//------------------------------//
// Chapter 15: Unexpected Results 
// Story: Pandemic: Monsters We Make 
// by Halira 
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Jessie lay in the grass taking in the scent. Phobia Remedy had her lawn well taken care of. The grass was neatly trimmed and there were no ant hills. It was surprising how nice it was considering how many ponies trampled around on it all the time, not to mention how much a lovely shade of green it was despite it being late November. The Dreamwarden probably had earth ponies tend it. The grass back at Jessie's house was faded brown right now because she didn't have the magic to help it out yet. This was very relaxing, and she could lay like this for hours just enjoying herself. 

Her two friends were not as impressed with the lawn and gave all their attention to the flock of night pony mares. While a lot of them were perched on the roof there were a number of them who had just latched onto the side of the house with their wings due to the roof only having so much space. They were very capable of saying attached like that for hours with their legs tucked close to them and just holding on with their wings. It was easy to see where the demons had learned to be such good climbers early on. 

A much smaller group of ponies sat on the porch. This consisted of a pair of unicorns, a crystal pony, and three earth ponies. There were also a pair of pegasi doing circles around the house while in the air, and it looked like they'd brought some clouds in to provide the night ponies some relief from the sun. Everyone, including her dad and her friends were just waiting around for the Dreamwarden and her family to return. It was past the normal shift change time, but the night ponies wouldn't leave without being dismissed by Tempest Shadow or Crystal Dreams--even if they were tired and ready for bed.

"I don't think any monsters can get us here," Jackie observed as she continued to gaze at the night ponies. She turned and gave her own wings a look and then turned back to looking at the ponies latched onto the side of the house. "How'd they do that? Hold onto the walls like that?"

"Their wings are built more like hands so they can grip onto things like that," Jessie's dad explained. He was sitting on several bags that he had packed with Jackie and Jordan's help. Things like their school supplies, some of their toys, hygiene items, and bedding. 

"That’s not fair, pegasuses should be able to do that too," Jackie grumbled. Jessie had come to realize Jackie had a strong need for everything to be fair. 

"Pegasi can do things they can't though," Jessie's dad continued explaining. "Night ponies can't move clouds around or do anything with weather for that matter. Feathered ponies can fly higher and faster too. Night ponies also have a harder time seeing in bright sunlight. They have their things they can do that pegasi can't and pegasi like you have things you can do that night ponies can't. It all balances out."

Jessie looked up at the house again and something weird occurred to her. "Dad, why does Phobia Remedy live in a normal house if she has this many guards? Shouldn't she have a bigger house?"

Her dad shook his head. "That would take extra money. Wild Growth is rich, and Sunset Blessing has a lot of money, but Phobia and Rosetta live off a stipend from the OMMR and Rosetta's teaching salary. They try not to ask for many favors from Wild Growth either."

"But she can afford to pay for guards," Jessie said as she pointed to the ponies on the porch.

"These are all volunteers, even the ponies on the porch," her dad explained. "Tempest gets paid by the Equestrian government and Crystal is paid by the OMMR, the rest are here because they want to be."

That made her sit up and flick her ears. "Why?"

Her dad shrugged. "They consider it an honor. Dreamwardens are a big deal for night ponies, but they are pretty important for all dreamwalkers in general. All those ponies up on the porch can dreamwalk--Crystal and Tempest can as well."

She lowered one ear and stared at the ponies on the porch. "I thought only night ponies dreamwalked."

"Anyone that has enough magic and asks a Dreamwarden for the ability is able to dreamwalk," he gestured at the ponies on the porch. "All those ponies asked to be able to dreamwalk."

"Can I dreamwalk if I ask her?" She asked. Being able to dreamwalk might be interesting. It didn't give her access to the internet like a phone would, but it was kind of like having a phone.

Her dad gave her an appraising look. "You can when you're older, but not right now."

Jordan seemed to take an interest in the conversation. "Why not? It would be fun!"

"Because your magic is too weak right now," a night pony called down from the porch roof. 

Jessie recognized the voice and looked up at who had spoken. It was her classmate from her math class, Layla. She was looking down at them and was wearing pink sunglasses that masked her eyes. Jessie managed to get a better look at Layla's wings and noticed that Layla's tattoos along the edges of her wings were actually algebraic equations. 

The high school senior got up and gracefully glided down to her, giving Jessie's blank flank a dismissive glance. "They will let you dreamwalk when you have enough magic, but they will restrict where you can go until you're older. I just got to where Sha'am Maut wasn't constantly watching me to make sure I didn't wander into anymore pink dreams."

"What's a pink dream?" Jessie asked as she stared up at Layla's hot pink mane.

Layla smirked. "Something little fillies shouldn't be seeing or asking about. You should really slow yourself down and spend a few more years in school. Better yet, go back to elementary school where you belong."

"Layla, you’re tired, don’t say something you’ll regret," one of the other mares called down in warning.

Her dad was watching closely, but wasn't saying anything yet. If this was Jackie or Jordan he'd be coming to their rescue, but she was always being pushed to learn how to deal with people. "Um, Layla, are you mad at me about something?" She asked her dark furred classmate.

"It's just a little filly and you're a grown mare, just walk away," the mare who had called down before said in warning.

Layla turned her head to look up at the other mare. "What? She asked so I'm going to tell." She turned back to Jessie with narrowed eyes. "Did you know that since eight grade I haven't had a grade in any class below a hundred?"

"That's… uh impressive," Jessie replied as she stood up and took a hesitant step back.

"It was a lot of hard work," the senior growled. "Night ponies have different class schedules so it’s easy for us to fall behind on schoolwork, but I've busted my flank for my grades. I'm first in class and was in line to be valedictorian, until you showed up. You don’t even try and can match my grades, and if you graduate at the same time as me you may end up taking my rightful spot!"

"I'm sorry," Jessie said in a low voice. She really didn't know what she was supposed to say. People got uncomfortable with how smart she was all the time, but this was the first time anyone had ever been mad about it.

"I wouldn't even be mad if you were actually one of my peers, but you're just some freakish foal. Do you realize what it's like to be told after all the hard work and effort I've put in that I'm not as smart as some foal that should be in first grade?" Layla asked in a hiss.

"Excuse me, but that’s enough and you need to leave my daughter alone," her dad called out as he stood up. Jessie let off a sigh of relief that her dad wasn't going to leave her to deal with this all by herself.

Layla turned to him and gave him a dismissive glare. "What's she going to do when she graduates and goes off to college? Is she still going to hide behind her parents? She's got no business being in high school or getting ready to graduate."

"Leave my friend alone, you meanie!" Jordan yelled out. 

"Pick on someone your own size! It's not fair for you to be picking on Jessie!" Jackie called out right after.

"It doesn’t matter what you think on the matter. I'm going to report that you're harassing a foal to Phobia," her dad continued. "You aren’t entitled to anything. Maybe you’ll be second in class when you graduate but that’s not right now, and right now  you're picking on someone not even half your size. What's worse is you are a night pony and it is your duty to protect, but you're the one a filly needs protecting from."

"If she wants to play with the big ponies she better start learning how to stand on her own," Layla growled, ignoring her father to turn back to her. "Your friend wants to yell about how things are unfair; well, I don't think they are grading your work to the same demanding standards they'd grade mine. I think they're giving you free passes because of your age. I don't think you've actually earned your grades."

Jessie laid her ears back all the way and fear of the older pony evaporated into outrage. "I earned my grades! It's not my fault I'm smarter than you!"

"Layla! Heel!" A new voice rang out. 

All eyes turned to a small van that had pulled up when no one was paying attention and the angry crystal pony that was charging over to deal with the situation. Layla dropped some of her aggressive posture and turned to Crystal Dreams. "It was just a verbal altercation, it's not like I was actually going to pounce on the runt." Layla briefly looked past Crystal to see Phobia and her family getting out of the van with Tempest already out and watching the situation from a distance.

Crystal stomped a hoof. "Your attitude is completely unacceptable of anyone here to guard the Dreamwarden and her family. That little filly you’re harassing is a guest of the Warden of Fear and is to be to be protected like everyone else. Tell me, why shouldn't I have your permission to be here as a guardian revoked here and now?"

Layla's eyes went wide as her ears flattened. "I apologize, it's just that--"

"No excuses! Tell me, why you should be allowed to remain after bullying a filly?" Crystal demanded.

Layla's head dropped and her eyes started to glisten. "I don't know."

"That's what I was thinking too." Crystal turned her eyes to all the mares on the roof. "And you lot, why weren’t you stopping this?" She looked at the day ponies on the porch. "Or all of you for that matter?"

"We try to keep out of night pony business," one of the ponies on the porch called out.

Crystal gestured at Jessie. "Do you need your eyes checked? Does she look like a night pony to you? You're here guarding Phobia’s family and any guests she has, so you're involved with night pony business. Not that you should even make a distinction for when you step in. If I hear that excuse again you’ll be immediately dismissed. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," came the hurried reply in chorus from the porch.

Crystal looked up at the roof again. "Rebecca, get your flank down here and explain why you allowed your niece to do this, now!"

The mare that had called out warnings to Layla earlier quickly flew down from the roof and landed next to her niece. "Ma'am, Layla's been under a lot of stress lately. She's got her nerves in a knot about school and college applications. She just taken Yinyu's Blessing recently so schools would be more open to accepting her applications. It's hard being a night pony trying to get scholarships at top schools; they don't want to give night ponies a chance. Please don't dismiss her, it wouldn't look good on her applications for them to see that she was dismissed."

Crystal looked the mare in the eyes. "I didn't hear an explanation for why you let this happen. I just heard excuses for her."

The mare's shoulders slumped. "Layla would never have hurt the filly. She's got all this pent up frustration and she needed a chance to vent. It might not have been the ideal way, but it needed to come out. Night ponies can't be carrying all that around, we'll end up lashing out in bad ways if we do."

Crystal snorted. "A bad way was intimidating a filly." She turned to Layla. "You'll keep your position, for now. I expect a well thought out and sincere apology ready for Jessica when you return tonight. And if you’re so pent up and frustrated I’m going to have you running drills until you don’t have any energy left to care about your pettiness."

Layla kept her head lowered. "I understand, ma'am. Thank you for not dismissing me, ma'am."

Crystal's expression lightened. "I'm in my current position because the Dreamwarden gave me a chance after my best friend and I really screwed up on some things; far worse than what you just did. I understand the value of giving someone another chance. Do not make me regret it." She looked up at the night ponies on the roof. "You're all free to leave, day shift is ready. Be careful going home; there's no protestors here, but they're out there and they're pretty riled up."

There was a deafening sound of beating wings as the night ponies all departed as a flock off the roof and back towards the pony residential district. Layla and Rebecca departed with them as well. As soon as all the night ponies departed Tempest Shadow walked up beside Crystal while carrying the sleeping form of Alfie on her back. 

"Mind you don't get too sweet and merciful. Your duty is to defend the Dreamwarden and her family, not coddle these volunteers," Tempest said flatly. 

"Are you saying I should have kicked her out and possibly screwed up her opportunities for the future?" Crystal asked in annoyance.

Tempest shook her head. "No, you made the right call. Removing her would have only added to that young mare's misplaced resentment and made her more of a potential problem. Just be mindful you don't become a soft jiggly pushover." She gave Crystal an appraising look. "And don’t think I haven’t notice you have been eating too many of those candies again. You'll be doing drills with me after we get the foals secure in bed. Luna help us if you get too fat to put up a fight when needed after I'm gone."

Crystal glared at the broken horned unicorn as Tempest walked away into the house. Jessie took the opportunity to come over to the crystal pony while she was doing so.

"Miss Crystal? Thank you for doing that for me," she said in a trembling voice.

Crystal looked down at her. "She didn't shake you up too much, did she?" 

Jessie shook her head. "I just didn't understand why she was so mad at me. She's in my calculus four class, but we’ve never even talked."

The mare went wide eyed. "There's a calculus four, and students actually take it?" Crystal said in astonishment. "Yikes, you and her are way smarter than me. I never finished high school when I was human still, and only recently got my GED. Anyway, Layla's a bright kid, just like you, so when she comes back with an apology tonight give her a chance to prove she means it. If you two get to talking you might find you have a lot in common. Seriously...calc four? How many calculuses do you need?"

Phobia and Rosetta walked by at that moment, each carrying a sleeping night pony filly on their backs. Phobia paused and turned to Jackie and Jordan. "Come on in and sit in the living room. I'll turn the lights on for you. Once I get your nieces and nephew to bed I'll spend a few minutes with you two before I go to bed. Crystal will see to it your taken care of while I'm sleeping. Maybe you can cheer her on as Tempest drills her, she could use the encouragement."

Jackie and Jordan hurried after Rosetta and her dad grabbed up their bags and started following as well. He turned to look at her as he walked by. "Need some time with nature to calm down? If you don’t want to stay I can take you back home."

She shook her head. "I'll be okay, but I do want to sit in the grass a little longer."

Her dad nodded. "That's fine. Don't be too long. Miss Crystal has things she needs to do."

She looked over at Crystal Dreams who had sat down upon realizing that Jessie was sitting put. 

Her dad went inside and she took the opportunity to ask something she was curious about. "Miss Crystal? What did you do that was bad?"

Crystal's ears sagged and she sighed. "Years ago, right after ETS my best friend started using mind magic on humans to make them want to be ponies. He used it on a lot of humans and I helped him find the worst anti-pony humans I could find. I helped protect him, defended him, and believed in what he was doing."

Jessie's ears flicked. "But...that would get him in trouble with the Dreamwardens."

The mare nodded. "Oh, it did. He got called out on it right on front of Phobia. The Dreamwardens used to conduct trials themselves, and my friend was the very first one. This was back when only the night ponies knew about Dreamwardens. I actually tried to hit Phobia to protect him. I did hit Sunset Blessing. Wild Growth kicked my flank though."

"So, what happened?" Jessie asked hesitantly.

"They found my friend guilty and made him undo everything he'd done. Took away his ability to dreamwalk for a while," Crystal explained as she looked towards the door of the house. "It could have been much worse. They could have wiped his mind. But Phobia decided to show mercy."

"And that's why you gave Layla another chance? Because Phobia Remedy gave you and your friend mercy?" Jessie asked as she lifted her head up.

"She didn't just give us mercy, she set us a path to redeem ourselves," Crystal said with a smile. "I met lots of amazing people as we went through undoing what my friend did. I made friends with lots of the humans that I used to fear. I started guarding Phobia when we were all done, just as a thank you, and she offered me this job soon after. Sometimes people just need a chance given to them, and a little gentle push in the right direction. I try to live by the example of what Phobia did for me."

"Is Tempest mean to you because you did that stuff before?" Jessie asked. She was still concerned about mistakes that you couldn't ever recover from. Maybe that was what was going on with Tempest and Crystal.

Crystal blew a raspberry and then laughed. "Tempest? No, she's just rough like that. She's going back to Equestria soon and I'm taking over as chief bodyguard. She just gets on me hard because she wants to be sure I’ll do my job right. She's invested the last six years of her life to guarding Phobia so she gets picky about everything I do as a result. It's just her way of showing she takes the job seriously. It gets annoying sometimes, but I get where she's coming from."

"Tempest is going away? Why? Did she do something wrong?" Jessie asked in confusion.

Crystal gave her a confused look. "She is born and raised in Equestria, and at some point she needs to go home. She's been here for a long time, but even a hardas--butt like her gets homesick. Luna sent her to Phobia as a guard, but it's time for her to go back to serving Luna, or will be soon anyway. People don't do the same thing for their entire lives."

Jessie tilted her head in confusion. "They don't?" 

"Of course not. Why would you think--" Crystal stopped and sighed. "Sorry, I know you're real smart, and to treat your questions like they are coming from an adult--I got briefed on it--but I forget you have gaps in your knowledge. No, people might do a lot of different things in their lives. I never thought before a few years ago I'd be some Dreamwarden's bodyguard, or anyone's bodyguard for that matter. Things just kind of led me to this."

"What were you doing before?" Jessie asked curiously. The part about Crystal being briefed on her was also something she wanted to know about, but she could ask about that in a minute.

Crystal drew her head back and glanced away. "Let's not talk about that. It was something I'm not proud of. I never really had a goal in mind for what I wanted to do when I was younger, and if someone told me I'd have a career as a bodyguard to anyone then I'd have called them crazy. I might be muscular and tough now, but as a human I was a walking stick that could have been blown over with a stiff breeze."

That also meant she could end up doing something completely different and unexpected herself, or more than one thing. Phobia Remedy really wanted her to help with fighting the Devourers when she was older, and that seemed really important, but maybe that meant there was still the chance she could work towards helping Earth colonize new worlds too. It also meant that she maybe would be doing other things that she couldn't imagine herself doing.

She rubbed her hoof against her leg. "I don't know if it is okay to ask, but you said you were briefed on me. What kind of stuff about me?"

Crystal frowned then went more straight faced. "I suppose there's nothing wrong with telling you. Your brother talks about you on and off of course, but Phobia recently dreamwalked me and gave me instructions about you, as well as a more thorough picture of you. She said you were important, and that if I ever saw someone trying to hurt you to step in just like I would step in for one of her foals. Guess that makes me kind of your bodyguard too."

Jessie blinked. "Does she do that a lot? Give you instructions in your dreams?" 

Crystal chuckled and nodded. "You do ask lots of questions, but that's fine. That's how I get the majority of my direct instructions from her. She goes over profiles of ponies with me, reviews my decisions on the day, gives me fresh instructions, has me dreamwalk certain members of the volunteers to personally get to know them better. Kind of comes with the territory of working for a Dreamwarden. It doesn't take that long every night, and after that I'm free to dreamwalk as I please."

"What's it like flying through the dream realm?" 

"Um...I don't fly in the dream realm. I like having my hooves on solid ground thank you very much," Crystal said with a nervous shuffle of her hooves. She must not like heights.

She was confused about the response though. "But Robby always told me that dreamwalking was kind of like flying through an endless star filled sky. You said you dreamwalk."

"Oh," Crystal said with realization. "That's how night ponies and most the pegasi perceive the dream realm. Ponies like you and me typically wouldn't perceive the space between dreams like that. For us it is more like lots of hallways with lots of doors. Every door is someone else's dream. Different colored doors indicate different types of dreams. I just focus on who I want to find, walk down the hallway, take a turn or two, and then I just know I'm at the right door."

That was interesting. She might prefer the star filled sky though. Just because she liked looking at stars. 

"If you really are curious about it and want to do it you could always ask your parents for permission to let Phobia give you the ability to dreamwalk. If Phobia has such a high interest in you it might be worthwhile. It’s rare for foals your age, but there are some," Crystal continued. 

"Night ponies said my magic is too weak," she said as she grumpily ran her hoof across the grass.

"Um, maybe your friends' magic is right now, but yours isn't."

Jessie's head jerked up and she stared at Crystal with her mouth open.

Crystal gave her a confused look. "Phobia didn't tell you? She can get reads on ponies' magic in the dream realm so she has to know. I’d say you're like a one-point-five on the PREQUES scale. Which is pretty high for a foal your age. I'm told your brother was the same way at your age so it must be some family thing."

She shook her head. "No one told me." She sat and considered this for a second then grimaced. "I suppose it answers a question though. People were saying my intelligence might be magic, and if my magic is high it might be because of that."

Crystal pursed her lips. "I'm not sure that's something magic does. I'm no expert though. I suppose it could be passively boosting your intelligence. It's definitely strong enough to passively be doing things right now. Magic wants to be used and if you have it you're using it for something."

"Wish I knew for sure. I don't like not knowing," Jessie muttered.

Crystal got a thoughtful look as she looked Jessie over. "You're pretty bulky for your age. That gives me an idea. Let's see if that magic is going to something normal for an earth pony." The crystal pony looked towards the porch. "Hey, do me a favor and find the rope that the demons use and get Paul out here. I want to check something."

Jessie perked her ears up in interest. "Are we doing an experiment?"

Crystal nodded. "First thing that develops in earth ponies is their strength typically. I doubt you're at full earth pony strength, but maybe you're a lot stronger than a foal your age has a right to be because your magic is helping."

She supposed that made sense. If she were in high school gym classes this would have already come up, but she was in first grade gym class and they didn't really do anything to test strength in those. They mainly just made you run and play with balls. She didn't really try lifting anything heavier than her books at any point either. Was she strong and just hadn’t realized it? 

A minute or so later her dad came out the door. "Is something wrong? Do you want to go home?"

"She's fine," Crystal assured him. "I was wondering if you would have a little match of tug of war with your daughter."

Her dad gave a doubting look. "That hardly seems fair to her. She's not even seven yet."

Crystal grinned. "If I'm right she'll put up more of a challenge than you'd expect. She's an early bloomer, like her big brother."

A unicorn came out carrying a rope in his magic, and was followed by Tempest and the two sisters. Jordan looked excited. "Jessie is super strong?" The little unicorn exclaimed and then squinted her eyes and scrunched up her muzzle, causing sparks to pop from her horn.

"Maybe, we'll see," Jessie's dad said apprehensively. He looked back to Jessie. "Just try your best, and don't get too disappointed if I win."

"We'll see how it goes," Crystal laughed as she watched the unicorn lay out the rope in the grass with the center crossing the path up to the house. "Each of you come take a side. Let's see what you can do."

Jessie couldn't help herself; she excitedly trotted over to one side and gripped the rope tightly in her mouth. 

Her dad walked over to the other side and grabbed the other end. He looked over to her. "Just do your best, big girl."

Big girl. Those words meant a lot of things to her, and right now they might mean she was strong. She didn't know why she was so excited about the prospect of being strong, but she was really hoping she was. 

"Step back a little to give to get the rope tighter, but don't start pulling till I count down to go," Crystal instructed. Jessie and her dad did as instructed and both fixed their eyes on Crystal. "Okay, on the count of three. One...two...three...go!"

Immediately she started pulling as hard as she could and she heard her dad gasp in shock before the rope tightened. "Oww! Okay, that was a lot stronger than I expected."

The rope started dragging her slowly back and she dug her hooves into the ground to try to stop it. Her being pulled towards the center stopped and she put one hoof in front of another in determination to start trying to pull her dad towards the center. 

"Are you trying as hard as you can, Paul?" Crystal asked. 

"Does it look like I'm going easy on her?" Her dad cried out. "She'd be angry if I was going easy on her." Her dad stepped up his effort and she lost a few steps of footing before she planted her hooves again to stop it.

This became a pattern with her advancing a few steps only to get pulled back a few seconds later. She wasn't winning, but she wasn't losing either. Pride welled up in her as she realized she was holding a grown human man to a standstill in a contest of strength. A grown earth pony would have already won, but for her this was really impressive. Whether she won or lost she knew that she had some earth pony strength already. It also meant that magic was probably going towards that and not her intelligence.

"Go Jessie!" Jordan cried out excitedly.

"Ack! I'm getting rope burns," her dad cried out in pain and suddenly the tightness released and she went tumbling forward with the rope still in her mouth and faceplanted into the grass.

"And the little filly beats the big strong man in a test of strength," Crystal called out.

"I'm not that strong," her dad protested. "But Jessie is definitely stronger than I would have thought possible at her age."

Jessie picked herself up and dropped the rope from her mouth. She was going to be tasting rope fibers for hours after this. She turned and looked at her dad who was rubbing his hands and her ears lowered as she noticed that they were red and had scratches on them. 

Her dad noticed her gaze and gave her a smile. "Don't worry about this. I'll get some lotion or something on them and it will be better in no time. This is just what I get for trying to play tug-of-war with you without wearing gloves. I might have stood a chance if I had been."

Before Jessie could answer she suddenly found herself at the bottom of a pony pile as Jackie and Jordan tackled her and started giggling. Jackie's feathers tickled her nose and made her sneeze, which resulted in the little pegasus jumping off and quickly inspecting her wing for snot. It seemed like it was a dry sneeze though that was completely booger free.

"I'll give you that you might have won if not for the rope being so rough on your hands," Crystal said cheerfully. "Still, Jessie is almost as strong as you are, and most foals her age wouldn't be half that strong. She's a definite early bloomer on her earth pony magic. You should keep in mind that she's stronger than she looks."

"Guess that means I’ll need to take Robby more seriously when he complains about you boxing him," her dad said with consideration. "I thought he was just exaggerating when he complained it hurt. You need to be more careful roughhousing with Robby, you're probably stronger than him."

She'd actually believed that he was exaggerating as well. It turned out she owed her big brother an apology...lots of apologies.

"If you're super strong does that mean I can fly?" Jackie asked as she flapped her wings eagerly.

"I'm not super strong. My dad is still stronger than me. He just lost because holding onto the rope hurt his hands, and Crystal is way stronger than I am," she said as she tried standing up with Jordan still on top of her. The purple unicorn filly gasped as she was easily lifted. Jessie winced at the gasp; she hadn't meant to show off like that, especially not right after saying she wasn't super strong.

"She's just an early bloomer. It happens sometimes," Crystal explained to the pink pegasus filly. "You register about a point eight right now--" Crystal turned her eyes to Jordan. "--and your sister is about a point eight as well. That's more average for foals your age. Can't do much with a point eight. You'll get there though. In a few years you might have more magic than me or Jessie. Just because Jessie has more magic than you right now doesn't mean she will by the time you all reach ten or so."

"Aww, that's not fair," Jackie pouted. 

Her dad came over and rubbed her head gently. "Guessing you're feeling a little better now."

She nodded with a grin. She had earth pony strength, actual earth pony strength...well, the start of it anyway. Maybe she could do other earth pony things too. There was more though; she had learned she could help Phobia with the Devourer thing and still help eventually colonize other worlds. Talking to Crystal had been great, the mare had opened up a lot of new things for her. She decided she needed to thank Layla when the night pony came back tonight to give an apology. If Layla hadn't gotten mad at her she'd have taken a lot longer to find all these things out. 

Hopefully she could count Crystal Dreams as one of her friends now, and maybe things could turn around with Layla if Crystal was right and she’d have another. In the last few days she'd made a lot of friends and that should make her parents proud of her, but it also made her happy on her own. She really should have started doing this sooner.

Everything was looking up for her, and she couldn't imagine anything that could jeopardize her future.





Tonya tried to keep her distance from her wife so she wouldn't appear to be nervously hovering. It was coming up on four hours since the demonstration and Sunset was still walking around in human form. She had made a few passes with soft feather touches on her wife that had allowed her to get a feeling for Sunset's emotions and they weren't good, even if Sunset was putting on all smiles for the delegates. It was sheer willpower and determination that was keeping Sunset from displaying the distress she was feeling. Tonya knew her wife had those traits in spades, but even Sunset had to break eventually.

Right now Tonya was trying to make some peace with the Equestrians. She didn't care much for Equestrians herself, but she did care if they were going to cause her wife problems. Unfortunately, she'd somehow gotten cornered and left alone with the griffin ambassador. He wouldn't be so bad to be around if not for his breath. It smelled like rotting meat, and every time he opened his beak she wanted to gag. She actually felt a pang of sympathy for Celestia if she had to endure this bird's breath every time he visited her.

"That's so tragic to hear, ambassador," she replied to his latest retelling of how a griffin chick had been stolen from her family, turned into a pony, and didn't even realize she was originally a griffin until well into adulthood. This must have been his forth telling of the story in the last four hours. He certainly was trying to play up sympathy but surely there had been more than just the one incident to talk about.

She tried not to scrunch her muzzle in disgust when he started talking again. "The Griffin Kingdom is very interested in this, but work because of that. We'd be willing to negotiate an arrangement for some of your mages to work in Griffinstone."

Her attempts to not react to his breath hadn't been completely successful, but he either didn't notice or thought she was reacting to the story. "We'd certainly be interested in the offer, but are you comfortable with unicorns working on this type of magic right in your capital?"

The buzzardlike griffin grimaced. "We're more comfortable with you Earthlings than Celestia's mages. Have I told you what Celestia did to us?"

Several times already.  She groaned in her head as she forced herself not to roll her eyes. She put on a concerned look instead. "You did, and that is unacceptable. There should have been major reparations from Equestria for that. Celestia is lucky you are such a reasonable race and didn't take a more aggressive response."

"We're a civilized kingdom," the griffin said proudly. She knew it was just fluff. Griffins were highly aggressive, but they weren't stupid enough to think they could win a war against Equestria. "We are very wary of Celestia and her rule, and are happy to hear that your wife is like minded. Your government seems far too cozy with Equestria for our liking, but it is a hopeful sign to see individuals like Sunset Blessing speak their mind about our duplicitous neighbors."

This was pretty bold talk, stronger than Sunset's. Maybe a little too strong for even Sunset's liking. "Let's be charitable to the Equestrians. There's a possibility that they have turned the corner. I know that it is Sunset's hope that they'll become more open and transparent in their dealings with others, especially in light of the fact they are rapidly losing their monopoly on powerful magic. I'll talk to Sunset about your proposal. I'm sure she'll be interested in helping the griffins get their own self determination without Equestrian interference."

The ambassador gave a pleased nod of his head and she took the opportunity to escape him. Playing informal diplomat was hard work, and she had more important people to speak to than the griffins. Her next primary target right now was Rarity, and the unicorn was standing off to the side with just Sapphire Sky keeping her company. Those two were the ones who most needed their feelings salved after Sunset's performance. 

"Did you want something?" Sapphire asked dismissively upon noticing Tonya approaching.

"I was just hoping to be able to speak with both of you," Tonya answered, trying not to sound put off by the other pegasus tone or the imposing figure she cut with a tall muscular build. She had expected a far worse reception after the fight with her wife earlier. "If I'm not interrupting."

"Of course not, darling. Sapphire was just telling me about how her little Aurora has become quite the little scamp. So I was telling her about my little sister Sweetie Belle and some of her adventures with the Crusaders that never made it into the storybooks."

Tonya chuckled. "I always found it interesting that that group's name translated as crusaders. It's a term that has some religious connections on Earth."

"Indeed," Rarity said with a sniff. "The name actually seems to translate out to Jihadists, Zealots, and other such terms roughly in some other cultures. I'm not sure how or why, and nor am I sure how to feel about it."

"I wouldn’t be too worried about it," Sapphire replied with a shrug of her wings. “Human languages just ill-equipped to handle the earnestness of three fillies.” 

"Perhaps," Rarity conceded, then turned back to Tonya. "What did you wish to speak about? I assume you are here on your wife's behest."

Tonya nodded. "She didn’t ask me to but I would like to try to smooth over any hard feelings. Sunset was determined to do whatever it took to get approval and was pulling out all the stops to do so. I wanted to make sure you understood that what she said and did was a means to an end. Xenophobia unfortunately still plays well to an American audience, and she wasn't going to let any effective tool go unused."

"Playing to the worst impulses and being divisive isn’t something to be proud of," Sapphire almost sneered. "Your wife might insist on pony superiority but she still resorts to the worst human behaviors to get what she wants."

Rarity sighed. "Such behaviors and feelings are not unknown in Equestria, so they can't be ascribed as being solely human behaviors. I understand why she used us as a scapegoat, but I can't condone it. It was completely uncalled for."

"I apologize for her if she came off as too offensive to Equestria. This was just too important for her not to throw everything she could to make sure it was approved," Tonya said with her head held low. "You might think what she did was unneeded, but there's a lot of fears and misgivings about this kind of magic. Her most effective strategy was to redirect those fears."

"By targeting Equestria who has been nothing but amicable with Earth from the start," Sapphire said flatly. "If she needed to create an enemy, she could have brought up  the Chinese since they might actually represent a threat, and not the ponies that have done nothing but help."

Tonya shook her head. "Most don't realize that China is a looming threat so it wouldn't have played as well. In case you missed it she did take an indirect shot at them; she said she was the first to perfect the permanent transformation spell. I think we all know what China might do if they develop that spell and no one else knows how to stop them. Sunset Shimmer was one pony, but China is a nation of over a billion people. I doubt even Equestria could do much to stop them."

“Any delegate here who doesn’t know about China’s looming threat in this matter is one who should not be here,” Sapphire responded sharply.

"I would like to switch away from the matter of China as you mention a matter that needs further addressing--" Rarity started and then chewed on her lip. "Was she bluffing? Does she really know how to do permanent transformations?" 

Tonya shook her head. "She wasn't bluffing, and she wasn't lying when she said she didn't steal the knowledge from Equestria. There are actually members of our government that have known she could do it for some time."

"The Blessing family makes a lot of big claims," Sapphire laughed derisively.  "First Sunset claims to have accomplished the same feat of one of the most brilliant mages Equestria ever produced, one trained by Celestia herself, in a fraction of the time. Now her wife is saying that it's true and the government has an X-files like conspiracy to cover up her knowledge."

"I can't get into how she managed to develop it, for obvious reasons, but I can address why no one took action against her," Tonya said as she met the pegasus's eyes. "She's been nothing but open and honest with the government from the start. She's made the same position she made a few hours ago clear as well; she isn't going to violate the law by doing any permanent transformations. Everything she does advances United States power, and she has made herself an invaluable asset to this country."

Sapphire snorted but continued to stare back at her. "And I'm sure they put a military base within spitting distance of her operation as a sign of trust. Almost sounds like Sunset's up to her ears in something else far more important than this transformation magic. Enough for them to overlook it completely."

"I can't comment on that," Tonya replied far too quickly, uncomfortable with how casually the other pegasus would voice such an accusation and how true it was. Sunset was involved in so many magical research projects it was hard to keep track of them all. Not just magical research, but technological too. There were a lot of clandestine things she assisted with as well where legality was fuzzy at best even though the government was aware of them, and had even ordered some of these actions themselves. 

There was one project that the government didn't know about, or at least not who had ordered it or what the extent of it was. She hadn't even realized who the source of it had been until well after the fact and a confrontation with Phobia. The project Sha'am Maut had forced Sunset into accepting was the most well kept secret Sunset had. News that the Dreamwardens had a secret project would spark an enormous backlash and investigation if it got out.

Maybe now that Sunset's legacy had been secured she could convince her to step away from a lot of this. Sunset got what she wanted, couldn't she fall back into a more relaxed life? Not stop everything, that would be a disservice to Sunset, but enough so they could spend time together just enjoying life and having a family.

"Darling, you look distracted by something. We've heard your routine, you've been walking around performing it for hours. We've seen Sunset's demonstration, and her divisive speech," Rarity said with a cross look in Sunset's direction. She turned her eyes back to Tonya quickly and her expression softened. "But what are your concerns. How are you dealing with all of this? Are you doing alright? You seem like you want to be anywhere but here."

Tonya fought down a wince as she looked towards her wife. Sunset was busy talking with a unicorn and a human from the Department of Pony Affairs. She sighed and turned back to Rarity. "She should not have used this version of the spell. I begged her not to use it. She's putting on a good show right now, but it is sheer force of will. There's a good reason we cut the spell so short with the Gilmores; the person who last used this version of the spell this long didn't come out of it well at all. I even offered myself as a volunteer if she'd just use the newer version. I'm terrified of what this is doing to her right now."

"So why is she using this version if it is so bad?" Sapphire asked skeptically. 

She shook her head. "It's complicated. I know that shouldn't have impacted the decision making process, but Sunset's gets passionate about making amends when she feels she's done wrong." She grit her teeth. "I'm actually kind of angry with her because she's done enough to satisfy her amends. This is just hurting herself for no good reason now, and all I can do is helplessly watch."

"I'm sorry she's making you watch. Not many things are worse than watching a loved one suffer in front of you and being unable to help," Sapphire responded with genuine compassion. "Is there no way to get one of the crystal ponies to drain away the spell and force her to change back sooner?"

"You're... concerned about what happens to Sunset?" Tonya asked in confusion, the pegasus seemed so openly hostile. Shouldn't she be gloating over how right she was?

Sapphire lowered her ears. "I've been told she supposedly has good qualities. I don't really see them, but I also would never wish harm upon anypony. Plus if Sunset nukes her brain with a broken spell, how could I ever tell her I told you so?"

"I've been the recipient of mind magic that made me act contrary to my nature," Rarity broke in. "I agree that something should be done to stop this before it progresses too far. Sunset's folly of being overzealous is not our responsibility, our reactions to it are." 

Tonya looked back at her wife again and then sighed. "I doubt we could take any action. The crystal ponies operate on her orders and she told them to let the spell run its course. I don't even know if she would fail to notice if we did try. Her magic is still there and we haven't had enough testing to determine what a unicorn can and can't do in while in human form."

"I suppose that makes sense. Sunset Shimmer apparently had access to her magic while masquerading as a human," Rarity replied with a thoughtful tone. Then her eyes widened. "Is that how she managed this? We have access to many of Sunset Shimmer's notes, but we never determined how she did certain things...including how she repeatedly took a human form without it causing herself any harm. Did your wife somehow stumble upon some journal of Sunset Shimmer's that nopony previously was able to find?"

"I'm the wrong person to answer that..." Tonya replied. It wasn't what had happened, but it wouldn't be a bad thing to let the Equestrians think that it was. There was even a possibility such a journal existed somewhere. Sunset had done a lot of digging trying to find any traces of her namesake's work that may have been overlooked--and she wasn't the only one. The truth was far harder to believe and involved potentially far more dangerous magic than the world was ready for. Sunset had already purged all records of the time travel spell, and it would go with Poly Glot to the grave when he received the execution he deserved.

"We could still ask the crystal ponies," Sapphire said as she looked at the ponies on question, ignoring talk about the origins of the spell. "If we make the case that she isn't in her right mind and causing herself real harm then they might be willing. Not that I care if she is aware that her show got sabotaged, but it’s better to ask forgiveness from her than worry about making her angry if this is hurting her."

"I can't do that, even though I really want to," she said as she fluffed her feathers. "It would look bad in front of everyone if the call was made to pull the plug early. I can't do that to her."

"Then how can you say you care about her if you won’t fight for her?” Sapphire asked bluntly. 

She stomped a hoof and snorted, glaring at the much more powerful member of her tribe with all the righteous fury she could muster. "How dare you ask me that?”

Sapphire didn’t respond to her display in the slightest. “The health of your wife or her PR, you’ve spent hours showing which you thought was more important.”

Before she could rip into the other mare,a sudden cry out from Sunset as she stumbled to the ground. She didn't even hesitate in taking to the air and flying towards her wife as she feared the worst. It wasn't the worst though. The spell had run its course and Sunset was very rapidly transforming back to a pony. 

Tonya's eyes went wide in horror as She realized something she should have thought about earlier. Sunset was rapidly transforming while awake when she was already in a distressed state. How had she not thought about that?

The transformation back was rapid, and already complete by the time she reached her wife. She quickly got to work trying to untangle Sunset from the robe and gave the crowd a threatening glare to make them keep their distance. 

"Sunset, my sunshine, can you hear me? Are you okay?" She asked with her ears flat and her tail tucked in tight. 

Sunset let off a long groan before responded. "I'm alright. Give me a second to collect myself then I'll address the crowd and you can get me somewhere private for the doctors to check me over." Her voice dropped to a barely perceptible whisper. "Thank God that's over. That version of the spell is never getting used again. Not on anypony."

Tonya frowned as anger started filling the void of that was left as her worry declined enough to allow other emotions in. "You'll be brief. You're so rattled you've slipped into pony pronouns. I swear if you're not alright... you're still going to be getting a piece of my mind over this stunt," she snapped and didn't wait for a response before turning towards the crowd and flying up to be slightly above human height. "Everyone, she's alright," I hope. "The spell just ended a little more suddenly than expected. Please give her a minute and she'll give a few brief words before she needs to be checked out by the doctors."

Sunset took a few seconds getting to her hooves and shaking her messy mane before looking out at the various delegates with her best fake smile. "I'm perfectly alright, the spell reverts back to my natural form exactly as it was before the casting, but it can be a bit jarring so I do need to be examined for procedure's sake. I'll return in a few minutes after they are done with me."

After I'm done with you is what you really should say. Tonya grumbled in her head, but she stifled her anger and worry picked up again as she felt Sunset's emotions. By all rights Sunset should be in a state of panic right now, and she was sure if she checked it she'd find her wife's heart was pounding hard. Despite the calm demeanor she could make out that Sunset's breathing was heavier than it should be. They needed to get in private now.

Thankfully Sunset chose not to delay getting guided back to the chapel. The doctors were waiting for her up on the stage and started gathering what they would need. Tonya started guiding her wife towards the stage, but was caught off guard when halfway up the aisle to the stage Sunset paused and stood still with her head low to the ground and her eyes unfocused. As Tonya turned to head back she had to dart to catch her wife as Sunset just let her legs buckle underneath her and collapsed down on the ground. The calm facade went with her ability to stand, and the unicorn started sobbing. 

Tonya held her wife close with her wings. The doctors came off the stage to attend to them but Tonya gave them a warning glance away. This was no physical problem, this was all mental and emotion. Right now Sunset needed her, not a physician. 

She cupped her wife's head in her neck, careful to avoid the horn, and let her wife cry. It was good to just let the tears flow with no pride or fear of them being seen by the public. At times like this it was easy to forget Sunset was the senior of the pair of them. From Sunset's first full day as a pony this had been where Tonya had placed herself, as that shoulder to cry on, and that place for Sunset to let down her defenses. There had never been a moment of doubt in her head this was where she belonged. It was in this position that both she and Sunset had found who they were, and set out to change the world. Today her wife had done just that, but Tonya worried at what personal price.

"It's over, and you'd better never do anything that stupid again," she whispered as she continued to hold her wife tight. "You had me so scared for you. I'm still scared for you, do you know that? Why'd you have to go so far, just to make a statement?"

"I needed to prove that it was safe...prove that I don't hate humans," Sunset said through her sobs. 

"Prove to who?" She whispered back harsher than she meant to. "They're going to believe what they want no matter what you do. I don't think torturing yourself with that form was helping endear humans to you either. Was this some display for God? I want to know what possessed you to do this to yourself...to do this to me by making me have to stand by and watch."

Sunset didn't respond back; she just kept crying. Tonya took a deep breath and pushed her anger away. Sunset didn't need her anger right now. "We'll talk about it later, when you're feeling better. You should be happy. It still needs approval from congress, but if the delegates are any indication that should be a vote in your favor. If you really think that this is your ultimate legacy then whatever happens after today doesn't matter, you've already won the war."

That made Sunset slow her sobbing and after a few sniffs respond. "I could barely tell when I was out there talking. I know I was but it was like I was on autopilot while it took everything I had to keep it together."

"Well, you won them over," Tonya assured her wife. "The Equestrians are still pissed that you used them as a punching bag, but not so angry they seem like they'll try to interfere. Rarity and Sapphire actually expressed concern for you."

"I'm not surprised, based on their files," Sunset said as she seemed to gain more control of herself. "I think I'll be okay...just dreamwalk me tonight, and bring Phobia with you."

Tonya gave her wife a doubt as she released her. "I’ll be dreamwalking you every night for a long time. I can feel your emotions. You’re in bad shape. I think you need to take a break from everything; at least until Phobia gives the all clear."

Sunset looked up at the sun emblazoned cross hanging high above the chapel stage. "Tonya, I think I'm done...done with trying to manage all this stuff. I've done it, I've secured the future our Lord wants for the world. I don't need to do any more."

Her eyes went wide at this. "You're just going to walk away? Not that I'm complaining--I've been wanting more personal time with you, but I know you and know that you won't be happy if you aren't out doing things."

"Maybe not everything, just most of it," Sunset amended. "I'd still preach and I’m still the mayor, but the rest I'm ready to be done with. Wild can take control of SPEC, the politicians can do without me, and it would be a sign of good faith to just turn all my operations completely over to the government to appoint who they wish to run them. I'm ready to step back and smell the roses though, and enjoy family life with you."

Tonya dropped her head close to her wife's. "What about the project Sha'am had you on? You can't just walk away from a contract with a Dreamwarden."

Sunset actually chuckled. "But they can back out of it apparently. The night after Thanksgiving I was told my services in that were no longer needed. They said they will get back to me about that damn sphere in the basement. It sounded like they were going to just destroy it after all the time and money that went into making it."

That was a shock. What had suddenly changed? It was actually kind of aggravating that they were doing that. Her life had been used as a bargaining piece to make Sunset make that thing, and now they were just going to abandon the whole thing? If it weren't for the fact it meant Sunset really was free from the contract she'd be cussing out some Dreamwardens for putting her and her wife through all that for nothing.

"Well, you need to take time to make sure your head is on straight before you make any big decisions," she said, wishing she could just get all onboard with this. The truth was there was no way of knowing at the second if Sunset was thinking straight enough to commit to such things. 

Sunset nodded weakly in response. She was still putting on a show about how she wasn't bothered by what she just went through for the sake of the watching doctors, despite the fact she just sat their bawling her eyes out. 

"I do need to take some time off for the next few days," Sunset said in a tired voice. "Are you still planning on going to the doctor to discuss foals?"

"If you need me to put it off I understand," Tonya said with mild disappointment. "You need my personal care right now."

"Actually...I was wondering if I could tag along and listen in," Sunset said as she rubbed her leg absently, looking away. "It isn't an endorsement. I just want to hear what they tell you while I'm deciding how I feel about it. If I cut back on everything I'm going to have some extra time for...other considerations."

Tonya's eyes lit up with hope. She didn't voice it though for fear she might come off as pressuring her wife, but it was the first time today she'd had any feeling of joy.

Sunset kept rubbing her leg. "You go out of your way to take care of my needs all the time, and I'm grateful for it. It's occurred to me that I might not be doing enough to meet yours. I still stand by having a foal is a big commitment for both of us, but I know how important this is to you. I owe it to you to be there with you learning what's involved so we can make an informed decision together."

She all but tackled her wife with a fresh hug and actually managed to get a filly like giggle from Sunset in the process. Today had been a long nightmare, and that nightmare would linger for some time yet, but there were things to look forward to. Right now she felt like the luckiest mare in the world. 

The happy moment was cut short by a third voice clearing its throat. She looked up at one of Sunset's crystal pony guards from the basement who was standing a short distance away with a manilla folder cupped in his leg.

"Can we help you?" She asked in confusion.

The stallion sat up on his hind legs like some gopher and saluted. "Sorry to intrude, Mrs. Blessing, but you had said you wanted this report as soon as we found out the information you wanted."

He was talking to her then. If he had meant Sunset he would have said director or mayor. 
She sighed as she got up and walked over to him, trying to remember in a hurry what report she'd asked for. She extended out a wing and took the folder in it and used her other wing to flip it open. Pegasus wings weren't as nimble as night pony ones, but they got the job done still with things like this.

The doctors moved in on Sunset while Tonya started looking into the folder. It was a newspaper article, only it was written in Chinese...at least she was pretty sure that was Chinese. A transcription of the article in English was included and she quickly started reading. Her eyes went wide at the content; it described how a young girl who had been missing for almost a year before being found had suddenly horrifically murdered her parents and cannibalized them. The girl had told the authorities that she was just showing her parents how much she loved them. The most unnerving detail being that the girl seemed to really believe this was a display of affection rather than making an ironic comment. Her eyes moved to the date and location of the article. Xi'an, Shaanxi province, this article was from two years before ETS struck. 

"I'm guessing Shaanxi is a province in China," Tonya said in a low voice as she looked up at the rystal pony for confirmation.

He nodded. "Western part of China, it isn't a little city either. It has a few million people. Gotten even bigger since they started pushing pony births."

"This certainly meets the description of what he said. The question is how in the hell did he end up in Texas by the time ETS hit?" She asked as she looked over the details again. The crystal pony just shrugged. "I hate to ask, but I have more research you need to do for me," she said as she closed the folder.

The crystal pony sighed. "You need me to come up with a list of Chinese immigrants from that two year period that settled in Texas, right? That might take a while if you want me to narrow it down to likely suspects."

She nodded. "Do it. I want to have the case that he was responsible for this as good as it can be."

The fact he was apparently from China, or at least committed that atrocity in China certainly complicated matters with him immensely. She'd gotten more confident in her own judgement over the years, but she knew when she was dealing with a problem that was bigger than her ability to solve. She needed Sunset for this, and Sunset wasn't in shape to deal with it. Poly Glot's justice would have to wait.

With resignation she passed the folder back to the crystal pony. "If you find anything just leave the folder with the information in Sunset's office. She'll figure it out when she gets back to work."

The stallion nodded as he slipped the folder into his saddlebags. "I was also told by the ponies down below they need you for some Chorus testing soon. It was supposed to be recharged today when you sang, but...well...you know."

"Yeah," she said with a sigh. She hoped Sunset really did intend to walk away from all this. These projects, politics, and other things invaded their lives far too much. She couldn't go a day without having some secret something demanding her time. Sunset got it far worse, so there was a chance she was serious and not just having nerves talk.

She went back towards her wife and sat down beside her as doctors continued to put Sunset through motor and sensory drills. Hopefully this would all be over soon, and hopefully they could just relax and be a normal family. She was ready for a nice mundane life.





"So how long does this spell last exactly?" Senator Harris asked as he watched Wild's mama and Bill chatting away with the kirin and some of the Equestrians. 

Wild shook her head. "I figured it would have run its course by now." It was going on five hours and many of the delegates had already left. She wished Sunset would get back out here.

"With her talk about having already determining how to do a permanent transformation spell there might be some that would be concerned at the length this one is lasting," the senator commented dryly. "Not me, of course, I understand that Sunset Blessing wouldn't do something so blatantly illegal as to perform such a spell right in front of government officials."

Wild tried not to wince, and hoped that it wasn't the case. She didn't think it was the case, but this was taking a long time. Senator Harris was on the Committee for Magic Regulation and Advancement in the Senate, and he was going to be one of those actually voting on this approval. She couldn't have him developing new concerns.

"I'm sure that's not the case," Wild said with a practiced reassuring smile. She hopped down from her seat. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to see what is taking Sunset so long to get back out here. She can better answer everyone's questions."

As she started making her way towards the chapel doors she was headed off by her mama and Bill. The two of them moved quick. They'd be drifting back and forth between talking to the guests and her for hours and didn't seem to be slowing down or getting bored.

"Where are you going?" Her mama asked, blocking her path to the doors. 

"If you're going somewhere can we come with you?" Bill said almost immediately after. "We were told we could roam about as we want."

Wild gave the pair a wary look. "Just going to check on Sunset. She's been gone a while. Are you two feeling alright? This version of the spell has never been used this long before."

Her mama chuckled. "We are fine, better than fine. You don't know how much of a relief it is to be able to easily move about on my own without some medication clouding my head to the point nothing really registers or stays with me."

"I feel more alive now than I ever have in my life, April should get to try this," Bill added in with a grin.

“Remember that this spell does have a mental component so you aren’t freaking out. Try to keep in mind that Sunset may not have done that perfectly.”

Her papa and April came hurrying over, and her papa looked out of breath from the short run across the room. Her mama and Bill must have moved at a full gallop to get in front of her so fast.

"Why'd you both take off like that?" Bill's wife April said as they reached the three ponies. "Scared me and Roger half to death thinking something was wrong."

Bill's ears fell. "Sorry honey. We were just wanting to see where Wild Growth was going."

April looked at Wild and then back to her husband. "How about giving her a little space? The two of you can't seem to go ten minutes without pestering her."

Wild frowned. That was a concern too. Both the two temporary crystal ponies were still lit up brightly. That should have dissipated some by now...unless they'd been continually recharging off of her. She was starting to wonder if there was something to the concerns Rosetta had expressed before leaving. That was another reason she needed to talk to Sunset. The mages and crystal ponies were all standing close by watching, but they refused to discuss any details about what they were observing with her. They answered to Sunset, not Sunset's financial backers.

She tried to step by them. "I won't be gone long. You'll manage without me for a few minutes."

Her mama moved in quickly and gave her a hug, and Bill did the same. Six years ago a stranger embracing her like that wouldn't have bothered her. Pony instincts made it very easy to consider yourself best friends with someone you just had one conversation with, and her mama and Bill were riding high on that right now. However, after years of being constantly on her guard against threats it was a little uncomfortable for her. Learned experiences could override anyone's better instincts.

After separating herself from the two too comfortably close ponies she resumed making her way to the chapel doors. Four members of the 'janitorial staff' were standing close by the doors. She recognized one of them from when she toured the basement the other day, Mordecai.

As she came up to the doors Mordicai stepped forward and blocked her path. "I'm sorry, but there's to be no admittance for anyone without the director's approval."

She narrowed her eyes. "And if I just choose to ignore that and shove by you what are you going to try to do?"

Mordicai smirked. "Me? Nothing. I would signal the unicorns to levitate you off the ground and remove you from the premises. I know how your magic works, and your vulnerabilities. It's my job to know how to counter potential threats to security, which includes the super powered earth pony living a stone throw from this building. You might be the toughest person on the ground, but once you're in the air you're helpless."

Wild flicked her tail with annoyance. Just great, Sunset had profiled how to take her down. She supposed that made sense to do, but it didn't earn any warm feelings. How many other people had done the same thing? How vulnerable was she? Everything Sunset did was shared with the government, so presumably the military also had a contingency plan for taking her out. Triss was a fool if she was really pushing for an alicorn when the government had plans in place for just taking out highly powerful earth ponies. They likely had developed similar plans for all the elitely powerful ponies out there.

She just needed to have Sunset out here. Having her away so long looked bad and she needed to find out what was going on with her mama and Bill. "Can you, or someone on your staff tell her she's needed out here?"

"That I can do," the former black-op head of security responded. He then gestured to one of the other staff, a unicorn, and the unicorn opened a chapel door and slipped inside.

Her papa walked over to her from where her mama, Bill, and April had started chatting with one of the UN delegates. He crouched down next to her and whispered. "Your mother is acting strange when it comes to you."

"Really papa? I hadn't noticed," Wild said sarcastically.

"You might not have noticed that she makes sure she stays in sight of you at all times, and when you started walking over here she seemed almost panicked that you were leaving," her papa replied.

She lowered an ear. That wasn't good news. "I have a feeling that I'm going to be getting an I told you so from Rosetta. She was right, something's just not right with Mama and Bill. The two of them are far too needy of my magic. That isn't even pony instinct at work; crystal ponies don't get like that."

"She's not hurting you, is she?" Her papa asked with concern.

She shook her head. "No, I meant it when I said she couldn't put a dent in my magic. Even with both of them leeching magic off me it isn't even anything perceptible. I'm more concerned about why are they doing it than the impact on me."

Her papa looked out at the pair. "Do you think it's prolonging the spell? The spell has been going a while."

"Too early to tell. This went up to six hours in earlier tests, and we aren't there yet. I don't want to jump to conclusions," Wild replied. The thought had crossed her mind, but she needed Sunset's mages and crystal ponies to confirm that, and they weren't talking without Sunset's instructions.

Just then the chapel doors opened up and the red-furred preacher came out looking like she had taken the time to brush her mane and tail. Tonya walked beside her and Wild could tell the pegasus was tense. A pair of doctors followed close behind. The remaining delegates all looked in her direction as she ventured into the lobby. 

Sunset gave the delegates a quick wave of greeting. "I'll be doing a final talk with you in just a moment or two, and then addressing the media. I need to attend to something first."

The delegates went back to their conversations as Sunset hurried over to Wild. "What's the problem?" Sunset whispered with her muzzle almost in Wild's ear.

Wild gestured to the two temporary crystal ponies. "Those two are acting oddly. They keep coming over to me to absorb magic, and when they thought I was going to leave the room they almost panicked."

Sunset's eyes narrowed. "Any other odd behaviors? Any discharges of magic?"

Wild shook her head. "Nothing else odd that can't be accounted for by having a pony mindset. I haven't noticed any discharges either."

"If they are able to absorb magic so often from you that magic has to be going into something," Sunset said consideringly. She looked over at her mages and crystal ponies and gestured them over to her. When they came over she spoke to them in a whisper. "I want to know what's happening to the magic those two are absorbing. Have you been monitoring them?"

One of the crystal pony stallions nodded. "We weren't sure at first, but we're pretty certain they're feeding the magic into the spell. The spell isn't weakening at all. It might actually be getting stronger. It is possible that they are doing this on pure instinct. The first crystal pony in the chain that helped spread the ETS counterspell was able to pull outside magic in to strengthen that spell on instinct alone."

"They're making this temporary transformation not so temporary then..." Wild said slowly. That could be bad if any of the delegates found out about it.

Sunset stared at the two temporary ponies for a minute without saying anything. Then got a look of resolve. "This needs further study. I'm going to have Bill prevented from absorbing any more magic from you, and kept away from any other sources. I want to see how long it will take to let this run its course after all the magic he's absorbed."

"And my Mama? What about her?" Wild asked.

"We'll discuss with her that we're going to a new stage of experiment with her approval. She'll be allowed to continue what she's been doing for now, and we will monitor the effects," Sunset replied. "We'll not be telling either that we suspect what they were doing is prolonging the spell. If they are going on instinct they might not realize they are actively doing that."

"Is this going to hurt her?" Wild asked as worry flooded into her.

Sunset fixed her orange eyes on her. "I can't honestly tell you yes or no. That is why this needs study, and why we'll be explaining to your mother that we don't know the impact of what she's doing or the risks involved. It will be up to her to accept or not with the understanding there's a possibility this could cause harm. We don't know if it is causing harm or not, not without observation."

"I don't want to see her hurt," Wild growled.

"Nor do I," Sunset replied as her expression lightened to sympathy. "But as I said earlier this spell is not a finished product, and we must observe these kinds of things so we can learn how to fix its problems. There are risks involved, and it is up to your mother to determine whether to accept those risks."

"If she agrees are you just going to hold her at the Bastion for the duration?" Her papa asked. "I don't want her feeling like a prisoner. She just got freedom to move around. She's going to be unhappy if she is forced to stay locked away."

Sunset shook her head. "What's important is keeping her close to Wild and some of my mages and crystal ponies near her. We can give her limited freedom to go about, and she can spend her nights at Wild's mansion."

"Not that I'm going to object to giving my mama somewhere to go, but it would have been nice to ask me first," Wild grumbled.

"I'll make a run by the house and pick up anything we might need," her papa said as he looked out at his wife. "I know you said you don't know if this is hurting her or not, but how likely is it?"

Sunset shook her head. "This is new territory, so I can't even give that much of an answer. If it becomes clear it is hurting her we'll end it. Newer versions are going to be worked on. When the testing is expanded we'll move more quickly towards having a perfected version of this."

She should be happy. Her mama was happy and healthy after all this time, but she couldn't shake a nawing sense of wrongness about her mama.