Crystal appeared with a familiar flash of light. "Ah, that worked better than I could have hoped for. Will, Cindy, a moment?"
We weren't doing much more than idling at the moment, so she had our attention. "What's up, Crystal?"
Crystal sat down in front of us. "It's good to see you two again, but I'm the bearer of bad news, sort of... It's self-correcting, for the most part, but I thought you should know, the ponies have staged strikes in some of the towns. Some of the people living there tried being rude and nasty to some of them and they all quit working together."
I raised a brow. "I thought you said it's self-correcting? What's the corrected part?"
Crystal pawed at the ground with a shiny hoof. "Well that's the thing. Once the ponies gave a united front, most people gave up trying to boss them around, but then they got right back to work once it was over. They're... It's like they're instinctively unionized. One of them was set off when the people tried to insist that ponies don't get human houses. That didn't last long."
Cindy smiled gently. "Well that sounds good. Nobody was hurt by that, right?"
Crystal rolled a hoof lightly. "Well one community tried to wait them out, but crops without earth pony magic and mindfulness started to wither in the field. They gave in before it got too bad though. I imagine, if we weren't in a crisis mode, ponies may have a hard time being hired in the average job if they can expect such immediate labor action."
Cindy shook herself. "We can't really plan for that. I don't think we're going back to the world we came from for a long time. Oh! How are the foals?"
Crystal looked confused a moment before giving an 'oh'. "I've had ponies hard at work making a nursery area for them, and we're trying as hard as we can to be ready to catch this tidal wave. Some small part of me is holding out hope that the libido comes down when the foals start popping out. Failing that, condoms that are easy to use with hooves would be helpful, but the world's in no condition to make that for me. Speaking of, how's Sandra? She start laying yet? Want me to take the egg back?"
I frowned with a sudden thought. "The feral ponies are going to be very put out, if they come to term. Food's going to get more scarce, and a lot of mares are going to die. The feral population's going to winnow itself out in the coming months."
Crystal looked especially saddened. "That's already happening. Those are people! Victims... They're dying off bit by bit. I draw those I have room for, but my herd can't fit everyone." She raised a hoof to point to the large city beside them. "Did you save a lot?"
Cindy nodded with a proud expression. "Almost as many ponies as there are people in there. It's tense, but no violence. In fact, a human male proposed to a mare, and she accepted him."
Crystal colored lightly. "I didn't think that'd happen so soon... Was she... I mean... Is she pregnant? Was she before they met? Are humans and ponies compatible?"
I shrugged and glanced off into the city. "It's not been long, too short to know for sure. The mare wasn't pregnant before, so if she starts swelling now, then we know. The human didn't get infected from being with her, so that's a huge relief, but I can't imagine they're happy some guy is sleeping with 'little horses'."
Crystal tilted her head. "That reminds me, why are we out here? Shouldn't you be in there?"
Cindy made a sour expression. "They won't let us in because we have the gift still. Makes me spitting mad."
Crystal held up a hoof at Cindy. "That'd be a bad thing to do. No spitting."
"Aside that," I said, changing the subject. "The next place we need to be is New York I think. The ponies have joined humanity there, but also taken it over. They've pushed the humans down to second-class citizens, and that's not the reputation we want to have, as conquerors."
Crystal tilted her head. "That sounds bad, but ponies are dying. The New York ones are stable from the sound of it, forget them for now. Save the ferals while there's still time to do so. I suggest doing what we started with for a plan, spread out from here, get other cities involved, and make each a safe haven for ponies and humans, instead of rushing across the map to tackle a problem beyond our ability to handle right now." She tapped her chin. "Actually, if you have so many ponies and humans here, they should be able to convert the next population center without you, right? You should let them try. You're only one person after all."
Crystal's idea sounded right. I wondered for a moment why she didn't get the 'princess' package. Cindy heard the thought and snorted. "That's very kind to think, but she didn't, and you did, so we have to deal with it."
Crystal looked confused at Cindy's words. "You're a confusing head, Cindy. Who are you talking to?"
Cindy smiled. "The dope I'm attached to was busy complimenting you."
Crystal smiled and blushed a little. "I'm just trying to make the best of a shitty situation. If we want to hit the highest population centers, we should expand west, towards California, but if you can get the other people and ponies involved, then they can go out in all directions, and that'd be best of all. Start a bomb of peace and stability."