//------------------------------//
// Chapter 69** 
// Story: Pandemic: Picking up the Pieces 
// by Halira 
//------------------------------//

Twilight looked at the 'courthouse' and gaped. It was unbelievably massive in size, the size of a Canterlot sized coliseum, with two colossal night pony statues with wings stretched upwards flanking the main gate. The sky was a perfectly clear night sky, but she didn't recognize any constellation from either home or Earth. If anything it seemed like their were far too many bright stars in the sky. The entire building and the ground they walked on looked like it was all cut and detailed from one single flawless stretch of marble.

Everywhere around her crowds of night ponies slowly filtered in between the two colossi. Strange hooded figures that had no legs but two arms floated about directing the ponies on into the massive structure. There was far more light than even the stars should be providing, but she couldn't determine a source for it. The light just was.

"Wow, that's...big," Starlight said from beside her, as the unicorn looked the structure over.

"My former students seem to have a flair for the grandiose," Luna observed as she looked on at the structure as well.

Twilight could only silently agree. 

Everything here was done in extreme detail. If she didn't already know this was a dream she would have thought she had been whisked off to yet another strange world. The night ponies all around them weren't constructs either, but actual ponies dreaming all around the globe.

Twilight frowned on puzzlement. "Luna, it took a great deal of effort for you just to pull all of Ponyville into a shared dream. How are they doing this with this many ponies?"

"The fact that night ponies already have a strong connection to the dream realm makes this possible. Trying to do the same with other pony tribes would take many magnitudes of effort more," Luna explained. "There will be some ponies of other types here, other than ourselves. Those are harder to pull into a shared dream like this in a large number, at least not without paying a heavy cost by the one creating the shared dream."

Twilight flicked an ear and looked at Luna. "What kind of cost?"

Luna frowned as she looked up at the stars. "Severing their connection to the waking world. When I pulled all of Ponyville into a shared dream I was pushing my boundaries. If I had tried doing the same with Canterlot or Manehatten my mortal form would have likely perished in the attempt."

"You could do this same kind of thing with the night ponies back home though?" Twilight asked as she tried to get a feel for how many night ponies were here.

Luna flipped her mane dismissively. "Of course, with ease. My crafting of the dream might not be so detailed, but this is being maintained and crafted by six rather than one."

"It's just hard to believe that six transformed ponies could do all this," Starlight said. "I don't know as much about night ponies as I probably should, but seeing them match what you as an alicorn can do is hard to take in."

Luna looked down at the unicorn. "In this case my power as an alicorn has little to do with it. I have more strength to do things before my waking body gives out, but this could be seen as a handicap when it comes to being a Dreamwarden. When these six eventually have their mortal bodies die they will each have more power in the dream realm than I will unless I push myself beyond my limits."

Twilight's ears laid back as she looked at Luna with shock. "Wait...you created a team of what will essentially be super powerful undead ponies! Are you crazy!"

"I'm not sure undead is the right way to describe them, Twilight," Luna said as with a pouty frown.

"Super--powerful--persist--after--they--die--ponies!" Twilight said slowly and deliberately, pounding a hoof with each word.

"You make it sound as if it were a bad thing," Luna said with a raised eyebrow. "I assure you, this was completely necessary and not nearly as bad as you make it out to be."

Twilight's eye twitched. "How is this not bad? How am I supposed to explain this to the humans? Oh, our princess of the night decided to take it upon herself without telling anyone to make a bunch of super powerful ponies that are effectively immortal. I'm sure that'll just go over so well!"

Luna had the sense to look uncomfortable. "Perhaps I should have been more open with you and my sister about what I was doing. I'm very used to not consulting anypony when it comes to matters of the dream realm." Her face became more resolved. "This was necessary though, and I would have done this one way or another. The consequences for not having done so were far too dire."

Twilight opened and closed her mouth a few times as she considered what to say. Between this and Celestia's mass mind wipe her confidence in the two sisters had been severely weakened.

She put her face to her hoof and shook her head. "Cadance better not turn around and have some major secret she's keeping from us. I'm part of the monarchy and my faith in it is being questioned. Are you and Celestia keeping any other secrets I might find it good to know?"

Luna bit her lip. "We've been around over a thousand years. How much time do you have?"

Twilight's eye twitched again.

Starlight stepped between them. "Maybe we should just go inside and discuss this after we see these Dreamwardens do their trial?"

"That sounds advisable," Luna said with a nod as she turned back towards the colossi flanking the entrance.

Twilight sighed and nodded agreement. She and Luna were going to have a long talk about this later. Here she was trying to present Equestria's best face to the humans, and Luna was setting up clandestine night pony groups behind everyone's back. How was she supposed to maintain trust and friendship when this was going on?

They walked with the crowds to the gate and Twilight took the time to look closer at the hooded figures as they were filtered between the two statues. There didn't seem to be any sort of face on the things, just emptiness. All there was was a ragged grey cloak and hands floating in the air, gesturing for the ponies to keep advancing. The things were almost certainly just constructs of the dream, but they made her uncomfortable all the same.

What was beyond the two statues was a massive open door. What was beyond that door was unknown because it seemed to be perfect darkness. Twilight hesitated briefly when she saw it, but none of the night ponies seemed to have any concerns at just walking into the door of nothingness. Luna also was displaying no concerns. Twilight swallowed and kept walking until she too walked into the void.

She stepped out of a much smaller door with only Starlight with her, there was no sign of Luna. She turned around and looked at the door she had just exited out of and saw that it was now completely gone. Another of the cloaked figures floated overhead.

"Where's Luna?" She demanded to the thing.

The figure just pointed deeper in the coliseum. Twilight turned and looked where it was pointing.

The court was one massive amphitheatre with hundreds of thousands of night ponies seated in a semicircle around a central area at the bottom. Down at the bottom were two tables with two ponies seated at one of them and three at the other, Luna was sitting at one the one with three ponies. The two tables were on opposite sides of the court area facing towards six raised pillars that were spread evenly along the edge of the area. Edge being the most accurate term because where the entire other half of the circle would be if this was a fully circular building was just the expanse of stars and a literal edge of the building it looked like you could fall off of.

"Take your seats," the cloaked figure behind them said in a raspy voice.

There was little question of where their seats were. This was some sort of reserved area and not part of the normal seating area. It had only a few seats that were placed very central and low out of the seating, providing an excellent view of what was going on at both tables and was close enough to the front that there didn't need to be any squinting to see what was going on. They weren't the only ones in this special seating area either; there was a human woman and a night pony stallion sitting there, chatting quietly.

There was a full roar of chattering night ponies throughout the entire amphitheatre, but the sound didn't seem as loud as it should be with this many ponies packed into one place.

"Seats, now," the floating usher said firmly.

"Okay, we're going to our seats," Starlight said with annoyance at the floating cloak. As the two of them started walking Starlight looked to Twilight. "Did Luna tell you she was going to be actually involved in this?"

Twilight shook her head and glared off at where the other alicorn was sitting. "She's been doing what she wants to this point. Why stop now?"

"I'm sure there's a good explanation," Starlight insisted, though she didn't sound to confident.

"We'll see," Twilight said flatly. As they got near the two others in this VIP section she did her best to put her best friendly face on. "Hello, mind if we sit with you?"

The human and night pony turned and looked at them then went wide eyed at the sight of Twilight. The human recovered from the shock first. "Um, sure. We don't mind. I'm Melissa and this is my coltfriend Dan."

"You're Twilight Sparkle," Dan said in shock.

Twilight smiled as she and Starlight took seats.. "Just Twilight will do. This is my close friend and pupil Starlight. I didn't realize any humans were going to be here, or that it was even possible."

Melissa looked embarrassed. "I'm rehumanized so that apparently works somehow. I really don't know what all I'm doing here. I was told to just watch and give a report. Whoever PR is said I had permission to watch. I just fell asleep and next thing I knew I was standing outside this place with Dan."

Dan seemed to recover a little. "______ ______ told me to keep close to her and keep her company. She used me to help find Melissa's dreams to begin with. I'm really happy about that because now I can find her dreams anytime now. I'd been trying, but it hadn't been working out."

Twilight blinked in confusion. He had said a name at the start but as soon as it was out of his mouth she couldn't recall what name he said.

"Could you do me a favor and repeat the name of who told you to keep close to her?" Twilight asked as she narrowed her eyes.

"______ ______," Dan repeated.

"Um, a few more times," Twilight asked with her mouth slightly agape.

"______ ______, ______ ______, ______ ______," Dan repeated again.

"That's weird..." Starlight said slowly.

Twilight turned to her friend. "It's happening to you too then? You can't remember what name was just said?"

"Oh, thank god, I thought I was going crazy," Melissa blurted out.

Dan looked at them all in confusion. "None of you can remember ______ ______'s name?"

"Of course they can't. Do you think we didn't have any precautions set up when we included these non-night ponies here today?" Came a voice close by them.

They all turned and looked at a dark orange night pony mare with a red mane who was standing on the railing for their seating section. Twilight's eyes drifted to the mare's cutie mark and she instantly regretted it as she jerked her eyes away with a blush. How did a pony end up with a cutie mark like that? That was just perverse and lewd.

"Oopsies," the mare said with embarrassment. "Let me block my cutie mark out from your minds. I forget that a lot of you ponies are so squeamish about that subject. Really, it's one of the most natural and beautiful things there are. You shouldn't be so upset seeing it depicted."

Twilight had no recollection of what mark she had seen. She remembered her reaction to it, and that gave her a fair indication what kind of thing it was, but the image of it was gone. Her eyes drifted to the mare's flank again and no matter how she tried she couldn't turn them to see the cutie mark. Her eyes just kept drifting past it without actually seeing it.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the orange night pony said happily. "I'm _____ __ ___, though you non-night ponies won't remember that. I'm a Dreamwarden, the Warden of Lust to be exact. Though you can call me the Warden of Passion if you prefer. I personally prefer Warden of Lust, guardian of all libidinous dreams."

Twilight wasn't sure what to make of the pony, but this was a good time to find out what type of ponies Luna had put into a position of such power.

She extended a hoof out to the night pony. "Nice to meet you...Warden. I was hoping for a chance to actually talk to some of..."

The mare held up a hoof to stop her and looked to Dan. "Hold that thought, first things first when I'm dealing with any night ponies. You have something that you need to say to me Daniel."

Dan instantly sat to attention. "_______ ____, we promise ponies shall dream in peace. _____ __ ___, we shall not allow our passions to lead us to folly. ______, the Wardens' anger is unyielding and just. ______ ______, fear of the Wardens keeps us safe. ______ ____, we shall keep the secrets of the Wardens. __'__ ____, better to die than to face the Wardens' justice."

The Warden clapped her forhooves together while still perched on the railing like a bird. "Very good!" The Warden then turned her attention back to Twilight who still had her hoof extended and touched her own hoof to it. "Sorry, we have to make sure the night ponies stay in line, and getting our Oaths from them each time they meet us is one of our regular reminders to them about who calls the shots in the dream realm."

"I see," Twilight said as she set her hoof back down. "Do you personally exert a lot of authority over night ponies, giving them orders on what to do?"

"Me?" The Warden said touching her forehooves to herself. "No, I just collect fresh Oaths and keep an eye out for rulebreakers. I'll do some dreamwalking of my own where I'll try to encourage nice safe sexual fantasies and try to treat not so safe not so nice sexual fantasies or sexual shame. I don't really give most night ponies much thought...though an occasional bit of dreamy fun times with a few willing partners comes up."

Twilight found herself blushing again. "All of you have things you specialize in then?"

The Warden shrugged. "Kinda-sorta, some of us have our own personal passions. For me it's making sure everypony has good healthy sexual desires and feelings. For one of my sisters it's making sure ponies are learning things about themselves from their nightmares. My other sister is really obsessed with the dreams of the dying and making sure they die peacefully. One of my brothers really tries to encourage night ponies to help ponies with anxieties while dreamwalking. Another brother is really obsessed with helping ponies overcome grief. My last brother doesn't really do anything, he's just out to enforce rules."

"Well, that doesn't seem too bad," Starlight said with a pointed look at Twilight.

Twilight couldn't see much that could be wrong with what was said. These were all things that Luna did back in Equestria...or at least most of it. Twilight wasn't sure if Luna did the stuff involving erotic dreams, though that was something that most might not admit to having had help from Luna with.

The fact still remained they were standing in a secret court about to see a trial that was happening with no one but the night ponies knowing about it.

The orange mare gasped excitedly and jumped down from the railing into the seats beside them. "The trial's about to start. This is so exciting!"

Twilight and the others turned their attention to the court area where what sort of looked like a seapony swam into view and into the center of the area.

"Go me!" The Warden beside them cheered as she watched the seapony.

The seapony spread it's fins wide and Twilight noticed it did indeed share the exact same face with the pony beside them. Having dealt with Discord for years this didn't get much of a rise out of Twilight as it might have.

"Fillies, gentlecolts, and everything else that doesn't fit into those categories, welcome to the first ever trial conducted by the Dreamwardens!" the seapony yelled out loudly. "In case you all don't know me, I'm _____ __ ___, Warden of Lust! I get the fun job of introducing everypony involved with this trial."

"Yea me!" The Warden cheered from beside them. Twilight rolled her eyes.

The seapony pointed to one of the pillars. "First up, it's me." An exact duplicate of her seapony form appeared on top of the pillar and waved to the crowd, blowing kisses. "If anypony is interested I'm available for sexy fun times in a dream after this trial, or if anypony is passing through Beijing in the waking world I'm available there too...for a price. A mare has to earn a living after all."

The version in the seats stomped her hooves excitedly. Twilight and the others turned and stared at her and the Warden gave them a sheepish smile back. "Hey, I'm a hard working prostitute, got to advertise my services sometimes."

Twilight took a deep breath and turned back to the court area. She wasn't going to make any judgements. The pony was a little...different than she was used to but that was okay.

The seapony turned to the next pillar. "Next up is ______ ____, Warden of Peace!" A very large stag appeared on top of the pillar. "Just to let you ponies know, he's a great psychologist. I went to him and he helped me stop talking to myself. Isn't that right, me?"

"It sure is, me," the other version of her called down from the pillar.

The stag could be seen shaking his head sadly.

The seapony turned to the next pillar. "Next is ___'__ ____, Warden of Death!" A skeleton of a night pony appeared on top of the pillar. "She makes the best treats if you ever run into her in the dream realm, but keep away from the food that she keeps in her wooden bowl. You don't want to know what that's made out of."

The skeleton glared down at the seapony, but was ignored.

"Next in line is ______, Warden of Anger!" The seapony announced as she pointed to another pillar. On top of that one a pony appeared, and they were on fire, as in their whole body was one bright burning flame. "He rubs some ponies the wrong way, but I don't understand why. He always has the sweetest things to say."

"You're a whoring cunt that will stuff anything into your pussy!" The flaming pony yelled down at the seapony.

The seapony laughed and twirled. "See what I mean? Isn't he sweet?"

Twilight definitely didn't think that was the accurate word to describe the self immolating pony, even with the culture clash. 

The next pillar became occupied before the seapony could say anything. The occupant was the most massive minotaur bull Twilight had ever seen. It was straight grey and if it weren't for the fact that it was moving Twilight would have sworn it was a statue. It was holding a large trident.

The seapony gestured up to the bull. "This is ______ ____, Warden of Silence! He isn't much of a talker; his tongue was forcefully ripped out right after he finished transforming. You can hear all about it in his new audiobook." The seapony conjured up two large speakers into existence. "Let's take a listen to an exert."

Static sounded from the speakers, for several seconds. 

Twilight and all others watching gave a startled jump and gasp when the bull's trident came hurtling down and impaled the seapony.

The seapony was pinned to the ground impaled right where the lower half of her body began. With a groan the seapony sat back up and glared up at the bull.

"You're supposed to be the nice one!" The seapony yelled accusingly.

The bull made several rapid hand gestures, which Twilight recognized as human sign language, towards the seapony.

"Alright, I suppose that was out of line. I'm sorry. There's some buttons I just shouldn't push," the seapony said.

The bull squatted and nodded.

The seapony was still impaled on the ground though. It pulled itself up and couldn't seem to wedge the trident loose. Twilight looked on in horror as the seapony expanded a pair of wings that weren't previously there and with a few beats of them ripped the whole lower half of her body off and hovered dripping blood and guts as she glanced down at her skewered fish tail.

"Fish guts," the seapony cursed. She then gestured to the final pillar. "Last and not least is our hosting judge for today,______ ______, Warden of Fear!"

What appeared on top of the pillar just took up a large space in the air above the pillar. It was like a cloud of darkness with twisting tendrils of blackness that shifted about it's surface. Twilight had a sudden flashback to Sombra's shadow form as she looked into the darkness and saw two glowing eyes.

"She was so deep in the closet she seems to have made a permanent home there," the still gore dripping seapony announced. That thing was a she? "A special tip for you all. If you ever find yourself in your bedroom at night, and the closet door is glowing, know you're in a nightmare and ______ ______ has come calling."

The twisting black mass's eyes focused on the seapony. "_____, can you please do something to pull yourself together? Your guts dripping all over the floor is rather distracting. We are here to conduct a trial, not to have you conduct a circus."

"It's undignified," the skeletal Warden of Death chimed in.

Twilight would have just gone with it's disgusting. She was glad that at least two of the Dreamwardens seemed to have a serious streak to them.

She glanced over at the pony version of the Warden of Lust sitting beside them. The mare was happily just munching away at popcorn and turned and offered some silently to Twilight with a smile. Discord and this pony would definitely get along great. Unfortunately for her, Discord tended to work her nerves, and the Warden of Lust was doing much the same.

There was a hint of Pinkie's personality to her that Discord lacked. The Warden just had a boundless enthusiasm for everything rather than Discord's cynical nature. That meant Discord was still the more annoying between the two.

Twilight turned her attention back to the court area and noticed that the gory seapony version was now gone, along with her mess in the area. The version of the Warden on the pillar still remained and looked over the crowd with a happy smile.

"Now that introductions have been made we shall take the Oaths of all night ponies present," the Warden of Fear declared.

The night ponies, including Dan, answered in a great chorus. "_______ ____, we promise ponies shall dream in peace. _____ __ ___, we shall not allow our passions to lead us to folly. ______, the Wardens' anger is unyielding and just. ______ ______, fear of the Wardens keeps us safe. ______ ____, we shall keep the secrets of the Wardens. __'__ ____, better to die than to face the Wardens' justice."

Not being able to remember the names was getting annoying.

The six Dreamwardens glanced around the audience and the Warden of Fear spoke again. "I counted eight of you who failed to say your Oaths. This is not acceptable." A giant six-sided die appeared on the court floor. "I'm going to throw this into the air and it shall determine which Warden shall punish those who failed to say their Oaths. You have until it lands to say them and escape punishment."

The orange mare jumped to her hooves and clapped her forehooves together excitedly. "I love it! The uncertainty of who it will be, the fear of the possibility. She isn't a complete stick in the mud after all. So much fun! I hope it lands on me!"

Twilight looked on in alarm. How had they even been able to tell who had kept quiet? Worse, they were going to punish these ponies for not saying some Oaths?

As the die went spinning into the air a voice somewhere in the crowds called out the Oaths. As it reached it's zenith three more voices joined in. As it started to fall back down two more panicked voices could be heard rushing to say the Oaths. Another followed right after that, and just as it was about to hit the ground an eighth voice started yelling out the Oaths.

The die vanished. "That last one was not quite fast enough, but I'll accept it. There shall be no punishments," the Warden of Fear declared. Twilight heard the orange night pony give off an audible pout. Yet another bad sign.

"Those that had to be warned are not to fail again in giving their Oaths. You've had your warning, from now on you shall give them promptly."

The fact that there had been pure terror in the voices of those that had been late in saying their Oaths gave Twilight a sick feeling in her stomach. These ponies were living in fear of the Dreamwardens. The idea of an entire tribe of ponies being governed by fear was horrible to consider. She couldn't help thinking of Nightmare Moon as well, and wondering if Luna was trying to re-establish herself here with the a resurgence of that old personality.

"Moving on," the Warden of Fear said loudly. "The reason we are all here today is that the night pony by the name of Shadow Dancer has been accused of using mind magic to forcefully alter the minds of a large number of humans so they want to be ponies. That is a disgusting misuse of mind magic."

Hisses and snarls echoed out across the entire amphitheatre and Twilight was taken a bit aback when Dan joined in with it. She took it as a positive sign that the night ponies felt so strongly about misuse of mind magic. Beside her Starlight shuffled in her seat.

The Warden of Fear was not done speaking. "Before we get into the details of the case against Shadow Dancer there are a few matters that need to be addressed. First being the fact that one of his accusers made those accusations public in front of day ponies, including the demand for judgement by me. It is not our intention to stay hidden forever, but we have made it clear that at this time knowledge of our existence should not have been compromised to the waking world's authorities. This is a violation of the vow of secrecy and requires punishment."

A door with light coming from around it's edges appeared in between the pillars. The door slowly swung open and it was not clear what was inside it, but a voice came from it. "Mandy... you should join me here, where you belong."

Twilight heard Melissa and Dan both gasp to her side,and she turned to look at them. Both of them were staring down at the door in horror.

"Gail? She can't be there, she's dead. I saw her die in front of me," Melissa said in a frightened tone.

Twilight turned back to look at the door with a concerned frown.

Out of the door stepped a pony and the sight of the pony made Twilight want to gag. The pony's fur color was impossible to tell because the entire body had been scorched black. The mane and tail were but a few scattered hairs. One eye was just a bloody mess and the other socket was completely vacant. Blood dripped and oozed from the pony in multiple places around the body. It had clearly once been a night pony by the wings, which were also a shredded mess. In the pony's fetlock a knife was gripped tightly and a rictus grin was on the pony's face as it stared at one of the ponies at the table that had a single night pony and pegasus seated at it.

"Face your fears, Tattered Wing," the Warden of Fear intoned.

"It's time for me to finally get my justice, Mandy," the wreck of a pony cackled.

The night pony from the table stood to her hooves. "No, not this...anything but this."

"Face your fears," the Warden of Fear said again coldly.

Several tendrils of darkness whipped out of the door and wrapped themselves around the frightened night pony. The night pony screamed in terror as the darkness tried to pull her towards the door.

The nightmare pony regarded the frightened pony and laughed. "What's wrong, Mandy? I thought you cared about justice. Come to me and get the justice you deserve for killing me! Join me in the grave."

The frightened pony screamed again as the darkness continued to pull on her and she was dragged from her chair. She wrapped both forehooves around the leg of the table and held on for dear life. 

Surprisingly, this didn't cause the table to budge at all as the pony held on with the tendrils pulling her fiercely from behind.
Twilight couldn't stand by and watch this, it was too monstrous. She stood to her hooves and made ready to fly down to the pony's rescue and put an end to this. As she stood more tendrils of darkness appeared and pulled her back to her seat. She heard Dan, Melissa, and Starlight cry out and saw the same had happened to them.

The night pony version of the Warden of Lust shook a hoof at them. "Na na na, you won't be allowed to interfere with this."

"Watch me," Twilight growled as she charged up her horn for a teleport.

Something was wrong. She lifted a hoof up to her head and cried out in shock and fear when she realized her horn was gone.

"I told you, you don't get to interfere," the Warden of Lust repeated. "You may be an alicorn, but here that means nothing. We control what happens here, and there is nothing you can do to change that."

"This is wrong!" Twilight shouted at the orange pony. "You can't kill a pony for this!"

"Kill?" The Warden of Lust said in confusion. "Who said anything about kill? She'll survive this, it isn't a killing offense. Our methods might seem brutal to you, but they must learn that violations of their Oaths will not be tolerated. We aren't here to play all nice-nice about these things."

Twilight's response was cut off by Dan yelling from beside her. "Tattered! It isn't her! This isn't real! Face your fears!"

She looked back at the helpless night pony mare caught in this nightmare situation. The pony was still screaming and still holding onto the table. Out of the door emerged more figures. Another night pony mare that was also covered with burns, only this one was missing a wing. Behind that two night pony stallions followed after. One was leaking puss and blood from a dozen different places, and the other crawling on the ground since he was missing both his right legs. Twilight realized that the one crawling was Dan.

"You got off so easy while the rest of us suffered," the one winged mare sneered. "I had to give up so much because of you. I did things I would never have done just to escape the pain. It's all your fault!"

"Look at me! I can't even stand. You did this," Dan's doppelganger accused.

"The infections in my wounds took me while you were playing at being a leader," the oozing stallion said through gritted teeth. "The same leader that led us to die and suffer."

"I'm so sorry," the terrified mare wept as she continued to hold her grip on the table. "I didn't mean for it to happen."

Twilight could see that Luna was holding the two ponies at the other table back from coming to the mare's aid. Why wasn't Luna doing something to stop this? The Dreamwardens on their pillars stared down impassively at the mare's torture.
More tendrils of darkness lashed out from the door and ripped at the mare's wings, shredding them to pieces. The mare wailed in agony, but did not release her grip on the table.

"Oh, your wings got shredded? Boo hoo hoo," the one winged mare mocked. "At least you had something to heal!"

"That's not me, Tattered! I would never want you hurt more than you were!" Melissa yelled out.

More tendrils went out at the mare and wrapped themselves around her left wing. With a blood curdling sound of ripping and snapping her wing was severed from her body and pulled back into the door. Despite this the mare kept her grip on the table through her cries of pain.

"Come on, little dreamwalker, face your fears," the orange night pony version of the Warden of Lust pleaded out loud. It seemed this was too much even for her. "That's what Ms. Nightmares wants out of you. Please, just face your fears and end this quickly. We don't want you to have to keep suffering."

"Face your fears," the Warden of Fear intoned again.

Realization came to Twilight then. This wasn't just a punishment, this was some sort of lesson. A horrible, barbaric lesson, but a lesson all the same. The Dreamwardens wanted her to take something away from this other than just a fear of violating their Oaths. She couldn't condone what they were doing, but there was more to this than crime and punishment.

"Face your fears?" Dan's doppelganger said with a cruel laugh. "You're incapable of facing them. How long have I been kept out of sight and out of mind by you? You can't stand to see your handiwork."

"You don't really feel that way...do you?" Twilight heard the real Dan whisper.

"The question you should consider is if you feel that way, little dreamwalker," the Warden of Lust said to him.

"Of course I don't!" Dan snapped at the orange night pony.

"Then maybe when this is all over you should make sure she knows that," the Warden replied in a sad tone. "And watch your tone with me, little dreamwalker. I'm letting it slide for right now because I know you're under stress, but disrespect cannot be allowed. Snap at me again and your friend won't be the only one dealing with consequences."

Twilight had no idea how to take these ponies. They were so cruel, but showed undercurrents of kindness. The combination made them all the more disturbing and frightening.

Her attention snapped back to what was happening out in the court when she heard another pained scream. More of the blackness had come out of the door and this time it had ripped not a wing off, but two of the mare's legs! She was no longer grasping the table, but the tendrils were no longer trying to pull her back towards the door. She just lay at the foot of the table in an increasingly large pool of blood. Somehow she was still alive and not going into shock.

"Can't stand now can you?" Dan's doppelganger sneered. "But it's not like you ever could stand for anything anyway. You let that pegasus over there get away with murder, didn't you? You had the body of the pony she killed and you destroyed it, for some perceived greater good. Such a hypocrite to say you seek justice."

"What?" Melissa gasped. "That can't be true...Tattered wouldn't do something like that."

"Face your fears," the Warden of Fear said again. "You will not be allowed to break. You will face these."

Though it seemed impossible, Tattered Wing lifted her head up and turned towards the nightmare versions of her friends and slowly pulled herself around to face them.

"Oh look at that," the puss oozing one said with a laugh. "The little coward is finally looking at us. Maybe now that she's been ripped apart she isn't as bothered seeing what she's done."

"I... didn't...do this to you," Tattered Wing said in a haggard voice.

"What was that?" Gail asked as she stepped forward. "I don't think I heard you right."

"What...ha-happened to you wasn't...my fault," Tattered said while gasping for breath.

"You're deluding yourself if you think that," Gail replied with a frown.

"We were...trying to...protect. We all...chose to take...action. It was....the right thing to do," Tattered choked out.

"Yet you came out of it better than any of us," Gail said as she walked up to Tattered and stared down at her.

Tattered stared up at Gail. "Random chance."

The nightmare ponies vanished with her saying those last words. The door shut and then promptly vanished as well. In the next instant Tattered Wing was whole and healed where she lay on the ground, though she started sobbing again loudly.

As the black tendrils that were holding Twilight and the others released and vanished. The darkness of the Warden of Fear then condensed and formed the shadowy figure of a night pony. The Warden then glided down from her pillar and landed next to Tattered Wing.

"You've faced your fears and your punishment is served," the shadow figure said gently to the sobbing mare as it ran a hoof over Tattered's mane.

Tattered looked up at the Warden with tear filled eyes. "But I still feel those things though. They haven't gone away."

The Warden moved quickly and pulled the night pony from the ground and into an embrace. Tattered leaned into the embrace and laid her head on the Warden's shoulder and kept crying as the Warden hugged her tightly. Again the strange juxtaposition of cruelty and kindness made Twilight feel more on edge.

"You can't banish fears so easily," the Warden said. "You've taken a big step in getting to where you can though. You've admitted the truth. Hopefully someday soon your heart will believe the truth."

"You night ponies are insane," Twilight stated as she watched the two hugging. "Your Warden of Fear was just torturing that poor mare and now they are hugging like best friends."

"Um, Twilight. I kind of tortured you at one point and we're best friends," Starlight said in a low voice.

"It's not the same thing," Twilight answered with a hiss.

"That pony was torturing herself, and still is," the Warden of Lust said. "______ didn't torture her, or choose what that pony faced. She just brought the torture that was already there to the surface."

Twilight turned and looked at the orange mare. "That internal torture wasn't ripping off her limbs!"

The Warden shrugged. "This is a dream, so she didn't actually have any limbs ripped off. Plus, we have to remember that this was a punishment and not just a therapy session. Wouldn't be much of a punishment if they didn't feel very punished, now would it? She got her spanking, now it's over."

"That was a bit more than a spanking!" Twilight said incensed.

"What would you have us do instead?" The orange night pony asked.

"Not that!" Twilight said as she pointed out to the court.

"So, no suggestions then?" The Warden asked with a raised eyebrow. "If you have no better ideas then I advise you not condemn my sister for actually making use of this punishment to help better the blabbermouth."

"The psychological effect of what happened to her is bad enough!" Twilight yelled with white hot rage. "And what about all these ponies that were forced to watch that?! They could get trauma just from seeing that!"

"We buffer the effect of the experience for those going through it and those watching. Haven't you realized that you just watched that horror and the impact of it is already fading from your mind?" The Warden asked as she crossed her forelegs. "Do you think we're uncaring? They have to know that we'll not tolerate their violations. They don't have to stay traumatized by it. By the time you wake you will barely be able to recall what she went through, and she only a little more. This is a dream, and we govern what you can recall here. I could wipe the full memory if I chose to."

"You're monsters," Twilight growled. "This is wrong in so many ways."

The Warden of Lust frowned and took a deep breath. "We keep order. Do you understand what Sunset Shimmer made when she made night ponies here? The exaggerated instincts make for very difficult to control ponies without extreme measures. Hopefully in a few generations those instincts will lessen, and we don't have to be so firm. Giving a verbal scolding won't work with these ponies right now though; they won't respond to it, they won't respect it. They are warriors, every last one. They respect shows of force. They respect those that have the power to destroy them. They understand extremes so we give them extremes."

"It's wrong!" Twilight yelled. 

The Warden glared at Twilight. "It's a fucked up situation and as a result you get a fucked up solution. I'm sorry you have to see the fallout of what your aunt has done, but we have to live it. We Dreamwardens were chosen because we won't break like Luna did when she had to deal with a similar situation. We don't get those buffers we give these ponies or you. We don't get shielded from the horrors we see. A pony like you would break in our position and be yet another Nightmare Moon. Fuck you and your righteousness, you pampered sheltered alicorn. We'll be monsters because we fucking have to be. Right now the world needs monsters so you don't have to deal with an even bigger problem than you already do. So sit your righteousness ass down and shut up, because we have two-million fucked up ponies to protect from themselves."

"And what about when the world no longer needs you?" Twilight asked in a low voice. "You effectively live forever. What does the world do when monsters rule dreams well after their need has past?"

The Warden shook her head. "I don't think any of us are going to be able to stay at this job for eons. We're a stopgap while things are being brought under control. I'd say two, maybe three hundred years tops--we hope anyway. Enough time for things to settle and for us to find replacements better suited for a kinder world. You might be under some delusion this can be fixed in a lifetime. This will take generations, but hopefully not too many."

Well, if anything that hardened Twilight's resolve that she would do everything in her power to fix the chaos that was going on due to her aunt's actions. She already had plenty of reasons to do all she could, adding having these six decide they could give their power over to others was just another.

Dan looked at the Warden of Lust in confusion. "Um, no offense intended, Dreamwarden, but I had a completely unrelated question that's been bothering me."

"What's that?" The Warden asked.

"Aren't you Chinese? You don't sound very Chinese," Dan asked sheepishly.

The Warden laughed in high contrast to her demeanor a moment before. "Dreams don't use language, I don't actually know a word of your language. We can communicate because we're expressing ideas and we understand the ideas being expressed. On top of that I've got way too many memories stuffed in my head from others' lives and I spend a lot of time dealing with dreams from your side of the world."

Twilight narrowed her eyes at the Warden. "What do you mean you have memories stuffed into your head?"

The Warden cocked her head. "It's a Dreamwarden thing. When we get bound we get to see everything about the previous Dreamwardens in our line. Want to know all about every pony Luna ever had sex with? I remember every one of them. I paid a lot of attention to those memories."

Twilight turned bright red in the face. "No... I'd rather you didn't. I didn't even realize she had those kinds of relationships."

The Warden laughed again. "Wait...you think that a pony over a thousand years old has never got it on in her life? Sure, she's been through a bit of a long drought, but you seriously think she's a virgin?"

"Not something I want to think about..." Twilight said through gritted teeth.

"You know, little alicorn, I think you have an unhealthy avoidance of sexual thoughts. I could help you by encouraging a few more kinky dreams," the Warden said, sounding completely serious, even sounding concerned for her.

Twilight went even redder in the face. She was not going to have this discussion, definitely not with this monster.

"Not only is that none of your business, but I don't think it is pertinent to what's going on today," Twilight said as she turned back towards the trial.

The Warden of Fear had reverted back to her twisting black mass's form atop her pillar. Tattered Wing was back in her seat at the desk. It looked like they had both just returned.

"Continuing on," the Warden of Fear said. "Shadow Dancer, please step forward to the center of the court."

The night pony stallion from the table that held him, Luna, and a crystal pony mare left his seat and walked calmly to the center of the court area and faced the Dreamwardens. Twilight silently applauded his courage to do that without hesitation after what had just happened to Tattered Wing.

The Warden of Fear gazed down at him. "Shadow Dancer, you stand accused by the two ponies sitting at the other table of using mind magic to forcefully alter the minds of a large number of humans so they desired to be ponies. How do you respond to this charge?"

The stallion stood still as he looked up at the Warden. "The charges are true. I do not deny them."

Hisses, snarls, and growls echoed throughout the amphitheatre once again. The Warden waited for them to cease before continuing. "By your admission you claim over five-thousand humans, is that correct?"

Twilight's eyes bulged. Five-thousand? One pony mind controlled five-thousand humans? She started to do math as she glanced around the amphitheatre. How many of these ponies had that ability? How many of them would it take to take complete control of a country or group of countries? He had only been a pony a month and a half. How many more could he had done that to in a year's time? The implications of the dangers night ponies presented were frightening.

"Since they are humans your claims are difficult for us to easily verify the numbers on," the Warden said. "I have gathered witnesses from among night ponies that saw you doing some of this on various different occasions. They have already been punished for their complacency in letting you do such actions. Still, even with their memories at my disposal I cannot verify that full number, only part. That forbidden activity happened is of no doubt though."

The stallion nodded in agreement.

The Warden continued. "The question of your guilt is settled before the trial has begun then. The matter we shall have argued before us is how you shall be sentenced and if any mercy should be given. Do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly, Dreamwarden," Shadow Dancer answered.

"Are you willing to give us to access your memories so we can see the full extent of what occurred?" The Warden asked.

"I have no objections," Shadow Dancer replied.

"I have objections!" The crystal pony yelled out.

The Warden of Fear turned its gaze to the crystal pony. "Your objections will be heard. Shadow Dancer, return to your seat. Those standing in defense of the guilty, please step to the center of the court."

Luna and the crystal pony did as instructed and walked to the center of the court area and faced the Dreamwardens.

"Why does he get an alicorn defending him!" The pegasus from the other table yelled out.

"Hush yourself, Tonya," the Warden scolded. "We shall address that matter in a moment. Until anypony is given permission to speak they're to keep silent going forward. I'll not allow these constant interruptions." The Warden turned its gaze back to the crystal pony. "Crystal pony, you shall tell the court your name, your relationship with the guilty, and why you stand here defending him today."

"I'm Crystal Dreams. Shadow Dancer is my best friend. I stand defending him because he's defended me many times and I don't want him to get hurt," the crystal pony answered.

The Warden turned its gaze to Luna. "And you, Luna, why are you standing in defense of this pony? I admit I'm surprised to see you doing this."

Luna stood tall and proud. "This is the first such trial you have had. I understand the pressure you're under to make a statement with his sentencing. I wish to do all I can to see he gets a fair sentencing, rather than one to just make a statement."

"We do not defer to Equestria or any other authority when choosing how to discipline our night ponies. Will you attempt to interfere with whatever sentence we declare if it isn't to your liking? Even if we decide to break this pony's mind?" The Warden asked.

"It is not my place to do so, nor will I do anything to interfere. I'll do all I can to argue for a fair sentence, and hope that you see fit to give him one," Luna answered.

"Very well then," the Warden replied. "You both may provide his defense. Please return to your seats."

"But my objection..." Crystal Dreams said as she failed to comply.

"Will be heard in time," the Warden of Fear replied. "Return to your seat and do not test my patience. Your eagerness to fight for your friend is commendable, but you must wait your turn. Day ponies are largely safe from any sort of punishment, but you can be dismissed as a defender. Test my patience with too many times speaking out of turn and you will find yourself a spectator to this trial in the seats."

Crystal Dreams seemed ready to protest more, but after Luna touched a wing to her just stopped and nodded before returning to her seat.

"Is the prosecution recovered enough to continue?" The Warden of Fear asked as it turned its gaze back to Tattered Wing and Tonya.

Tattered Wing stood up. "I'm ready to do what's needed of me."

Twilight blinked. This pony just went through an ordeal that should have her needing months if not years of counseling to get over and she was ready to go like it hadn't just occurred minutes before? Maybe the Warden wasn't exaggerating when she said they buffer the experiences and make them fade quickly. That was the only explanation about how this pony was already ready to get right back to task. It didn't make it any more right, but it was a sign they were being honest.

"The prosecution may stand before me now then," the Warden of Fear declared.

The night pony and pegasus got up and walked out to the center of the court area.

"Pegasus," the Warden said as it looked down at Tonya. "State your name and why you're pursuing justice against Shadow Dancer."

"Tonya Middleton is my name," Tonya replied. "I was the first to realize that something wasn't right about him. He is a threat to my town and my lover. I want them safe from him."

"And you Tattered Wing?" The Warden asked.

Tattered took a deep breath before answering. "I'm Tattered Wing and I had evidence gathered that Tonya's accusations were likely accurate. What he has done is a disgusting misuse of mind magic and I want him punished to the full extent possible so no other pony will dare to try something like this again."

"You two are acceptable in your roles as prosecution. You may take your seats until called again," The Warden said before turning it's gaze back to the defense. "You may stay at your table, but now you may offer up arguments about why we should be more lenient in punishment, offer up witnesses to back your claims, and tell us why you object to Shadow Dancer's memories being used."

Luna turned to Crystal Dreams. "I will save my arguments for later. For right now Crystal Dreams shall have her say."

Crystal Dreams stood up in her chair. "Well, for the not giving over his memories to be seen I say we claim the fifth."

Several of the Dreamwardens looked amused at this answer. The Warden of Lust laughed outright. Crystal Dreams looked at them all in confusion with her ears flattened.

The Warden of Fear spoke. "This is the dream realm, not the United States. There is no fifth amendment to invoke here. Even if there was, we specifically asked him for permission to access his memories to use as evidence and he agreed. He had the right to object and we would have respected his objection. He did not object. We will give another opportunity to object from him now as a courtesy though."

"I still don't object," Shadow Dancer said loudly.

Crystal Dreams rounded on him. "Are you crazy?!"

"We will give the defense a few moments of privacy so they can debate this matter among themselves and give us a final answer," the Warden of Fear said in an amused tone. "While you do that we shall remove the physics that allow sound to spread to the all ponies watching and make sure none can focus on your lips moving. These will be restored when you are ready."

Twilight was embarrassed that she had not noticed until that her ability to hear what was going on on the court exceeded her natural hearing levels, as well as her ability to see details like facial expressions and tears in ponies eyes. Now that these physics were removed the court seemed somehow more distant from her.

"You've been unusually quiet through all of this. I'd have thought you'd be speaking up about this too," she said to Starlight.

Starlight jumped as if startled. She had clearly been deep in her own thoughts. The unicorn turned to her and gave a weak smile. "Sorry, I was just thinking."

"About what?" Twilight asked. She noticed while she was speaking that the Warden of Lust had seemingly vanished without a word. Good riddance.

Starlight looked down and rubbed a foreleg absently. "I was thinking about what these ponies would have done to me. I've used mind magic recklessly in the past. They seem to have a special...well...hatred for ponies that do. The Dreamwardens might be the ones punishing ponies, but you heard how this crowd reacted to word of what Shadow Dancer did. I think that night ponies in general would show no mercy."

"That's our doing. A strong compulsion of disgust at the misuse of mind magic, though some clearly resist it obviously. It's an attempt to try to keep this thing from running rampant and giving us an information network to find out what abuses are happening in the waking world," came the Warden of Fear's voice from behind them.

Twilight and Starlight turned back in unison to see the speaker. A grey night pony mare with a green mane walked calmly up to them and took a seat. She was clearly young and smaller framed without a lot of extra weight on her, making her seem somewhat fragile. On her flanks was a picture of a pony skull for a cutie mark.

Twilight narrowed her eyes at the night pony. "You're the Warden of Fear? You seem a lot less intimidating than I expected."

The Warden gave a small chuckle. "Most things ponies fear are far less intimidating than they really are. Yes, I'm Phobia Remedy, the Warden of Fear."

Twilight blinked. "I can remember your name. Why're you letting me remember your name all of the sudden?"

"Take it as a sign of trust," Phobia said. "You won't be able to remember the others' names still, but you have mine. You could probably track me down in the waking world and I'd be almost as helpless against you there as you are against me here."

Twilight's looked at the pony suspiciously. "Why give me this information then? What do you have to gain by it?"

Phobia sighed. "As I said, I hope to gain a little trust. I understand your misgivings and apprehensive attitude about us, even hostility towards us. I have other reasons as well."

"Such as?" Twilight asked.

"Tattered Wing put us in a difficult position and Shadow Dancer compounded it. I'm doing damage control so our night ponies don't suffer," Phobia explained.

Twilight pointed out at the court. "I find it hard to believe you're concerned about their suffering when you torture even the prosecution of your trials."

"She was told this was coming. She didn't expect me to be gentle with her. You're free to discuss with her what happened after the trial is over," Phobia replied. "I don't expect this trial to take long. I already have a good guess what will be shown when we see his memories and I feel arguments on both sides for his sentencing will go quickly."

"A trial where he walks in guilty is kind of a farce," Twilight stated.

Phobia nodded. "A lot is for show, we have to impress the masses after all, but his sentencing may well come down to his memories and what arguments each side makes. I'm not sure what that outcome will be yet. The other five will vote on one of having his mind purged, a more lenient punishment, or letting him go with no punishment. If one option fails to get the most votes then I shall cast my vote. If there is still no clear winning vote after that we shall pass the vote to the night ponies watching."

"What do you consider lenient sentencing?" Twilight asked skeptically.

"Anything he can recover from is lenient. Tattered Wing's punishment would be considered extremely lenient," Phobia said impassively as she continued to watch Luna, Shadow Dancer, and Crystal Dreams speak.

"So more of your horrific torture," Twilight growled.

Phobia turned and looked her in the eyes. "I am under a great deal of pressure as the chief Dreamwarden of this first trial. What happens today will set a precedent for how other trials will follow. It also let's night ponies get expectations about what they can get away with. I have to convince overly aggressive night ponies that using their most powerful tools in their arsenal is not an option, and at the same time I don't want to be overly cruel. I'm not lying when I say I'm open to suggestions. You didn't give my sister any, but maybe you'll have some for me."

With how angry Twilight had been feeling about these Dreamwardens she actually had to force herself to not give another angry retort. Phobia Remedy seemed to be completely honest in asking for advice.

"You could set up a system where you can turn these ponies over to human authorities. Remove yourself from passing judgement," Twilight suggested.

Phobia shook her head. "I think it has merits, but there are a lot of problems with it. We deal with all night ponies, and they're all over the globe. Many governments would be uncooperative with us. It's also not likely at this time that the night ponies will willingly submit to any government authority, especially when those governments don't have any ponies in them. Human authorities are also very helpless in dealing with mind magic. Crystal ponies can help a little, but they're vulnerable in their dreams."

"There are definitely issues and concerns, but something can be worked out," Twilight insisted.

Phobia shook her head. "It has long term merits, and we're already considering how we shall work with governments when we do come out. The current situation has forced me to put out feelers on that. That's why Melissa over there is even here today. It's a risk, but something had to be done. Coming out is not happening yet though. We aren't to a point where everything is settled enough. What would you have me do today knowing that I have a judgement that needs to be made?"

Twilight had an answer ready. "Give him a path to redemption, some sort of rehabilitation. Not this senseless torture."

"Night ponies need to be discouraged from following in his hoovesteps," Phobia asserted. "Seeing him just get a scolding won't work. If we keep him intact mentally after this I intend to make use of him and give him a chance to fix what he's done. We can't let him go without sending a message to the other night ponies."

"Not every night pony is going to be a problem," Twilight snapped.

"Enough will be," Phobia said as she gestured to the other seating areas. "I've been watching you since you got here. I saw you doing the math in your head. How many night ponies does it actually need to be in order to cause a widespread problem? You've seen the exaggerated instincts in place in all kinds of ponies, so how likely do you think it is that those potential problem ponies won't do things if left to their own devices?"

"You could shut them all out of the dream realm. That way the crystal ponies could keep them in check," Twilight offered weakly. She hated that she didn't have any good answers. The Dreamwardens' concerns were legitimate on all accounts. Their methods were what's wrong. The problem was she couldn't figure out what the right answers were.

"Lock them out of the dream realm?" Phobia scoffed. "We do that to a minority already, and only because we can reverse that if need be. Did you know that's a horrible torture in itself? Let's discuss cutting off every unicorn's horn while we're at it or grounding every pegasus. Most night ponies would rather take far worse torture than what you saw than be cut off from here. It's literally having half their life stripped from them."

Twilight went wide-eyed for a moment at that. Maybe she actually needed to learn more about night ponies before making suggestions. There was definitely going to be a major research session after this. She'd never taken a huge interest in finding out about night ponies back home. They were a very reclusive tribe and she never actually had any night ponies she knew well, and had met very few at all. She'd probably learned more about night ponies since coming to Earth than she had learned back in Equestria before two months ago. Her knowledge on them was still dreadfully lacking.

"Alright, let's just admit I'm not qualified to give any good answers at this time," she finally said in defeat. "That doesn't make the way you're doing things any better."

"There really isn't any pony qualified for the job at the moment," Phobia said with a sigh. "Your Equestrian night ponies aren't going to understand our night ponies' needs and concerns. Luna can't deal with here and Equestria both, and she's far too soft hearted to deal with millions of ponies living in fear of her again. Our night ponies, including the current Dreamwardens, have screwed up as hell instincts. It's a mess. I wish we had better answers, but we don't."

"Why are you talking to me if you don't think I have any answers?" Twilight asked.

Phobia considered her silently for a few seconds before answering. "I'm just opening a dialogue. The Dreamwardens aren't going anywhere and you're trying to do all you can to play peacemaker between humans and ponies. Luna might act as our go between when dealing with Equestrians typically, but I want you to have the option of going to us directly if need be. At some point we're going to make ourselves public and having you in the loop on our doings is probably a good idea."

"That might be a problem since I can't dreamwalk. I'm dependent on Luna for that," Twilight explained.

"Actually you can dreamwalk, you just don't know how," Phobia replied. "You don't have a naturally affinity to it like Luna does, but I'm pretty sure all alicorns can be taught to dreamwalk if they take the time. I haven't observed Celestia or that foal since they haven't slept in this world yet, but you and Cadance have the capability."

Twilight narrowed her eyes again. "You've been spying on us in our sleep?"

"Not really," Phobia answered. "Alicorn dreams are just highly noticeable and we can't help but notice when you sleep here. I can feel the minds of every pony in this shared dream, and the feel of your mind says you're capable of dreamwalking."

"I'd appreciate it if you keep out of my dreams then," Twilight said sternly. "As for me learning how to dreamwalk, I'll consider asking Luna to help me with that sometime in the future, but it's not a priority right now."

"As you wish," Phobia said as she looked back at the court. "The trial is about to resume. Luna has finally talked that combative crystal pony down."

Twilight looked back at the court. The Warden of Fear--which may have been Phobia as well, but she labeled it differently in her head--had turned its attention back to the table with Luna and the others.

"Crystal Dreams withdraws her objection to having Shadow Dancer's memories put on display," Luna announced.

"We shall proceed immediately with displaying them then," the Warden of Fear said in response.

A moment later images began to play out like a movie in the stars beyond the Dreamwardens' pillars. The image was from some darkened alleyway somewhere, as seen from above. Crystal Dreams was running from three humans and was now cornered.

"Leave me alone!" The frightened crystal pony shouted. "I wasn't hurting anypony."

"Stupid little slut. You think you're gettin out of things because you're a god damned pony now?" The man in front demanded. "You knew this was comin when you couldn't pay me back for all that crystal and I couldn't pimp you out anymore."

"I don't want the meth anymore. There's still some back at my apartment, you can go take it. Take anything you want there, just leave me alone," Crystal Dreams begged in tears.

The man advanced on her menacingly. "Oh, we will take it. We got to make an example of you though. Can't have sluts thinkin they can get out of payin for their crystal. Fact that you a pony just means we doin everyone a favor by putting you out of your misery. Ironic the meth head turned out to be a crystal pony, maybe we can grind you up do someone can snort you."

"Please, leave me alone," the Crystal Dreams begged again as she cowered in a corner.

The image shifted and Twilight realized they were viewing straight from Shadow Dancer's eyes. He came down and bowled the lead human over with his dive and came in for a landing a few feet away and faced them.

"The mare said leave her alone. She isn't hurting you, and she's done with your damn poison. So get out of here," Shadow Dancer said to them.

The man stood back up, rubbing his head. "God damned sack of leather, all you damned ponies need to all be taken to the god damned glue factory."

"You damned meth dealers need to have some ponies knock you around some more. I'm sick of you bastards hanging around this neighborhood, dragging it down, peddling your poison. This used to be a good neighborhood," Shadow Dancer growled.

The man advanced towards Shadow Dancer as the other two humans spread to the sides to flank him. "Funny thing to say from a damned pony. Whole damn town is a fuckin barnyard now. We're going to have to do some public service and put some ponies down."

"You're just mad that most your customers got freed from being hooked on your shit. Go somewhere else," Shadow Dancer said as he backed away.

"Well, meth heads will always sit there fuckin for some green to get more crystal. They spread that fuckin pony STD around fast as they could spread their legs. I can get more buyers, but I get some satisfaction out of seein you fuckers bleedin on the ground. You weren't worth much as humans and now you're worth nothin as ponies," the man said as he gestured for his companions to close in.

"You are the one that's nothing. You're just upset you were left as nothing. You want to be a pony. You will leave that poor mare alone and you will go home and think about how you got left out as a piece of trash," Shadow Dancer snarled.

Then inexplicably the three humans staggered and fell to the ground. Crystal Dreams looked up in shock, clearly not believing what just happened.

"Come on! While they're down, get out of there and we can go find the police!" Shadow Dancer yelled to her.

Crystal Dreams didn't hesitate after that. She stood up and ran past the downed men and past Shadow Dancer. As soon as she passed him he turned and followed her out of the alley and into the street.

The audience all saw Shadow Dancer's hoof point to a police car. "Over there. We can tell the police and have them deal with those creeps. They won't bother you anymore."

They went to the police car and knocked hard on the passenger side door. It took a moment for any response to happen, but the driver's side door opened up and a female officer stepped around and pointed a gun at them.

"Step away from the car and keep still," the officer said as she kept the gun leveled at them.

"Why are you pointing a gun at us!? We didn't do anything wrong," Crystal yelled in panic.

"Attacking an officer is a serious crime," the policewoman said harshly. "Now lay down on the ground! Down now, or I'll shoot!"

"What?!" Shadow Dancer said in shock. "We didn't attack any officers!"

"You were pounding on the police car, seems like you were attacking to me," the officer said with conviction. "Now down on the ground! You ponies are all crazy and I don't want you pulling any stunts!"

"We didn't do anything! Why're you being so mean?" Crystal wept. "This isn't fair!"

"On the ground!"

Shadow Dancer wasn't taking it though. "No! You will listen to us! You will stop pointing that gun at us! You will stop treating ponies this way! You will do your job and go arrest those creeps that tried to assault her!"

The officer staggered just like the drug dealers before her. Crystal Dreams could be seen looking on in shock again.

"What're you doing to them? How do you keep doing that?" Crystal asked wide-eyed in confusion.

A shake in the vision indicated Shadow Dancer was shaking his head. "I don't know, but I think we need to get out of here. We might not have assaulted an officer before, but I'm pretty sure whatever that is counts."

The two took off down the street at a full run.

The memory shifted and now it was night. The angle of the view indicated Shadow Dancer was perched on a building again. Below him were a group of about a dozen humans holding signs and shouting at the building.

"Cart them off, we don't want them here!"

"They aren't human anymore. Who knows what they'll do!"

"They probably are still infected and can still spread it to everyone else. They need to be taken away from here for everyone's safety!"

"We don't want any more ponies in town!"

Shadow Dancer flew down in front of the building and the humans all stepped back several steps like he was contagious still.

"All of you just need to get out of here. We aren't hurting any of you. We just want to be left in peace," Shadow Dancer said firmly. "Don't make me knock you around. I'm not going to let you keep scaring the ponies at this shelter."

A human picked up a rock and hurled it at Shadow Dancer. Shadow Dancer staggered as the rock struck his face.

Staring at the ground Shadow Dancer could be heard muttering, "Damn fucking humans. I'm getting really sick of this kind of shit. Ponies aren't hurting anyone, it's just these stupid humans time and time again. Whole world would be better off if we were all ponies."

He pulled himself back to his hooves and faced the protesters. "Now listen here! You humans will figure out were better off as ponies. You will leave this place and stop harassing your betters!"

Again the humans all staggered and Shadow Dancer took a step back.

"What the hell? How do I keep doing that?" He muttered as he watched the humans steady themselves.

The humans still all seemed dazed as they all started looking at each other.

One human dropped his sign. "I'm out of here. This was a stupid idea anyway. Ponies aren't bothering anyone."

Another human followed suit. "Yeah, don't know why I even got involved with this. We don't see ponies yelling at hotels full of humans."

The human that threw the rock held his head as he looked at Shadow Dancer with a still dazed expression. "I'm sorry about that...I don't know why I did that. I think I'm going to go home and lay down."

One by one they abandoned the area with comments about how this was stupid, how they didn't know how they got involved in this, and apologize for their behavior. Finally when it was just down to one last woman she looked at Shadow and shook her head before walking off.

"We're all probably better off as ponies anyway," the woman said as she walked away.

After all the humans departed the door could be heard creaking open and several ponies came outside.

"You did it again," Crystal said to Shadow Dancer. "You're our savior, you know that? At least mine, since you've come to my rescue three times now. I'm really starting to hate humans with them treating us so bad all the time."

"I think I figured it out..." Shadow Dancer said slowly.

Crystal looked at them hopefully. "You know how to keep making the humans stop being mean to us?"

"Yes, I do."

The memory shifted again. Shadow Dancer used his powers on several police officers that were refusing to help a pony.

The memory shifted again. Shadow Dancer used his powers at another protest.

The memory shifted again. He used his powers on a group of humans that were yelling insults at a pony.

The memory shifted again. He was using his powers on a food kitchen that had a sign up about no ponies allowed.

The memory shifted again. More police officers.

The memory kept shifting. A common thread ran through it all. He went after those that were hostile to ponies time and time again. These weren't random decisions. Always he had some sort of compulsion making them think they were better off as ponies. There was a lot of law enforcement, far too many for Twilight's liking, not that she cared for how many other hostile humans there were.

This continued on for a long time and Twilight was staggered by the numbers. By the time she was done watching she almost started feeling disgusted by humans with the constant cruelty Shadow Dancer saw. Of course, these were just his memories of when he used his powers so it was a pretty biased cross section view of the population.

"Three-thousand-nine-hundred-forty-two," the Warden of Fear declared. "That's how many victims I counted. It seems you did exaggerate slightly, but not nearly as much as I expected."

"They can hardly be called victims," Shadow Dancer said darkly.

"It does not give enough justification for what you did," the Warden answered coldly. "That is nearly four-thousand cases of mind control without consent. I consider that nearly four-thousand cases of rape--worse than rape even."

Shadow Dancer kept silent.

The Warden of Fear turned to the prosecution table. "Do either of you have any witnesses to call upon or anything to say about what has just been seen?"

The two mares at the table glanced at one another briefly. Tonya then shook her head. "I've got nothing. I really don't feel comfortable pushing for extreme punishment. I'd recommend something not so harsh."

Tattered Wing glared at the pegasus in disgust. "Of course you'd say that." The night pony then turned back to the Dreamwardens. "I have no witnesses to call on. Those memories speak for themselves. No matter how he tries to justify it there are about four-thousand humans that pony mind controlled. That is beyond disgusting. A pony like that can't be allowed to do that sort of thing again."

"The prosecution's opinions on the case have been noted," the Warden of Fear said in a neutral tone. It turned its attention back to the defense. "Are there any witnesses that the defense wishes to bring forth to influence our opinion and do you have anything to say about the memories that we have just witnessed?"

Luna looked down at Crystal Dreams and nudged the pony. Crystal Dreams stepped out from behind the table and faced the Dreamwardens.

"I'm the only witness I have to call," the crystal pony said. "Shadow Dancer is a good pony that just wanted to protect us. He was the first pony...the first person at all to show me kindness and compassion in a long time. You can disagree with his methods, but his intent was to make things better. He did make things much better for so many of us in Augusta. Those same humans that he used his powers on are better for it too. They aren't cruel to ponies anymore. He never used his powers on a human that was kind to ponies either. You can't punish him for this! You can't take my friend away!"

"Your words are noted," The Warden of Fear said before turning her attention to Luna. "Luna, these others have nothing left to say. Now is the time for you to have your say. Do you have any witnesses or final words for us before the votes are cast?"

Luna stood and faced the Dreamwardens. "Shadow Dancer has done wrong, there is no doubt. What is also evident is that he demonstrates a strong desire to protect rather than to dominate. This pony can be redeemed, and I say you would be doing a disservice to yourselves if you did not make an attempt to do so. I understand your need to make a statement that will be loud and clear to the night ponies. I urge you to make a statement showing you can be merciful."

"Your words are noted," the Warden of Fear said stoically. "The time to determine Shadow Dancer's fate has come. Warden of Lust how do you vote?"

The seapony seemed to be unsure and looked between both tables hesitantly. She then hung her head. "I vote no punishment, with the caveat that he be watched and supervised going forward."

"Warden of Death, how do you vote?"

The skeleton looked down at Tonya for some reason. "Full mind wipe. The numbers are just too great for me to ignore."

"Warden of Silence, how do you vote?"

The minotaur made some gestures with his hands.

"The Warden of Silence votes for lenient punishment," the Warden of Fear declared. "Warden of Anger, how do you vote?"

"Full mind wipe. He knew the rules and violated them," the flaming pony snapped.

"Warden of Peace, how do you vote?"

"Lenient punishment. This one can be rehabilitated," the stag said calmly.

"We have two votes each for mind wipe and lenient punishment, and one for no punishment," the Warden of Fear said. "I shall take a moment to consider my vote."

Twilight turned to Phobia. "You could vote for no punishment and create a three way tie. That could send the vote out to the night ponies. You can remove yourself from this that way."

"That would end in him getting his mind wiped. I've been monitoring the crowd and they want blood," Phobia said with a shake of her head. "There are only two options, lenient or mind wipe, there is no chance of escape for him. Since I have to make a statement with this trial there can only be one real choice."

Twilight laid her ears back. They were going to wipe his mind, essentially executing this pony. All to make a statement. These Dreamwardens didn't care about justice.

"My vote is for lenient punishment," the Warden of Fear declared and Twilight exhaled with relief. "With that carrying the most votes lenient punishment shall be done. Your mind shall stay intact."

Twilight turned to Phobia. "Thank you for doing the right thing."

Phobia raised an eyebrow at her. "Don't thank me yet. I haven't detailed his punishment yet."

The Warden of Death continued. "As for your punishment. Don't think you will not suffer because we said lenient. What Tattered Wing endured earlier in court will be a pleasant experience compared to what's coming for you."

Shadow Dancer bowed his head. "I'm prepared to hear what you have in mind."

The Warden condensed itself down to a shadow of a pony again and stared down at Shadow Dancer. "First, you will endure punishment from each and every Dreamwarden in our individual manners. After that we are stripping you of your ability to dreamwalk. Following that you will not be allowed in public without a night pony of our choosing with you at all times to supervise you. If there is so much as a hint that you have fallen back into your old ways there will be no trial next time. You will wake staring vacantly with no mind behind your eyes."

Shadow Dancer shivered. "I understand Dreamwarden."

The shadow cocked its head. "Your mind magic shall not go to waste though. I shall instruct you in how to undo the compulsions you have done. You will learn how and you will go to each and every human you used your powers on and undo what you have done. You'll then try to keep their respect for ponies with no mind magic making them do so."

"I understand, Dreamwarden."

The Warden looked up at the audience. "This trial is at an end and all are free to go. You may also mingle here if you wish, we shall keep this shared dream active for a few hours yet."

And with that the six Dreamwardens vanished from their pillars.

Twilight sat and tried to process how she felt about the final judgement. She had some seriously mixed feelings.

"I think Dan and Melissa would appreciate being taken down to see their friend. They may all need a hug together," Phobia said softly. "Luna shall be expecting you down there as well. I'm going to being consulting with the Warden of Peace about some good psychology schools. It's not much, but it's a start to trying to do better. I'm pregnant, so it might be a delay starting, but I'm going to do what I can to improve."

It was still a struggle equating this frail looking mare with the fearsome entity that was in control of the court. It was hard to say what she thought of Phobia Remedy either. Complicated feelings for a complicated pony. That Phobia was grey furred was appropriate, because that's what her nature was; not good, not evil, just the grey in between.

For right now Twilight would take the Dreamwarden's suggestion. She had a lot to question Luna about.