//------------------------------//
// Chapter 42: Phobia 
// Story: There's a Monster Pony Outside My Window 
// by Halira 
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.Another day had passed, another night where Andrea had been taken to a private room for a minute by a pony and returned a minute layer with that pony's fur now bloodstained and with Andrea asleep. Each instance ripped out a little more of Wendy's ability to cope. 

She and Charles put the girls to bed, and Charles took Andrea to their room to sleep with them. Wendy made some excuses and said she'd be in bed soon. 

Most of the ponies turned in even earlier than they did. The exception to this was Mèng and those other webbed-winged ponies. When darkness fell, the guard ponies shifted from a collection of the other types exclusively to nocturnal bat ponies. Bat ponies weren't the proper term, but that's what she thought when she saw them, and she couldn't help thinking of the fact that this had all begun with a pony of that type staring into Charlotte's window. They made her nervous, monsters in the dark. 

There were still plenty of human guards as she moved through the house. For the most part, they didn't seem to care where she went, although they and the bat ponies always watched her closely. There were a few off-limits places, the guard room, the basement, a few of the bedrooms, but the larger rooms, like the kitchen, dining, and rec, were all places she could enter freely. None of those places was her destination. 

She walked over to the tarp covering the hole at the front of the house and looked at the human guard standing beside it. "Can I go through here?"

He nodded. "As long as you are careful and don't pull everything down. Also, don't try to leave the property; the orders are that you need to stay on this side of the gate until they get your paperwork done."

She frowned. "That could take a month, they said."

He shrugged. "I'm only relaying the orders. The guards at the gate will stop you if you try to go out. If you got a problem, take it up with Miss Blessing or Miss Portsmith."

Wendy wanted to point out that she was Miss Portsmith as well but wasn't worth the semantics or behaving childishly. She just nodded and squeezed through the wall, doing her best not to disturb the tarp.

She did a startled jump when she got outside. It turned out not all the non-bat ponies were asleep. Wild Growth was still up and was sitting out by the fountain in front of the house, smoking a pipe. This was the first she'd seen a pony smoking, and it made her feel a little less guilty about her reason for coming out here. 

Trying not to make too much noise and pulling her cigarettes out as she walked, she approached the green earth pony. Wild Growth let out a long plume of smoke and glanced at her as she got near. The smell of the pipe smoke was very pungent and sweet.

"Not able to sleep?" Wild Growth asked.

Wendy lit a cigarette and took her first drag in days before answering. "I needed a few minutes to unwind." 

The earth pony nodded and took another puff of her pipe before saying, "I'm waiting for Phobia to arrive. She is supposed to be coming in tonight. Jess, the person driving her over from the airport, said they were already in their way."

Wendy frowned and looked at the gate in the distance. "They're arriving very late."

Wild Growth shrugged. "She's nocturnal, and arranging a secured flight to Denver took time. She can't just hop aboard the first available flight. There's too much security that has to be arranged when she travels."

Wendy took another drag and sighed as she released. "There is so much security involved in everything here. I feel just as much a prisoner as if the military had arrested us back home."

"It will get better once we get your identities established and educate you enough you don't make fools of yourselves," Wild Growth assured her. "I'd offer to have someone take you into town sightseeing, but I know you want to stay near Andrea, and Andrea needs to stay here until the procedure is done. It is too risky to have her out there where it could get knocked off, and even if that wasn't a risk, it is best people didn't see that necklace. It's something that isn't supposed to exist, and many people would be willing to kill to obtain it. Sunset normally keeps it hidden under a shirt; Andrea doesn't have that option."

"You are wearing clothes," Wendy pointed out. "Surely Andrea can wear something."

Wild Growth absently brushed at her jacket. "I'm a senator; I have to look the part. We could find something for Andrea, but it would draw attention to her. Ponies wearing clothes outside special occasions and uniforms for work is like waving a flag that says look at me, I'm rich and important. You want to keep a low profile, and you can't do it that way. We don't have time anyway. Besides uniforms and accessories, most pony clothes are custom-tailored, preferring a personal touch, not mass-produced. We'd never get it done before the spell needs to be cast."

"Is she getting better with her magic?" Wendy asked, hopeful.

"Yes, I only had to put up with an hour of being pounded into the ground so hard I got buried," Wild grumbled. 

Wendy looked the pony over. "You seem okay. I don't see any scratches or bruises."

"That kind of thing wouldn't hurt me. It takes heavy military hardware to leave a scratch on me," Wild replied. "Now, if she teleported me out into the middle of the ocean, then I'd be dead. I drown like everyone else. I also sink like a stone, no matter how I struggle to swim. The swimming pool presents more lethal danger than Sunset does."

There was a sound in the distance, and after squinting, Wendy could see the gate was opening. 

Wild Growth doused her pipe. "Wrap up that smoke. Tempest Shadow can get surly about anything endangering Phobia's health, including secondhand smoke."

Wendy put out her cigarette but gave the earth pony a skeptical look. "You're kidding, right?"

Wild Growth shook her head. "Phobia herself is easy enough to deal with, but her bodyguards can be a pain in the flank at times. They get exceedingly overprotective. It's best not to give Tempest any excuses to get testy."

Great, a grumpy pony. Wendy put the butt in her pocket as she watched a car approach. She blinked as she noticed the make and model of the vehicle. It was something straight out of the 1950s, a red corvette. That car would have to be close to ninth years old at this point, but it seemed good as new. Maybe people from this time enjoyed retro things. She doubted many people around who were even alive during the fifties. She had been born then but had been too young to remember that decade. 

The car came to a park, and the engine and headlights were cut off. The doors opened, and two women stepped out; both had odd-colored hair. The driver was tall and had bright blue hair pulled back in a ponytail; the other woman had a dark pink mohawk. The mohawked woman was wearing what looked like light black leather biker clothing; the driver looked to be wearing a business jacket and shirt— minus the shoulder pads that would have been common on such jackets back home, but with shorts and yellow leggings. Wait...did the driver have a tail? 

The mohawked woman started scanning the area with her eyes as if she expected someone to jump out and attack at any moment. The driver seemed utterly unconcerned and approached them. As the driver neared, Wendy saw that she had pony ears in the same yellow as the leggings. A second look at the woman's legs made her wonder if those were leggings or fur.

"Thanks for picking them up, Jess," Wild said as the driver approached. 

"Is Sunset awake?" the driver, Jess, asked with a half-growl. "I want to throttle her. Never in my dreams did I imagine she was serious about time travel. I gave her those math equations to prove a point, not for her to accurately show up at the right time-space coordinates!"

"You should know better than ever to let Sunset goad you into giving her information," Wild scolded. "Sunset always finds uses for the information. It's what she does. She's asleep right now."

Jess scowled as she looked at the house. "I'll spend the night and deal with her in the morning. What happened to the door?"

"Sunset's magic suddenly got much stronger by several orders of magnitude, and she's going through some growing pains as she adjusts," Wild replied. 

Jess sighed. "It's always something insane with Auntie. It's late; I'm going to bed." The woman then walked by them and pushed past the tarp. She never even introduced herself or asked who Wendy was. 

"That was Sunset's niece by way of marriage, Doctor Jessica Middleton. She's a very gifted scientist," Wild explained after the woman left. "She also has great hearing. If she's in the general vicinity, assume she can hear you, even if you're whispering as low as you can. She can probably hear our heartbeats, breathing, and even digestive systems right now, and she isn't even standing next to us anymore. I think she said thirty meters around her is her range that she can hear even very minute sounds, but I could be mistaken. Just assume that anything you say isn't private."

Something had been mentioned before about a niece with human magic that involved sound. "Why does she have fur, tail, and pony ears?"

"The rehumanization process that was used on her was used much later than it normally would be, and it was a new form that didn't have all the bugs worked out," Wild explained. 

Wendy pursed her lips. "Can the same process be used in Andrea after she is wholly turned into a pony?"

Wild blinked. "I don't see why not, but it's completely up to Andrea. You can't force her or pressure her. That's one of the things that the spell depends on. It requires the person to want it. I sometimes half-suspect that's part of why Jess's went the way it did. I'm not entirely sure Jess wanted to be human, not deep down. I think it was something she felt she had to do, not something she wanted to do. Tempest over there had the same spell used on her, and she had never been human before that. The only side effect was the pink hair. Tempest was more committed to it."

"I hear my name being discussed."

Both of them looked up to see that the mohawked woman had approached, with Phobia a short distance behind. Phobia's mane no longer looked like she had just gotten out of bed. Instead, it now was perfectly styled, and Wendy could tell that the pony was wearing mascara and lipstick, along with a short dark green dress. It seemed unlikely that webbed-winged the pony could fly with a dress like that on. 

"Just discussing humanization and the differences between you and Jess," Wild explained calmly. "This is Wendy Portsmith, the much younger version of Dry Soil. Wendy, meet Tempest Shadow, Phobia's guard dog."

Tempest frowned. "That term is mildly insulting, but I am her closest bodyguard, and I can bite when angry. Where is Sunset Blessing or Andrea Portsmith? Shouldn't they be here to greet the Dreamwarden on her arrival? Their absence is very disrespectful."

"Both of them needed to sleep. I didn't even tell Sunset that Phobia would be arriving. She has enough on her mind right now," Wild answered. 

"Sunset Blessing still should be made to take the proper time to show respect; the same goes for Miss Portsmith," Tempest practically snarled. 

"Tempest," Phobia spoke up, yet somehow sounded both quiet and firm. "I know you and my mother don't always get along, but let me remind you that my mother's place is to be my mother; nothing more, nothing less. Andrea is family as well, and she's going through a lot. Do you ask the same of my grandfoals, my foals, my wife, or my sisters? Don't hold family members that live further away to a different standard than those you see more often." Phobia looked at the two of them. "Sorry, Tempest is grumpy after the long flight. She is also angry that my arrival was somehow leaked to the press, and their reporters were not at all intimidated at the prospect of asking me questions. It made me nervous, which put Tempest on edge."

Tempest crossed her arms. "And the local authorities did not provide adequate protection to keep those reporters at bay. They got far too close to the Dreamwarden. It was unacceptable. Phobia does not do well with strange people crowding her."

Wild held up a hoof to the mohawked human. "I'm grumpy after a day of being hurled repeatedly against the ground, and I'm not a fan of getting hounded by reporters either, so I can empathize. Sorry about the guard dog comment. It was out of line."

Tempest balled her hand into a fist and bumped it against Wild's hoof. "Forgiven."

Phobia focused her attention on Wendy. "Hello, I had thought you would be in bed when I arrived. I hadn't planned on greeting you so soon. Since we are meeting in person, let me formally introduce myself. I am Phobia Remedy, Warden of Fear, and I was originally going to be your granddaughter before recent events. I apologize, but I don't tend to hug, aside from my foals and wife. Physical contact raises my anxiety. The irony is that I help people deal with their fears and anxieties, but I am often very much at the mercy of my own. I know you and your husband are currently under a great deal of stress, and I wish to help you in the coming days, although I know it will be impossible to put you at ease. I hope I can at least help you cope. I also must apologize for the failure of Doctor Patel and his team. The damage was worse than expected, and I ended up giving you assurances that fell short."

"You could have summed that up with a lot fewer words," Wild said with a snort. 

"Phobia likes to be thorough," Tempest reminded her. 

Phobia nodded. "I don't need to find a bedroom. I seem to recall there is a perfectly serviceable rec room that I can take up residence in until morning, and it is close enough to the guard quarters to help put Tempest more at ease. I would recommend the rest of you get to sleep. Being overtired only worsens the problems of fear and anxiety."

"I have a quick question," Wendy interjected. "If Andrea's procedure goes well, what do we need to do to make her human again?"

Phobia blinked. "If my mother can do the spell to make her a pony, she can also do the spell to rehumanize her. However, that requires Andrea's consent and desire. If you wish, I can discuss the matter with Andrea after everything is done. My goal would not be to pressure her one way or another but to make sure she fully considers both staying a pony and returning to being human. Both have their pros and cons, and she should choose what she wants most for her. However, if she chooses to rehumanize, that is it. Repeated transformations that are each meant to be permanent can cause debilitating health problems and terminal deterioration of her living tissues."

"Great," Wendy muttered. 

"I will also be speaking to each of your family members," Phobia continued. "I consulted our Triss about what the other her may have done, and I have concerns."

"Concerns?" Wendy asked anxiously. "What concerns?"

Phobia shook her head. "My most immediate concern is making sure Andrea is well, and once that is resolved it will be seeing to it that my mother is also well and under control. After that… I will see. I am curious to see the extent of what tampering was done by her, and whether Triss had a backup plan of her own. We are unlikely to find out for sure for years yet, so my questioning and observation may be for not. It may require long-term monitoring. Triss doesn't give boons on a whim. I want to know what she has done."

"Backup plan for what?" Wendy demanded. 

Phobia walked past her. "A concern for another day. Get some sleep."

Tempest stepped between Wendy and the cryptic pony. "The Dreamwarden has said her peace for now. She will discuss more when she feels like it. I advise you to follow her instructions. Harass her, and I will not hesitate to faceplant you in the dirt."

"She could have just said nothing and avoided all this," Wild mused. 

Wendy turned towards the green earth pony. "Do you know what she is talking about?"

"No," Wild said with a shake of her head. "I've had Triss try to talk me into things before, and I've always refused. That dragon has her own goals, and she doesn't care how much chaos she might cause advancing them. She isn't evil, but she is an ancient alien with very alien reasoning. If she has done something to you, I'd be wary about whatever it was, and I'm sure Phobia feels the same way. She increased Sunset's magic; that's already a headache in itself. Phobia should have just kept her mouth shut instead of giving us something else to worry about, but she is right; whatever it is, it isn't as important as saving your daughter. Focus on that and put the rest out of your mind."

"Easy for you to say!" Wendy yelled. "I listened to that stupid cartoon for hours, and it didn't prepare me for any of this. It didn't mention any all-powerful ancient dragon, or wardens, or whatever-the-hell is up with you."

Wild raised an eyebrow at her. "If you're talking about the cartoon they show kids to teach them friendship lessons and about recent history in Equestria, I wouldn't expect you to know about all those things. Earth has its own...cosmology. The average pony from Equestria would be just as lost trying to figure this all out if they weren't educated about it. You'll learn, in time. Right now, just get some sleep."

Unable to argue anymore and tears leaking from her eyes, Wendy stormed back into the house.