The mall was light on shoppers, but it was a Monday afternoon, so it was to be expected. Weekends and evenings tended to be when malls got busy. Most mall stores didn’t even typically bother to open until around noon during the middle of the week.
Chain stores were a minority in modern malls. Most stores were specialty stores owned by families where craftspeople plied their trade. Items could become very expensive in some of the stores since these small localized businesses had to pay higher costs for materials, but the fact that you were getting something tailor-made for you made up for the price. Most clothing stores had plenty of clothes on display, but what you would do is choose your clothing, get measured, leave the store for a few hours to a day, and return after the tailor resized it for you. That was part of why opening so late was essential to these stores; they needed time to work on their orders. Clothing stores typically had two or three tailors and someone who did sales. Only one tailor would be available to work orders that needed to be resized the same day, so customers paid an extra premium for that, and the service might not be available if it was a hectic day. That was why customers should show up at the shop close to when the store opened if they wanted their clothes the same day they bought them.
In addition to stores that made custom clothing and furniture, there were usually various antique stores and stores. Vintage and antique books and toys from before the 2020s were trendy. First editions of popular books and 80s and early 90s action figures with all their accessories could be very pricey, but there were people who were willing to pay. Jessica happened to know that her auntie regularly went out searching for Transformer action figures and had spent a considerable amount of money building her collection–although she kept her hobby a secret from most. Jess had only found out by accident by walking into a room filled with the things and only realized it had belonged to Sunset Blessing and not one of her sons when the three colts had told her they didn’t own any of those figures and their adoptive mother would have a fit if Jessica breathed a word about Sunset’s secret pastime. Personally, Jessica happened to think that it might be better if people knew. It might have made Sunset Blessing seem more relatable to others, but she still never mentioned it to anyone.
Jessica looked around and looked at the closest clothing shop. It seemed to have women’s clothing in bright colors. She was supposed to stand out. Those clothes stood out.
She pointed at the shop. “Should we start there?”
Amicus looked at the shop and shook her head. “That clothing for a date? Certainly not. It’s far too gaudy. Your colors are already so bright; you will look silly wearing more bright colors.” She looked Jessica over. “Definitely some black. Black almost always looks good. We do need some color. Even though we are keeping to darker shades, I think we should avoid earthy tones. A deep purple might work with your coloration. We should avoid red. It clashes too much with your leg fur, and we want to put your legs on display. Actually, we want to put as much of your body on display as possible.”
She rubbed her arm. “I’m not sure about this. I don’t want to send the message I’m looking to get into bed with him. I’ve come to the recent realization I may not be interested or comfortable with sex.”
“What?!” Jordan exclaimed in shock.
A few nearby shoppers gave Jordan a look at the shout. They then looked at Jessica and blinked a few times. She was sure at least one of them seemed to be considering taking a picture. She rubbed her arms and pulled her tail between her legs.
Amicus blinked. “Really? I don't mean to come off as rude, but your tail seems to lift fairly quickly from what I’ve seen. Still, if that’s what you feel, I won’t argue the point. You know yourself better than I do.”
“Just be assertive and say you aren’t interested in that. It will be fine. If he doesn’t like it, he’s not someone you want to be with anyway,” Andrea said. She then looked at Jordan. “And don’t be so shocked that not everyone is as horny as you, filly. Be more supportive of your friend.”
Jordan fidgeted in place. “I’m supportive, but I’m surprised. I thought I knew everything there is to know about my best friend.”
Jessica lightly touched her fingers to Jordan’s head and smiled. “I’m still learning about myself, so don’t feel bad that you don’t know everything about me. Just because we aren’t foals anymore doesn’t mean we aren’t still growing, changing, and learning.”
Amicus looked her over again. “I still want to go with a sexy look. You can tell him that you aren’t interested in getting into bed, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still do all you can to be attractive. Black skirt, cut short to show those legs of yours. We’ll go with a top with a deep cut down the center. We need to get you out of sweaters and turtlenecks. You’ve got assets in the front; put them on display. I guess that means we need a good push-up bra or corset as well. You’re decent sized but not so full that you don’t need a little help accentuating the cleavage.”
Jessica’s face grew hot. “If that’s what you think is best….We’re going to a jazz bar for the date. He said I should wear something jazzy. Will that qualify?”
“I’ll find something that works well for a jazz bar,” Amicus assured her. “We should also find a salon and check for a store that specializes in makeup. I haven’t been here for a while, but I think this mall has a Sephora.”
Andrea threw her head back and groaned.
“You didn’t have to come, so don’t complain,” Jordan said with one ear laid back. “I’m not interested in clothing, but the salon and Sephora sound nice. Maybe we can go by some bookstores.”
Andrea let out a long breath. “The bookstore sounds good, at least.”
Jordan’s ears perked up. “You like books too? What types do you like?”
“None of your business,” Andrea snapped.
“Oh, don’t be like that,” Amicus scolded. “You like mysteries.” She looked at Jordan. “She’s a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Agatha Christie, and John Grisham. She has lots of first editions.”
“You have first editions of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries?” Jordan asked in amazement.
Andrea scowled. “Ami is distorting things. I have some first editions of several Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books. Those were so mass-produced that they aren’t hard to find. Don’t think we can bond over reading. I want to read my books, not discuss them.”
Jordan's ears lowered. “Okay…um…where do you keep them? Your room was pretty empty. I didn’t see any bookcase.”
“They’re in my closet, out of the way. Don’t ask to see them,” Andrea answered with a growl.
Amicus gave her sister a sad look. “You could be nicer to her.”
Andrea pointed a hoof at Jordan. “She needs to learn how to deal with difficult people. If she thinks I'm bad, she hasn’t dealt with the security. There’s at least one creep in our security that she needs to have strong nerves to deal with. As her elder, it’s my duty to toughen her up.”
Jessica tried to think of any security officers at Wabash who were particularly nasty, but none came to mind. The most challenging security officer she could think of dealing with at Wabash was Andrea. The others seemed friendly enough. Andrea playing the elder card wasn’t much of an argument. There were plenty of older people who didn’t have two specs of wisdom. When someone has a lifetime of experience and still has no manners, that highlighted how foolish they were.
She balled a hand into a fist. “Hey! I don’t want to be fighting through this entire trip. I don’t know what beef you have with Jordan, but Jordan’s my best friend, and she’s obviously trying hard to get along with you despite how mean you are to her. There’s no need for you to be so toxic. Why are you here if you aren’t going to make any attempt to be sociable? Is that what your sister wanted when she invited you along?”
Andrea’s ears sagged as she looked at Amicus.
“Sorry, Ami. I’ll be nicer while on this trip,” Andrea said barely above a whisper. “Sorry, filly.”
Constantly calling Jordan a filly was something Andrea could stand to do away with. Then again, Jordan was young enough to be Andrea’s granddaughter.
Andrea looked at Jessica’s purse and flattened her ears.
“Is it making you feel ill?” Jessica asked, gripping her purse.
“Only if I focus on it,” Andrea answered. “I don’t fault you for having it on you. Can’t have something like that just lying around unattended.”
“Andri! You just said you were going to be nice,” Amicus scolded. “Her purse might be on the vanilla side, but it is hardly nausea-inducing.”
Andrea shook her head. “It’s what’s in the purse. I never understand how non-crystal ponies can be that unperceptive of magic. It’s like all of you are deaf, blind, and incapable of smelling.”
“It’s technically just emitting high levels of thaumic energy. Magic is the harnessing and shaping of thaumic energy. This stone isn’t doing anything to harness or shape the energy," Jessica corrected.
“That’s likely the only reason I can try to ignore it and have any chance of doing it,” Andrea said, turning her head so she wasn’t looking at the purse anymore. “Let’s hope I’m the only crystal pony focusing on you today. They’ll only notice if they focus in your direction, but it is almost instinctual for crystal ponies to feel out the people they see.”
Jessica looked around. “I don’t see any other crystal ponies. Since it isn’t busy, you might be the only one in the mall.”
“Yeah, it is a small tribe, like the night ponies. You can go out for a full day and not see a crystal pony,” Jordan chimed in.
Amicus shook her head. “That may be true in most places, but Denver is different. I know you’re familiar with the large enclave of night ponies in Skytree. Denver has a night pony enclave, but it also has a considerable-sized crystal pony enclave. There aren’t a lot of places with crystal pony enclaves. It is less common than night ponies gathering together, but Denver is one of the few places it happens–one of four in the USA, compared to the forty-something known night pony enclaves in the USA. There is a better chance of running into a crystal pony in Denver than most places.”
Jessica already knew there were more crystal ponies than usual in the area. She’d lived in Denver long enough to notice them, but she hadn’t known about this enclave. Then again, she’d never asked about it. Did they have some unofficial community government? Many night pony enclaves took direction from Dreamwardens, usually indirectly through a representative, but sometimes directly if there was a Dreamwarden present in their city. However, some night pony enclaves had small community councils that advocated for them to local municipalities. It seemed more likely the crystal ponies followed this pattern since she couldn’t think of anyone crystal ponies would quickly bend a knee to.
“Even with an enclave, they’re a minority of ponies, so maybe we won’t see any more of them than Andrea,” Jessica said. She rubbed her arms again. “I might also need to go by the furniture store while we are here.”
Amicus raised an eyebrow at her. “I take it you weren’t entirely honest with me about the state of your apartment.”
She nervously rubbed at an ear. “I might have fudged some details. Sorry.”
Amicus sighed. “Let’s hold off on that until I see your apartment. That way, I can better advise you on what to get. Use of space is important, so you don’t want to fill it willy-nilly. For now, let’s find you some clothes while there’s still time for the tailors to make adjustments today. Let's start looking for a cute skirt since that needs the most adjustments to let your tail out.”
She blushed again.
“RAWWWRRRR!!” CRASH BANG CRASH
“Stop her! Don’t let her escape the airport!”
Charlotte had already taken to the air. Ponies weren’t supposed to fly anywhere on airport grounds, but there was no way she was covering the distance to the incident on hoof in time to be any help.
There was more crashing. More banging. The sound of things being thrown. There was plenty of yelling as well.
“What the hell is that thing?!”
“Don’t shoot her!”
“Traitorous humans and ponies! I won’t be locked away again!”
“Can you calm down, you pea-brained bug! No one is trying to lock your dumb ass up! I’m trying to stop them from shooting you! Luna’s going to kill me if they kill you!”
She flew around a corner and almost crashed in shock at what she was seeing. Clinging to a wall was a massive…all she could call it was a bug. It was huge, black, and had a large pair of hooklike legs on the front, along with four additional legs that it moved around on. There were red highlights here and there on the exoskeleton and a jagged horn on its head, but its face was ponylike, and it had a red mane that was definitely hair. She’d never seen it before, but she knew what it was. This was Bursa. Her aunt had warned her about it back when she visited Equestria a few years ago, as the creature had caused some problems on their trip, apparently kidnapping one of the tourists and impersonating them. It was a shapeshifter with the goal of reaching Earth. Well, it seemed to have accomplished that. Now what was it going to do?
Bursa slashed one of her claws to fend back the TSA agents. They fell back as the claw zipped in front of them and cut straight through the wall like it was paper. Bursa then flared her horn and blasted at the night pony mare that had been with her on the plane, and the mare easily dodged the blast. It was unclear if the blast had been poorly aimed or a warning shot, but it left a small pothole in the floor. TSA agents and the earlier guards Bursa had been traveling with surrounded her on three sides, blocking all retreat. If Bursa was giving warning shots now, those could quickly escalate to her using deadly force to get away. Something had to be done to calm her down.
What did she know that could help defuse this situation? From what her aunt had told Charlotte, Bursa typically did not kill, but this might be because her food source was emotion, and dead things didn’t have emotion. Bursa also operated on the reasoning level of a child or young teen rather than an adult. She was a selfish creature that cared almost entirely about its freedom, getting to Earth, revenge against the wanted criminal Doctor Rossman, and rarely considered the consequences of her actions or the feasibility of her plans. There was one thing her aunt had told her kept Bursa somewhat in line. Bursa had gratitude towards Wild Growth, the only person Bursa had any respect for, and would avoid conflict with anyone tied to Wild Growth as her way of expressing that gratitude. It seemed ludicrous such a creature would stand down for anyone, and it had been years since such a tactic had been used, but it was worth a shot to try before someone got hurt.
“Hey, Bursa! Look at me! I’m Wild Growth’s niece! Stand down! I can call her and try to work this out!” she shouted as she landed.
Everyone briefly turned and looked at her like she was insane–everyone but one.
“Don’t believe you. You don’t look like Wild Growth. You look like the hateful pony,” Bursa declared and fired another shot at the other night pony mare.
“I have a name, you moronic metamorph!” the other night pony yelled.
Bursa fired a blast closer to the pony and growled. “So do I, pony, but you never use it. Why should I give you respect you don’t give me?”
“You’re such a crybaby!” the mare yelled.
“Is it wise to keep antagonizing that thing?” one of the agents asked in disbelief.
Several agents tried tazing the monster, but the taser’s ends bounced off the chitin. What they did succeed in doing was further pissing the giant bug off. It was a rare thing that Charlotte wished her sister was around, but Arachne’s powers over bugs would come in handy now. It was time to make one more attempt at a peaceful resolution before she divebombed that thing’s head. A solid strike to Bursa’s head might take her down, but it would make it impossible to reason with her going forward.
She quickly dialed her phone and, luckily, there wasn’t more than one ring before it was picked up.
“Charlotte?” Wild Growth answered. “It’s nice to hear from you, but why are you calling?”
Bursa turned her head to look. “Wild Growth?”
One of the guards looked back. “Senator Growth?”
Charlotte rushed to speak. “No time to go into details. Bursa is here in the Nashville airport. She’s causing a ruckus and property damage, and someone’s going to get hurt. I have you on speaker. You need to talk her down.”
“What? Why is she in Nashville?” Wild Growth exclaimed in disbelief. “She wasn’t scheduled to go there. We confirmed her parents were in Georgia.”
Bursa seemed to relax some. “Wild Growth? Is this a trick?”
“Bursa, why are you in Nashville?” Wild Growth asked, addressing the bug directly. “I’m assuming you dropped your disguise too. Why? Where are your handlers?”
The guards and agents whispered together. “Do we take her down while she’s distracted?”
“Don’t you dare touch her while Wild Growth is speaking to her!” Charlotte barked.
“Confirmed. Hold your positions if Bursa isn’t moving,” Wild Growth ordered. “Bursa, explain.”
“Senator, Bursa is confused. We can-” one of the people guarding Bursa began.
“I said I want Bursa to explain,” Wild Growth snapped. “She may well be confused about what is happening, but she will tell me what she thinks is going on first. After she speaks, then you can give your side of the story.”
Bursa didn’t hesitate. “I have a little sister! My captors don’t want me to see her.”
“Your sister is deceased! There is no going to see her,” one of the guards yelled.
“Was this sister in Nashville?” Wild growth asked.
“No! They are taking me away! They are going to lock me away again!” Bursa yelled.
“We are taking her back to the portal after her parents rejected her. The plane had to do a layover due to engine problems,” one of the handlers explained.
“I can confirm there were engine issues, and we had to do a layover. I was on the same flight as them,” Charlotte said. “They are doing something that makes her sick.”
“Horrible pony makes me sick with her emotions!” Bursa declared, glaring at the other night pony mare.
Charlotte blinked. It was negative emotions doing that? Wow. That put an entirely different spin on calling someone toxic. How nasty was this other mare?
“We need different handlers then,” Wild Growth declared. “Bursa is a guest in this country, one that I personally sponsored the visit of and assured would be treated well. Her well-being is my responsibility. Yes, we are keeping track of her and keeping her guarded, but she is not a criminal, nor is she required to go straight home, and we aren’t going to torture her by surrounding her with negativity. She is here to make peace with her past. Her sister may be deceased, but she has a right to at least go visit the grave and pay her respects.”
Wild Growth was the reason Bursa was here? Why would her aunt bring this monster here?
One of the soldiers looked at Charlotte and her phone in disbelief. “If that is what you wish, we would still need to hold her here until another team of handlers can arrive. This creature is not going to allow that.”
“You aren’t wrong,” Bursa growled, spreading her pincers threateningly at her handlers.
“Hmm, very well,” Wild Growth said thoughtfully. “Charlotte, Bursa is now in your care. See to it that her journey to rediscover her past gets to continue. Be kind. Bursa has endured a lot to get to this point. She’s a victim.”
“You can’t just order me to do that!” Charlotte objected. “This visit might be your pet project that you have authority over. I had no idea it was, so I got fortunate deciding to call you. However, I’m on my own mission. You don’t have the authority to take me off it and assign me to another mission.”
“True,” Wild Growth conceded. “But I can make a few calls to your superiors, and I’m sure they’ll reassign you to this mission. The military has no interest in having Bursa get angry and go on a rampage, and I have considerable pull. I don’t mean to belittle whatever mission you currently are on. I know protecting the public from vigilantes is important, but Bursa represents a much more significant threat than mere vigilantes if she gets loose and angry. That is a much higher priority than whatever mission you may be on, and you’ve already proven that you care about her well-being since you were upset she was getting sick and also were trying to stop her from getting hurt. Under your tough exterior, you have a kind heart; you try to protect everyone; that’s what Bursa needs. I trust you more than whatever random person they would choose, and Bursa is more likely to trust someone related to me.”
It made sense, and she couldn’t dispute that command would likely agree with her aunt and quickly reassign her. Still, it was getting dragged into doing one of the big three of the family’s bidding, having her aunt’s shadow over her. Why couldn’t she escape being in one or more of the three’s shadows?
She sighed. Worrying about being in those shadows didn’t matter…or at least, it didn’t matter enough to change what needed to be done. She could be selfish, or she could do the right thing. She wished doing the right thing meant doing something else, but that wasn’t her call.
“Fine,” Charlotte resignly said. “Bursa, you heard her. I’m going to be your handler for the time being. They say your sister is dead, but I get that you want to at least see it for yourself. I know I would, and I don’t even like my sister, so I'll help you out. Can you stop threatening the guards and come down from the wall? It’s hard to help you when you’re making this kind of scene. I won't let anyone hurt you.”
“You have my word. Charlotte will do everything she can to take care of you while you are on Earth,” Wild Growth assured her.
Bursa glared at her former handlers and TSA agents, then scowled at the other night pony mare.
“What? I didn’t want to be your foalsitter anyway,” the other night pony mare said. “I didn’t come back to Earth for that. You’ve sidetracked me long enough. I’m happy to let you be someone else’s problem. Let her try to deal with you; she’ll fail. She doesn’t have contempt to keep you in line.”
Bursa growled. “How can a creature ever be happy when they’re so full of contempt for everything, even themselves? You make me vomit, but you’re more sick than me. You are named well, Jimson Weed. You are poison.”
“You a botanist now, bug? Trying to prove you aren’t the moron that you are?” Jimson Weed snidely asked. “You don’t know anything. You’re worthless, even more so than everyone else. You should die and save everyone the trouble of dealing with you.”
Charlotte had enough. “Hey! Back off! You don’t want to be responsible for her? Good, because we don’t want that either. What the hell is wrong with you? Just leave and stop tormenting her.”
Jimson Weed gave a brief flap of her wings. “Fine. I can get back to why I’m really on Earth. Good riddance.” She then stormed off.
Charlotte let out a long sigh. “Thank you, Titi. I think I’ve got this now, although you might need to smooth some things over with the TSA.”
“I’m already getting ready to make some calls. Thank you, Charlotte. Call me again if you have trouble,” Wild Growth answered before the line went dead.
Charlotte cautiously approached Bursa. The guards were all still there with ineffective tasers pointed at the bug.
“Can you put those things down?” Charlotte addressed them. “You already know they don’t work on her, and you’re just making her feel threatened, which isn’t good for her or us. It’s time to de-escalate. Put the tasers down and back away. Let me handle this. I’m with the military’s anti-vigilante division. I’m trained to deal with difficult but highly powerful individuals. My aunt wouldn’t ask me to do this if I wasn’t up to it.”
“Difficult to deal with?” Bursa asked with a snarl in offense.
Charlotte raised an eyebrow at her. “Would you prefer I say you’re a pushover? I don’t think you are. These guys plainly don’t have a clue what they’re doing around you; otherwise, you wouldn’t be so upset right now. You are a unique individual who needs to have specialized assistance. You shouldn’t settle for less.”
Just because she was capable of beating the snot out of just about any meatbag didn’t mean she wasn’t capable of winning a fight by buttering someone up. If you could subdue a threat without throwing a blow, that meant less property damage and injury. Tempest had trained her and her siblings how to fight in combat, but their mother had taught them how to fight with their tongues. It was their secret weapon because no one expected it from them.
Bursa tilted her head. “Your words are sweet, but your emotions don’t match. You can’t fool me with pretty words.”
Okay, so buttering Bursa up wouldn’t be easily done. Bursa might not be the brightest bulb, but she was still a powerful empath.
“So, what emotions are you feeling from me?” Charlotte asked. She glanced at the TSA agents. “Didn’t I tell you bozos to back off?”
“Annoyance,” Bursa answered, “at these guards. I also feel…frustration, but I can’t tell anyone who it is specifically directed to. Anger at the vile pony.”
She looked Bursa in the eyes. “Are you feeling hostility or contempt from me towards you?”
Bursa stared for a few seconds. “No. Okay, pony. I will trust you.”
Charlotte nodded. “Then please come down from the wall and change into the form you used on the plane. I won’t let anyone hurt you or lock you away. You can tell me where we can look for this sister, or at least where her grave might be. My aunt will make sure we are clear to travel there. What was your sister’s name?”
Bursa climbed down from the wall and shifted back to her human form, which made the TSA visibly relax.
“Maria. She was last seen in Colorado,” Bursa answered.
Charlotte nodded again. “Good. Was she a human or a pony?”
“Neither,” Bursa answered. “We were both partials.”