We arrived back at the condo, and Larry and Moe hung around only long enough to unload all our purchases into the living room. Mèng was promptly put to bed since he hadn't managed to stay awake even through us checking out at Walmart, and now the great mess-making had begun as the packaging was opened and cast into a great pile like it was Christmas day.
Shǔguāng and Líng had quickly opened each of their action figures. They were now examining each in closer detail, testing out articulation, and already in the process of losing accessories that I would inevitably step on at some point.
"Hey, keep track of all their weapons," I ordered as I found one almost knocked under a couch. I levitated what looked like a cat in the shape of a gun back over to the foals and went back to setting up the phones.
Lántiān was on the opposite couch, half playing with her daughter and half looking through a learn to draw book. I didn't think she was doing much actual reading with her attention divided as it was. More likely, she was only looking at the illustrations as she played stuffed animal games with Qīng Yǔ. The toddler was happily giggling and rubbing her face on her new stuffed friends, which was far more animated than she typically was. I had to admit; it was pleasant listening to her joyful play. She'd been far too quiet for such a small foal. It seemed good for Lántiān as well, since she looked noticeably more relaxed than usual.
I finished setting up the phones and put them both on chargers. They should have excellent battery life, able to go a full day of regular use between charges, but new out of the box they’d barely had a chance to charge while I set them up. While still connected to its chord, I put mine on and did a test run with it by dialing the one number I knew by heart.
After a few short rings, it was answered. "Hello? Sunset? What do you want?" Wild's voice asked, loudly and clearly.
"Just checking in. I have a new cell phone with a different carrier," I replied.
"Okay, send me over the account information later. I guess I'm glad you called, as I needed to speak with you anyway."
I bit my lip, dreading more bad news. "About what?"
"A few things. First, I'm moving you tomorrow. I'll have a van sent out there in the morning. I won't be meeting you at the new property, as I am preoccupied with Bursa. Number will be there in my stead. I've already informed the government, so they know where to find you if they need you. There should be a person familiar with the property there to give you the basic tour. I can't remember their name, but Number will take care of introducing you."
One thing I could say about Wild, she moved fast. "Okay, that makes me glad I didn't invest in food today. What else?"
"Second, Phobia is going to be contacting you by dream to amend your compulsion. I don't know the full details, other than it's a change to it, not removing it. I just know that you aren't able to work on fixing Bursa with that compulsion the way it is. Before you ask, yes, the government is aware, and they've approved it at Twilight Sparkle's request. You should feel special. I didn't think they'd budge on that."
I blinked. "I didn't either. Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about it, but it is necessary. I do have another issue—why did you allow SPEC to send IT techs to guard us today? Those bozos could have gotten me kicked out of Walmart."
Wild sighed deeply. "I apologize. You woke me up early, and I hadn't had my pain medication yet. I may have been too brief and vague as a result, but that doesn't mean that it was acceptable. I'll see that it doesn't happen again."
Now I felt guilty for assuming she was hungover, especially since she had already told me about her pain, pain that she wouldn't be in if not for me. I thought the worst about others far too quickly. "How early in the morning do we need to be ready tomorrow?"
"Not sure, it'll be later in the morning, no earlier than ten. So you don't need to be ready by the crack of dawn. There'll also be a courier coming by the new place once you're there, with the information you need to start dealing with Bursa. I don't know the full details, since I'm not the one who is sending the courier. I'm just passing the information along. There'll probably be future ones, to carry your work back and to pass along more for you to look over."
I blinked. "That was fast. It's only been a day."
"We don't know how many days Bursa has left," Wild replied stiffly. "She's survived this long, which is a miracle, but her resonance is in bad shape. There isn't time to waste if we are going to save her."
I hated to bring up the obvious solution, considering how badly it had gone in the past. "We can buy time with the temporary transformation spell."
"I asked about that and the regular transformation spell. It requires Bursa's cooperation and willingness to do the regular one, and I'm working on trying to get that, but Twilight says that it still might not work due to the nature of the damage done. I assume that's one of the things you'll be trying to figure out how to resolve."
"Asking me to try to solve a problem that the Element of Magic—" I began, but Wild gave a loud cough to cut me off.
"Twilight isn't perfect, any more than you are, and she isn't all-knowing," Wild replied. "Yeah, she's better at magic than anyone else, but that doesn't mean others can't come up with solutions she wouldn't have thought of. She also knows that she can turn to others for help and doesn't have to figure it all out by herself—she's the Princess of Friendship, after all. Her strength is in who she surrounds herself with, much like you. She perhaps could figure it herself if there were time, but there isn't. That's why she's calling on the best mages in this field for help, which includes you. You may know more about this type of magic than anyone except her, and Bursa needs you. This isn't just righting your wrong, Sunset; it is life and death."
No pressure. "I'll do my best. I swear to God, I will."
"You better," Wild said grumpily. "If you don't have anything else to talk to me about, I need to get going. I'm extending your credit line, so you don't need to keep asking me about things for the foals. You don't need to be stingy with my wallet, either. I'll be reviewing the charges, and if I see purchases for things like rare minerals or science equipment, I will have words for you, very angry words."
"There won't be any purchases of the sort," I replied quickly. "I appreciate you are giving me the chance to help fix this and all the help you are giving with these foals."
Wild angrily snorted over the line. "The one thing I learned from you is to make the best use of what resources I have available, and you're a resource. I don't like you. I'm never going to like you, and I'm never going to forgive you. That doesn't mean I don't recognize that you can be useful, and I'm not going to screw those innocent foals over just to get back at you. Doing something to get back at you would be petty anyway, and I try to avoid being petty. I only ask you to do your best and don't give me more reasons to hate you, and I'll do my part to help you do better."
My shoulders slumped. I couldn't blame her since I had essentially ruined her life. Some things couldn't be fixed, and my friendly relationship with her was one of those things. I could only count my blessings that she was so insufferably good that she'd still do her all for me and the foals despite the suffering I caused her.
"I understand, but I still thank you," I replied. "Goodbye, Wild, and God bless you."
"Bye," she replied and abruptly hung up.
"The pony with the blocked chi does not seem to like you, ma'am. Why is that?" Lántiān asked as she looked up from her book.
I shook my head. "It's a long story, not one I want to go into with your brothers present. We'll talk about it some other time, in private."
Lántiān looked at her brothers, who seemed oblivious to the conversation, and nodded. "I understand, ma'am."
"Good," I replied. I then levitated her phone over to her. "This is your new phone. I expect you to be wearing it when you're out on your flights and when I'm not at home. I have already loaded myself as a contact. To call me, lift it close to your face and say Alexa, call Ma'am. If you get into any trouble when I'm not around, call me immediately. Make sure you charge it every evening."
The older filly took the phone and carefully strapped it around a foreleg. "Have you decided that you are allowing me to fly for a few hours every day, ma'am?"
I nodded. "It wouldn't be healthy for you to stay stuck indoors on the ground. I'll make sure you get your time every day. You're free to fly indoors as well, provided there is space to do so safely. I don't know what our new home will be like, so we'll have to wait to see if indoor flying will be workable or not."
She looked at her phone and lowered her leg back down. "I understand, ma'am. Are you going to be busy working most days? The other mare seemed to have assigned you a job."
I sighed and rubbed a hoof against my face. "Yes, I'll probably spend a few hours a day trying to figure out how to resolve that problem. I'm sure you heard it's urgent. I'll do my best not to neglect the five of you because of it." I floated the shopping bag that had the dyes in it over to myself. "Now, I'm going to the bathroom for the next hour or so. I'm going to be coloring my fur and mane, so I'm not so recognizable. Hopefully, I won't make a mess of myself. Once the dye has dried, I'll let you take your flight. You have the run of the house in the meantime. I'm leaving my phone down here, and if any phone rings, you may answer, tell them I'm indisposed for a few minutes, and take a message. Let me know when I return if there were any calls."
"Yes, ma'am."
I took my phone off and grabbed up the bag with the dyes, then proceeded upstairs.
I was mostly dry and observing my reflection. An unfamiliar pony stared back at me from the other side of the mirror. She had bright yellow fur, and her mane was straight purple, lacking the yellow highlights sported by mine. The same orange eyes watched me, though. My mark, which had been initially covered by the dye, was once again fully visible upon my flank.
The reflection gave me a chilling callback to an unnatural dream from years before, when I gazed into the mirror, and my human past had stared back. My daughter told me that whatever that dream was, it had existed outside the dream realm and the Dreamwardens reach and understanding. It had existed in some pocket between domains, a meeting of different times, and my past had been no memory, but instead as sentient and as real as my present. Did some equally aware being stand on the other side of this mirror now, judging me harshly, or perhaps pitying me? Watching her was unsettling, and I turned away from the specter's judgemental eyes.
I brought a towel to sit on as I went downstairs, just in case the dye wasn't as dry as I thought. As I came into the foals' view, their play stopped, and they all stared at me.
"Ma'am, you are very… yellow," Lántiān observed in a bemused tone.
I entered the living room, placed the towel on the couch, and jumped upon it. "I hope this cuts down on the number of people that immediately recognize me in public. How does it look?"
"Yellow, ma'am. It looks yellow," Lántiān replied.
I squinted my eyes and glared at her. "I meant, does it look natural?"
"Your eyelids are still red!" Líng shouted. Shǔguāng and Lántiān nodded in agreement with the young earth pony.
I'd had my eyes open through the entire coloring process, so of course, I'd missed those. It hadn't even occurred to me that maybe I should have closed my eyes and put some dye on my lids—uncomfortable as that might have been. I sighed and turned back around. "Crap. Give me a few more minutes."