//------------------------------// // Chapter 72. What Does It Mean to be an Equestrian // Story: Dust on the Wind // by Sparky Brony //------------------------------// A few days after the spirit fire, I’ve got calls to the other pony colonies, even the one in the UK, and no indication of any more deer showing up. Though I remain hopeful. The family does plan on visiting a couple of the colonies, the one in Texas, the one in the UK, and the one in Florida. Mainly to see how the ponies are doing there. Especially since it’s been years since I visited them, Helen thinks it’s a good idea to see the progress they’ve made. I’m once again playing with the foals, something that I love to do when I’m not otherwise busy. The rest of the family is out, enjoying a beautiful day. It’s only been a couple of weeks since Star Crossed made the jump to become a pony. Irony is much better, though her and I haven’t fully healed the rift between us, we are on speaking terms, most of the time. I hear a knock at the door, I tackle Mischief out of the air, and get her onto my back as I take flight, I land in front of the front door, laughing as I open the door. Fleetfoot is there, “Oh, Hi Fleetfoot, c’mon in!” I shout gleefully as I tumble back with Mischief. We end up wrestling on the floor for a few moments and I finally am able to extricate myself from the overhyper two and a half year old, I get to my hooves. “You seem to love playing with the kids.” Fleetfoot says. I smile, “Nothing better, how is your little filly?” “Oh, Wind Diver is fine. But I’m here for another reason.” The tone in her voice gets my attention. “Everything okay, Fleetfoot?” She nods, “James is retiring, he’s decided he’s had enough, and his contract is up, so he’s put in the paperwork.” I smile, “Oh, good, you’ll have more time with him.” She smiles a bit, “Yes, well, we’ve discussed things, and with what you guys did with Henry. James wants to do the same thing.” I cock my head to the side, “He wants to become a pony? Like Star Crossed?” She nods. I sit down, a wing out for Mischief to play with, while I think, then I smile, “I can’t volunteer Moon Shadow or Sunset Shimmer’s services, but I think they will say yes. They should be back later tonight.” She smiles hugely, “Thanks Dust, I really do appreciate it. I’ll bring James by later tonight.” As she leaves, she tosses over her shoulder, “James has told some of our friends, I think they will be showing up.” I smile, “The more, the merrier.” She nods, “I know, you have always been supportive of us.” Fleetfoot wasn’t kidding, when James and her showed up as the sun is low in the sky, I’ve already got a full house. Though I really love it, the joy and laughter, ponies and humans talking, enjoying time together. I don’t feel the need to retreat to my office. I’m sitting and spending time with them when Sunset Shimmer ushers James into the house, Fleetfoot in tow, and sets him down on the couch. She smiles at him, “James, are you sure you want to change?” He’s holding Fleetfoot’s hoof in his lap, he looks at her for a long time, and finally he looks at Sunset and nods. “We’ve talked about it, Fleet and I. I want to be a pony, help Wind Diver be the pegasus she can be.” He looks longingly at Fleetfoot, “After Moon Shadow and Fleet helped me realize what my cutie mark represents, after all of you have helped me so much. I want to be what I now feel I was meant to be.” He looks around, “I am a pony, it took me a long time to realize that. It all started when I went through the portal, when I was touched by your magic. It opened something inside me. Something I fought with everything I had because I thought I didn’t deserve it.” He smiles, “But now I can feel it, this is the best decision for me, for her, and for our foal.” Moon Shadow comes forward with a big smile, and they both lead him down stairs. I sit and chat with Fleetfoot for a while, then he finally comes upstairs. A big smile on his face, he grabs the blue mare off the couch and wraps her in a big hug. She puts her wings around him and hugs him back, “Oh, Wind, I can’t wait.” She coos as he finally lets her down. I invite them to supper with my family. One other guest has taken over my kitchen, a member of the expansive Apple family, one Apple Pie, is working hard in our kitchen, and growling at anypony that comes in and tries to help. Though by the smells coming from the kitchen, I think we are in for a treat. Before too long, Ah-pee has delivered, pegasi friendly meat meals, and even fare for the ponies that can’t handle any meat. I look at the spread, everything from Texas BBQ pork ribs, to eggplant parmesan, I find myself drooling at the mountain of food. I look at the earth pony mare, “You’re hired.” She cocks her head quizzically, I giggle, “Personal chef, you can do this here anytime.” She giggles, “Oh, no. I may be a pretty good cook, but I don’t want no job cookin for you.” I smile, “Well, it was worth a shot, though any time you want, you are welcome here.” She smiles, “Well, James has decided to join us pony folk, I thought a good meal was in order.” He chuckles as he grabs some fried chicken, “Oh, Ah-pee, I’ll eat what you cook anytime.” Star Crossed levitates some fire grilled vegetable skewers over to his plate, “You are an amazing cook, Ah-pee.” She chuckles, “I would have done the same for you, had you let me know that you were doing this.” He ducks his head, his ears falling, “I’m sorry, Ah-pee.” I clear my throat, “Well, you can blame me, Ah-pee. Star was kind of a rush idea. We needed him to help Irony.” He smiles and looks at the mare in question, “And how are you feeling?” She smiles right back, “Better than ever, Star Crossed, thanks to you.” That gets a blush out of Star Crossed, Sugarberry is sitting next to him, she nuzzles him, “I love him no matter what. He’s my special somepony.” We all smile at the couple, sitting there, enjoying their time. James sets down his drink, “Sunset Shimmer, Moon Shadow, I have to say, I was thinking that we would have to go through the portal, and stay in Equestria, when we retire.” He looks down for a moment, “Fleet and I were worried about that, thinking that we would be uprooting Wind Diver from her home, from the only home she’s ever known, so we could live in a completely different world.” He looks at Fleetfoot and smiles, “Now we don’t have to worry.” Eric and Ballad are sitting together, Jay and Sanchez are also enjoying the food, Jay pipes up, “So, you are planning on staying on Earth now?” “We don’t know yet, Jay. There are good things about both worlds. But we are certainly going to wait until our foal is older.” Jay looks down, his brow furrowed, then he looks up, “Sunset, Moon, could you do your spell again? For me?” Moon Shadow looks at Jay in shock, then Sanchez pipes up, “Me too, if you don’t mind.” Moon looks at both of the humans, “Really?” The mood of the meal has certainly shifted, I speak up, “Guys, really?” They look at each other, and both of them nod, Sanchez picks up his glass of beer, looking at the amber liquid, “I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, so has Jay. We’ve talked about it a lot. We were planning on going through the portal when it opens next. Our contracts are almost up, and we were talking about retiring to Equestria.” “Would you go to Equestria, and stay?” Sunset says quietly. Jay looks down, a pensive look on his face, finally he smiles, “Yes, I think I will. Your home, New Beginnings, is wonderful, and you’ve brought out the magic of your world. But I think I would prefer to live there. There is just something about Equestria.” “I feel it pulling at me, in my bones.” Sanchez says, “I don’t think I will be truly happy until I move there.” I have to chuckle, “You know there is a waiting period to emigrate to Equestria.” They both laugh, “Yeah, for humans. But ponies get at the front of the line.” I smile, “True.” We are interrupted by a knock on the front door. I head over to the front door and open it, a human is standing there, looking unsure. Though her hair looks a little odd to me, “Can I help you?” I ask. “Are you Lightning Dust?” I nod, and she smiles hugely, “Oh, I’m so happy to finally meet you.” She reaches out a hand, into which I hesitantly place my hoof, to get it nearly shaken off by her enthusiasm. “I got my cutie mark yesterday morning, and I drove here straight through.” Huh? “What do you mean?” “I’m turning into a pony!” She squeals. Her enthusiasm is enough to get me to giggle, some human who is happy to become a pony, whodathunkit? I back away, bidding her entry, “Well, if you were cursed by Discord, I’m glad to see you have found us.” She giggles, “I had the weirdest dream when my cutie mark came in. I knew about the ponies from when you appeared on TV. So I had to find you guys.” I smile, “So, do you know who you were? Do you remember being cursed?” She nods, “Oh yes, I most certainly do. I was in season five.” She giggles, “I actually had a pretty big part, I think.” I cock my head to the side, looking at her white and faint lavender streaked mane, she giggles again and hikes down her sweat pants. “Night Glider!” I shout, noting the moon with the crescent shaped auras. She nods, “Yeah, I don’t remember much, yet. But I do remember there was a resistance movement, a lot of ponies banded together and attacked Discord. And given what happened to all of you, I’ll bet there are a lot of people right now with brand new cutie marks.” I sit down heavily, “More ponies?” She nods, “A lot, I think. I really don’t remember all that much, but I do remember thinking that Discord would be busy with his spell when he hit me, because we were fighting him.” I shake my head sharply so hard my ears flop, “Where are my manners, we were eating dinner. Please join us.” She looks unsure, I get behind her and use my head to push her to the dining room, over her protests, and soon she’s sitting among all of us. “Well, you know me, Lightning Dust, let me introduce you to…” She giggles and interrupts me, “Oh, I know Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Velvet is here, Twilight Sparkle’s mom, along with Rainbow Blaze, Dash’s dad.” She looks at Cipher, “I saw you during the smile song, jumping from roof to roof with Pinkie Pie,” She shifts over to Sugarberry, “You were doing the ice carving with Pinkie Pie in Winter Wrap Up.” That gets a nod from Sugarberry. She points to Ballad, “You were fighting for Smarty Pants in Lesson Zero.” Ballad blushes and nods. She turns to look at Ah-pee, “You were in the premier, Apple Pie, right?” Ah-pee smiles and nods. Night Glider continues, “And every time the Apples get together, you were there, along with the Canterlot wedding, and all kind of other places. You got more screen time than Velvet did.” I have to smile, “Boy, and I thought Hannah was a Brony.” She giggles, “Oh, I grew up watching the show. I’ve watched every episode at least a dozen times. I’ve been to Bronycon and Everfree Northwest, and BABSCon, and even a brony convention in Germany and in the UK. I’m a huge fan. You have no idea how happy I was when my cutie mark came in.” Moon Shadow gets up from her chair, and comes around, her horn lighting, “My name is Moon Shadow, and I am a dream magic specialist. Dreams and memory are interrelated. Is it okay if I try to help shake loose some of your memories?” Night Glider nods, and Moon Shadow’s horn touches her forehead, Moon’s eyes start to glow, and she levitates a few inches off the floor, her mane and tail flowing momentarily. She then settles to the floor, and smiles tiredly at the human. Night Glider looks shocked for a long time, then her face crumples, “Oh no.” She moans, “That miserable bastard.” I frown, “Discord?” She nods at me through her tears, “Oh, this was horrible, Lightning Dust. I was one of the resistance leaders. We started soon after the first ponies were banished. I traveled all over Equestria, to the few places that Discord wasn’t actively trying to rip to shreds. I found ponies, and we amassed an army. Tens of thousands of ponies.” Tears drop from her eyes. “We were fighting his horrible creations, but the guard had been taken away with the spell. They couldn’t help us. We never knew where they went, we all thought Discord killed all of you, killed the Princesses. We didn’t know how to fight, we were farmers, we were craftsponies, we didn’t know what to do. And Discord himself, he just waded through all of us, everypony he touched turned into white mist. We thought he was killing us all as well.” She stops for a long moment, “But he wasn’t, he was sending us here.” She looks at me, tears bright in her eyes, “Why did he do that, Lightning Dust? Why did he send us here? Instead of simply kill us. Life under Discord’s rule was horrible. But it would have been so much easier to him to kill us, instead he sent us here, he cursed us for twenty-five years.” I shake my head, “I’m sorry, Night Glider, I don’t know. Nopony knows why Discord did what he did.” She shakes her head, “I think there is more to this than we will ever know, Lightning Dust.” ***Moon Shadow*** Night Glider gets settled into one of the guest rooms, and eventually we bed down for the night. After dealing with Henry during his change, the dreams he has had. I want to monitor the other three humans turning into ponies. James joins Fleetfoot and at Dust's insistence, they stay in guest rooms in our home, Jay, and Sanchez also end up in guest rooms in our house. I think we’ve expanded the house twice. Having unicorns and earth pony crafters have made the upgrades to the house seamless and easy to deal with. I sometimes wonder is this a house, or a mansion? I smile softly, Dust has been generous with her money, despite Irony and my attempts to not use her money, she’s insisted. I’ll admit, it’s hard to use somepony else’s money as though it’s your own. Most of the family is bedding down. I sigh as I look at what has become depressingly normal, Dust is on one side of the bed, and Irony on the other. I know they’ve been working on the rift between them, but… I climb up onto the bed, I have a job to do tonight. It only takes a moment of thought and I’m asleep, I’m in the void between worlds, the bright lights of all the dreams all around me. I smile as I can find James’ dream easily. We stayed up late, enjoying our time together. Fleet was saying they were tired when they finally headed to their guest room. They are here, I reach out for James’ dream… “The night shall last forever!” Nightmare Moon laughs as Celestia looks on in shock. An energy blast from Luna rips a massive hole in the side and roof of the castle. “We’ve got to help the princess!” A wing goes up in front of the earth pony. “No. Our first duty is to the residents of the castle. We must get them to safety. Those two are likely to level this entire place.” The pegasus commander turns and starts calling for the servants to evacuate. “Luna! I will not fight you, you must lower the moon. It is your duty!” Princess Celestia calls out. The pegasi and earth ponies work to get as many servants out of the castle. Some scream as a tower falls in the heat of the battle between the sun and the moon. Laughter… Misshapen eyes looking on at the chaos. Discord flits through the debris, searching, ever searching. A bridge connecting the outer wing to the main castle is cut down by the Nightmare. Flying up, the pegasus guard grabs a foal and brings it to the edge of the forest. A scream rends the air as Celestia is hit, falling into the castle. A tower slowly crumbles. The pegasus commander veers hard, knocking Star Swirl out of the way. Rubble everywhere, the darkness. Discord’s eyes. “Well there you are.” There is an explosion of light. It is so powerful, it throws everyone out of the dream I open my eyes, it not only threw me out of the dream, it completely woke me up. I look around, hearing the soft sounds of my family breathing. I smile gently, I know everything is okay. I lay my head down and close my eyes. Once again, another orb is before me, this is Jay. I have a theory forming in my head. Discord is behind this, I know it. Yet this isn’t the five score dream. It’s something different. I reach out to Jay’s dream… “My lord! The changelings are breaking through on the southern flank!” “King Orion! The lines are faltering. We need help in the east!” Two pegasi look at each other and nod, “We have this, our liege!” The changelings have magic, pegasi fight with ferocity and weapons. The two pegasi look to each other and split apart, diving into a group of changelings. The screams assault their ears as they charge. They are not letting the changelings win. The first pegasus hits a changeling with his lance. The lance breaking through the changeling drone as he turns towards his wingpony. Surprised, the other changelings turn to chase. The pegasi break into a spiral. Chrysalis laughs over the sound of a mare crying, screaming out her mourning over the loss of her foal. The second pegasus cuts down a changeling in a second group, before spiraling out. The two pegasi in counter spirals cut past each other. Their lances each taking down another changeling before the two groups of changeling’s crash into each other. There are simply too many of them. As much as they fight the two can’t stop them. Discord’s head appears out of a cloud, then his whole body. Chuckling, he flits through the feeding changelings. Looking though the fallen pegasi he searches. *“The Fallen rises.”* Discord laughs, and a brilliant flash knocks everypony out of the dream. I end up in the void once again, my head throbbing. Yes, there is a connection. I step out of the dream and open my eyes, I knew it! I look over at Dust, she is sleeping peacefully. Her dreams have been stormy and disturbing. I’ve thought about asking Star Crossed to help her too. She’s just as hurt as Irony was. He helped Irony, maybe he can help Dust. That is a thought for another time. I lever myself out of bed, and soon head downstairs. After a quick visit into the kitchen where I make myself a cup of coffee. It’s floating in my magic as I make my way down to the basement, I open the door to Mindy’s office. “Oh, Hi Moon Shadow!” Mindy chirps. Sunset Shimmer is there too. I crinkle my nose, “Smells like you two have been having fun down here.” I smirk at both of them turning slightly red in the face, Sunset clears her throat, “Well, Moon. If you had been here about twenty minutes ago, you could have joined in.” I smile, “Maybe next time. I actually need some computer help.” Mindy cocks her head to the side, her ears falling, “What?” “I need searches done. During the time since the first portal opening. I want to know of any humans that have gone out of their way to save pony lives. Even to the point of getting injured themselves.” Mindy’s computer fires up, her keyboard and mouse glowing orange as she gets busy on the machine. A few minutes go by, then Mindy smiles, “I’ve actually found a few.” I smile, “really?” “Oh, yes. During the time the government was scrubbing pony information. They were storing it on military servers, and since things have eased up, FIA requests have brought some of the news reports to be searchable. Let’s see, here is a Chicago firefighter, he was helping clear a building less than six months after the first opening of the portal. He carried an unconscious unicorn mare from the fire. He then went back in, and carried out two foals, they were about three months old.” I shake my head, “Given the timing, sounds like she was pregnant when Discord hit her.” Mindy nods, “He received 3rd degree burns on about twenty percent of his body.” She turns the monitor around, showing a head wrapped in bandages, also both of his hands were covered. I look at the picture for a while, “Any idea where he is now?” She looks thoughtful and then she murmurs to herself, “Checking retirement records, disabled benefits,” She’s silent for a long time, then she smiles, “Yup, I’ve found his home address.” I turn, “Come with me.” Sunset calls out, “Moon, it’s three in the morning.” I smile, “It’s four in Chicago, and it will take the chariot a couple of hours to get there.” I stop and turn back, “Are you two too tired?” Mindy giggles, “Never.” *** I knock on the door, the sun has been up for a little while, it’s a little after seven in the morning. Dear Celestia I hope he’s awake. I knock on the door a second time. There is movement in the curtain behind the glass of the door, and then the door opens. An older woman opens the door and looks at me, blinking at the three ponies sitting on her door step, “Can I help you?” I give her my most winning smile, “Is Samuel here?” She cocks her head to the side, “Yes…” She furrows her brow, “He just got up, can I ask what this is concerning?” “His injuries, and how he got them.” She sighs, “It was ponies.” I frown, “I sincerely doubt that.” She moans, “He was trying to save them. He went into the building, he got himself burned to save them. He had to move back in with me, I have to take care of him, because he decided to play the hero to a couple of worthless ponies.” I flinch at that, the heat in her voice… “I’m sorry to hear that, but I think there is more at play than you think.” She blinks, looking at me. I step forward a little bit, “Recently, some humans that helped the ponies in Equestria have had some very unusual dreams. I am a dreamer, I can touch other’s dreams. And all of their dreams have a common element, yet they aren’t the same as the ponies dreams that were cursed by Discord. The thing is, Discord is in those dreams.” “Discord, as in the creature that sent you into our world?” “The same. Well, they are having dreams of events from a thousand years ago, When Celestia and Nightmare Moon fought, when Pegasopolis fell. That is not the five score dream. And since those humans are having such similar dreams, I think there is a pattern.” Sunset shakes her head, “Moon, Discord doesn’t have a pattern, he is chaos.” I look back at her, “Actually Sunset, Discord is ultimately a creature of balance. And he does have plans. He was meticulous when it comes to the ponies that he cursed, and the timing of when he did it. He intrinsically sought the balance between chaos and harmony. And he felt that things were too far in the direction of harmony in our world, and too much in chaos here. That is what I think is why he did the five score spell. But I think he did more than that.” The woman looks at me, “And this relates to my son…how?” “I think he was Equestrian at some point in the past, and Discord sent him here, when he died.” Another voice pipes up, “I’ve been having dreams, of ponies, of Equestria.” A hand is gently placed on the woman’s shoulder, she looks back at him. I step forward, “Samuel?” He nods, his hairless head, and his skin looks like a melted plastic mask, he tries to smile, “Yes, that’s me.” “I’m Moon Shadow, I am a dreamer, and I think you are Equestrian.” “I heard some of what you were telling my mother.” “May I scan you? Try to touch your mind?” He nods and turns. He shuffles into the small but very neatly kept living room, “Any place you want me?” “On the couch will be good, a bed would be better.” We follow him, I look at Mindy and subtly gesture to his mother, Mindy gets the hint, keep her occupied. Sunset follows me into his bedroom, he sits on the bed, and then with a grunt, he lies down, I hop onto the bed next to him, “Okay, clear your mind, just think about your dreams, think about calm things, I will help you fall asleep.” I light my horn, most of the time, I don’t need magic for dreaming, but this time, I need to help him fall asleep. In moments he’s breathing deeply, though his breathing is somewhat labored. I’m guessing from smoke inhalation or superheated air in the fire. I listen to him wheeze a bit, then I follow him into the dream. “He’s feeding off the magic!” “We just need to buy them a little time.” The large earth stallion looks on as the centaur demon slowly walks towards the town. Several of the guards have already run off. They fled with the civilians. “You can stay if you want…” A smaller stallion says, turning. “The princess is coming. We just need to delay him long enough and get as many civilians out of here.” The large stallion is firm in his choice. Fire rages out from between the demons horns, causing a house to explode. Running over to a group of other ponies, the stallion organizes several others to try to retrieve survivors. Laughing, mis-matched eyes… Discord flits through the debris… Using his powerful hind legs the stallion bucks several large rocks at the demon. Swatting the rocks out of the air, the Centaur turns and launches another fire blast to the stallion. Running clear, he draws the demon’s fire… every shot aimed at him is one less that is aimed at the foals. Every shot aimed at him, is more time for the princess to arrive. *Laughter, shrieking. “Fire, fire everywhere. Let the world burn.” * A fire blast explodes in front of the stallion, sending him flying back into a building. The entire structure falling on top of him. Discord’s eyes again. “I see you…” My eyes snap open as the same time as Sam’s. I shudder, Tirek, his first invasion over a thousand years ago. Before the Royal Sisters sent him to Tartarus. He was uglier than in the cartoon, that is for certain, “How old are you?” He shrugs, “thirty-two, I turned twenty seven shortly before the ponies started to appear.” Just a couple of years before the five score curse. I frown, I can feel the equestrian magic within him. He was Equestrian. His magic is here. “Sunset, link with me, please.” She looks unsure, but I can feel her open herself to a link. I draw her into the link with me, my horn shining brightly, I touch his forehead, causing him to stiffen. In moments I’m done, and he scratches his thighs, “What did you do?” I smile, “I’ve started the change, you have Equestrian magic within you, not Earth magic. You were a pony, and something about that stayed on, I think it was from Discord. But either way, in three days’ time, you will be a pony.” “Will I stay in pain?” I shake my head, “I don’t think so, not at all. You will have a new life, without the pain you constantly feel.” “What tribe will I be?” I smile, “I think an Earth pony stallion.” He leans back, smiling, “Good.” I gather up Mindy and we thank Samuel’s mother profusely, and soon we are on our way back to Montana. ***Lightning Dust*** “Amazing.” I breathe. Moon Shadow nods, "there are a lot of examples, Dust. A police officer, just after the initial changes, was responding to a call, and found a stallion and three foals, all being abused, he ended up in a gunfight, and was shot twice. But he saved the ponies. A Border Patrol agent saves two ponies as they are crossing the border from Mexico. This is a pattern, Dust. A coherent pattern that I think comes from Discord.” “How is that possible, Moon?” She shakes her head, “I don’t know, but everything points to that. Discord had a plan, he knew what ponies he was going to banish, and he found ways to actually protect them. I guess we could call them the Five Score defenders. Every single one of them went out of their way, and risked their own lives, to help the ponies. Did you know over two hundred humans went through the portal that first night and participated at the battle of the Gate?” That gets a shake of my head, she continues, “I’ve done some checking around, in the last few days, our chariot flyers need a raise, I went all over. And twenty three of them gained cutie marks during their time there. But every one that I’ve scanned.” She slams a hoof onto the desk, “Every single one, shows Equestrian magic within them. Every one of them has either had odd dreams they remember from being in Equestria, or the occasional odd dream since then. And many of them found their diet changing, to be more in alignment with pony diets.” I look at her seriously, “How many did you start the change on.” She smiles, “Only the ones that ask for it. With the exception of Samuel,” She ducks her head, “I kind of got retroactive permission from him.” She wilts a bit under my glare, “But he was in a constant level of pain from his burns. You know we have our own burn center here in New Beginnings because unicorn magic has been exceptional at repairing the damage from burns. All the other burn centers in the US send patients to us for treatment, because they can walk out of the hospital in the same condition as they were before they were burned. He was burned before this was discovered, and there was nothing we could do at that point, except turn him into a pony.” I look at her for a long time, “You really should have gotten his permission, Moon.” She smiles, “I think he’ll be happy as a pony.” I sigh, “I hope so.” Moon Shadow gets out of her chair and heads to the door, “Dust?” I look up at her, “Yes?” “You need to spend more time with Irony.” I look down, “When I can, Moon.” She sighs and leaves my office. It’s not too long before my landline phone rings, I snatch the receiver off the cradle and put it up to my ear, “Hello?” “Dust, it’s your Aunt May.” I feel a cold chill as she continues, “You need to get to Corpus, it’s your Father.”