Tonya released her hold on Rosetta and looked her over. She felt nothing but sympathy for her best friend's fiancée. That last batch of memories had been pure hell for Rosetta; first having to see Phobia get raped, then watching herself get domestically abused, then finding out that Swift Strike had immediately gone out and tried to cheat on her after abusing her, only for him to end up killing the poor girl that he had tried to hook up with. He didn't even seem fazed by the fact that he'd killed that girl, even if it didn't look intentional.
On top of all that was the fact that may have been where Swift Strike had gotten infected with ETS and carried it back to Rosetta. There was nothing saying that they may have ended up infected anyway, but seeing that she was a pony indirectly because her ex had done must have some uncomfortable feelings associated with it.
On a more selfish note, Tonya was glad that it was the Warden of Silence that had killed Swift Strike and not Number Crunch. She shouldn't be worrying about who ended up killing him, because he clearly earned it, but the fact it wasn't Number Crunch might help get her out of this mess alive.
The thing was, this memory had come from them. If they already knew about this, and still brought her to trial, then it wasn't likely a good enough reason for them to let her off the hook. That was a huge problem for her since she didn't have any better reasons for why they should give her mercy than what had just been shown. If it wasn't good enough, then nothing she could do was good enough.
"Are you going to be okay?" Tonya asked the night pony.
Rosetta closed her eyes and nodded. "I will. I'm feeling a lot of things and was just a little overwhelmed. I'm kind of angry at Phobia too."
Tonya laid back an ear. "Why?"
Rosetta opened up her eyes and stared at this still vacant pillar that Phobia had occupied. "She knew about this. She knew about this and didn't say anything to me about it. She should have told me. I could have braced myself for that instead of being completely taken off guard by it."
"It was probably too hard for her to bring up," Sunset cut in. "Do you think she really wanted to talk about this considering part of what we saw was her getting raped from that mongrel's perspective? She's probably off somewhere right now, alone, and having a panic attack; my poor foal."
Rosetta's ears sagged. "I know. Judging by _____'s expression when Phobia left that's exactly what she's doing."
Tonya twisted her mouth in annoyance. She had dealt with not being able to remember the Dreamwardens names for two days straight now and it was really getting on her nerves.
She turned and looked up at the Warden of Lust, who was on the closest pillar to her. "Hey! I have a question."
The seapony swam through the air down to her. "I might have an answer. I might even give it if I do. What's the question?"
Tonya gestured broadly with a wing at the Dreamwardens. "What do I have to do to be allowed to remember your names? I'd really like to know the names of the ponies that are possibly going to kill me."
The seapony leaned back on her tail in the air. "Well, we give those out to dreamwalkers. I could give you the ability to dreamwalk, if you requested it, but you'd have to give me the Oaths then."
Tonya blinked. "You can just give me a magical ability?"
The Dreamwarden nodded. "The ability to dreamwalk we can give or take away from anything magical. We wouldn't give the ability out normally, doing that kind of thing to a mind without consent is against our Oaths since it could be interpreted as trying to dominate it, but it's within our power to do it."
"If you can do that can't you just take away my ability to use mind magic instead and just call this all settled?" Tonya asked.
The seapony pursed her lips. "Not at this time. There were Dreamwardens in the past that could do such things, but they were working with different species that had minds that worked differently. We know a lot about pony minds, but there's a lot we don't know--particularly involving magic. We do plan to try to figure it out, as that's a much gentler way of dealing with mind magic abusers, but who knows how long that will take. We do know the intricacies of what allows a creature to dreamwalk though."
"Phobia told me you denied that rehumanized woman the right to dreamwalk. If she wanted it then why not grant it?" Rosetta asked.
"I'm not going to needlessly get her hopes up," the Warden of Lust said with a shake of her head. "Just because I can insert the ability in doesn't mean she'd be able to make use of it. Her magic I deemed far too weak to actually use the ability. It's best she thinks we just can't do it. I'm trying to be careful with her, and I'm not doing anything with her that I know will cause distress."
"But if Tonya or I asked for the ability you'd be willing to grant it to us?" Sunset asked with interest.
The Warden of Lust gave the unicorn a long look. "If you agree to our rules and swear your Oaths, then yes. I warn you, our Oaths come with a compulsion to obey the rules. They aren't full proof, but they're there. It also means you're subject to being punished for indiscretions you might otherwise not be punished for--like being rude to a Dreamwarden or all the mischief you can get up to dreamwalking. Unlike mind magic we'd know about those things instantly and be very angry, and you don't want to see us angry. It's probably best you get a fully informed view of what you're asking for before making any hasty decisions."
Sunset frowned and her interest seemed to falter significantly. "I'll take that under consideration, and maybe get back with you later."
Tonya wasn't so deterred. "I'm willing to say your Oaths and obey your rules. I don't even know if I'll have a chance to actually dreamwalk or if I'll be dead soon. I want to know the names of the ponies judging me."
The Warden tilted her head. "As you wish, it's done. Now let me explain the rules and you can say your Oaths."
Tonya blinked. That was it? Yinyu hadn't seemed to do anything.
Her eyes went wide as she realized she just remembered Yinyu's name. She could remember all their names now.
Yinyu clapped her fins together. "Okay, the rules. One, you will never use dreamwalking to deliberately hurt another pony. There are no excuses why you did it, it's off limits. Only the Dreamwardens dispense justice in the dreamscape. That is not for you.
"Two, you will never use information that you learn in a pony's dreams against them. You have a sacred trust with the dreamers, you shall not violate it."
Yinyu narrowed her eyes and glared down at Tonya before continuing. "Three, you will never use mind magic in a malicious way to mind control or cause harm to anyone, pony or human. Nor will you use dreamwalking in attempt to gain control of another's thoughts. You should be disgusted by the very concept of it."
Tonya gulped.
Yinyu went back to her more cheerful demeanor as if she hadn't just been giving Tonya a death glare. "Lastly, you will respect the Dreamwardens and respect our authority here. You shall give Oaths to us on demand to show you understand that we decide your fate here in the dreamscape, and to break the rules will end in consequences."
"Um, do I give the Oaths now?" Tonya asked hesitantly.
Yinyu raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you remember them well enough?"
Tonya nodded.
Yinyu adjusted herself so she was facing Tonya with her tail facing away. "Go right ahead then."
Tonya coughed into a hoof then began. "Psychic Calm, we promise ponies shall dream in peace. Yinyu Wu Yan, we shall not allow our passions to lead us to folly. Ghadab, the Wardens' anger is unyielding and just. Phobia Remedy, fear of the Wardens keeps us safe. Tikhiy Krik, we shall keep the secrets of the Wardens. Sha'am Maut, better to die than to face the Wardens' justice."
Yinyu clapped her fins together. "Very good! Perfect on the first try. If you are still alive after today you are to greet each Dreamwarden with those Oaths each time you encounter them, unless we say otherwise, understood?"
"Yes, Dreamwarden," Tonya said obediently, not liking the continued reminder of what might still happen.
Sunset groaned. "Urgh! That is so annoying with the not remembering the names. I can only remember Phobia's name no matter how many times that's said."
Yinyu smirked. "And you're lover isn't going to be able to help you with that. She's forbidden from telling you their names, even in the waking world. She has to keep our secrets. Tattered Wing skirted those rules, and she got punished for it. Unless you want Tonya here to endure our punishments I suggest you respect her keeping our secrets."
"But I'm already keeping most of them anyway," Sunset protested.
Yinyu shrugged. "Names are dangerous things to let loose. My sister--your daughter--is playing with fire with how many non-dreamwalkers that she lets know her name. If she gets burned the rest of us won't be able to pull her out of the furnace. You have her name, I suggest you guard it with your life."
"I'm not going to do anything to endanger my daughter," Sunset said as she directed a hard glare at Yinyu.
Yinyu swished her tail about in the air. "Good." She then looked back at Tonya. "Time for me to get back in place. You're our next focus in gathering memories."
Tonya frowned in confusion. Her memories wouldn't really contribute much. Everything connected to this was already shown in Number's memories. They could see Sunset asking her to talk to Number, but everypony already knew that happened. What could they expect to get out of her?
Yinyu swam back to her pillar and plopped down on it like a seal. She then nodded to Sha'am Maut.
"Enough time has passed and we need to continue," Sha'am declared. "The last witness we personally will call forward is Tonya Middleton herself. Come before us, pegasus."
Tonya hopped from her seat and flew quickly down to the center of the court area.
Sha'am looked out at the vast audience. "To let you all know, my sister has just gifted this pegasus with the ability to dreamwalk. While it might seem strange that we are giving such gifts to one standing trial, I will remind all that she hasn't been declared guilty of anything yet and as such had the right to request this gift. As a fresh dreamwalker she has said her Oaths to my sister, but I want her to repeat them now for the rest of the Dreamwardens present."
Tonya looked up at the Dreamwardens and took a deep breath. "Psychic Calm, we promise ponies shall dream in peace. Yinyu Wu Yan, we shall not allow our passions to lead us to folly. Ghadab, the Wardens' anger is unyielding and just. Phobia Remedy, fear of the Wardens keeps us safe. Tikhiy Krik, we shall keep the secrets of the Wardens. Sha'am Maut, better to die than to face the Wardens' justice."
Sha'am stared down at her. "Very good. Now on to the business at hoof. We have seen two very compelling sets of memories already, but we are not satisfied we have gotten the full picture of what occurred yet. You did use mind magic on Number Crunch, but it failed. We have seen that Number Crunch was not responsible for the death of Swift Strike, and he met his justice with us...as he should have. The fact that Swift Strike deserved justice does not justify your attempts to see Number Crunch murder him. Two of the three incidents, the two most damning of him, we do not believe you were even aware of when you did what you did. Do you claim to have been aware of them?"
Tonya shook her head. "I was only aware of Phobia's rape, Dreamwarden."
"This keeps the charge unchanged," Sha'am said gravely. "You tried to use mind magic to force a pony to murder. A pony, I will add, that was already in police custody for the very crimes you sought vengeance for. We must focus on your intent and actions, not the actions of Swift Strike. Was what you did an accident, a sudden act on impulse, or something premeditated? These all can carry very different severity of punishments. Do we have permission to access your memories so we may settle which one it was?"
Tonya still felt confused by all this. "Yes, Dreamwarden, but I'm not sure if it will actually show any of that."
Somehow the skeleton smiled. "I'm not really interested in what we see. I'm interested in what we hear. For lack of a better way of phrasing it, I want to put your thoughts from back then on broadcast. What you were thinking or not thinking is my concern. Are you still willing to submit your memories?"
Tonya went wide eyed, but nodded her agreement. It would look really bad if she didn't do so. As she did she felt like she had just sealed her doom. It didn't seem fair after everything seemed to have been going her way with the previous memories.
Oh...fuck...this is bad.