Pandemic: Starting Over

by Halira

Chapter 1: Meeting the Foals

I've never been good at just doing nothing, particularly when I'm dreading something. Doing things gives me something to focus on, other than whatever my more significant worries may be. There is a comfort in accomplishing things, a sense of control when everything else seems out of control. When the demons in my closet are breaking down the door, I will focus on making sure the bed is nice and tidy because that's something I have power over. I've done a lot in my quest to ignore the walls caving in, but I'm unsure what any of that has ever amounted to. Now my figurative and literal house have finally fallen, and here I was, ready to lose myself in another task.

The room in the American embassy in Japan was stately. Everything reeked of wealth and displayed the might of the United States. At one point, not long ago, I would have considered this my proper place in the world. That was before the Cataclysm, that was before I learned how much I had cost myself when I abandoned my slow and steady approach for more immediate results. Quick results earned praise; quick results gave a feeling of accomplishment; quick results can often hide the cesspool of corruption that led to them. At some point, the bill comes due, and in my case, the bill was everything.

For the thousandth time, on so many levels, I questioned why I was even here. There were a half-a-billion ponies more suited to what was being asked for than I was. I was sure there were some worse, as I had seen the worst of the worst that there could be, but that didn't take away from the fact that the vast majority of ponies would be better choices. I reminded myself that the vast majority of humans would be better as well. My prejudices towards humans had been one of my many failings, and one that I was actively trying to curb as I found such thoughts of habit creeping into my mind. A person can learn that they have broken or harmful ways of thinking, but it takes effort and time to change such long-standing patterns. It was at least a task I could focus on.

The answer to my question was, in part, always the same; because she asked me to do this. Why she asked me, I had no idea. What mattered was that she asked me, and I would not refuse her. I had cost her her life, so she could make any demand of me that she wished. She hadn't demanded it, but her smallest request carried no less weight for me.

My ears flicked as I heard the door open. I turned and watched as a pair of government agents shepherded five foals into the room. The oldest of them, a pegasus, was mother to the youngest, despite her being just a filly herself. They were an eclectic lot, two pegasi, a unicorn, an earth pony, and a night pony. The youngest pegasus looked to her mother for direction and followed her closely. The unicorn and earth pony colts seemed nervous, but we're trying to show bravery. The elder pegasus filly looked composed and ready for whatever may come. The night pony colt just looked exhausted. Five foals, how was I supposed to parent five foals at my age? I barely qualified as a passable parent to one child when I was younger.

"Here they are," one of the human agents said and then gestured at the teen mother (a light blue-furred pegasus with a jet black mane). "Lántiān is the only one of them that fully understands English. Some of the others know a few words, but not enough to have a conversation."

I looked up at him in shock. "What? Why didn't someone cast a translation spell?"

"We wanted to, but the colts have all been terrified and refusing to cooperate," the agent said apologetically. "I'm told their mother has been trying to soothe them, so they'll accept it, but no dice so far."

I fluttered my lips in frustration. I'd have to take care of it myself. Casting a translation spell was within my capabilities, but it was a bigger spell than I typically did and would take a lot out of me for each cast. I only needed to do the three colts, but I'd need a few hours break to recover my strength between each casting. That was fine, I supposed. It wasn't like the foals and I weren't going to have plenty of time.

I turned to the older filly. "Your name is Lan Tin?"

She shook her head. "No, guardian, it is Lántiān."

I still couldn't quite get it. "Lan Teen?"

She shook her head again. "Lántiān"

I flicked my tail. "I apologize, but I think that might be a bit difficult for me, for right now. What are your siblings and daughter named?"

The filly pointed to each of her brothers in turn with a wing, listing off their names as she went. I'd be damned if I could pronounce a single one of those names or be able to remember any of them. That was great, just taking custody and already struggling with only their names. The filly pointed to her daughter and said something just as incomprehensible, and I sighed.

I ran a hoof over my face. "This is going to be a problem if I can't even remember your names or even say them. Do they have rough English translations? And would you be too offended if I used English translations?"

"It would not be our names then," the filly replied. I couldn't tell if she was angry or offended because she kept such a perfect poker face. I'd have thought the eldest daughter of Yinyu Wu Yan would be more animated.

Some compromise had to be worked out, and I could only think of one for the moment. "Fine then, I'll just cast a Chinese translation spell on myself for the time being, but they're still going to learn English."

"We speak Mandarin," the filly corrected. "Chinese could refer to several different languages."

Great, a know-it-all.

I beckoned her over. "Come on over here. It's easier for me to get the language from you if you're standing close. You don't have objections to me doing this, do you?"

"No, guardian. I shall do whatever is asked of me," the filly replied. She then walked up to where she was only a few inches from me. I was able to get my first good look at her cutie mark, and it made me uneasy. It was a cloud with a Shimmerist sun behind it. Shimmerists and I had a complicated relationship as of late. The filly noticed my gaze. "Is there a problem, guardian?"

My eyes stayed on the mark for a second or two more before I shook my head. "Nothing that needs to be addressed at this moment. Stop addressing me as guardian; use the term ma'am instead."

"Yes, ma'am."

I looked up at her face and still didn't see any signs of emotion in her features, but her eyes were not the eyes of a filly. There was tightly held anger in those eyes, and hurt, and many other associated emotions. There was also cold determination.

"Before I begin, let me make some things clear. You're living in the United States and will not be returning to China. With that in mind, you're to converse with me in English at all times. Your language is strictly for helping deal with your siblings. You're to help ensure they learn how to use English as well. It is part of my duties as your appointed guardian to see that you properly assimilate into your life here, which begins with language. Do I make myself clear?"

Her eyes hardened even more. "Yes, ma'am." Well, at least her mother taught her good manners and how to keep her temper under tight control. I had to commend her for her control of her emotions. I was sure that I would not be doing half as well controlling mine if our positions were reversed.

There was time to learn more about my new charges later. Right now, I needed to be able to communicate with them. I lit my horn and focused on the appropriate spell. I had only cast this spell once before, so I could gain some mastery of Spanish. I had an excellent memory for spells, though, so doing it properly was not a problem. The issue was the power involved. It used to be I would be ashamed to admit my ability to channel lots of magic into one spell was substandard at best, but I'd recently made my peace with my mediocre magic channeling. I, along with well over a hundred thousand others, had stood witness to one of the most epic workings of magic in history. In the face of such magic, we all understood how weak we truly were. There were gods among ponies, and the rest of us barely qualified as ants.

I touched a hoof to the filly and cast the spell. A tingling sensation ran through me, and I was sure a similar one ran through her as well. The next thing that ran through me was my energy, as it evacuated my body. I fell forward, and the filly gasped as she grabbed me with both her forelegs.

"Ma'am? Are you hurt?" The filly asked. There was legitimate concern in her voice. It was nice to hear some sort of emotion in her voice. It was even touching that it was for me.

"Miss Blessing, do you need medical treatment?" One of the human agents asked.

I steadied myself on my hooves, and my eldest charge released me. "No, I'm fine. The spell took a lot out of me, but I need to take it easy with my magic for a few hours while it recovers."

The filly's expression resumed its slate-like appearance. "Forgive me for asking, ma'am, but I was told you were a great and powerful mage. Is this not so?"

That made me chuckle as I wondered how Trixie would feel about someone calling me great and powerful.

"I'm a mage, but not powerful. As for great, that depends on how you interpret that word and who you ask. I'm skilled and knowledgeable enough to do even more spectacular screw-ups than the average pony is capable of if they were trying to screw-up."

Who else could match my track record for such things? I turned a helpless woman into a monster. Drove a pony to attempt suicide. And let it never be forgotten that I'd inadvertently brought about the destruction of the city I spent years building, killing my spouse in the process. No, no average mage could have accomplished so much. It took someone with extra skill to mess-up so severely. Now the mother of these foals was turning to me to raise them. Perhaps there were bigger fools than me out there.

Of course, here I was taking them in, knowing how unqualified I was. Foolish wasn't the word for that.

I turned my attention to the colts and tried out my new understanding of their language. "<I am Sunset Blessing.>" I caught myself translating my name into Mandarin, with it coming out as Rìluò Zhùfú. "<Excuse me, my name is> Sunset Blessing. <Can you tell me your names?>"

The two older colts looked at each other for direction. The youngest of the three, the night pony, just yawned.

The unicorn colt looked like he really could be my son since he had almost the exact shade of red fur and a purple mane that matched my own, minus the yellow streaks. I guessed his age to be around six. He took the lead and stepped forward. "<I am Shǔguāng.>" I quickly translated his name in my head to roughly Dawn's Light. I saw no cutie mark on his flank. None of them other than the eldest had a mark.

The earth pony colt stepped forward. He looked to be around five or six as well, and was a muddy brown, with a bright blue mane. "<I am Hé Líng.>" I quickly translated his name to roughly River Spirit.

I turned my attention to the youngest of the three, the night pony colt. He couldn't be more than two years old, maybe three, and was a midnight blue with a black mane that matched his sister's. He just sleepily stared at me as I waited for a response. Unfortunately, his energy seemed to finally deplete at that moment, and he fell asleep right where he was sitting.

The older filly hurried over. "That is Hǎo Mèng, ma'am. He has a very limited vocabulary and is up well past his bedtime." I could roughly translate his name to something along the lines of Nice Dream. I was pleased that she followed instructions and spoke to me in English.

I glanced at her. "And can you repeat your name, now that I can better understand it?"

She nodded. "Lántiān, ma'am." She pulled her little filly over to her, a perfect miniature of herself. "And this is Qīng Yǔ, ma'am." I translated the teen mother's name to Blue Sky and the filly to Gentle Rain. Qīng Yǔ was clearly around a year old. My best guess on Lántiān was she was around fifteen or sixteen, and the only one of the five who would have been born human.

One of the agents cleared his throat. "We should let you know. The Chinese government has been threatening sanctions against the United States if we don't return these foals to them. With Yinyu Wu Yan expressly saying she wants you to be the caregiver, there isn't much legal case for them to take them. However, there have been rumors that Shǔguāng's father is Qiánchéng De Érzi. If that can be proven, there could be trouble."

My eyebrows narrowed. "Yinyu slept with the Chinese president?"

"He wouldn't have been president at the time. They are just rumors, and he hasn't tried to claim he is the father, as of yet. It could be politically embarrassing to him if he did. We have to keep the possibility open that he will demand a test to see if he is the father and whether he can press to take back his son if it turns out to be true."

Just great, I might be harboring the son of the head of the Chinese Shimmerists and the Chinese Communist Party. This just got better and better. It could drive a mare to drink.

The agent continued. "We have rooms for all of you here for tonight. A private plane back to the states will leave first thing in the morning. We'll leave you alone with the foals for another hour, then escort you all to your rooms. You cannot leave the embassy. Tensions are high with China right now, and Japan is not so far away from China that it isn't easy for a Chinese sniper to try to put a bullet in you."

Assassins, great. Maybe I could order some alcohol for my room tonight. Why did I ever agree to this?

Author's Note:

Prologue:

In March of 2023, a flu pandemic, unlike any other, spread across the United States and then to the rest of the world. At first, it seemed like just regular garden variety flu, but it wasn't. 

The first warning that it wasn't normal was it didn't result in any deaths, even among the very weak or elderly. This was a good thing, but it was also a sign that this was not normal, as even weaker flu seasons always resulted in some deaths. The second warning was that those that recovered not only from flu but from other long-standing ailments. 

Then the changes started happening. Those that recovered from the flu began reporting their hair changing colors and their eyes changing colors. This was followed by growing tails, having ears change shape and location, fur started growing, and losing height. Over two weeks, and with accelerating pace, those who had caught the flu transformed from humans to equines—the earth ponies, unicorns, pegasi, crystal ponies, and night ponies (in-universe term for bat ponies). It was called ETS, Equine Transformation Syndrome. 

Contact was made with Equestria, and it was discovered that a bioterrorist from Equestria seeking to make more ponies had been responsible. With the help of Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer, ETS was brought to an end, but the damage had already been done. By the time it was brought to an end, there were over five-hundred million transformed worldwide, with over a hundred million of those in the United States alone. Some converted back to humans with the Equestrians' aid but most staunchly insisted on remaining ponies.

Since then, there has been a transition period where the Earth is adjusting to there now being two intelligent species that call it home. New powerful beings, the Dreamwardens, have arisen and taken claim and mastery of the new magical dream realm. New philosophies and religions have come into being. Magic is now considered reality, and politics, as they were before, have been upended. It is the post-pandemic works, and it is trying to establish a new normal. 

This is an ongoing series with multiple authors.

Comments

[Stinium_Ruide]

Great start. As a bilingual speaker of both English and Mandarin, it is most interesting to see the difficulty in the language barrier between the guardian and the colts. And ultimately, for a temporary act, the guardian casts a translation spell to communicate with them adequately...reminds me of the days I relied on translation applications to assist in my learning of Mandarin.

[badninja]

Ouch I feel sorry for Sunset Blessing. She is going to have her work cut out for herself here. I hope she is going to be ready for round two of parenthood. At least this time Phobia will be able to help and act as a translator if necessary, I hope.