//------------------------------// // Chapter 75** // Story: Pandemic: Picking up the Pieces // by Halira //------------------------------// Dan stood outside the great dream amphitheater for the second day in a row. Was this going to become a regular thing? He hoped not. He was among countless other night ponies being shepherded through the twin colossi. Melissa wasn't here today so it was unlikely he would be getting private seating. Maybe he would be out in the nosebleed section and unable to clearly see what was going on below. He could hope anyway. It seemed unlikely that the Dreamwardens would allow any night pony to not clearly see though, they'd bend the rules of perception to make sure they saw. He went again through the great door and exited out somewhere hallway up the center of the amphitheater. He was indeed in a regular section and it felt almost like bleachers in some sort of stadium. Crowds of night ponies were taking seats and chatting among themselves. He went on to take an available seat as quickly as he could. After sitting down he looked down at the court area. As he thought he could see the details below as easily as he saw yesterday. He was surprised at who sat at the tables though. Tattered once again sat at the same table, only this time with a blue unicorn mare he didn't know. At the other table sat Tonya, Rosetta Stone, and a red unicorn mare he didn't know. How had Tattered and Tonya been taken in for another of these trials, and why Rosetta Stone? There were millions of night ponies in the world, why should ones from Riverview be involved again? "So, how is your girlfriend doing since yesterday?" Came a familiar voice from beside him. He wasn't even surprised when it spoke. He turned to the Warden of Lust, who was in her regular night pony form and could be mistaken for any other night pony in the crowd if you didn't know her true form. Actually, there was no telling if this was Yinyu's true form either. The fact it was a regular night pony form would make anypony think that, but there was no knowing with the Dreamwardens. "She is insisting she's fine, but she's thinking like a pony when she's awake too," Dan replied. Yinyu sighed. "I half expected that. Trying to seperate off her waking mind and sleeping mind completely while still allowing her to remember in each form was too complicated to not allow things to bleed over. How do you know she's thinking like a pony?" "Well, when she woke up she started using pony pronouns. When I questioned her on it she eventually caved in and told me that she feels more kinship with ponies than humans. She was worried about telling me. She's afraid you'll take her pony side away from her," Dan explained. "Is she showing any signs of distress?" Yinyu asked. "Only that you might take this from her. She really stressed that she didn't want this to go away," Dan said, putting some plea into his tone. "I'll make the decision on that, not her," Yinyu said firmly. "Though I'm not going to just take it away right now. I meant what I said when I said I was going to take care with this. It is not my intention that she get hurt one way or another. I'll consider the situation more when I meet with her later." Dan nodded and then looked Yinyu in the eyes. "You should know, she can remember all your names now." "Is that so?" Yinyu asked slowly. "Well, that's an unfortunate complication. No matter what I'll have to address that. Is she including those in her report as far as you know?" Dan shook his head. "I don't think so. She's terrified that because she knows you'll take this away from her again. She isn't going to do anything to jeopardize you letting her stay this way." Yinyu looked out at the court with a thoughtful expression. "Will you allow me access to your memories? I wish to see your discussion with her." "Um, okay," Dan said. "Will it..." "Okay, got it. Thanks for that," Yinyu said. "This gives me a good idea what to discuss with her later." Dan looked at her in confusion. "Wait...you already checked my memory--that fast?" "Yeah, you gave me permission," Yinyu replied. "But that conversation went on for several minutes," Dan said, still confused. "This is the dream realm, and I'm a Dreamwarden," Yinyu said as she twirled hoof in front of her. "Time is kind of fluffy when I need it to be." "Fluffy?" Dan said, getting more confused. Yinyu frowned. "Maybe my terms aren't translating the right concepts. I wonder how often that comes up. I should ask Psy about what he thinks about it." She sat silent for a second then continued. "He said to describe it as wibbly-wobbly timey-whimy to you--whatever that means--and you'd understand." "He's explaining it with a Doctor Who reference?" Dan asked increadulously. Yinyu blinked. "Now I know something's off with the whole translating thing because that sentence didn't begin to make sense to me. Psy's a doctor, and he's giving advice, but don't know why your asking who he is while affirming you know who he is in the same sentence, that's just a lot of confused garble." Dan shook his head. "No, it's a pop culture reference to a character named Doctor Who." "Oh, so it's like a bad punchline of a joke. I get it," Yinyu said, pleased with herself. "You've never heard of Doctor Who?" Dan asked. Everypony had to have heard of Doctor Who. Yinyu gave him a flat look. "I'm a prostitute in Beijing, I don't really keep up with all your American pop culture." "It's actually British." "Eh, close enough," Yinyu said with a shrug. "They tried teaching me English in school, but I could never make heads or tails of it. The words just sound really funny and it has all these weird sounds that are hard to make or sound exactly the same but you insist are completely different. Like the English words for lock and rock, I remember those because they made me so frustrated. They sound exactly the same but you insist they sound different." "Well...they do," Dan replied. Yinyu let loose a low growl and stomped her hooves. "See! It's like you're trying to play a joke on me." Dan suddenly was much more thankful that the Dreamwardens were spread out by region. He was afraid that if he had to deal with the Dreamwardens on the other side of the world all the time instead of Phobia Remedy that there might be occasions that he could come off as rude due to cultural issues. Thinking of culture made him think of something else worrying, considering Yinyu was Warden of Lust. "Um, Dreamwarden, what is the age of sexual consent where you come from?" Dan asked. "Fourteen years old, they just updated it a few years ago to apply to prostitutes as well even though it didn't used to apply to us," Yinyu explained. "Why do you ask?" "Just to let you know the age of consent is a bit higher in much of the world," Dan said carefully. Yinyu waved a wing dismissively and blew a raspberry. "If ponies aren't mentally challenged, have started puberty, and have their cutie marks then they're old enough to consent as far as I'm concerned. Night ponies in particular we really need to encourage to breed to stabilize our numbers. If you're worried, I do try to take the time to understand different cultures' feelings and laws about it seriously, silly as some of them may be. Luna stressed that to me when I said what my passion to help dreamers was." "Prostitution isn't illegal in China? I'd think they be really strictly against that," Dan asked curiously. Yinyu smirked. "Not anymore. I'm enjoying the fact that the government back home just passed an act allowing for legal pony prostitution nationwide. Maybe one of these days they'll do the same for the humans." Dan blinked. "China legalized prostitution for ponies? It's been less than two months since ETS ended and that of all things was a priority thing to push legislation through on?" Yinyu shrugged again. "They feel whatever country has the most access to magic will be the most successful in the future, so they want more ponies. Easiest way for them to get more ponies is do everything they can to get us breeding. Prostitution went overnight from something I could be beaten and thrown in jail for to something I'm praised for being a good upstanding citizen for doing, helping China march gloriously into the future. It's nice to be able to be open to my filly about what I do for an income and have her be able to respect and be proud of me." Dan shook his head in disbelief. "How old is your filly?" "She's eight, cutest little pegasus filly you ever saw," Yinyu gushed. "And what would you say if she decided to become a prostitute too when she turned fourteen?" Dan asked with concern. He hoped he wasn't going into dangerous territory with the Dreamwarden, but this bothered him. "I'd have my reservations, and would discuss them with her at length, but ultimately it's her choice," Yinyu said with no hesitation. "Anyway, she's weather this and weather that like a lot of pegasi, that's all she talks about. I doubt she'll be interested in my career, but who knows?" Dan kept silent, afraid he might offend the Dreamwarden if he spoke his mind about that. Yinyu gave him a sympathetic look. "I know this kind of thing would be scorned in your culture. Until recently it would have been scorned in mine as well, and I'd have been firmly against my daughter following in my hoofsteps, but things have changed where I live. Now it's a good job that would earn her praise and government benefits. I would never support a younger pony doing such a thing in your country, but mine is different. Things have to be considered based on the cultural and political environment we each live in." Dan flicked his tail nervously. "I suppose that makes sense." Yinyu nodded and sighed. "Being the Warden of Lust is a lot more complicated a job than what I thought it'd be when I signed up to be a Dreamwarden. There are so many different countries and cultures to consider in my job, and having to understand those contexts when dealing with each and every pony." Dan sat quietly, unsure what he was supposed to say. This wasn't some random pony talking to him, this was a Dreamwarden. He had to be cautious about anything he said or he might come off as rude, and being rude was not something you could get away with normally with a Dreamwarden. Yinyu stood up. "Anyway, it's almost the time for this...trial...to happen. I'm going to be unhappy however this one ends. Hopefully this is the only time we ever have to pull this crap." Before Dan could ask the Dreamwarden what she was talking about she vanished.