are."

"Oh, yeah, that's not suspicious at all."

"The Princess, however, was privy to the information," said Anthony. "Ms. Kelton can generate some sort of disruption of electrical or computing devices around her."

"Well, that does explain why Fuller was adamant about taking her into custody," said Jason. "That's a clear danger to others, especially if it was powerful enough to somehow foil the operation. Did they not even have crystal ponies with them? This suggests they didn't, which is a clear violation of standard protocol."

Anthony leaned forward. "We can only speculate on what happened. The only ones who know for sure are in the pony sector right now, and Mrs. Morgan is our only avenue to gaining that insight."

"Well, it was the Princess' idea that we should work with her," said Jason. "And given her work with ponies, it makes sense, assuming she has some reliable contacts."

"She may also know someone who helped the Partial directly."

"Let me guess: Councilpony Miller."

"Yes."

"And now we have even more reason for suspicion as to Fuller's motives," said Jason. "This is a case of a city council member committing an obviously illegal act. Why has that not been circulated at least to our office? For that matter, why aren't they disclosing who else was helping this Partial? She had no ability to drive a car with those hooves of hers, and it was clear she left that town where she was initially holed up via car. Why nothing on that?"

Anthony turned in his seat. "Ah, in that regard, I may have a lead." He grabbed a page from the fax machine and held it out to Jason.

Jason wrapped the page in his magic and brought it before him. "A car found abandoned in a state park?"

"It's registered to Eileen McDermott," said Anthony. "It was found along the route that we believe Ms. Kelton took during her escape."

"You must have mentioned that name to me before because it sounds familiar."

"She had a run-in with the law during ETS. Ran through a blockade and tried to get into the quarantined town of Lazy Pines. The charges were dropped when she agreed to be the first recipient of the counterspell."

"Yeah, now I remember." Jason frowned slightly. "Maybe she should've been prosecuted for that crime. Seems like she hasn't learned her lesson."

"Or she could've thought it was for a good cause," said Anthony. "Her sole reason for trying to get into the town in the first place was to be reunited with her son."

"Still sounds like the kind of person who attracts trouble. So is that all you've learned?"

"She has guardianship over a fifteen year girl, Jennifer Tanner."

"So did she drag that girl into this?" Jason asked.

"Unknown at the moment," said Anthony. "I'm making some inquiries. I have a feeling the only definitive answer will come from the pony sector."

Jason set the page on his partner's desk. "All right, we'll talk to Mrs. Morgan and see if she can get us more info. Meanwhile, we need to figure out what to do about Ryan."

"You're convinced he was the one who sparked the incident?" Anthony asked.

"Only one we know capable of such a feat," Jason said.

"Unfortunately, we have no proof. The courts are still catching up with regards to what constitutes 'proof' of magic use."

Jason rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it. Unless it's unicorn magic happening right in front of someone who can match the color of the glow of the horn with the glow of the magic, most cases devolve into he-said she-said. The kooks who try to sue pegasi for every storm that happens to ruin their vacation don't help."

"We do have enough evidence for an arrest on the basis of identity theft," said Anthony. "At least that will get him off the streets."

"Unless his backers help him post bond," said Jason. "We need either direct proof of illicit magic use, or some documentation of his post-rehumanized powers. That will make him a clear danger to the public and thus a good reason to hold him without bail."

Anthony considered. "Or there is Princess Luna's suggestion."

Jason frowned. "You mean leaving it to a shadow law enforcement organization that operates with no oversight that no one will even directly admit exists? Not even Luna would come out and state its existence when we pressed her about it!"

"Not to mention it's more Equestrian interference in American governance."

"I'm not as hung up about that as the politicians are," said Jason. "If Equestria offers help, I'm willing to take it, but I draw the line at secret star chambers."

Anthony looked thoughtful for a long moment. "I have a suggestion. You're not going to like it, and you're free to reject it."

"I'm all ears," said Jason.

"You could contact the night ponies in the dream realm and try to get more information there."

Jason recoiled and frowned.

"I'm not saying your ability would work there," Anthony continued. "But it would be an environment that they find more comfortable. They might be more willing to give you useful information, like clues as to who Ryan was as a night pony."

Jason paused until the urge to reply based on raw emotion rather than logic had passed. Ever since learning the sort of power some night ponies could wield, the last thing he wanted was one taking a walk in his head.

He remembered the case about the night pony terrorizing others in their dreams. Even at the time, he had doubted he could come up with enough evidence to prosecute the pony, but he had wanted to show that law enforcement was taking pony concerns seriously. It had taken on a whole new dimension when the suspect had been effectively mind-wiped.

Jason had antagonized enough night ponies during that investigation that he had feared they would retaliate in his dreams. That they never did lent credence to the claim that "controls" were in place, but the fact that those same "controls" may have been responsible for the state of the suspect had not filled him with confidence.

"I'm not sure I can," said Jason in a more subdued voice. "They generally enter only nightmares, and I'm not predisposed to having those. I barely remember most of my dreams."

"You could let him know by more conventional means that you want to meet with him."

"And he'll likely tell me to go to hell," Jason said. "But it's worth a shot. All right, let's have Mrs. Morgan get a message to him if she can."





Eileen looked up from her cell phone when she heard a hoof knocking on the door to the apartment. She stepped over to the door and was about to glance through the peephole when she realized that would be useless for a pony. "Who is it?"

"It's me, Ted," said a familiar voice.

Eileen kept the chain on long enough to peek out into the hallway to verify Ted's identity, then closed the door long enough to undo the chain and open it fully.

Ted seemed a little bemused by Eileen's caution, but opted not to make note of it. "I was looking for you in the common area downstairs but didn't find you."

Eileen turned away and sat back down. "After the incident this morning, Jenny opted to come back upstairs for some alone-time."

Ted glanced around as he nudged the door closed behind him with a rear hoof. "Where is she?"

"She's out with Fire trying to scrounge up a charger for her cell phone," said Eileen as she set her own phone aside. "You find anything out about Larry?"

"I got sidetracked," said Ted in a level voice.

"By what?"

"More like by who. Connie Morgan."

"Uh, never heard of her," said Eileen.

"She's the mayor of Greenwood Village. My boss, effectively."

"Um, okay. What does that have to do with anything?"

"She wants to meet with me," Ted explained. "And Bev."

Eileen frowned. "You can't be serious."

"She wants to hear Bev's side of the story and, well, understand everything that's been going on lately."

"Uh, huh," Eileen deadpanned. "And just how many cops and feds will she be bringing with her?"

"It's nothing like that!" Ted said. "She knows to keep this quiet, at least to the wrong ears."

"And just who are the right ears?"

"She's working with an FBI agent, but--"

Eileen stood. "Okay, stop. You've officially gone off the deep end."

Ted frowned. "Just listen to me for a moment, please. I was skeptical at first when Connie mentioned it, but I trust her implicitly."

"Why?" Eileen demanded.

"Because she's one of the reasons the ponies of her city get along with humans so well," Ted said. "She's worked hard to keep this city integrated. It's why you and Jenny are so welcome here. It's why you saw humans mingling among ponies in the common area."

"Personally I think most of them were looking for a handout," Eileen said.

"Be that as it may, we welcomed them. Connie understands how to get ponies and humans to work together without either group having to subsume themselves to the culture of the other."

"How much you trust her doesn't matter!" Eileen cried. "She's working with the very people we're trying to stay away from."

"She assures me she's working with an agent who understands there's something corrupt in the organization. Maybe you know him: Anthony Heller."

Eileen's eyebrows rose. "Wasn't he the head honcho during the ETS crisis?"

"Yes."

"Wouldn't he be the last person we'd want to associate with?"

"If none other than Twilight Sparkle says he can be trusted, I think we can, too."

"Whoa, slow down!" Eileen said. "Twilight Sparkle? The purple princess herself?"

"I don't know of any other ponies with that name," Ted said, impatience creeping into his voice.

Eileen remembered the first and only time she had met the alien pony. She had not believed half the magical mumbo-jumbo Twilight had been spouting. What she clearly remembered was a single line: becoming a pony will not solve all your problems.

It had been spoken when Eileen had waffled about taking the counterspell. She had been desperate to make a new start, and she had let herself be lured briefly by the prospect of a species change and a complete wiping of the slate like so many other ponies at the time seemed to enjoy.

She never would forget that moment. The last six months had shown her that Twilight had been absolutely right; she would simply have exchanged one set of problems for another.

"Did you actually talk to Twilight yourself?" Eileen asked.

"Well, no, but Connie did," Ted replied.

"She can claim anything she wants."

Ted stomped a hoof, which shook the floor and caused plaster dust to waft down from the ceiling. "Will you please stop being so suspicious for once?!"

"Being suspicious has helped me survive for the past six months," said Eileen.

"Maybe, but haven't you had to put trust in someone at some point? Or do you only trust yourself?"

Eileen bit back her next retort and let out a ragged sigh instead. She hated it when someone nailed one of her problems so easily.

"You certainly seem to trust Fire," Ted said in a softer voice.

Eileen wanted to protest that their friendship had grown out of a need for her to protect him from his own good nature. He had been so dedicated to the Lunite cause of reintegration with humans in a climate too hostile to the idea; trying to promote "we should all get along" among the unemployed in a gutted IT sector was not the best plan.

Eileen had not wanted to admit it, but their recent arguing had started to worry her. Even as forgiving as ponies supposedly were, she could not help but wonder if it was indeed straining a friendship she had been loathe to admit existed in the first place.

"He'd probably want to give this idea a shot," said Eileen. "What have you told Mayor Morgan so far?"

"Not much," said Ted. "I haven't mentioned you or Jenny at all."

"Good, let's keep it that way."

"Are you sure you don't want to meet her? It might be good for her to hear your side of this as well."

"I don't want Jenny to be exposed any more than she already is," Eileen said. "She's already upset over this power of hers, and I don't want to risk it coming out at the wrong time."

"But this might be an opportunity to get her some help," Ted said. "Especially if Connie is in communication with Twilight Sparkle. Remember what that doctor said, that we should contact an Equestrian mage. You can't get any better than Twilight on this side of the portal."

"I honestly don't think Twilight can just walk into the pony sector without someone noticing. Why is she even involving herself?"

"Because she shares the same goal as Connie. She wants to see ponies and humans get along better." Ted paused before adding in a lower voice, "You might be right about Twilight being unable to actually meet with us directly. The whole point of working through Connie was to make this a human effort and avoid further intervention from Equestria, especially in light of what happened in Village Center yesterday. But she should at least know what's going on."

Eileen ran a hand through her hair. While legally she had the right to make this sort of decision on Jenny's behalf, she didn't want to feel like she was controlling Jenny's life. She was sure Jenny already felt like she had little control as it was. "Let me talk to Jenny first. I want her input on this."

"Can I at least tell Connie it would be okay for her to meet Bev?"

"That's really up to Bev. I can't make that decision for her."

"I know, but you came across as sort of the leader of this group," said Ted.

Eileen snorted, but held back her retort. She supposed she had acted that way despite no one really asking her to.

"So your opinion matters to me," Ted added.

"I'm glad someone wants to listen to me," Eileen said in a lower voice. "All right, let's wait until Jenny gets back and see what she says."





Jenny watched with some surprise as the smiling creamy light brown unicorn mare with the dark green wavy mane took the phone and charger in her magic and plugged it into an outlet in the dining room of her apartment. Only then did Jenny realize that the odd hum she was hearing was from the refrigerator in the kitchen. "You have electricity?"

The mare -- who had introduced herself earlier as Sandy Beach -- placed the phone and charger on the table and turned to face them, sunlight from the open windows falling on her cutie mark, that of an artist's brush laying on the sand under a palm tree. "Of course I do. As much as I like natural light for my painting, I much prefer to be able to see after dark, as I often use that time to catch up on paperwork."

"Paperwork?" Fire asked.

"I sell my artwork for money, and I'm often asked to do commissions," said Sandy. "It's how I can afford to pay for the electricity, though I do have to be careful how much I use. It's rather expensive these days."

Fire smiled. "This is excellent! I bet this is Mayor Morgan's doing."

Sandy stepped up to them. "Partially, yes. She gave me and a lot of ponies incentive to stay in this part of the city. I initially thought I wouldn't be able to contribute as much as the others do, until Mrs. Morgan convinced me to take my paintings to the pony mart. I thought I would be ignored while humans flocked to the food stands. Instead, I sold my whole collection in an hour! I even had two humans bidding on the last one like it was an auction." She giggled and blushed. "It was quite the surprise."

Jenny glanced towards several easels which held incomplete works. All had tropical themes, and she had to admit that even unfinished they looked gorgeous. "Thanks for letting us charge my phone here. I thought we'd have a hard time finding someplace where we could."

"More ponies are starting to see how much easier things can be if they accepted some of the amenities of the human world," said Sandy as she trotted over to her work area.

"There really shouldn't be a human world and pony world," said Fire. "There should be just one world with both humans and ponies living together in harmony."

"Oh, I agree." Sandy faced an easel that was turned away from them. She used her magic to rotate it so it faced them. "It was the inspiration for this. I call it 'Sharing the Sunrise.'"

Jenny stepped closer to the easel. It depicted a beach under a rising sun, palm trees in the foreground lighted a dusky color by the dawn. On the beach were several humans and ponies sitting near one another as they watched the sun rise. Sandy had taken care to represent a multitude of nationalities and cultures among the humans as well as ponies from every tribe. The way she depicted the sunlight glinting off the fur and mane of a crystal pony looked amazing.

"Wow," Fire said in an awed voice. "That's gorgeous, never mind the wonderful theme!"

Sandy blushed but smiled. "Thank you." She turned her amber gaze towards Jenny. "I hope you like it as well."

Jenny slowly smiled and nodded. "It really is lovely."

"I'm hoping it will inspire ponies and humans," said Sandy. "I was something of an artist when I was human, but I lacked a clear focus. The transformation helped me with that, especially once Mrs. Morgan started encouraging the pony community to reach out to humans."

Fire looked up at Jenny. "See, this is more what I was talking about on the way over here. This is what I want to see more of."

Jenny reserved comment; she was not sure what would come out of her mouth were she to give vent to her feelings. If she had more of an ability to see it from an objective perspective, she might have agreed outright. Instead, her thoughts were too muddied by the renewed resentment towards Sunset Shimmer that recent events had stirred up. All she could see was how this mess could've been avoided had Sunset never interfered in the first place.

"You're welcome to come back any time to check on your phone, Jenny," said Sandy.

Jenny forced herself to set aside her unsettled thoughts and managed a small smile. "Yes, thank you again."

"If I don't respond when you knock, I may be out running some errands. Just let yourself in."

"Let myself in? You don't lock your doors?"

"We don't have need to at the moment," said Sandy.

"Isn't that a little dangerous considering that you're letting humans come into this part of the community?" Jenny asked.

Sandy paused to adjust the positions of some of the easels. "The sheriff does take some precautions. His ponies regularly patrol the streets and the skies. For the most part, the humans who come here are not looking to pillage. We're trying to build trust."

Jenny understood but wondered if that was taking it a bit far.

"We know ponies sometimes seem a little in-your-face to humans," Sandy continued. "What with us being more openly friendly and affectionate. We've been trying to restrain ourselves and respect human boundaries. We're hoping they'll do the same in return."

Jenny glanced at Fire. He was smiling widely.

She knew Sandy meant well, but her description of how ponies act only reminded Jenny of her own compulsions when she had been a pony. She shivered when she recalled how natural it had seemed at the time. Now she had the ability to force it in others if it fit with the Narrative.

Fire turned to her. "We better get going and see if Ted found out anything."

"Yeah, maybe Bev will start speaking to me again," Jenny muttered.

"Please, don't be too upset with her over this," said Fire in a softer voice. "She's just a little distraught right now. I'm sure she'll come around." He paused before adding in a delicate voice, "And, um, she's pony enough that she likely would want to forgive you anyway."

Jenny wasn't all that reassured. She thought it best not to pursue it any further. "You're right, we should get going," she said as she started towards the door.

"Oh, Jenny, wait," said Sandy. "Your voice mail icon is showing you have some messages."

Jenny stepped over to the phone. She touched the icon, and it showed they were from an unknown number. That meant either spam or her sister. With her thoughts the way they were, her pony sister was the last person she wanted to talk to, especially since Sunny likely just wanted to talk about the Pony Council.

She turned away from the phone. "It can wait. Let's go."





"I don't believe this!" Wildy cried. "Can't you see this is a setup?!"

Ted sighed and did his best to remain patient. "I've told you several times now that Connie can be trusted."

"But she's working with the same organization Bev escaped from!"

"I've been over this with Eileen," Ted said in a strained voice. "If Connie was going to sell us out, she would have done so right from the start when we first talked to her at the pony mart."

"What makes you think I should trust her?" Wildy demanded.

"Because of everything she's done for the pony community, for one. She's tried very hard to get humans and ponies working together."

"What I see her doing is trying to shove human values on all of us."

"She's not shoving anything," Ted declared.

"Not to mention forcing the schools to water down their curriculum."

Ted frowned. "Connie is not making anypony do anything they don't want to do. They're making what they teach more balanced because they trust her as well."

"I think she's just taking advantage of our good nature," Wildy said.

"Why would she do that?" Ted asked in an exasperated voice.

Wildy's muzzle scrunched as if she had smelled something nasty. "Because she's a politician. All politicians care about is furthering their own power."

"Wildy, I'm a politician! Do you think that of me?"

"That's different," Wildy said in a softer voice. "You obviously care about other ponies, even if I think you make the wrong decisions sometimes. Like now."

"Wildy, look--"

"Remember some of the things she said when we talked to her about Bev? She thought you shouldn't be doing this. She chewed you out again when you called to tell her about what Jason had said, and I still think he mind-controlled you into that."

"First of all, he didn't mind-control me," Ted said firmly. "Second of all, Connie said some things that made sense. She has to think about not just the ponies of this community but the humans as well."

Wildy snorted but said nothing, giving Ted an indignant look.

"I get it," Ted said in a tense voice. "You'd prefer every human become a pony."

"Can you blame me?" Wildy said. "After what humans have been doing to us? The way they think we're all little brainwashed idiots?!"

"Wildy, not every human is like your parents!" Ted exploded.

Wildy recoiled, backing up a step with one fore-hoof raised as if she were about to bolt.

"I know you suffered a lot under them, but you have to stop taking them as representative of humanity."

Wildy brought her hoof down with a loud clop and narrowed her eyes. "I don't want to talk about them."

"Maybe you should talk about them," Ted said. "Then maybe you'll get all that resentment out in the open, and you'll stop directing it at every other human."

When Ted looked into Wildy's glistening eyes, he wondered if perhaps ponies were indeed a little too nice. He had avoided bringing up Wildy's feelings towards her parents for the longest time specifically to avoid hurting her, only to hear her spout her own hurtful words about humans every chance she got. Yet the two particular humans who had caused her so much grief were rarely the target of her vitriol.

"Maybe those memories make me sick every time I think of them," Wildy retorted, her voice quavering slightly.

"I know what you've gone through--"

"You don't know shit," Wildy said through clenched teeth.

"I know what you've told me," said Ted. "Is there more?"

Ted knew of the constant verbal abuse. Both her parents managed to avoid the flu until the final round of infection, and the counterspell was cast just as they were recovering. They were convinced until the very end that they never needed it in the first place, that they were "righteous" enough to have been spared "God's punishment." They never let up on how "tainted by sin" their daughter was for being turned into a "mindless animal."

Wildy gave Ted an anxious look. "Why do you insist on knowing? Isn't what I've already told you enough?"

"I honestly don't know."

Wildy looked away and said nothing.

"You've always been negative towards humans since I met you, but it's just gotten worse," said Ted. "I almost don't recognize you anymore."

Wildy snapped her gaze back to Ted and glared at him. "You don't think I have a good reason for that? Things are getting worse, not better." After a pause she said in a lower voice, "Just like they did at home."

"You were eighteen and could legally leave home, but you stayed on with your parents for two weeks after you transformed."

Wildy cringed.

"I can only imagine what that constant abuse must have been like," Ted said, his voice quavering.

"You can't," Wildy said in a low voice.

"What I can't imagine is what made you stay for that long."

Wildy clenched her jaw for a long moment, and her eyes blazed. "Because I had no fucking choice. I was locked in a goddamn closet all that time."

Ted recoiled, his eyes shimmering, his stomach twisting. "Oh my God."

"Don't you DARE invoke God!" Wildy bellowed. "Because that's all they ever did to justify it! They thought if they kept me in there long enough, I'd confess my sins and be cured."

Ted swallowed hard, his throat tight. "I-I never knew."

"I didn't want you to know." Wildy closed her eyes tightly for a moment. "You know how most unicorns have a joyful, wonderful memory of when they first got good with their horn? My memory of my first serious use of magic is getting myself out of that closet."

Ted simply had no words, not that any could be made with as choked up as he was.

"They fed me nothing but scraps to keep me weak after I almost managed to buck my way out on the first day," Wildy continued in a bitter voice. "I didn't exactly have access to a toilet in there, either. And they tried to get me to eat meat."

"S-stop please," Ted said in a weak voice, his gorge threatening to rise.

"This is what you wanted to hear, wasn't it?!" Wildy wiped a tear from an eye. "Want to hear more?"

"Wildy--"

"When I got out, the first thing I did was find a cop. A human cop. He did nothing for me. He wouldn't even believe me. Human law enforcement just ignored me because I was a pony."

"That was right after the initial crisis had passed," Ted said, though his own voice was uncertain. "Things were still chaotic then. Law enforcement was stretched pretty thin."

Wildy bared her teeth. "Stop making excuses for them."

"I'm not excusing them, I'm just trying to explain--"

"I don't want to hear it!" Wildy shouted. "When I couldn't get humans to listen to me, I turned to other ponies. They took me in. They cared for me. They supported me. They believed me."

"I'm so sorry," Ted said in a weak voice. "If some ponies had been there for you at the start--"

"That's the worst of it," Wildy said in a lower, slightly quavering voice, her eyes tearing up again. "I could've gone to them first. I didn't understand why I didn't until I was finally among them. It's because my parents' constant abuse had started to work. I actually started to believe I was some abominable freak."

Ted gave Wildy a sympathetic look. "I can't express the sorrow I feel over hearing this."

Wildy frowned. "I don't want your pity."

"It's not pity, it's concern for a fellow pony. You're obviously in a lot of pain over this--"

"And I don't want your psychoanalysis, either! I didn't reveal all this because I wanted you to tell me it's all better now. I told you so you'd understand why we have to be wary of humans. Until they're more like us, we have to be on our guard at all times. We can't even trust their laws, because they get applied fairly only when humans are involved, and even that's a long shot sometimes."

"I do understand your perspective more," Ted said in a somber voice. "Even if I still don't agree with it."

"You can say that even after--!"

"I listened to you, now you listen to me, please," Ted said in a firm voice. "You had a very bad experience with humans. I've had a very good experience with humans. Neither one is a complete representation of humanity."

Wildy opened her mouth to protest, but an earnest look from Ted silenced her.

"There are those among our own kind who have done bad things," Ted continued. "Yes, I know what you're going to say, that they're the exception rather than the norm. They're not representative of the great majority of ponies. Same thing here. Your parents are not humanity in microcosm."

"But aren't they?" Wildy said. "All you have to do is look at the news on an average day. They're still acting violently towards their own kind!"

"Like you did against Jason the other day?"

"But ... that wasn't the same thing!"

"Wildy, you assaulted him," Ted said. "Maybe that wasn't a fraction of what had been done to you, but it's not how we were taught to act as a pony."

Wildy's eyes glistened. "I did it to protect what it means to be a pony."

Had she told him this earlier, Ted would never have understood. Now he could see the logic behind it, however twisted it was.

"I couldn't take the chance that he would sell us out to humans," Wildy continued.

"His human partner is trying to help us."

Wildy frowned. "That what the mayor claims?"

"Yes, and I believe her. She has never given me any reason to distrust her. Not to mention that Agent Heller has a long track record of helping prosecute crimes against ponies."

Wildy averted her eyes and said nothing.

"You want another example of a human helping ponies, how about Doctor Kevin Conner?" said Ted. "He was the physician in Lazy Pines who first brought ETS to light."

"Yes, so it could be cured," Wildy muttered.

"Yes, but once he saw it couldn't at first, he was a huge advocate for the ponies. He was the one who pressed for them to be allowed to form their own society and manage their own lives. We wouldn't be having this conversation if it wasn't for him."

Wildy snapped her gaze back to Ted. "Fine, I get it, there are good humans. I still think we'd be safer if we assume most are not."

"Only if you leave yourself open to getting to know a human before you pass final judgment on them."

"And that's what you want me to do for Mayor Morgan, right?"

"I would, yes," Ted said. "If she's going to be an advocate for us, we have to trust her."

Wildy paused a long moment, her gaze flicking to the side, her ears lowered. "I'll try. I can't make any promises." She looked up. "I do have one request, though."

"Yes?"

"Can we send Eileen packing? I don't want to deal with that bitch anymore."

Ted sighed. "I know, she can be a little trying sometimes, even she admits that. I think her intentions are good. Her main concern is for Jenny. She's as fiercely protective of that girl as any mare would be of her foal."

"Just don't make me try to be friends with her."

Ted wished he could, but he realized he was already asking a great deal of her. "I won't. Just try not to pick fights with her, please."

"I'll try not to, but I'll finish anything she starts," said Wildy.

Ted made a mental note to talk to Eileen about this. "So can I tell Connie she can come?"

"So long as she comes alone," Wildy said. "And we have a pegasus patrol up to ensure that."

Ted didn't think that was necessarily, but nodded just the same. "Thank you, Wildy. With as complicated as things have become, we have to start putting our trust outside our own circles, and hopefully this will be good start."