Pandemic: Starting Over

by Halira

Chapter 38: Family Chat

Shǔguāng was being sullen. Lántiān was also sullen. Qīng Yǔ was under her mother's chair, looking like she was ready for a fresh round of crying. Líng was doing surprisingly well, all things considered. I was grumpy. Number was in the kitchen, putting away the groceries that needed to be frozen or refrigerated. Méng was still asleep in bed and was blissfully unaware that any drama had transpired.

I had the colts and Lántiān, sitting at the dining room table. They were watching me pace back and forth, and they were making a concerted effort not to look at one another. Some grievances needed to be addressed before they festered, and I was trying to decide how to do so without blowing my top.

Number walked out of the kitchen and shut the kitchen door behind her before it could slam. "I think I will be going. I've got the cold stuff put away. All the cookware and dry groceries are still sitting out for you to put where you want them. Is there anything else you need before I leave?"

I stopped pacing and considered it. "I would appreciate it if you would send Malcomb in. I need to get some things settled, and I want to address everything."

"Are you sure?" Number asked skeptically. "I can't imagine him hearing Lántiān's colorful opinions will do anyone any good."

"I don't know," I admitted. "I'll work it out as I go along. I know I don't want to have to keep dealing with some of these issues."

"I'm no parent, so I am not the best one to give advice, but I don't think you can resolve all this in one conversation," Number said doubtfully.

She had a point. I had tried already to convince Lántiān that her views were wrong, and had come up empty. "I still need to address it."

"Good luck with that," Number said with a shrug. "I'll be sure to tell Tibbs to come in. Take care of yourself, Sunset."

Number left us, with me returning to pacing and the foals still all sitting at the table.

"Why do we have to sit here?" Shǔguāng asked.

"Because we need to talk," I replied without stopping my wearing a groove in the floor.

"Talk about what?" Shǔguāng asked.

"I don't know," I answered.

Honestly, I didn't know where to start. Shǔguāng was resentful of his sister because she supported the ponies that killed their mother, and much as I agreed, I couldn't let that resentment linger. I had just gotten Líng calmed down after he learned what everyone else but his niece knew, and I didn't want to bring that subject back up immediately. I was also still pissed as hell about Shimmerism and Lántiān voicing support for its worst elements.

Shǔguāng blinked. "I'm confused."

Líng started bouncing in his seat. "Can we talk about turtles?"

"No, we’re not going to talk about turtles," I answered.

"But you said you didn't know what to talk about!" Líng protested accusingly.

I stopped pacing and groaned. "Alright, let's start talking. First of all—"

"I think turtles are cool! They have hard shells. Where do they get their shells? Does someone make them for them?" Líng asked.

"We aren't talking about turtles," I reasserted.

"Líng's talking about turtles," Shǔguāng replied in defense of his brother.

"We'll talk about turtles some other time!" I half-shouted, and the colts cringed back, while Lántiān flattened her ears. "First of all, Lántiān, I need you to be silent."

"I wasn't saying any—" she started to protest.

I cut her off. "And you will continue to say nothing, no matter how much you want to protest."

She gave me an egregious angry look and clamped her mouth shut.

I looked at the two colts. "Now, your sister has some opinions about humans that you two have overheard, and I am not sure what you have learned in school, but I’m sure similar opinions would be pushed. I am going to state this directly, those opinions are wrong."

"Ma'am, I—" Lántiān began.

"I did not give you permission to speak, filly," I hissed. "Keep your trap shut."

Since I was denying her a voice, she made to get up and leave, but I forcefully pushed her back down into her seat with my magic. "With that said," I continued. "Your sister is still your sister, and the fact she is wrong about humans doesn't change that fact. I don't want either of you disrespecting her, saying you don't love her, or any of that nonsense. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yet you are shaming me in front of them," Lántiān muttered.

I was tempted to tell her to shut up again, but she had a point. Actions spoke louder than words, and I was not living up to what I was telling the colts to do.

Malcomb chose that moment to walk back in. "You needed something?"

I nodded at him. "We are having a family discussion about Shimmerism, particularly Lántiān's Shimmerist beliefs. I heard you might have even stronger opinions than I do. I'm trying to make sure everyone is clear on some things."

His face darkened. "I see."

I turned back towards the teenaged filly. "Lántiān, much of my anger at you is anger at myself for what I used to believe," I said in a low voice. "In the past year, I have developed a strong aversion to Shimmerism. That means I am coming down harsher on you than I might otherwise. I want to help you to be better, but I'm not sure how to accomplish that. While you're part of this household and part of this family, I cannot tolerate Shimmerist talk. Shimmerism has hurt this family too much. Do you agree with me, Malcomb?"

The stallion blinked. "I am not part of the family here."

"You're part of the household since you live on this property," I countered. "My focus is on making sure everyone here feels safe, that includes you."

He relaxed a little. "I appreciate that, but you don't need to—"

"I also lied to you to smooth things over. I am the real Sunset Blessing; I just had a dye job for my fur to be less recognizable. I did a great deal of wrong in my day as a Shimmerist preacher—may God forgive me. I have renounced those beliefs, but I want to apologize for what was done to you personally. I may not have been directly involved, but I helped spread Shimmerism, and for that, I am very sorry. What was done to you was another example of Shimmerism's blatant hypocrisy and inherent hateful nature."

"You'll need to do more to convince me you are really Sunset Blessing," Malcomb replied. I could see myself reflected in his glass eye.

"She's Auntie Sunset. I know! I can tell you!" Líng called out helpfully.

I sighed and ignored the outburst. "Do you object to being visited by a Dreamwarden in your dreams? They will not allow me to lie to you in a dream, and they can confirm my identity at my behest—it could be my wife Arbiter, my daughter Phobia Remedy, or their mother Yinyu Wu Yan, take your pick."

"Arbiter," he answered quickly. "I trust her more than the night ponies—no offense intended to Yinyu Wu Yan or Phobia Remedy."

"Hey! That's our mama!" Shǔguāng protested angrily.

"Don't say you don't trust Mama!" Líng echoed his brother. I could see out of the corner of my eye that Lántiān was giving him a dark look as well.

Malcomb backed up a step and gave an apologetic look. "Sorry."

"We all are guilty of prejudices," I said tiredly. He'd insulted my daughter as well, but I was going to let it go. At least he hadn't insulted both my daughter and my wife, and I was familiar with prejudice towards night ponies. I'd learned not to rage about some things, even if those things deserved someone getting kicked in the flank.

I turned back towards Lántiān. "No one is a traitor to ponykind. You can disagree with rehumanization, but you are never to say hateful things about those who underwent it or those who assisted. They had their reasons, and they should be respected. Do I make myself clear?"

"Do I have leave to speak now, ma'am?" Lántiān replied in a snide voice. I nodded, and she took a deep breath. "I am willing to confess there are bad Shimmerists and that violence and hate are unacceptable, including what my government attempted to do and what those ponies did to this stallion. I am not willing to turn against the truth that everyone is better off as ponies. That is the most you will get from me, and I don't care if it displeases you."

"It's a start," I replied. "I have faith that you'll have a change of heart in time. I was not won over until my world came crashing down; it seems you will need more than that."

"It is impossible to change my mind, ma'am," she snapped.

"Young people are always so sure of everything," I said with a disdainful sniff. "Malcomb, can you please try not to give Lántiān dirty looks all the time? I understand your feelings about Shimmerists, but I have a responsibility to ensure she feels safe here as well. She is still young, and she can't help that she was brought up under a backdrop of constant propaganda. Her mother lamented that she could never speak up against it out of fear."

"Don't be a meanie to Sister!" Líng yelled. This time Shǔguāng kept his mouth shut and turned away. I would have preferred if he had jumped to his sister's rescue as well, even if it meant another interruption. It would have been a sign of family solidarity after his earlier outburst about Lántiān.

Malcomb gave Lántiān an unreadable look then turned towards me. "I understand she's young, and this could be considered just a phase normally…" Lántiān gave a loud snort of disagreement. "But her mark… it is hard to believe she will ever move past it when it is part of her very identity."

"We can redefine what our marks mean. My wife saw a different meaning in my mark than I did, and I have since taken that as the meaning, instead of the one I originally assigned it," I replied with a glance back at mine, a Bible held in a pair of hooves. "She can yet redefine herself. At the very least, can you accept she wouldn't engage in violence against anyone just because of her misguided beliefs, and you'll try to get along with her despite your differences? She needs to learn that people that don't believe the same things as her are still good people."

"I never said they weren't, ma'am," Lántiān objected.

"Do you want me to repeat back what you said?!" I snapped.

Her ears folded, and she emphatically shook her head. I gave a satisfied nod.

"I'm guessing I don't want to know," Malcomb said in a tired voice.

"She said that-—" Shǔguāng began.

I cut him off. "Please! Please don't say it. Hearing it the first time was enough. I know you are being helpful, but I was trying to call your sister's bluff, not trying to get the answer. Your sister has reconsidered her position since she said that, and we're putting it behind us and moving on like it never happened. Understood, Shǔguāng?"

"Not really, Auntie Sunset," Shǔguāng replied in genuine confusion.

"I'll explain it to you later," I groaned.

Malcomb leveled his one eye in a stone-faced gaze on Lántiān. "I can't promise to smile around someone that has said things about me that were so bad they can't even be repeated, but I avoid being hostile."

"I can understand that, and accept it," Lántiān replied.

"I guess that is the best we are going to get at the moment," I said tiredly, before turning to the eldest colt. "That just leaves you, Shǔguāng. I noticed that you made a point of addressing Lántiān by name instead of as Sister. I saw her reaction to it as well. Do you have anything to say about that?"

Shǔguāng started crying and grit his teeth. "<She helped the bad ponies kill Mama>!" He cried out in Mandarin as he turned towards Lántiān, who stared back at him in horror. "<Why? I don't understand. Why did you hate Mama? Do you hate us>?"

Líng might indeed be a little slower on the uptake than his brother, but that was likely because he was slightly younger. A year or two of age could mean a lot to reasoning abilities at such a young age. He was not so far behind that he couldn't catch that direct an accusation. He stared at his sister with a trembling lip. Lántiān seemed so shocked and hurt by the charge she couldn't even manage a reply. She just stared back in terror, frozen like a statue.

"What did he say?" Malcomb asked in confusion.

I shook my head. "He just accused his sister of assisting in the murder of their mother. You may go, if you wish, this part has nothing to do with you."

Malcomb nodded and beat a hasty retreat out the door towards the central part of the house.

I flared the light of my horn to get everyone's attention. "Lántiān did not kill your mother. Your mother was a suicide. That means she killed herself. Do not blame one another for her death."

Líng and Shǔguāng turned to me, and their lips quivered as tears welled up in their eyes.

"<Why>?" Líng managed to gasp out.

I walked over to him and pulled him into a hug. "Because there were bad ponies that wanted to hurt you that she was keeping you safe from them, and those bad ponies only stopped because they were so surprised at what she did. She died to give you time to get away. I can't imagine she was even sure it would work, but she was desperate, and she was out of ways to protect you. This is something your mama might be better explaining to you, now that you understand this much."

"But you said that Lántiān—" Shǔguāng said in confusion.

I pulled him off the chair and into a hug as well. "You are very bright, Shǔguāng, but that doesn't mean you can't misinterpret things you hear. Your mother, in her last moments, turned to your sister and told her to take all of you and keep running. Lántiān did what she was told, and for that, she was a loyal daughter and a sister that loves you and wants to protect you."

"B-but—" Shǔguāng stammered.

"Hush," I said gently. "Your sister is much older than either of you, but that doesn't make her any less a confused foal as well. She was told all at once that the people she had always been told were the good guys were the bad guys, and that you all needed to run for your lives from them without much explanation at all. In the end, she did what your mother told her to do. She trusted your mother more than what she had been told her entire life. She still has to figure things out, but your sister isn't a bad pony. I'm sorry if I led you to believe that."

"But you are so angry at her," Shǔguāng replied in confusion.

I took a deep breath. "Once upon a time, not too long ago, I believed things that I now deeply regret believing. I'm told I did some good, but that good is always going to be tainted by what I believed back then. I see the same sort of beliefs in your sister. I have faith she will turn away from those beliefs, eventually, but I don't want her to end up living her life full of regret like I do. I'm angry at myself, and I took it out on her. You remember how I told you different people react to being angry differently, and that sometimes they do that? It isn't a good thing, and I'm sorry you saw it."

Lántiān left her chair and came slowly over to us. "Ma'am, I—"

CRASH! BANG! CLANK!

SLAM!

Everyone jumped. Qīng Yǔ started screaming. Lántiān recovered first and hurried over to her upset daughter.

I released the foals and headed to the kitchen door. "What in the hell?!"

I opened the kitchen door and saw that many of the boxes filled with pots and pans had fallen on the floor, some of the canned goods as well. That accounted for most of the noise, but I was sure the final slam had been a door. The back door was closed, and I could see the deadbolt had been thrown. The door going down to the basement was closed, and I was sure it had been closed earlier. The windows were shut, so there wasn't a breeze going.

"Lántiān, go around to the basement door in the front; if anyone comes out of it, don't try to stop them, just get a good look at them and call me on the phone. The rest of you stay in the dining room," I ordered.

I didn't get any argument from the filly, although she did pause to make sure Qīng Yǔ was nestled between the two colts. She then hurried out back around to the front. The younger foals all huddled under the dining room table.

I opened the cellar door and lit my horn up to give some light. I didn't see anyone on the stairs, but what I heard indicated this door had been opened and slammed. A light draft through the house couldn't do that.

I descended the stairs keeping my horn glowing bright and projecting its light forward. The stairs didn't squeak, which at this moment wasn't comforting, because that meant people could be moving around without me hearing them. I reached the cellar and looked about, spreading my light to each corner. The door going into the main basement room was closed. There was no sign of any intruder.

I did a quick check of the cabinets just to see if anyone was inside. I even took the risky move of pulling on the cabinets to see if there was anything hidden behind them, but they were securely fastened to the wall. That was good since there was a chance they might have fallen on me otherwise. I checked the stairs to ensure there wasn't any place to hide under them but found nothing.

With the cellar clear, and no call yet from Lántiān to alert me someone had come up from the basement, I opened the door for the main basement and stepped inside.

Straining my ears, I heard nothing other than the standard house sounds I had heard earlier—no sounds of steps, no sounds of true breathing, no movement. I closed the door behind me and put the deadbolt in place. I then began walking the area as I had done an hour or two before.

The furnace room door I locked as I passed by it. If anyone was in there, there wasn't any other exit. If it was empty, then I would hear someone opening the lock if they tried to run inside. After that, I removed the dust cover from the doll rack and put it flat on the floor, leaving one less hiding place. I moved to the far end of the room and flicked the lights on.

There was no sign of anyone. I decided to risk a call and lifted my leg, and entered in the number for Lántiān.

It rang once before being answered. "Yes, ma'am, did you find anyone?"

"No," I replied. "I am guessing no one has come up the stairs either."

"The stairs are clear, and the front door is locked. I have seen no one, ma'am."

I frowned. "Come on down and do a hover at the bottom of the stairs. Again, if anyone tries to run by, let them. We can hurry up to the foals the other way. Just get a good look at them. I'm going to keep walking around and searching for hiding spots. I know I heard the door leading down here slam, and I know it had already been closed."

"I'm on my way, ma'am."

Hanging up the call, I went back to searching. I would be damned if anyone thought they'd be able to hide out in the house and get away with it. The timing of my arrival with the foals the same day was troubling. Was this someone who had already been here and Malcomb had overlooked, or was it a new intruder here precisely because of us? I wish I had gotten Malcomb's phone contact already; I needed him down here. I didn't like having Lántiān this close to a possible intruder who may be out to get her or her brothers, but I couldn't effectively search and corner any intruder by myself.

I lifted my head high and called out. "I know you're down here, and I'll find you."

After searching for forty-five minutes, and having Malcomb arrive and join in, we found no trace of anyone.

Comments

[KeePony]

Since there is magic now ghost might exist.or one of the young ones having poltergeist problems.

[PiMan]

Pony with an uncontrolled talent for being invisible and mute.

[harts fire]

ok this is a strange happening but i am wondering , older southern house , was it a slave house? was it part of the underground rail road?
not going to say more.

[Halira]

10628306
It's Denver, not the south. Old house, but western.

[harts fire]

10628331
Denver hum interesting. i read to many story's to remember all the details.
well that and a bit of Crown Royal tonight.