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

One Day After Tonya's Trial

Twilight casually sipped from her mug of coffee as she closed out yet another decayed book then let off a long sigh. It was sad that the preservation spells on these particular books and manuscripts were applied after they had already started to begin to crumble. This may be the restricted section, but somepony needed to come here and transcribe all these in case those spells ever failed. Otherwise knowledge of this part of history might be lost forever.

The edge of her mouth turned slightly downward.

Of course, with what was described in these histories most of Equestria might very well wish that they were forgotten. She hadn't imagined before today how Equestria could have had such a bloody chapter in its history. There were reasons these were kept here, rather than being made public knowledge. Even most of what was recorded here only came from accounts well after the original events, first-pony accounts of the events were few and far between. Either lost altogether, deliberately destroyed, or never written down in an effort to let things be forgotten.

She looked over at the few remaining documents written in the old night pony script. She was still trying to decipher them. The language had died off completely centuries ago, and the form of writing had ceased being used even before that. A mere half dozen documents remained in the old script, and a little over a dozen documents in Ponish script using night pony language. Books here and there written in Old Ponish would reference the meanings of specific night pony words, but that was all she had so far.

Trying to piece together the long dead language to try to read these was going to be extremely difficult, and she wasn't sure if she could spare the time for it with everything else going on. Like many things lately it was a research project she was going to have to delay to focus on duties.

"I hope you have had more luck researching in books than I've had trying to talk to night ponies," Starlight said as she entered the room. Twilight's eyes widened as she saw Starlight was covered in loose cobwebs.

"What happened to you?" Twilight asked.

Starlight reached up and flicked a cobweb from her mane. "Night ponies apparently breed spiders, great big spiders, for food!"

Twilight nodded. "I did read about that. It's not just spiders. They keep nests of all kinds of bugs, as well a few crustaceans and mollusks. This dates all the way back to pre-Equestrian times when they lived exclusively in mountains with little access to fruits and vegetables and had to find ways of supplementing their diets. I'm actually curious if this high protein diet helped lead to their more aggressive..."

"It's disgusting, Twilight," Starlight said flatly. 

Twilight blinked. "Well, it's different than what most ponies would typically do, but we're all perfectly capable of getting nutrition from invertebrate creatures if forced to turn to that for food. It's the vertebrates that are near impossible for us to digest. I'm not exactly sure why." She tapped a hoof to her chin, but then her ears and posture slumped. "I'd do research on it, but I barely have time for even this research project."

Starlight picked a few more bits of web out of her tail using her magic. "Well, I did my best to try to get the night ponies down in the caverns to talk. They're more than happy to talk about their families, rock climbing, the Lunar Guard, and their giant prize winning spiders. They even seem thrilled to have day ponies visiting them. You try to get them to share their oral history about ancient times and the hush up so quick they make Pinkie's sister Marble look talkative."

Twilight looked over her notes  "I guess I did have more luck then. I don't have a full picture of what happened, place names and names of ponies are all but lost, but I have a general outline of night pony prehistory."

"So, what did you find out?" Starlight asked as she took a seat opposite Twilight.

Twilight started reading from her notes. "Their original homeland is somewhere in the Foal Mountains, they were definitely living there when the three tribes founded Equestria. How long they had been there and where the migrated in from I haven't figured out. I think they may have been an early breakaway group from the pegasi that developed separate magic and physical traits in isolation, or an earlier ancestor of pegasi that persisted even after the rise of pegasi. Or that both came from some proto-wing pony species and just developed along different paths."

"Okay, so where they're from and some conjecture about their origins," Starlight said. "What else?"

Twilight kept looking over her notes. "From what I could gather, when the earth ponies began building farming communities the night ponies began desiring farm grown produce, which was a luxury item to them. Instead of trying to trade for it, they started trying to mind control the earth ponies into giving it to them, and eventually mind controlling whole villages to just farm as slaves for them."

"Well, if I was forced to eat bugs all the time I might try something like that too," Starlight muttered. Twilight gave her a hard look. "Just kidding...mostly. Go on."

Twilight sighed. "Well, as can be expected the three tribes recognized the night ponies as a dangerous threat and began fighting back. The night ponies in turn started using mind control to make slave armies to confront the three tribes. To be fair, it was a minority of night ponies that were actually involved with this entire conflict at this point. Most were simple ponies that had little idea where the new fruits and vegetables were coming from, and lived fairly simple lives--probably not much different than what you encountered in the Canterlot Caverns."

"Basically nice ponies with some really bad eggs leading them," Starlight summarized.

Twilight nodded and flattened her ears. "Equestrians didn't really recognize this distinction though. The military goal when fighting the night ponies was to do everything they could to avoid engaging the slave armies and to try to eliminate every night pony they could. The fear of night ponies reached such a peak that when the army finally penetrated into the Foal Mountains they didn't differentiate between the leaders who were actually at fault and the regular population."

Starlight frowned.

Twilight continued. "This prompted the remaining night ponies that hadn't even been involved with the earlier troubles to begin fighting back against Equestrians, for the sake of their families. They began helping trying to defeat the Equestrians in much the same way their leaders had before, trying to take control with either mind magic or more often invading their dreams regularly."

"Which probably made our ancestors even more hostile," Starlight surmised.

Twilight nodded. "From there on it turned into a full on genocide, not even foals were being spared. Night ponies were treated as a plague that needed to be eliminated."

At this point Starlight looked ill. "But they did manage to survive and get incorporated into Equestria."

"Just barely, and mainly because of Princess Luna," Twilight said with a sad shake of her head. "Princess Luna's abilities with dreamwalking suddenly increased exponentially at this point. The histories are mum on how--mainly crediting it to her status as Princess of the Night, but I now know this is the point she took on the mantle of Dreamwarden. She used that position to force the night ponies to stand down and surrender, executing in the dream realm those that refused. She used her position as Princess to try stop the full on genocide from the Equestrians at the same time. Neither side was very compliant after everything that had happened. In the end, only a little over a hundred night ponies survived, most of those foals or the elderly, out of a population of several thousand."

"Sweet Celestia," Starlight breathed.

"It gets worse," Twilight said mournfully.

Starlight went wide eyed. "How could it possibly get worse?"

Twilight sat her notes down. "The conflict with the night ponies made ponies in Equestria much more fearful of the night and shunned everything associated with it...including Princess Luna, and the remaining night ponies were terrified of her. I think this is what started the downward spiral that turned Luna into Nightmare Moon."

"Trying to save a tribe from extinction, almost failing at it, and being hated by everypony afterward sounds like it could definitely get to a pony," Starlight agreed. "Why does this justify her making these Dreamwardens on Earth though?"

"Luna had a predecessor as Dreamwarden here, named Kir'ta," Twilight explained. "Luna blames what happened on Kir'ta. I've never seen Luna so angry and resentful than when she explained Kir'ta's refusal to get involved. As far as Luna is concerned it would never have happened if Kir'ta had been doing her job."

"And she is scared enough of it happening on Earth that one of her first priorities was making Dreamwardens?" Starlight asked.

Twilight nodded. "She is worried about them though."

"After seeing that trial I think that's fair," Starlight replied flatly.

Twilight shook her head. "Actually, what she says she is worried about are other things."

"Like what?"

Twilight bit her lip before replying. "She says they have knowledge, abilities, and things impacting their judgement that she can't account for. From what she described new Dreamwardens gain the knowledge and memories of the previous Dreamwardens. That means their knowledge and even part of their personalities should reflect her. She says they have knowledge she doesn't, and behave in ways that she didn't predict. While they seem to love her they're also highly critical of her when they weren't before."

"The knowledge part is weird, but the rest could just be the power going to their heads," Starlight suggested.

"One of the first things they went against her on was the idea of them holding power for as long as a Dreamwarden normally would," Twilight said, and took another sip of her coffee.

"If Luna was so hostile to her predecessor maybe that carried over to them too."

She set her mug back down and continued. "She doesn't think that's it. Luna wanted them to be Dreamwardens for thousands--if not millions--of years. They'd been onboard with the idea before becoming Dreamwardens, but immediately after becoming Dreamwardens they stated they were going to pass the jobs on to others after just a few centuries. It actually hurt Luna a lot to hear that. It's like having your foals say they intend to commit suicide soon after they grow up."

"So what does Luna think the cause of them being all weird?" Starlight asked and then stole a sip of Twilight's coffee.

"Her working assumption is they somehow absorbed the memory and knowledge of that universe's previous Dreamwardens," Twilight explained. "That worries her a lot because she has no knowledge of what those Dreamwardens may have been like, and they're not being forthcoming about it at all."

Starlight groaned. "Urgh! So...Luna may have inadvertently resurrected some billions-of-years old evil and it may know more about the dream realm than her. Is that what you're saying?"

"In a worst case scenario...yes."

"What do we do about them then?" Starlight asked.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

Starlight blinked. "Explain to me how doing nothing is a good idea."

Twilight looked her friend in the eyes. "Because we don't know if it really is a worse case scenario, or how likely that is. We do know that if we're hostile to them, and treat them as our enemies rather than our friends, we might very well make enemies out of them even if they weren't dangerous. Luna still trusts them, and I'm going to trust them until they show they can't be trusted. I'm the Princess of Friendship, and I'll behave like it."

Starlight groaned. "I hope this doesn't come back to bite us."

Twilight cast a spell to reheat her coffee. "Me too."





Four Days After Tonya's Trial

Amanda looked around her house and sighed. Everything was in order. As soon as Devon and Paul brought the truck around they could load up what was going to be going to Riverview. With Tom's help and her strength this had gone much quicker than she had anticipated. 

Tom was sitting in a corner playing with Jackie. She'd been a little jealous when Devon had told her about Jessie's growing vocabulary over the phone. Jackie still hadn't said her first word yet. That didn't make Jackie unintelligent, she just didn't have the same extremely high verbal intelligence Jessie seemed to possess. What Jackie lacked in vocabulary she more than made up in personality and energy. The little filly loved life and loved getting into mischief. Jackie also seemed to adore Tom and his taking her for flights with his magic. Tom for his part lavished plenty of attention on the little filly.

She turned her head to take a sniff of her rump. There was no smell. She hadn't been feeling quite as playful as of late either. That seemed to indicate that her time of the month had passed. She didn't look back and think she'd been acting with any sort of judgement impairment the last few days though. She'd been slightly more flirty before, but it hadn't been the extremes she had initially feared. 

As she watched Tom she realized she still wouldn't mind raising her tail for him. She was legitimately attracted to him, not because of some sort of monthly mating drive, but because of how he treated her and Jackie. She felt respected by him, and that she could trust him with anything. Trust, respect, care, and compassion; these were solid foundations for taking things beyond simple attraction.

She walked over to him and sat down beside him as he continued giving Jackie flights through the air. He gave her a brief glance, but didn't object to her sitting close to him. 

She decided to make casual conversation. "So, I heard you on the phone earlier with your daughter. Is she doing alright?"

"She seems like she is doing okay," Tom said as he kept his eyes trained on the giggling filly. "She and Rosetta had some sort of argument a few days ago which led to her sleeping in the nursery for the day, but they seem to have patched whatever it was up. They've got an Equestrian living with them too, some sort of bodyguard."

Amanda pursed her lips. "That leaves you without a room there, doesn't it?"

"I can figure something out," Tom replied. He then carefully sat Jackie down. "Sorry kiddo, I'm tiring out. If I keep that up much more I'll end up dropping you."

Amanda knew from experience that Jackie could take the sudden drop without getting hurt. It had taken her a while to used to that fact, but she understood Jackie was built to take crashes and just walk them off. She was actually more concerned about whether it was taking a toll on Tom.

"If playing with her like that is too much for you then you don't need to do it," Amanda said gently. "I don't want you hurting yourself just to amuse her."

Tom waved a hoof dismissively. "I'm fine. Just need a little while to rest. It makes her happy, and I enjoy seeing her happy."

Amanda considered her next words carefully. She hoped she wasn't being too forward. "I know you want to be close to your daughter when you get back, but she has a bodyguard now to protect her. I wouldn't mind you staying with me and Jackie."

Tom frowned and she started to worry she had been to forward.

Who was she kidding? She had just been so transparently forward he'd probably think the worst of her.

"You don't have to. It was just an offer," she added on hastily.

Tom turned his head and looked at her backside. She blushed in response and wrapped her tail around herself.

"I'm over that, if you're wondering. There's no more musk, and I'm feeling less flirty," Amanda said quietly. 

"But you've still got interest in me?"

"Yes," she conceded. She then stood back up. "I'm sorry. I'm being way too forward and making you uncomfortable. We've known each other about a week  and here I am asking you to move in with me. I don't know what I was thinking. I'll just leave you alone for a while."

"Amanda, wait. We should talk about this," Tom said firmly.

She sat back down and hung her head, but didn't give any other response. Jackie came over to her and curled up under her legs. She began to absently brush her filly's mane with a hoof.

Tom took a moment or two to break the silence. "Life has been a whirlwind of change these last two months. Before all this had begun my marriage had been in a long state of decline. Charl...Sunset Blessing and I had gotten to a state where we just seemed to lack any interest in one another. I'm not sure how it happened, but I can't help wondering how much was my fault."

"She seems an odd choice for you to have been with, from what little I've seen of her anyway," Amanda replied. 

Tom gave a bitter laugh. "You asked me before if I was intimidated by a strong mare. I think her strength is what drew me to her to begin with. She might not have had physical strength, but she had both a strong personality and strong convictions. I wonder now if I stifled the very things that attracted me to her to begin with, and she came to resent me for it while I grew bored of her."

"Or it could be the fact she was a closet lesbian and she was fooling herself that she was ever into you to begin with, and it wasn't anything you actually did or didn't do," Amanda stated, then blushed again. "Sorry, didn't mean to have it come out like that."

"Don't be sorry," Tom said quietly. "I had considered that option as well. She insists now that she's bisexual, but she never looked at me at any point like she looks at Tonya. Thinking back, I can remember her looking at women with an odd look that I'd misinterpreted as envy. Comparing it to how she looks at Tonya I now know it was likely lust. She never looked at me or any other man like that."

"She probably doesn't want to admit she never had those kinds of feelings for you. It didn't mean she felt nothing for you, because you're a good stallion. She just didn't have that sexual attraction and felt unfulfilled because of it," Amanda replied. "You two just weren't compatible, and even less compatible since she's gone Shimmerist. Don't look down on yourself for it."

"Being a pony still makes me uncomfortable," Tom said quietly.

"For a while it did for me too," Amanda admitted and looked down at the now dozing form of her daughter. "Then I had Jackie and then I said to myself this isn't so bad.. I have been fussing about being an earth pony for a while still though, and I think it's time I stop doing that."

She took a deep breath. "My life didn't have any bearings after Paul died--my husband Paul, not Devon's. I think that might be part of why I ended up as an earth pony. The spell couldn't come up with a good guide with me to put me in any other tribe and earth pony is like the default. That's my theory anyway. I have my cutie mark, so I'm a pony for life. I shouldn't forget what I was, but I need to embrace what I am now too. It's just not healthy to look down on myself because of my species or tribe. Would you want me fretting for the rest of my life about something that isn't going to change?"

"No," Tom said without hesitation. "I want you to live a happy life that you can take pride in."

Amanda touched a foreleg to his. "And I want the exact same for you. You're in the same boat as me. No matter what you're a pony for life and you can't live your life longing for the past. You're a great person who happens to be a pony, and you shouldn't think any less of yourself because you're a pony than you would have thought of yourself as a human."

"Just like my ex there are things about my human life I'm ashamed of," Tom said in a whisper. "It's part of why I feel so uncomfortable as a pony. It's like becoming a pony altered who I was and I don't know if I'm actually me or what ETS made me."

"What kind of things?" Amanda asked worriedly.

"I was a bigot, and there's no way of sugar coating it," Tom said with a sigh. "You name it and I likely thought I was somehow superior to it. If a person didn't fit my view of the world they were some rotten sinner doomed to hell as far as I was concerned, and I condemned them all."

"And this went away as soon as you became a pony?" Amanda asked.

Tom shook his head. "Well...no. It took some time for me to move past those things."

"That sounds like you grew on your own rather than having your mind forcibly changed," Amanda asserted. "We all change over the course of our lives, and major life altering things like what we've experienced are more likely to make us sit down and reconsider our views of the world."

"My views were always so inflexible though."

Amanda looked him in the face. "With enough pressure even the strongest things will bend or break. You changed in your heart after you changed in body. ETS might have changed your body and made you reexamine everything as a result, but your own heart determined the directions you've taken."

Tom let off a quiet chuckle. "You should coin that as an earth pony proverb."

Amanda giggled. "Maybe I should. Look at me, the great earth pony sage. I'm a teacher though, so I hope I have a little wisdom to give. Maybe not a lot, but a little."

Tom looked up at her eyes. "You really want to try to pursue a relationship with me?"

She smirked. "I think me offering to have you move in with me was a small clue. We could wait till my next monthly cycle and we can see how flirty I can get when I embrace it if you really want some proof." She wrapped her tail around him. "Of course, we could lay Jackie down to sleep and I could give you a preview of that...if you're interested."

Tom let off a small involuntary nicker. 

"Is that a yes?" Amanda asked with amusement.

"How long is Jackie likely going to be asleep?" Tom asked in a low voice.

"It's late, so she might be out till the morning. She's a pretty heavy sleeper at night," Amanda said as she rubbed her head under his chin and gave a small hum. He in turn gave off another nicker of longing. 

"Let's put her to bed then and continue this conversation in private," Tom said in a whisper.

Amanda grinned and let off another hum. 

Victory.





Six Days After Tonya's Trial

Melissa sat waiting anxiously in her dream for Yinyu to arrive. The Warden of Lust had visited her daily for the last week. Today was a big day; today was the day that Yinyu decided whether or not Melissa was considered stable enough that she could go without daily check-ups. 

Dan ran a wing over hers to sooth her. It felt just like it was really being touched in the waking world. "It'll be okay, you've been doing great. I'm sure Yinyu has seen that."

She flicked her tail anxiously. "I know, but this is a big deal still. I want to have it confirmed once and for all that I'm perfectly alright like this. I haven't made any slip ups around other humans in days."

"You're still falling into using pony pronouns when you're exclusively around other ponies though," Dan reminded her.

"I don't see that as a huge issue. Some other humans have started doing that too. It's easy enough for me to pass off as I just hear it so often I just fall into using it myself," Melissa countered.

"Your aggression and protective nature are showing to humans and ponies alike," Dan said.

"Well, the night ponies will respect me more for that anyway," Melissa said dismissively. "Tattered says she's willing to consider letting Calvin take over the early afternoon shifts and letting me move to a more nocturnal schedule. So hopefully I'll be dealing with less day ponies and humans anyway. Plus, that gives me more time with you."

Dan took a deep breath. "That's good, because I've been considering resigning."

Melissa blinked and turned to look at him. "Why?"

Dan shook his head. "Let's face it. I'm just not physically up to this job. I've been thinking about it, and I'd much rather focus on my dreamwalking. Maybe go into some sort of job helping people--humans and ponies--sleep better. Protecting and comforting others when they sleep is kinda my thing. It's what I really want to do, not act as law enforcement."

"Being a comforting teddy bear to everyone," Melissa said softly. "I'm not sure I want to share my teddy bear with anyone else."

"You made it through all that without using a pony pronoun, good for you," Dan complimented.

"You're trying to deflect," Melissa accused.

Dan sighed. "You can't keep me all to yourself all the time, Mel."

Melissa grumbled to herself and flicked her tail irritably as she looked around the greyness that was the edge of her dream.

"Maybe if I could dreamwalk I'd feel a little less clingy," she said with irritation. "I feel lonely here when you're not with me. If I could just get out of this dream I'd be free to do more. It feels like I should be able to, but I just can't manage it."

"You know why that is," Dan said sadly. "You just don't have the magic for it."

Melissa looked down and dug a hoof into the grey fog. "I know. I don't regret rehumanizing, but if there was one thing I have buyer's remorse on it's that I don't have that much magic."

"Which is something we shall discuss today," came Yinyu's voice.

They looked up as Yinyu swam into view in her seapony form. Out of all the Dreamwardens she seemed the only one who seemed more fond of her assumed form than her actual one. It didn't seem all that odd though. The form somehow fit her personality more than the night pony form.

The seapony swam in front of them and smiled. "And how are we doing today? A little anxious I take it? You may give your Oaths now, Daniel."

Dan sat up straight. "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."

"As always, very good," Yinyu complimented, then looked at Melissa. "And how is my favorite human-night pony doing today?"

Melissa raised an eyebrow at her. "Are there any other human-night ponies?"

Yinyu smirked. "Well, no. I could call you my least favorite human-night pony as well, but that doesn't sound very encouraging. How things are presented means a lot."

"Um, I'd rather not be called your least favorite anything," Melissa said anxiously.

"Good. Now on to business," Yinyu said as she did a little twirl in the air. "You've surprised me, little human. Your magic is growing. I don't really know what to make of it, but it's definitely increased slightly each day."

Melissa gasped and dared to hope. "Does that mean I can dreamwalk?"

Yinyu shook her fins. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves yet. Your magic is definitely growing, but it's a very slow growth. I don't know how far it will go. You're still too weak to dreamwalk."

"Oh," Melissa said and hung her head in disappointment.

"But it might get strong enough in time that she can?" Dan asked.

"Maybe," Yinyu said slowly. "I don't want to jump to conclusions. If it keeps with the current pace it might reach the point you're capable of dreamwalking in a few months. I have no idea if it will or not. The magic from partials and rehumanized all seem to be going through this process from what we can tell. It's still too early to tell anything. Some are even weaker than your girlfriend and are growing at a much slower rate. Because of how odd you all are it's hard to track you accurately as well. Unless we know who we're looking for. A bunch of dim lights slowly growing brighter that are harder to read than ponies. It's basically watching the birth of a new magic species."

"Are you going to tell the humans or Equestrians about it?" Dan asked.

Yinyu shook her head. "They'll figure it out on their own sooner or later. We'll let the waking world figure it out and let them worry about it, we're keeping out of their affairs. If these new magic users get to where they start using mind magic or dreamwalking on their own then we'll concern ourselves. We'll guard their lights like all the others though."

"But until then, am I good to go?" Melissa asked. "I'm not distressed. I don't feel like my pony nature and human nature are at war with one another."

Yinyu gave her a long look. "You know the drill. Give me permission to look at your memories so I can look over how you behaved and felt throughout the day."

"You have my permission," Melissa replied.

Yinyu sat and seemed to be considering. "You were getting snappy with some of the night pony mares today."

Melissa grit her teeth. "They were trying to flirt with Dan. He's taken."

"You were considering getting into a physical confrontation with that one," Yinyu continued.

"Julie...," Melissa growled. "That hussie is on her time of month and tried to fan her tail at Dan. She had the nerve to say that Dan should be reserved for an actual night pony. I wanted to yank her up by her tail and make it so she couldn't be fanning that at anypony for a few months."

"You're going to just have to trust your coltfriend isn't going to go rolling in the grass with others," Yinyu said firmly. "You need to keep your aggression and protectiveness from your night pony side under control. If you can't then I'll decide they're too detrimental to you, and take your night pony nature away. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Yinyu gave her a single eyed glare then did a little twirl. "Moving on. Everything else seems to be in order. I don't see any signs of distress. I will therefore cease checking up on you daily and move on to once a week. As for the dreamwalking, if I find at some point your magic has grown enough to support it I'll give you the ability--provided you give me your Oaths. That time has not come yet though, and I'm not sure if it will or not. Temper your expectations. I don't want you getting your hopes up."

"I understand, Dreamwarden," Melissa said calmly. Inside she was still secretly hoping that it could grow enough.

"Also, if you do start to manifest any magical abilities in the future I want you to report them to me," Yinyu continued. "I typically wouldn't care, but I want to determine what kind of impact they have on that duel nature of yours."

"Do you think it's likely I will?" Melissa asked wide-eyed.

Yinyu shrugged. "Who knows? Too early to tell anything yet. Just pay attention, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Yinyu swam upwards and looked down at them. "I think that covers everything for now. See you again in another week--and no fighting with night pony mares!"

And with that, Yinyu vanished.





Fourteen Days After Tonya's Trial

A knock at her office door made Sunset look up.

"Come in," she said absently.

Megan walked in and crossed her hands in front of her waist. "Ms. Blessing, your daughter is here to see you."

Sunset frowned. She didn't mind Phobia visiting her at work. Phobia needed to get out of the house more often that she currently did. The thing that she minded was this wasn't likely a pleasant family chat that was bringing her. 

"You can send her in, but before you go I have some instructions for you," Sunset replied. "I have been told sometime in the next week an unusual pony should be coming into town. She'll most closely resemble a pegasus, but her wingspan will be far too large and she can use her wings to levitate objects--she's a bit of an anomaly. I want you to find her when she gets here and arrange for her to meet with me. I'm told her name is Candice."

"What should I tell her the meeting is about?" Megan asked.

"I need to hire her on for a side project of mine. I'm told she is highly intelligent, and is ideal for the project by those contracting me," Sunset explained.

"Anything else I should know when speaking with her?" Megan asked.

"I'm told she has Asperger's syndrome, if that helps you at all. Her pony instincts aren't all there either. I'm also told she can be a bit full of herself, but that might just be her Asperger's showing," Sunset said absently.

"I'll do my best," Megan said in a professional tone as she departed out the door. 

Megan was always a perfect professional. Tonya had really struck gold when she suggested Megan as an assistant. In the next election she was going to have Megan run for one of the city council jobs, despite her young age. She knew the human had political aspirations, and Sunset intended to see those realized. Human politicians that would back ponies were valuable. It would be a shame losing such an effective assistant though.

Phobia quietly walked in and shut the door behind her. She was wearing her specially embroidered saddlebag that Rosetta had recently gotten her for a gift. Saddlebags embroidered with their owner's cutie mark were the first actual fashion trend to pop up in town. She doubted Phobia was wearing it to make a fashion statement, but it was a possibility. Phobia had taken an interest in prettying up her appearance as of late. Rosetta said that Phobia had even been reading about a company that was developing pony makeup. Sunset wasn't bothered by it. Whatever made Phobia happy and open up more was a good thing.

As Sunset took another look at her daughter she smiled. Phobia had been prettying herself up indeed. Her mane and tail had been styled in imitation of the Equestrian Element of Generosity. 

"You're mane and tail look gorgeous, dear," Sunset complimented as her daughter came over to her. Sunset got down from her chair and went and gave Phobia a hug, taking a moment to take Phobia's scent in.

Phobia gave a shy smile as Sunset released her from the hug. "Thanks, Rosetta said they made me look very attractive. Actually, she said they made me look like a sexy fashion model. It's nice to feel like I'm beautiful."

That earned a sad smile from Sunset. Phobia never said any reprimandations for how Sunset had done all she could to suppress this side of Phobia early on. There was never an angry word about it. Phobia seemed to have just silently forgiven her parents. The feeling of guilt still hung heavy over Sunset's head though. 

"I suppose that I'm not lucky enough that this is just a normal family visit, am I?" Sunset asked sadly.

Phobia frowned. "Not completely. I have it, in my bag. Spent most of the night writing it out."

Sunset lit her horn and opened Phobia's saddle bags. From inside them she removed several papers. She briefly glanced through them. 

"This is all Greek to me, but I recognize some of the things you're needing for materials. This is going to be really costly, and take time," she finally said as she finished trying to read through. 

A great deal of it involved complex physics and chemical equations that she couldn't make heads or tails of, not that she had expected to be able to. She'd let this mysterious Candice figure it out. This was only going to be the first of many ponies gathered to work on this.

"There's no rush," Phobia said without concern. "If the project has to continue on for decades and be taken up by successors we'll figure something out. Get what you can done. If your researchers figure out any scientific breakthroughs thanks to this you can probably market the advancements to help try to offset the costs."

"I'll keep that in mind," Sunset said as she carefully floated the manuscript over to her desk. "Hopefully whatever they learn can be used to show the superiority of the great pony thinkers."

Phobia gave her a raised eyebrow. "Some of those that we're sending you to work on this will be human. You can't credit everything to ponies. Those designs were not from ponies either."

Her eyes widened. "Wait...am I literally working on space alien tech?"

Phobia shrugged. "That's one way of looking at it. Those space aliens have been dead a very long time, but it is their tech. Don't put so much stock in the superiority of ponies, Dreamwardens have long memories. There were greater races before, there will be greater races long after we're gone. Even now the humans are changing and who knows what they'll be before we pass on."

"It seems like you don't support my goals for a pony world," Sunset said with a frown.

Phobia frowned. "Human world or pony world, it doesn't much matter. I've seen things you couldn't imagine, Mom. Civilizations that put anything man or pony could dream of to shame. I've also seen the darkest moments in pony history where ponies matched the cruelty of men and nearly drove themselves to extinction with their racism. It's hard to believe in any inherent pony superiority after all that."

"We can do better than the Equestrians did," Sunset insisted.

Phobia looked her in the eyes. "And I hope we do, but don't lose track of the fact human lives are just as valuable as pony lives."

"I'll keep that in mind," Sunset replied. 

Phobia gave her a doubting look that made Sunset feel slightly ashamed as she felt it, but didn't continue the line of thought. "Anyway, Wild has a tailor making wedding dresses for me and Rosetta. Hopefully they'll be ready soon. We're setting the wedding date for two weeks from now."

Sunset's mood brightened up as the subject moved on from business. "I was wondering when you were going to reschedule."

Phobia smiled. "We're still keeping the guest list small; you, Tonya, Dad, Wild, Rosetta's parents, her grandmother, and her little brothers. Dad wants to bring that earth pony, Amanda, with him. He seems to be getting pretty close to her from what I hear."

Sunset nodded. "I haven't gotten to really spend time with her, but it does seem she's managed to catch and hold his interest. That's good, your father deserves somepony that will make him happy."

Phobia nodded. "Between her and Tonya I might end up with two new step-mothers soon. I know Tonya isn't going to want me to call her Mom, that be too weird. Hoping this Amanda isn't hoping for the title either, if things go that far."

Sunset blinked. "Tonya and I haven't made any plans to get married."

Phobia chuckled. "I don't like spoiling it, but Tonya is trying to build up the courage to ask you. I'm only telling you so if she can't seem to get her nerve together you can give her a little nudge to help her along. You do want her to ask you, right?"

Sunset's stomach felt like it had butterflies in it. "Are you okay with it? I know you were uncomfortable with the two of us being together before."

"Everyone deserves a chance at a happy life. I know you two make each other happy, and you have my blessing. Just act surprised when she finally gets around to asking you."

"I think I'll be overwhelmed enough with emotion I won't need to do any acting," Sunset said with a small laugh as she wiped a happy tear from her eye. "Thank you for endorsing this. Now if I can just get your soon-to-be wife to call me Mom I'll feel like all my family affairs are in order."

"You might be kept waiting for a while," Phobia said with a pout. "She has a hard time focusing on the good in you."

Sunset looked at her daughter. "Do you think I'm a good pony?"

"We're all shades of grey, Mom," Phobia said quietly. "There are things about myself I'm not proud of. All we can do is try to be better. I know you're good intentioned. Luna didn't lie when she said you have the potential for greatness, and I see that too. I hope that greatness will someday be realized. You have some growing yet to do before that happens though. Never forget that you can be wrong about things, and be open to new perspectives. I'll be here ready to cheer you on and hoping you can become the best pony you can be."

"You've grown," Sunset said as she gazed at her daughter. 

Phobia gave her a smile. "And I hope to keep growing. I'm going to be a mother soon. I hope my foals know a better me than the one I am now."

Sunset nodded. "And I hope they know a better grandmother than the one I am now as well."

"Only time will tell."





Seventeen Days After Tonya's Trial

Tattered walked into the house and flopped down on the floor. Her little brother and sister gave her a look.

"I'm pleased to announce I have the next two nights off. At long last I have regular days off scheduled," she said dramatically.

Megan grinned. "And I have the next week off because Sunset Blessing is taking a trip to San Juan to discuss the pony communities there getting incorporated into SPEC. She's then flying from Puerto Rico to Denver to try to speak to some pegasus she thinks will be able to help stabilize things out west. I don't know what to do with myself with all this free time."

"Oh dear! What will my poor sister do without having to say yes Ms. Blessing a billion times a day. The horror!" Tattered said with a chortle. Her laughter was cut off when a pillow collided with her head.

"Hey, it gets tiring for me too," Megan said with a groan. "I'm doing my best to be a perfect professional assistant. She seems to appreciate me at least. She was telling me that she wanted me to run for city council and she'd give me her backing and financial support. I'd say my efforts are paying off."

"So...I actually get some family time with my sisters?" Alex asked hopefully.

"Looks like it," Tattered said with a grin, then gave her brother an apologetic look. "I'm sorry we tend to ignore you. Both Megan and I have really busy schedules. Now that I'm getting days off I'll make sure to make more time with you."

"I wish I could make the same promise, but I'm not sure when the next day I'll get off is after this vacation," Megan said sadly. "I swear I dream about making phone calls, writing emails, and doing research every time I sleep anymore. I really needed to have this vacation."

"It's okay, I know it's not your fault that your boss is so demanding," Alex said with sympathy.

Megan gave him a smile then looked at them both with excitement. "Hey! I know what we can do right now. It isn't ready to live in yet because it hasn't gotten power yet, but our new house is done. We could go take a look around it. We need to bring some flash lights because there aren't a lot of windows though. Which makes the place pitch black deep inside."

"Sounds like a great place already," Tattered said with enthusiasm.

"The Megan and I can't see in the dark like you can, Tat," Alex reminded her. He then lit his horn up and it gave off a strong glow. "Megan's the only one who needs a flashlight though. I've figured out how to make my own lamp."

"Seeing where we'll be living sounds like a good idea. Any idea when it will be getting power?" Tattered asked.

Megan nodded. "End of the week. I'm going to actually have to make a brief stop by town hall sometime in the next few days just to sign off on some paperwork for Ms...for Sunset Blessing."

"She's got you trained well, doesn't she?" Alex asked with a smirk. Megan stuck her tongue out at him.

"Well, let's do that then," Tattered said with a nod. "Megan, go on outside and get your smoke break in. I know you'll be craving one when we're out if you don't. You seriously need to cut down on that to tell the truth."

Megan shrugged as she went and started digging through her purse. "Hey, smoke breaks are one of my only excuses to get away from things when working. It's one also one of the few things that will make ponies give me some space. You ponies don't seem to understand that sometimes I just want to be alone and not bothered. The only ponies that will come near me when I'm taking a smoke break are Number and Wild. I can deal with those two though."

Tattered grimaced. "Remind Wild Growth that she still owes her most recent fine from when I caught her smoking. I'm going to actually be sad when she turns eighteen and I can't fine her and Number anymore. I was getting a lot of extra money in the police budget from catching those two."

"I hear they go drinking on and off. Maybe you can start catching her on that. That's good for three more years," Megan suggested.

Tattered raised an eyebrow at that. "Is that so? Guess I should invest in some breathalyzers that I can get a night pony to carry and put them on watch. Thanks for the tip. The police budget thanks you too."

Alex frowned. "You shouldn't be ratting out your friends like that."

Megan found her cigarettes and stood up. "Wild and Number don't care. Those two have money to spare."

Tattered shrugged as Megan went out the front door. "I'm not going to complain about them indirectly paying for equipment and supplies. My budget was tight as it was. We have an unwritten rule around the Enclave at this point that we only catch them once every other day, so they don't get too annoyed with us. At this point it's almost like regular appointments."

"I'm not sure how to feel about hearing all this," Alex said in an uncomfortable voice.

Tattered sighed. "I have to decide what battles are worth fighting. I don't like it, but if I never make compromises on anything I'll end up fighting a lot of meaningless fights. They pay their fines, I get regular income so my officers can actually have things like equipment to call one another with when out on patrol. Then hopefully when something really bad happens, like an assault or robbery, I can get faster response teams there. You have to look at the bigger picture when thinking about how you'll protect as many humans and ponies as possible."

"Still doesn't seem right."

"Sometimes you have to do the wrong things so you have the opportunity to do the right ones when it matters."





Twenty-One Days After Tonya's Trial

Tonya sat patiently in the dreamscape for Rosetta to arrive. She looked around at all the stars. They certainly looked pretty. They didn't call out to her like they seemed to do to night ponies though. She just didn't have those kinds of instincts. It had taken her weeks of practice just to get where she could get out here to begin with. Being able to dreamwalk didn't give her all the instructions on actually how to go about doing it.

Rosetta suddenly appeared before her looking very flustered.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Rosetta said quickly. "I was trying to get asleep but then Phobia's stomach decided today was the day to start morning sickness. Only with her it really is morning sickness."

"She okay?" Tonya asked with worry. 

Rosetta gave a quick flap of her wings. "She's fine. Tempest should be trying to get some food and water back in her now. It just caught me off guard, figured we had until after the wedding before this started. Hopefully neither of us chooses the wedding to puke."

Tonya giggled and held a hoof up to her muzzle. "It would definitely make it memorable for all of us watching."

Rosetta flicked her tail in annoyance, but didn't rise to the bait. "Anyway. Let's get to work. You want to be able to get in touch with Sunset, Number, and Wild in their dreams. Hopefully they're all still asleep, but we'll see what we can do. Since Sunset and Number are a few time zones over right now we should probably focus on my sister first."

Tonya stood eagerly. "Sounds good to me. I'm ready to start learning, Miss Stone-Remedy."

Rosetta gave her an eyebrow and Tonya suppressed the urge to giggle again. She didn't want Rosetta to feel she wasn't taking this seriously.

"Anyway," Rosetta said with a huff. "Think about my sister. Think about her personality, conversations you've had with her, the sound of her voice, the smell of her, the things that matter to her, all the things that make Wild Growth who she is."

"Um, it sounds like your trying to get me to fantasize about your little sister. She's cute and all, but I'm taken," Tonya replied.

"Can you please be serious and just do it," Rosetta groaned. "If you aren't serious I'll ask Phobia to do this instead. Do you really want a Dreamwarden standing over you the whole time with the possibility that if you come off as rude you get punished? You are on probation after all."

Tonya gulped. "She wouldn't do that... would she?" 

"You want to risk it?"

"Um, no. That doesn't sound like a good idea."

"Then do what you're told," Rosetta said firmly.

Tonya shut her eyes and did as she was told. She thought about every experience she could that she had experienced with Wild. The time she had gotten Wild encouraged to grow the crops, the horror on Wild's face when Wild had destroyed the clinic. The rage Wild had expressed to her after the trial for what Tonya had done to Number and Tonya had been scared Wild was going to pulverize her into pony goo. Making peace with her days after that.

"Good, now open your eyes," Rosetta instructed. There was a hint of laughter in Rosetta's tone that made her suspicious.

Tonya opened her eyes and saw a large ball of light right overhead. She could tell somehow this was Wild's dream. It just had a sense of her somehow. The light had a slight pinkish tint to it.

"Oh, this is going to be good," Rosetta said in an evil tone.

"Why...?" Tonya said apprehensively as she looked at the dream. "Hold it...am I about to fly into Wild's wet dream?"

Rosetta let off an mischievous laugh. "Ohhh...yeah. I can't wait to see who she's fantasizing about."

"It will probably embarrass her a lot to have us walking into this kind of dream. You know that, right?" Tonya asked.

Rosetta grinned. "What are big sisters for if not for embarrassing their little sisters?"

Tonya pretended to consider. "I'm sure there's plenty of things, but they just aren't coming to mind. Ready to do this?"

"Definitely."

The two flew into the dream and found themselves stepping into a large bed of flowers. There was also a strong background noise of groans and squeals of pleasure.

Tonya and Rosetta looked at the sight before them and Rosetta sighed. "You know, I'm kind of disappointed. Most of the mares in town seem to fantasize about him. I'd hoped Wild would be a little more original. Maybe have secret lusts for the random nerd. She's always been a bit of a nerd."

Tonya tilted her head as she watched. "Well, he is pretty hot. We're both bi, we can admit that."

"She isn't really original in her fantasies either," Rosetta said critically against the backdrop of erotic sounds. "He's just sitting there plowing her."

"There's no wrong way to fantasize," Tonya said as she tilted her head again as she tried to get a look at how well endowed Wild had made Pale Oak in her dream.

"You know, I know you two are there...ooooo...just like that...faster...harder," Wild gasped out.

Tonya and Rosetta looked at each other wide-eyed and then back to Wild. 

"Don't think I'm going to...uuummm...stop my dream just because you two peeping toms decided to invade it," Wild said. "Go ahead, enjoy your show."

"You know, I think she's getting off more because she has an audience," Tonya said with a laugh. 

Rosetta blushed. "Okay, now I'm getting uncomfortable."

"What's wrong, sis? Sad you're getting the wrong type of rise out of me?" Wild said with a pleasure filled tone. "I do have to thank you though. I didn't realize having an audience was this exciting before now. Whenever I actually finally get to do this in real life I'll have to keep that in mind."

"Okay, we're out," Rosetta declared.

"Aww, but..." Tonya protested.

"We're out!" Rosetta declared more firmly as she pulled the two of them out if the dream.

They found themselves back in the star filled expanse. But this time it was with a disapproving seapony staring at them.

"Let's start with Oaths," Yinyu said with a frown. "Then we can discuss your punishment for trying to upset somepony's sexual dream."

Crap.





Twenty-Five Days After Tonya's Trial

Devon walked around their new home as the movers unloaded the truck. It really looked like a completely different place. The ponies had done an excellent job at it.

Jessie followed close by her, keeping Devon's legs between her and the movers. She didn't seem to like all the activity and strangers.

Devon looked down at the filly and smiled. "You know, you don't have to hide behind me. You can be a little more social."

Jessie moved again as another mover walked by. "No!" The filly protested.

Devon rolled her eyes. Jessie had at least a dozen words in her vocabulary now, but only gave one word responses. Today, more often than not, no was the word most spoken. 

She walked over to the couch, with Jessie making every effort to keep Devon's legs between her and the movers. When she sat down Jessie struggled, and failed, to get up on the couch on her own.

"Momna!" Jessie wailed as tears welled up in the little filly's eyes.

Devon reached down and picked Jessie up and sat her on the couch. "It's okay, baby girl, I know you don't like having all these strangers around."

"No!" Jessie said firmly in agreement. 

Jessie might be a bit emotional today, but she was definitely understanding more and more of what was being said to her. Amanda said Jackie seemed to be getting a good grasp on what was being said around her as well, but the little pegasus still hadn't said her first word.

Devon reached into her bag and took out a plush stuffed bunny with a blue tie that matched Jessie's mane. 

The little filly's eyes lit up as she saw the toy and she reached out her forlegs towards it. "Bunna!"

"Do you think you can sit quietly with Bunna if I give him to you?" Devon asked as she held the stuffed animal away from her daughter.

"Bunna!" 

"Can you sit quietly?" Devon repeated as she held her daughter's gaze. "Yes or no?"

Jessie's gaze drifted back and forth between the stuffed animal and Devon's. "Yez."

Devon handed the stuffed animal over to her daughter and Jessie immediately grabbed it up in a tight pony hug. "Bunna." She said contently.

Devon smiled. She had to firmly repeat the yes or no question each time. But Jessie clearly understood the question and was able to link it with whatever was said right before. 

She had done some looking through books and by all accounts Jessie's cognitive abilities were top tier for her age, by human or pony standards. She had some child and cognitive psychologists that she had contacted that were very eager to come visit Jessie and meet her once everything was settled in. Jessie wasn't just smart; Jessie showed signs that she was on track to be an actual cream of the crop genius. They were already trying to market schools for the gifted for her to send Jessie to in a few years, and they didn't care if she was a pony. They just saw a great mind in the making.

Not bad for a baby that doctors had questioned if she could survive when she was born. 

Paul walked in carrying a bag of groceries, with Robby following close behind. She watched him walk into the kitchen and decided she should probably see what he had found.

She looked down at her daughter. "Can you sit here with Bunna and be good by yourself?"

Jessie looked up at her and looked ready to cry again.

"Yes or no?" Devon asked.

"No!" 

Devon sighed. At least it was an honest answer. If she didn't like the answer she shouldn't have asked the question.

She reached over and grabbed the filly and the toy up into her arms. Jessie didn't protest the action, only gripped harder onto the toy bunny. She then got up and walked to the kitchen.

Paul was unpacking plenty of fruit and vegetables from the bag when she walked in.

"Everything go okay looking for groceries?" She asked.

"Not really much for meat options available, but they assured me that there was supposed to be a meat market opening soon for humans to shop at," Paul replied. "Ran into your mother, and kind of glad we did."

"Oh?" Devon asked with a raised eyebrow. Paul and her mother had never gotten along well even when her mother had been human. She'd figured the divide might have been greater even now with her mother's Shimmerist leanings.

"She chased off a few night pony mares that were being a little too friendly," Paul said tightly.

Devon blinked. "Wait...night pony mares were hitting on you? Are you serious?"

Paul shook his head. "Not me." He then look pointedly down at Robby.

Her eyes went wide. "Are you...serious? He's only six years old!"

"Fudding!" Jessie declared, filling in the unsaid word with pride. She was way too smart for her own good.

Devon wasn't even going to concern herself with the fact Jessie knew where the curse word went. What was being implied was far too serious.

"Your mother explained to me afterward that male night ponies are in extreme short supply," Paul said slowly. "She doesn't think they would try anything, but ponies age gracefully, and Robby is going to grow up eventually. She says there are a few teen colts in town and the grown mares have been doing everything they can to get the colts to develop crushes on them in the hopes of having dibs when the colts turn legal."

Devon squeezed the bridge of her nose. "So now they're trying to set up dibs on Robby. That is insane."

"Fudding!" Jessie declared again 

"You've got that right," Devon said with a groan. "Why can't it ever be easy? What did my mother suggest we do?"

"She suggested we go to Phobia and have Phobia tell them to get away from Robby," Paul replied. "Nocte is sure that they'll listen if Phobia scolds them about it. They're desperate mares, but not desperate enough to cross her."

Devon rubbed her face. "Okay, we'll do that tonight. I'm not having my son deal with a bunch of grown mares trying to woo him when he's only six."

Paul sat silent for a moment. "My parents called me on my cell phone while we were out."

Devon lowered her hand from her face. "What's going on with them? Why haven't we heard from them? Are they okay?"

Paul nodded. "Both ponies, both pegasi. They're up in Saluda, just got phone service there. They did the same thing up that they did down here, condensed the pony population mostly to one spot."

"Seems you and I are the odd ones out of our families," Devon replied. 

"Well, us and Jessie, everyone else on both sides of the family seems to have wings now," Paul said jokingly.

"I guess that's one way of looking at it," Devon said with amusement. 

"Anyway, I told them all about Jessie and Robby, and the short version of us moving to Riverview. I also told them about Tonya."

"How'd they take it all?" Devon asked.

"Well, kind of like your mom did to tell the truth. Disappointed you and I aren't ponies, but not rejecting us," Paul said slowly. "They were talking about flying down here to see us. They said the flight would take them a few hours, but they can manage it. Their main concern is if some hot head with a gun tries to shoot them down along the way."

"If they want to visit it's probably better if you just go up there and get them," Devon concluded.

"That's what I told them. Their kind of iffy about traveling in a car though. They are complaining cars smell bad," Paul groaned.

Devon shook her head in disbelief. "I think between traveling in something that smells bad for a few hours and possibly having some redneck try to shoot them down that sounds like a pretty clear choice on which has a bigger drawback."

"Fudding!"

"See, even Jessie knows thats stupid!" Devon exclaimed.

"Fudding!" Jessie exclaimed again, continuing to demonstrate her practical knowledge on when cussing was appropriate.

"I think she's just reacting to your mood, but I agree--it's stupid," Paul said flatly. "I'm going to insist on driving them if there is a remote chance they think someone will actually try to shoot them out of the sky."

"What did they say about Tonya?" Devon asked.

Paul took a deep breath. "They were surprised. They want to see her as well. The question is whether Tonya wants to see them. She has a pretty big chip on her shoulder about our parents. One no one can really blame her for having."

Devon could understand that. That was some bad blood that she didn't think turning into a different species was going to come close to fixing. She really didn't have an answer to that.

A knock from behind them startled her and she turned around. It was one of the movers.

"Ma'am, we have everything unloaded. For legal reasons we need you to come out and check the truck to confirm it before we go," the man said.

"Sure, I can do that," Devon said. She looked back at Paul. "Do you mind watching Jessie a moment while I take care of this?"

"No problem," Paul said. He then extended his hands toward Jessie. "Want to spend some time with you Dad, baby girl?"

Jessie squealed excitedly while still keeping a death grip on her bunny. "Dadda!"

"I'll take that as a yes," Devon said as she handed her over to Paul. 

Robby followed closely after her as she left the kitchen. Devon didn't comment on it or scold him for it. He was just watching and being protective. She'd gotten used to his nature after two months of this kind of thing. 

She went outside and went over to the back of the moving van. After doing a quick look inside to confirm it was indeed empty she signed off the last bit of paperwork confirming the movers had done their jobs. Unloading their house had been relatively easy, as had been the things from Tom's house that ended up over at Phobia's. 

Amanda's things had been the difficult ones, but that had been due to the strange layout of the newly built houses which forced the movers to take everything up multiple stair cases depending on what it was. The only things that were unloaded for the ground floor were the washer and dryer. The movers had also seemed a little unsure what to do with a pink earth pony trying to direct them on where things went, or when Amanda insisted on helping carry heavier things because she was concerned the three large men weren't strong enough. 

The movers said their goodbyes and departed. And she let out a long breath. It was done. She was now officially moved into her house here. Living in a pony dominated town was going to be interesting, but it was for the best for Robby and Jessie.

"Excuse me, ma'am, would you care to take a flyer?" Came a voice from above her.

She looked up at a light blue pegasus stallion with yellow mane flying just above her. He had a heavy looking sack of papers hanging on his side, and she felt a little bit of pity for him having to try to fly while carrying that thing.

"Flyer about what?" She asked as she realized he was referring to one of the papers in his bag.

He pointed a hoof out to the center of town where a particularly large building was being built. "The city church is still a month or two away from being done, but we wanted to start getting word out early about it. When it opens up we're having a huge party there for everyone. There'll be lots of free food, we'll even have real hamburgers and roast beef for the humans, live music, and fair games. The preacher will be encouraging everyone to get to know one another and talking about the vision for our community. I hope you'll join us."

Devon laughed. "You definitely know how to market yourselves to humans. You had me at hamburgers and roast beef. Sure, I'll take a flyer."

He landed and directed her to take one of the papers from his bag. He then saluted her and flew off after she took the flyer.


The Bastion at Riverview
Grand Opening Celebration
All Are Welcome
Free Food and Games for All
Free Drawings for Prizes Including Pony Optimized Computers and Two High End Electric Cars!
Bring Your Family and Friends
Brought to You by SPEC
August 1st From 8AM till 10PM


She folded up the paper and looked out at the rest of town in the distance. High over everything stood the now landmark Skytree that had become a symbol of city pride. The massive construction of the so called Bastion at Riverview church also rose up in the distance. Even further off she could see pegasi dart around a smokestack of a factory that had recently gone back into operation and they were containing the smoke and pollution from it. 

This was going to be a big bustling city, one unlike anywhere else in the world. This was going to be her home where she would raise her family. There were still challenges ahead, but she felt a certain contentment as she looked out at the sight of it. 

It had seemed two months ago that her life had been shattered. Now she had picked up the pieces of her life, and it looked like it was  going to be a good one. 

She turned and walked back into her home. Ready for what the future had in store.