... The rancorous chaos that was loosed by the daring sacrifice of the Faithful Attendant shows little sign of calming, the air still choked with fire, smoke, and magic. The baleful Instrument that had been crafted from the ancient knowledge barely understood by the Hidden Masters had fulfilled its purpose with destructive aplomb. The Deformed One and his mad plans had been thwarted permanently, but at what cost to the Realm? What was left for a would-be self-styled Queen to rule? And what of the fate of the brave Earth Guardian whose awe-inspiring display of--

"Stop. Just stop."

The Narrative immediately fell silent.

Jenny Tanner uttered a windy sigh and drew her feet up onto the sofa, folding her legs under her as she stared at the television. On her right lay her laptop, where a chapter lay half-finished as it had for the past few days. Absently she reached for the forgotten mug of tea on the end table on her left before frowning in disgust when the stone cold brew touched her lips.

She set the mug down with a thump, splashing cold tea on her hand. She glanced at the laptop, at the story she would much prefer to get back to. Certainly her publisher would have preferred that, as he would soon start hounding her for it as her deadline slipped, even if he did sometimes balk at happy endings.

I don't revel in tragedy, came the Narrative's comment in a sanguine tone.

"Sometimes it feels like you do," Jenny countered, though there was little conviction in her voice.

I revel in turning points. In the weaving together of plot threads. In the events that shape the Story.

Jenny sighed and pulled the laptop into her lap. She looked at the TV as the scene switched to a view from a news helicopter, where they were commenting on the enormous trees that had sprouted up around the site of the explosion, a tell-tale sign that Wild Growth had a hoof in events.

All the media could do was speculate. Speculate on the cause, speculate on the casualties, speculate on the responses of "no comment at this time" from government sources, speculate on just how bad it really was considering rumors of Twilight Sparkle bringing in the Element Bearers to assist.

Jenny ran a hand through her hair. "Maybe we should have done more to stop this."

I cannot predict the future, Jenny.

Jenny glanced at the laptop. She had been writing a story that was effectively a retelling of an event that happened in a kingdom a million years ago on a world on the edge of the Andromeda galaxy before things started to go south in Riverview, and the Narrative had shifted her focus onto it instead.

She raised her eyes to the TV again. A group of pegasi were warning off the helicopter. Past them, more of their brethren were whipping up a storm cloud, likely to send rain down on the fires that the firetrucks could not reach.

People had died, and she knew exactly who some of those casualties were.

"Maybe you could have been a little less cryptic," Jenny muttered. "You knew things that people like Twilight didn't. What's the point of being a Storyteller and trying to help when I don't get enough information?"

It's a delicate balancing act, Jenny, the Narrative replied. The idea is to nudge things along, not prevent things from happening that must happen.

"And this had to happen?"

Yes.

Jenny remained silent, having no words of response. All she could do was stare at the TV while her mind deciphered what she had already been told by the Narrative of events in Riverview.

We did help. Things could have gone far worse.

Jenny didn't see how, but she admitted that even with the knowledge imparted to her by the Narrative, she didn't understand the whole picture. She recalled how her older sister Sunny had sought more control over her life, and how she had felt that her transformation had given that to her. It felt as if Jenny had inherited that need to seek control, and it still eluded her.

She had instead reached an accommodation with the fact that she may never have that control, that it was illusionary from the start. Yet sometimes it still nagged at her. Sometimes she felt like she was still the feckless teen with far too idealistic a view of her world.

Jenny actually smirked at this thought. She had overheard her mother once say that Jenny had become cynical as she grew up. She was sure that had to be influence from her Aunt Eileen.

Being a Storyteller is not the same as being a superhero, the Narrative continued. It's about helping the world do its part to move the Story along.

"But we are trying to influence it," Jenny said. "The ultimate goal is to stop the Devourers, isn't it?"

That has not changed.

"But I guess you'll just tell me that tragedies like this ultimately will get us there."

The Narrative did not respond, as it realized it had no need to, as Jenny already knew the truth of her own statement. While the details were still vague, it had been clear that the "Deformed One" had been planning something truly cataclysmic. Had it come to fruition, it would have set back efforts to face and defeat the Devourers, perhaps permanently.

Jenny frowned as the news helicopter pulled back to a long view of the disaster area. She wanted to blame Sunset Blessing for this. That was far easier than what she had used to do, which was to blame Sunset Shimmer. Blaming the living gave a better sense of purpose, however false, than blaming the dead.

Yet there was a lot of blame to go around. She could guess as to exactly who the "Hidden Masters" where and what that "Instrument" had been. Seriously, were the Dreamwardens truly insane? Did they really think that the proper way to defuse a bomb was to create another bomb just like it? Ultimately, yes, it had served a purpose, but she hoped the Dreamwardens wouldn't pull that stunt again.

She closed the lid of her laptop and set it aside. She would have to call her publisher and tell him that the manuscript would be delayed. Perhaps he wouldn't mind, as he was likely just as riveted to the news networks as many Americans were. She felt a pang of guilt that they may never truly know exactly what happened; that it would all be cast in a pall of mystery likely to prevent this from souring human-pony relations (or Earth-Equestria for that matter, as some still blamed Equestria for our woes).

Or to cover up Sunset's connections to the government.

Or to prevent knowledge of the impending arrival of the Devourers from leaking too soon.

Or any number of reasons that she had yet to fathom. All she could take comfort in was that they all were essential to the Story, and to the ultimate climax that this part would reach when the Devourers did come.

Perhaps a hundred feet above the flaming husk of the trees grown by Wild Growth, Sapphire Sky continued to flap her powerful wings as she struggled to push a storm cloud into position alone. Each wingbeat moved her closer, but the upward swell of hot air exhausting upwards like a cannon threatened to take her storm with it up into the sky. She needed it to stay low and in position to douse the blaze inside that was loud enough to hear high above it. The entire structure couldn’t be allowed to go up in flame, so she needed to work quickly.

“Just a… little… further,” she grunted out, watching below as the top of the trees became visible. A plume of black smoke suddenly rolled up the side, making her cough and hack, squeezing her eyes tightly shut from the stinging fumes.

Unable to see, she continued on for a little longer to be satisfied that she was completely over her target. Trailing a hoof along the clouds surface, she flew up to the top, and went to the very center before gathering a large amount of magic. The cloud was taller than it was wide purposely to drop as much water as she could directly into the blaze. Having enough power, she gave a single strong buck downward, imparting it all into the cloud.

A wave rippled across the surface as a chain reaction made its way through the cloud, rapidly dropping the pressure, and changing it from vapor to liquid all at once. For a brief instant it seemed to hang in place before dropping like a stone down into the flaming ruins. Only staying in place long enough to see the world’s largest water balloon be swallowed up by the smoke, she took off before she was as well.

She exited the smoke, not even hearing the crash of water hit whatever remained of the Bastion and it’s underground complex. The only way to tell anything had happened was the pillar of smoke abruptly paused, before resuming with a much lighter flow that wouldn’t disrupt the second pegasi team with a solid wall of updraft. They were following up with another cloud filled with enough water to rain for hours and ensure the massive trees would be too wet to become an out of control bonfire.

Seeing that they were moving into position, she was about to head over and help them get it into place faster. But she caught sight of a flash of pink down among the tree branches next to the remains of a tall building partially destroyed by the massive trunks and roots. Her ears laid back as she saw that up on the roof a glittery pink and blue crystal pony form.

Pulling into a sharp dive, she headed towards the splash of color in the branches first as the crystal pony was semi-safely on a roof. Coming to a gentle stop next to a quietly sobbing purple unicorn foal trapped in a branch, she glanced up at three crying night pony foals above, and a pink pegasus just below.

“Hey now, it’s okay,” she gently whispered, reaching out to pull the small foal free and hold to her chest. “You’re safe now,” she gave the completely limp filly a nuzzle and nickered softly, wishing that she could take the foal's fear away. Feeling like she had a firm enough grip, she gently went down to a slightly older pink pegasus perched on a branch large enough for her to land on. The little pegasus gathered the unicorn up into a hug and the two cried together.

“Are you three alright up there?” she called up to three night pony foals that were all clearly related. The trio were also crying, with tear stains on their fur, but they were all on branches that looked sturdy enough to hold them safely. They also had their wings, so they could keep a better grip. “I know it’s gotta be scary being up this high when you can’t fly, but I can’t carry all five of you at once, so I’m going to get these two down to safety first then I’ll come back for you. Think you can hang tight for a minute?”

“We.. we can,” a filly with navy fur and purple mane responded with a sniffle.

Sapphire nodded. “All of you are really brave, what’s your name?”

“Cha.. Charlotte,” the filly answered hesitantly before adding pleadingly. “Jessie fell, help her first.”

“Fell?” She glanced over the edge, barely able to see halfway to the ground with all the branches and leaves in the way. Not many ponies would live through that, she realized, grimacing internally. “I’m going to get these two down first and I’ll take a look before coming back to you,” she answered, trying to sound a little hopeful.

“Please save our friend,” a little colt pleaded.

She nodded up to him, and gathered the unicorn and pegasus up in her forelegs as best she could, holding them tightly against her body. “Alright girls, try not wiggle too much.”

Spreading her wings, she leaned forward and pushed off to glide from the branch at a gentle downward spiral. Her precious cargo didn’t even seem to realize they were being carried by her wings, too engrossed in their mutual emotional suffering. The only roof close and stable looking enough was the tall building directly below which had the brightly glowing crystal pony sobbing uncontrollably at the edge.

Halfway down on her slow descent, a group of six local pegasi formed up around her with a green furred stallion speaking up first.

“The storms in place, Mrs. Sky. What’s going on down here?” he asked.

“One of the missing temporary ponies is down there on the roof, and I found some foals stuck up in the trees. There are still three more up there, and one more that fell,” she answered looking back up where the trio of night pony foals were waiting. “Any of you mind if we shift to making sure these kids are safe before we continue fighting fires?” she asked, not expecting any of them to disagree.

“Not one bit,” he nodded. “Hailstorm, Jacob, and Windy, you three go get those foals and get them back to the muster point.”

“I’m going to hand these two off to you,” Sapphire indicated two of the remaining pegasi as she delicately landed on the buildings roof before turning to the stallion who led the group. “I need you to stick around and keep an eye on that crystal pony while I go down to find the one that fell and make a call so she can get ported out.”

“Well, I could go down and do that,” he objected, nervously glancing at the mare towards the edge of the roof. No doubt having heard the warning about Jean and Bill.

“Cell towers are dead and I’m the only one with a satellite phone, just keep an eye on her, and if she starts coming after you, just take off,” she ordered flatly. The two foals she had carried down were reluctant to move, their crying having devolved into sniffles and occasional coughs from inhaling the smoke. “It’s alright girls, these nice ponies are going to take you someplace safe,” she gently encouraged, not wanting to just push them away. All of them had clearly been through something awful. She wished she had the time to let them calm down, but there was simply too much going on right now for that.

“Oh wow, is that Jordan? And Jackie? What are you two doing out here?” a pegasus asked as she leaned in closer. “Your parents must be worried sick.” She paused before explaining, “I live pretty close to them. Or… used to,” she finished with a dejected look out towards the ruins of the pony district.

“See that they get back to them safe,” she shifted away from the pair who protested at being separated as they were gathered up by the two pegasi.

Checking once more that the crystal pony hadn’t moved, she turned and patted the stallion on the shoulder. “You got this,” she said to be reassuring. As far as they knew the two transformed humans hadn’t yet figured out how to drain magic they weren’t in contact with so he should be completely safe.

Launching herself off the side of the building, she made a quick tight circle inspecting the mess of tree limbs obscuring the ground far below. “Alexa, call Princess Twilight,” she activated her phone, hearing it go immediately to voicemail.

Frowning at the lack of clear paths down, she snorted before diving down through the thick tangle of branches. It wasn’t pleasant, they snagged at her coat, and tugged on her feathers but she had to find out what happened to those who had fallen. Crashing through the last layer near the ground, she flared her wings to a stop in a hover above the floor of leaves and broken tree limbs and gave a little shake to get rid of the debris that was clinging to her.

“Alexa, call Princess Twilight,” she tried to call again, this time it actually started to ring before clicking off and going to voicemail. Snorting in annoyance she would try again in a minute if Twilight didn’t return her call.

The first pony she noticed was Wild Growth, lying closest to the building with a cluster of tree limbs beneath her. She looked awful, leaves and small branches stuck to her fur that was matted down with a layer of blood drying to an ugly shade of brown. Wild was obviously battered from her fall and her breathing was unsteady.

A flickering light alerted her to the presence of a crystal pony buried underneath a layer of leaves. Not wanting to risk moving an injured pony, she delicately landed, and with a quick flap of her wings created enough of a wind gust to blow away the thick blanket of leaves exposing a crystal pony stallion. His eyes were half-opened, but there didn’t seem to be anyone home as they were glazed over. He clearly wasn’t going to be getting up and running off but for falling from such a height he looked to be in decent shape. All the branches and leaves must have broke most of his fall.

Throwing the leaves off had also revealed a much smaller form, one that made her throat clench and chest hurt to look at. A young foal, barely older than her own was impaled on a branch, her limbs broken and twisted at unnatural angles. She was bleeding from where the branch stuck through her, and if it wasn’t for the tiny halting breaths, would be easily mistaken as dead.

“Alexa, call Princess Twilight, now,” she said through gritted teeth.

The phone rang once before it was picked up. “Sapphire what is it? I am extremely busy right now,” the princess asked, a loud crowd speaking in the background almost drowning out the alicorns voice.

“I found the missing crystal ponies, but also Wild Growth, and a foal who’s hurt really bad. Uh… her name is Jessie; she’s been impaled, and it looks like she broke half the bones in her body. Please come quickly to where I am. She needs to get teleported to the hospital right away,” she explained urgently.

“I… I’m sorry I can’t,” Twilight responded. “I’m still recovering from casting that shield spell. If I force a teleport right now it’s going to be too rough, and more likely to kill her than bring her to safety. I’ll need to find a unicorn to do it.”

“How long?” she demanded.

“I don’t know, everyone here is stretched so thin. No one was prepared to deal with this kind of disaster and we’re still scrambling to catch up.”

“Princess, please. There has to be somepony who can do it, this cannot wait,” she pleaded.

“I understand, I’m just trying to think of who I can send. I also need to know what the two crystal ponies are up to?”

“Bill is laying near the dying foal, he’s not going anywhere soon, and Jean is on top of the building crying over Wild falling,” she answered.

Twilight muttered something that was covered up by the sound of her hooves on tiles. “I’ll get someone there, five minutes tops, or I’ll risk it myself. But I’m going to need you to make sure Mrs. Martinez does not leave.”

She glanced down at the poor filly slowly dying at her hooves, imagining her own daughter in that position. “I can’t leave her to die alone.”

“Is… is she conscious?”

“No,” she answered softly, thankful for that small mercy.

“Then I have to ask you to do it. You’re the only one in the area who can safely keep an eye on her. If Mrs. Martinez gets away she may start killing anyone with magic that she comes across, and we won’t find her in this mess.”

Firming her jaw, she took in a deep breath. “Fine. Please hurry, Twilight.”

Rarity floated a jug of water in her blue magical aura over to one of the hospital patients. "Here you are. I'm sorry it's taking so long for the doctors to get to you. Things are hectic at the moment."

"Thank you," the man said quietly, as he took the jug into his hands. He just sat with it after, wincing in pain.

Her expression fell. She was doing her best to keep an optimistic air to her, but it was difficult. There were so many here that were injured, homeless, and awaiting word of their families. All of this had happened so abruptly, and it was hard for anyone to process to make sense of it all. All she could do was provide what help she could.

She lit her horn, and began pushing her supply laden cart down the cramped hospital hallway once again. The entire place was packed to standing room only. Every bed was filled, and every chair, and still there wasn't enough room. There weren't even clear patches of wall left to stand against, and she found herself having to carefully maneuver the cart around individuals who were forced to stand or sit in walkways.

Everyone was dirty. Ash and soot were thick in the air outside. In many areas there were thick clouds of it that hung over full city blocks. It was impossible to go a short walk without walking through the clouds, and many of the people here were coughing due to all they had inhaled outside. If anyone tried to look out a window they'd not be able to see much, there was simply too much smoke. Weather teams were working to clear it, and assured everyone that It would be gone soon. Fighting the still-raging fires was the first priority, with the second priority of searching for anyone still in need of rescue.

Rainbow Dash was supposed to be coming to help with that. Word had been sent to all their core group of friends that they were needed here. It had actually gone out shortly before the disaster, but getting everyone here that quickly was a tall order. Applejack and Fluttershy had arrived already, as they had both been close to a private airfield in Georgia when the call went out for them. Fluttershy was out in the fields now, helping set up camps for refugees there. Applejack was somewhere in this building, also helping distribute supplies. Rainbow was stuck waiting on security to allow her through the portal. Pinkie would be inbound with Luna soon, as it was faster for Luna to teleport her than for her to wait on a plane.

She paused and passed a lone blanket to a couple with several young foals. She didn't have nearly enough supplies for everyone in this hallway. She was being forced to make hard choices about who would get supplies now, and who would have to wait. More was on the way, at least it had been promised, but right now she needed to be stingy with what she gave out. She hated being stingy, it was the opposite of her nature, but there simply wasn't enough to go around. It broke her heart having to be the one to decide who would go with and who would go without.

Minutes passed, and all too soon her cart was empty. It had seemed so full when she had first started walking this hallway, but it felt as if hardly anyone had gotten anything from her. It was time to refill with what she could and make another round.

She boarded an elevator with her cart and pushed the appropriate button with her magic. In short order she was back down on the ground floor, but when the door opened her ears fell. She could see that there was barely anything left in the makeshift supply station, and even now more refugees were being moved into this area. There was a line of empty carts against the wall, with ponies and humans standing by, waiting to load them, but it seemed they would be waiting a long time.

As she rolled her cart in line with the others she heard a voice call out to her from down the hall. "Rarity! Twilight has somethin' we need to do."

She looked up expectantly as Applejack ran up to her. "What is it? I'll do whatever I can to be useful right now. I feel so disheartened, looking at all this misery and not being able to help."

"Do you think you’re up to teleporting seven ponies at once?" Applejack asked, seeming doubtful.

She pursed her lips. "How far do we need to teleport to and from with them? I may have greatly improved my abilities over the last few years, but I have my limits."

"It would be to the other side of all them there trees, and then back to where Twilight is at in the hospital," Applejack replied, gesturing towards the front door. There was little question about about what trees were being discussed. At this moment in time, there was only one set of trees that anyone in Riverview could discuss.

She nodded in affirmation. "I can manage it if it is within the city. I was afraid she was going to ask me to try to help bring in rescue workers from the outside. I'm better at magic than I used to be, but I'm no Starlight Glimmer… Speaking of which, where is Starlight? We could really use her help."

"Twilight's got her reading up about the original transformation spell, back in Canterlot," Applejack said, as she glanced around. She lowered her head. "Not sure what all Starlight could do to help with all this anyway. I'm happy that somethin' specific for us to do has come up."

"I'm guessing this is a rescue mission," Rarity conjectured. "Who are we rescuing, and how are we to find them?"

Applejack didn't look happy. "There's three badly hurt ponies, and another that might be kinda crazy. Sapphire is near them, and she has a satellite phone that's still working so we can lock onto her position. It's Wild Growth, the two humans that got turned into crystal ponies, and a foal named Jessica."

Her eyes went wide and started to water. "She doesn't mean poor little Jessie Middleton, does she? I can't stand the idea that that adorable little filly is hurt."

Applejack nodded sadly. "Maybe, I don know. They got some other foals there too, but they aren't hurt. Some members of the weather team are getting them to safety, but the others are so hurt they don't want to move them any way but teleport, and the unicorn paramedics are all busy everywhere else in the city. Twilight wants all them ponies brought straight to her anyway."

Rarity nodded and lifted up her leg to display her more fashionable phone. "Let's not waste any more time then. Diva, can you please call Sapphire Sky."

The phone began to ring, and was immediately picked up. "Who is it? Twilight, is that you? I really need somepony here, pronto. Wild, and these others aren't in good shape, and I don't like that I'm stuck watching Jean instead of with them."

"It's Rarity, and I have Applejack with me," she replied quickly. "We'll be right there, I just need to lock onto your GPS coordinates so we can find you. Um, what exactly am I teleporting into?"

"I'm on top of what's left of that big building on the other end of Wild's mass of trees. Think they said this was a school, but I think school's out for the summer… and winter. Roof has a few air conditioning units and stuff up here, but aside from them, and some charred branches, it is clear of obstructions. Please hurry, they need to get help immediately."

"Understood, and I have your location," Rarity replied, as she looked at the map that appeared on her phone's small screen. “We’ll be with you in a few seconds." She put her leg back down and looked at Applejack. "Come stand close to me, so we can get going."

Applejack complied and Rarity gave one last look at her map just to be sure she was absolutely sure she knew where she was teleporting to. She then lit up her horn and they vanished in a flash. The next thing she knew she was dropping, coming to a harsh stop after a short fall.

"Rarity, I think your aim was a tad off there," Applejack groaned, shaking her legs out.

She pulled herself to her hooves and dusted herself off. "You try teleporting to an unfamiliar place and trying to judge how high an elevation you need to be at. I think I did very well, thank you very much." She then took in her surroundings and her ears fell.

There were the remains of burnt out branches everywhere on the roof. Looking out towards where they had just left all that could be seen were the massive trunks of trees and the splintered branches. At first she thought she was just staring at one massive tree, but a second look revealed that it was hundreds of trees pressed so tightly together it was difficult to see they had separate trunks. She couldn't even tell where the trees ended as she looked up, as their canopy seemed to be the still oppressive cloud of smoke and ash above. She wondered if this was what an ant felt like when staring up at a typical tree.

"Sweet Celestia," she let out with a squeak.

Applejack whistled in appreciation at the trees. "Whoa nelly, no fruit, but I reckon I'd recognize an apple tree anywhere. An I'd hate to have to try and buck one of those beauts. It's a shame they ain't going to be able to survive, crowd'n each other out like that. Not ta mention all the nutrients they'd need from the soil. Gonna be a lot of dead wood in a week or so."

"Will you two stop gawking at the trees!? We already wasted enough time!" She heard Sapphire scream at them from close by.

She turned and looked in the direction of the voice. Sapphire's blue coat and feathers were soot stained, like everything else out here. Beside her a faintly glowing crystal pony sat sobbing. She blinked and looked at the glowing pony again. The mare might well be glowing brightly, but the glow was masked under layers of dried blood and the aforementioned soot. The crystal pony had a few areas she had obvious swelling, and at least one nasty gash on the side of her muzzle. It was hard to tell through the mess on her coat if there were any cuts or lacerations on her body.

"Where are they?" She asked the pegasus.

Sapphire hurried to the edge of the building, always keeping her eye on the crystal pony, and pointed a wing over it. "Straight down, ground level. Wild Growth fell from here, and from what little I could gather the other two fell from the trees, higher up."

They fell that far? She hurried over to the edge and looked over it. All she could see was branches and leaves, with no sign of the ground below.

"Aside from some broken tree limbs, and a thick carpet of leaves, there is a clear area from about the second story down," Sapphire explained. "Might want to give yourself a few feet to fall, just to avoid teleporting straight into the tree limbs. They don’t really have time for you to be careful."

She took a deep breath, and backed up a few steps to try to estimate where she needed to go. Sapphire rushed over and pushed her roughly to the side.

"What's the big idea!" She shouted angrily at the pegasus.

Sapphire gestured at the crystal pony. "You were backing up right towards her. She's still dangerous. Same goes with that stallion down below. He's hurt, severely, but he's still not in his right mind either. Watch yourself with him."

Rarity gave the crystal pony mare a wary look, and then nodded over to Sapphire. She then went back to the edge of the building and did the rough calculations for the teleport in her head. "Applejack, dear, I need you close to me again. I apologize in advance, this may be another rough landing if I'm to avoid the obstructions."

Her friend joined her, putting up no complaints about the possibility that this would be another fall after teleporting. Rarity lit up her horn, and in another flash of light she had nothing under her hooves again. The fall was short, and luckily was cushioned by the copious amount of leaves that blanketed everything below.

They got their bearings. There were indeed a great number of downed branches scattered about the area, primarily closer to the building walls where the accumulated in mass after snapping against said walls. There were also three pony forms on the ground; one closer to the school building, another two a short distance from each other closer to the trees.

With a shared glance, they wordless agreed on who would check whom. Applejack hurried over to the body closest to the building, while she hurried over to the other two forms. Leaves still fell from high above in a steady stream as if it were the running of the leaves back home, and that meant that both the forms were partially covered by them. She reached the smaller of the two and used her magic to clear those away, and gasped at what she saw.

It was indeed Jessie. The most obvious and horrific injury that could be seen immediately was that she had been unlucky enough to come down on a fallen branch, angled through her barrel and exiting from the side. She was bleeding heavily, and had probably ruptured an organ. Both of her legs on her right side were twisted in ways that no pony's skeleton could successfully bend, and her left foreleg looked to be in a similar state. There were gashes and cuts all over the filly's body, some already scabbed over, some still bleeding into the bits of fallen branches surrounding her. Her barrel rose and fell in irregular, shaking breaths, showing that she was still thankfully alive...at least for now. Rarity was no doctor, but anypony could tell that if something wasn't done soon, Jessie wouldn't make it. There was a dreadful thought that even if something was done soon that might not be enough.

She was afraid to even move the filly in her current state. Trying to remove the branch that was impaling her could cause more harm coming out than leaving it where it was for the moment, despite the threat of infection. There was no time to waste, she needed medical attention now...if it wasn't too late already.

She looked over to Applejack, and gasped. Her friend had picked up the injured crystal pony stallion and had him draped over her back. The stallion was somehow awake, despite having injuries that should have him unconscious. What was more troubling was that he was obviously draining magic from his carrier.

"Applejack, what are you doing! Put him down this instant!" She screamed in fear.

Applejack gave her a quizzical look. "Um, something wrong with me carrying him? He can't move on his own."

She shook her head in disbelief, frozen in horror at what was happening. "He's draining you! I don't want you in a comma!"

The earth pony raised an eyebrow at her. "I'd think I could tell if he were hurt'n me any. I'm fit to run an Appleloosian rodeo."

Horror shifted to confusion. The stallion was definitely draining magic from Applejack. She could see his coat glowing brighter and brighter. Why wasn't the country pony feeling it? "Applejack...what is your PREQUES number?"

Applejack blinked. "The same as you and the rest of our friends, between eight and nine."

Rarity shook her head. "That's when we are working as a group using the power of the elements, dearie. What is it when you aren't? I know I'm a mid-four."

"I do'n know. They said they couldn't get a good read on it. Not somethin’ I'm that concerned about."

She wasn't serious, was she? "Applejack...are you telling me you're super powerful like Wild Growth, and just aren't living up to your potential?"

The earth pony just shrugged, barely shifting the crystal pony on her back. "Don't need any fancy magic for farmin’. Just good, honest, hard work."

That explained why Twilight had chosen Applejack to come along. The earth pony wouldn't be impacted by the crystal ponies, and Twilight almost certainly knew what all their power levels were. She'd personally been proud of her somewhat high four rating, and it had motivated her to learn a greater variety of spells after she'd learned of it. Now her vanity took a slight hit as she realized she wasn't sure if that counted as strong among her friends. Rainbow had bragged loudly about her seven score when learning of it, Starlight Glimmer (as everyone knew) was the most powerful unicorn since Starswirl, and Applejack's unknown number clearly was up there as well. Did Fluttershy and Pinkie have similarly high scores, and like Applejack just not discuss them?

"What the hell is taking so long!?" Sapphire screamed from somewhere up above. “I’m not hearing the sound of a teleport!”

She shook her head. How powerful she was in relation to her friends was not important. They were a team, and everyone contributed. Right now her contribution was she needed to get these ponies back to Twilight. "We'll discuss your magic at some later date. How is Wild Growth?"

"A mess," Applejack answered. "I don't see any injuries, but she looks like she took a bath in her own juices. She's breathin’ pretty hard, too. Out cold, couldn't wake her."

She nodded in acknowledgment. "If she's safe to move I'll levitate her close to Jessie. Then teleport the five of us back to the doctors before coming back for Sapphire and Mrs. Martinez. Let's be quick about it."

Hopefully they weren't already too late for Jessie.

An impromptu base of operations had been set up in the old town hall of Old Town. Tempest sat dutifully nearby Phobia Remedy, keeping alert of any potential assassin in all the flurry of activity. Phobia was quite busy, as busy as Tempest had ever seen the Dreamwarden be. Some might not recognize the level of activity that Phobia was doing though. The Dreamwarden went to checking over papers, to consulting with Princess Twilight Sparkle, to suddenly falling asleep for a minute or two--as if she were narcoleptic.

The Dreamwarden suddenly awoke again, and turned to the alicorn princess. "I've reviewed with the others the contract my mother-in-law and Bill signed. We all agree that they knowingly consented to allowing corrective mind magic in the advent that something was not right. You're free to proceed."

Twilight Sparkle didn't even wait to thank the Dreamwarden. She just went rushing off to where the two crystal ponies were being kept under guard. Phobia promptly went back to sleep. This wasn't a state of rest for the Dreamwarden; this was her immediately moving on to the next task on her agenda.

Tempest continued to scan the room with her eyes. Her charge was in the open, completely vulnerable to any danger. She'd tried to convince Phobia to at least do this in a private room, instead of right out in the open like this. The Dreamwarden was insistent that she be seen working, and that she be easily accessible to anyone who needed her on a moment's notice. She admired the Dreamwarden's dedication, but it still seemed an unnecessary risk. It wasn't her place to try to overrule Phobia, though. She'd given her recommendation, but she'd follow the Dreamwarden's will, as was her duty.

Sunset Blessing sat in a corner, unblinking and unmoving. The unicorn seemed to be in shock. Tempest was unsure if the leader of Riverview was fully aware of what was happening around her. Everyone seemed to want to give the red unicorn space, and not to disturb her, despite the fact that she was--for the moment--the one who should be leading these operations. The fact that Tonya had died was too much for the unicorn to cope with, and only Twilight Sparkle ever made an attempt to discuss anything with the preacher; and then only to briefly consult about the temporary transformation spell, before leaving Sunset Blessing in peace again.

The unicorn's location was ideal for observing the entire room, better than where Tempest now stood. After a brief moment of hesitation, she walked over to the unicorn who had inadvertently led to her long stay on Earth. Sunset Blessing didn't respond to her approach, didn't even look at her as she took a seat next to the unicorn. The preacher just continued to stare blankly ahead.

They sat in silence as Tempest continued to watch the activity for any potential danger to Phobia Remedy. People would glance at the Dreamwarden here and there, but it could easily be seen as curiosity about the pony that was snoring right in the middle of the busy room. There was no sign of hostility. There were furtive glances in Tempest's direction as well, but she knew these were aimed at the unicorn beside her. She'd remain vigilant, but there didn't seem to be any danger at this time. There was a dull background roar of voices, as various aspects of emergency operations were discussed and put into motion.

"You have my condolences," she said in an even voice to the unicorn beside her, not turning her eyes away from the crowd.

She could see the unicorn on the edge of her vision, and saw no response. She hesitated again, then decided to say a little more. "Even though the damage is immense, and we still don't know if anyone else died in it, what your wife did was a brave and heroic thing to do. If she had not acted, a far worse outcome would have happened. She laid down her life for the lives of others. She was a good mare, you should be proud of her."

Sunset Blessing still stared blankly ahead. There was no indication that the unicorn had even heard her. Tempest continued to watch the crowd. She had said her peace to the preacher, and couldn't fault her for not responding. They had their animosity between one another, but she wasn't heartless to what the preacher was going through right now. In the past six years the Dreamwarden's family had become like her own. She spent as much time with Phobia Remedy's foals as Phobia Remedy herself did. They had been in great danger through this entire ordeal, and the thought of what might have happened to any of them made her wonder if she wouldn't be in much the same state as the preacher of one of them had died.

Family, loved ones, that was what they were to her. It was something she hadn't had for most of her life in Equestria. Her own parents she hadn't been close to. The loss of her horn had hit them hard, and while they weren't cruel or abusive to her as a foal, they'd become distant. It had taken her a long time for her to realize that they were hurting as much as she was, and were at a loss at what to do. Their cold distance from her was not a sign of not loving her, but one of having so much hurt that they walled themselves off to avoid feeling it. She exchanged regular correspondence with them now, and they were proud of her. However, Phobia's family was still the family she felt most a part of, especially the foals she helped raise and teach. She'd almost lost them today, and only after almost losing them did she realized how much they meant to her.

"She was a good mare. A far better one than me," Sunset said quietly, surprising Tempest. She hadn't expected any response. She was even more surprised when the preacher continued. "I apologize for any wrong I have ever done you. I cannot justify anything I have ever done, not anymore. I can't make up for it either. Thank you for your kind words for...f-for her."

Still watching the crowd, she considered what else to say. Was it appropriate to say anything else? This was a rare moment, and she didn't know if it would be cruel to respond or not.

"I need to ask you a question," she said, after some self-deliberation. The preacher didn't respond, verbally or physically. The question was still hanging though. "Why did you not ask me if I wished to take part in your temporary transformation experiments?"

The red unicorn sat as unresponsive as she had been, and Tempest resigned herself after a minute of no response that none would be coming, but once again she was surprised when the preacher spoke. "I honestly hadn’t considered it. I don't know why. Perhaps because you didn't seem to be suffering or debilitated, so it didn't stand out to me that this would help you."

That was enough to make her turn her gaze briefly away from the crowd to look at the preacher. Only briefly though, before turning her eyes back. "I don't know if I should be insulted that you didn't consider how things impact me, or if I should be honored you don't think me a cripple. I've grown used to humans, and don't think I'd mind being one for parts of the day. Occasionally I just want to be able to go out and not be the scary broken-horned unicorn. I would have said yes if you had asked if I would volunteer."

"Perhaps some part of me bore resentment to Equestrians still," the preacher answered. Seeming to get angrier word by word. "And as such I didn't even consider helping one. That would be like me, wouldn't it? Me and my stupid, petty, foolish hatreds. See where they have brought us? See where they brought her? It should have been me...not her...it should have been me."

Tempest sat, still doing her job. Now was not the time for harsh recriminations. Now was the time to try to be kind, even if Sunset Blessing had never earned it. "I can say it is equally my fault. I had the ability to go to you and volunteer, but I chose not to. It was my pride that got in the way, and my prejudice to you. Pride and prejudice make us do foolish things."

Sunset stared at the crowd, but her eyes seemed to focus on the humans in particular. "You're right, and it is a lesson that has come too late for me. Have you been listening to what is going on around us? I have. The humans, when I ordered the evacuations they drove out to the pony residential district to help the ponies to flee. No one asked them to do that. They did it because they cared about their fellow people, and they put themselves in danger to give those ponies a chance to get out. That is something worthy of God's kingdom, something more worthy than anything I have done." The preacher bowed her head. "I thought...I thought when we became ponies we became something better. I was wrong. I became more prideful than ever, and believed that humans were less than ponies. I see it now, finally, that humans are just as worthy of God as ponies. I was a fool."

"At least the lesson has been learned," Tempest responded somberly. "If only all the Shimmerists could learn the lesson you have."

For what seemed the first time, the preacher blinked. She then looked around the crowd until her eyes fell upon another unicorn. "Number! Come here, please!"

Tempest watched as the confused blue unicorn mare came to them. Sunset Blessing spoke quickly. "I need a pen and paper. I need to write out some things."

"Are you sure you should be working right now?" Number Crunch responded warily. "You just suffered a big loss. Maybe you should just go home and try to sleep."

The preacher shook her head rapidly. "No, I need to do something, something worthwhile. Something she would want me to do. When I don't want to think about uncomfortable things I need tasks to do."

"What can you possibly do right now that isn't already being done?" Number Crunch asked skeptically.

The preacher lowered her head. "I need to write out the papers ceding control of SPEC to Wild Growth, at least once she's recovered...if she recovers. I also want to write a plea to all the Shimmerists, to give up their hatred for humans, to see us all as one and the same people as us. In addition, I need to give Twilight Sparkle the full details of every aspect of the temporary transformation spell...just in case I'm no longer available to consult; I'm almost certain I'll be arrested soon. I'm also stepping down as mayor and appointing you and Melissa as my temporary successors until a new election can be held. I would pass it to Megan, but she's still dealing with the after effects of my botched spell."

Number Crunch looked ready to object, but looked at Sunset Blessing with pity. "Maybe we can start an ex-Shimmerist support group," the blue mare said with a forced chuckle. "I'll do as you ask. Just try to take it easy. Welcome to the right side... Charlotte."

"It's still Sunset Blessing. I'll bear my name as my reminder of my shame," the preacher responded. "Thank you, Number, but please, hurry. Agents will be here for me soon, and I want to have everything written out before they arrest me."

Tempest perked her ears up. "Can I get something to write with as well?"

Number Crunch looked at her in confusion. "Um, definitely, but what do you need to write out?"

Tempest looked at her charge, Phobia Remedy. Who had been her friend as well as pony to guard these past six years. "I know I don't show it well, but these past six years have brought me happiness. Earth has become my true home in that time. I'm giving my formal resignation from Luna's service. I'll be staying on with Phobia Remedy, if she will have me. I don't want to take the chance that I am withdrawn from there."

"Resigning from your job might end up causing just that," Number replied skeptically.

Tempest licked her lips. She was committed to this path. "I'll also be applying for citizenship here, in the United States. I don't want to leave my home."

Number Crunch gently smiled. "Alright, well you may want to think about doing that before resigning from the thing keeping you here legally. I'll get you that and figure out who it needs to be passed on to." The blue mare then hurried off.

The two of them went silent again, as they went back to staring at the crowd. One trying to make sense of things and the other looking for danger. Perhaps both contemplating their futures. Tragedy was a horrible thing, but it brought with it change, and action. Nothing would be the same again after today. Today was a very dark day, but that didn't mean the future couldn't be bright. Tempest knew that she had a family here, and with that she had a lot of great things to look forward to.

Twilight finished working the spell that would fix the two unfortunate ponies' minds. It had been a long day, and physical exhaustion was starting to take a toll, to speak nothing of emotional exhaustion. She wished that she could be like Phobia, and do her work in her sleep. It would certainly make some things easier.

As she turned to relook over her notes she caught a glance of the trees in the distance, and shivered. The magic that Wild Growth had channeled had been unreal. She was happy that the earth pony had backed up her efforts. There was no real shame in the fact that her shield had not held, that was her brother's talent, not hers. No, it was something else that made her eyes linger.

What caused her shiver wasn't the fact that Wild Growth was as strong as she was, but the fact it put her own power in perspective. If an earth pony could do that, even the strongest of all earth ponies, then what was she herself truly capable of? She sometimes took for granted how much power an alicorn actually possessed. Celestial and Luna moved heavenly bodies, daily, and that should give anyone paying attention some clue. She grew up with that though. It was mundane, not something anyone thought much about. The power involved in such a daily task made what Wild Growth had done today seem trifling. Twilight had never truly unleashed the full might of her power. She'd certainly pushed out a lot of power in the past, but her need to control and focus what she was doing held that back. Exhaustion came not from the channeling, but the focus. What was she capable of if she truly let herself go and let loose everything? Faced with the evidence of what Wild Growth, Luna, and Celestia could do she was frightened of ever being put in a position to find out.

She looked over the readings she had on the two resonances. Bill she was confident it was still safe to end the spell, and that would heal his current injuries. That didn't do anything for his injuries he had when he was human, but right now his pony injuries were far worse anyway. She'd need to do that soon, or he would drift into a dangerous range with his resonance.

Jean Martinez was a different story. She'd been under the influence of this spell for a full day more than Bill had, and that had taken a toll. Her resonance reading was deeply concerning, and canceling the spell to let her revert back to human could be dangerous for her. After consulting about the readings with Sunset Blessing, the unicorn had mournfully given the recommendation that the only viable option was transforming Jean Martinez permanently into a pony. It wasn't a surprising conclusion for a Shimnerist to give. However, her own conclusions backed that would indeed stabilize the resonance; the preacher's recommendation was merely a second expert opinion, and it reinforced her own in this case. She was just desperately looking for other options.

For right now they would maintain the temporary transformation spell, as she looked for those other options. How to best do that was a challenge as well, and added to the compound problem that the true resonance would continue to destabilize under the false one. She didn't like it, but saw no other choice. She wouldn't risk the woman's life by ending the spell and having her resonance collapse. At least she had stabilized the mind. There would be no more animal hunger for magic.

Until Starlight came with her research there wasn't any more that could be done. She'd give the instruction for them to end Bill's spell, and to make sure Jean's was maintained. She called a few of Sunset Blessing's mages that were standing by and gave the order. They put up no objection. The unicorn had ordered them to follow Twilight's instructions to the letter. Sunset Blessing had been nothing but compliant to whatever Twilight needed in the last few hours. That was good; because from the sounds of things outside, there were other things to be taken care of right now.

She stepped outside into the hallway and immediately had a pony yelling at her. "Where are my daughters?! Where are the foals?"

On the edge of the hallway, blocked by guards, was a very frantic looking pink earth mare with a yellow mane. A green unicorn stallion with a dark blue mane stood right behind her. The mare was doing all she could to push her way through, and if there weren't earth ponies among the guards she'd have already done so.

She walked towards the couple, extending a wing in greeting. "You must be Mister and Miss Gilmore. Your foals are safe. I had Rarity transport them to the hospital. I'll take you to them. Guards, you can let them through."

The guards stepped aside and the pink mare gave them a dirty look, before turning her gaze back to Twilight. "They're safe? If they're unhurt, then why are they in the hospital?"

Twilight glanced past the couple and saw that Phobia was still sleeping, and that Tempest had moved close by the Dreamwarden in a defensive position, while staring at the couple. They must have tried Phobia first, and failed to get by her guard. She gave the couple a gentle smile. "They're just shaken up really badly, but they have no serious injuries. Doctors are treating them for some minor bumps and scratches, as well as some breathing treatments since they were out in that smoke. They've been through a very traumatic experience, but are doing very well considering what they just went through."

A human couple came barreling in out of nowhere. "What about my foals?" The woman yelled in tears. "Where's Robby? Where's Jessie?"

Her ears fell. This must be the Middletons. "Robert is being treated for smoke inhalation, but is otherwise alright. Jessica...we'll talk about Jessica when we get there."

"What's wrong with my daughter!?" The woman screamed, causing everyone in the lobby turn to look at her. The only exception being Phobia, who continued to snore.

"You'll see," Twilight replied in a low voice. "Give me one moment to fetch Phobia and we'll be on our way. She has been eager to get to her own foals, but was helping with a few tasks for me."

She blink teleported right next to the Dreamwarden. She then flinched as a hoof almost collided with her face, but stopped abruptly just an inch away from her eyes. Tempest gave her an angry snort, and then settled back into a sitting position, staring at the crowd as if nothing had happened. The bodyguard was certainly excellent at her job.

As she was about to wake the sleeping Dreamwarden she turned and saw several official looking humans and crystal ponies surround Sunset Blessing. Over the quiet roar of activity she could hear Miranda rights being read to the leader of Riverview. This wasn't unexpected, but she hadn't anticipated it happening so soon. She still needed Sunset Blessing's knowledge of the temporary transformation spell.

Before she could intervene, a blue unicorn mare stepped in her way. "I apologize, but she wanted me to make sure you didn't interfere." The mare levitated a few papers towards her and whispered. "She left these for you, the complete details of her spell."

Twilight hurriedly grabbed the papers in her magic, before the federal agents could notice that she was being passed potentially classified information. She didn't want to be duplicitous, but this was a necessity. She gave a leary glance at the other papers the unicorn was holding in her magic. "What are the rest of those?"

The unicorn floated another paper towards her. "This one is Tempest Shadow's resignation from Luna's service. You might need to be the one to deliver that. I'm not even sure what the official channel to take with it."

She took that paper in her magic as well, and paused as she noticed the name it was signed under. "I think there's been a mistake. This is signed-"

"There's no mistake," Tempest said hurriedly, almost anxiously. "Luna will recognize the name."

She raised a quizzical eyebrow at the broken-horned bodyguard. "Okay then." There were still other papers in the blue mare's magic. "And the rest?"

The mare glanced at them. "For others to receive. Documents ceding control of SPEC and her mayoral duties. There is also her final manifesto to the Shimmerists."

"After everything that's happened, she takes the time to spout off more of-"

The mare shook her head. "You might be surprised at what it actually says." The paper floated towards Twilight. "Here, read it yourself. It isn't secret. I'll need that back when you're done."

Frowning, she took the paper into her own magic and gave it a brief read. She blinked and her eyes widened as she did so. "This is a complete course reversal. This won't be received well by the Shimmerists."

The paper was returned to the blue mare, who gave a sad nod. "At least she's trying. Her words carry weight in the Shimmerist community, so some might listen. More likely the humans than the ponies, but who knows? To tell the truth, I don't think it will go over well either. She'll be condemned by most Shimmerists for this. Given how high profile her relationship with Shimmerism has been, it's going to be a very nasty breakup. They'll be demanding her head for what happened today, as a way of taking vengeance for her betrayal of their beliefs."

Twilight wasn't sure if Sunset Blessing should get off from facing responsibility for what happened today. The fault didn't lay squarely on the preacher's shoulders, but her past decisions played a large part in it. It wasn't her call though. That was for the American courts to decide. She'd be noncommittal in her assessment if asked her own opinion. There were many details that she didn't know about what happened today, and might never learn. That made her wary of laying guilt on Sunset Blessing, contrary to her first instinct.

She returned the very un-Shimmerist manifesto to the unicorn. "Thank you for delivering these...I didn't catch your name."

The unicorn bowed her head slightly. "Number Crunch. If you're hanging around the city for a while you'll be dealing with me. I'm one of the ones she appointed to take over her duties. I also help with Wild Growth's business affairs." Number Crunch then hesitated. "How is Wild doing? She isn't just my employer, she's my best friend."

Twilight shook her head. "I'm unsure. I'll be getting an update about her in just a few minutes. She was alive when they brought her into the hospital, but hadn't made an assessment yet. Anyone else with those injuries would be dead already."

Number Crunch nodded. "Well, she's not anyone else. I have faith she'll pull through. I've never seen her get an injury she hadn't recovered from in a few days. She's taken gunshots like they were bee stings."

Enough bee stings at once could be fatal. "I hope you're right," Twilight replied. Then looked back at the sleeping Dreamwarden. "Thank you again, but I need to get back to gathering up Phobia. I have several distraught parents eager to see their foals, and their patience with me isn't going to last much longer."

The unicorn glanced over at the Middletons. "Tell them that Jessie is in my thoughts and prayers."

Twilight just nodded. She wasn't looking forward to telling them about Jessie. Thoughts and prayers wouldn't be enough for the condition Jessie was in. Jessie needed a full scale miracle, and today fate wasn't being generous with miracles.

Jean still lay miserably in the room she had been brought to when she first arrived here. Twilight Sparkle had done something to her that made thinking become increasingly easier, but right now she wasn't sure if that was a blessing or a curse.

The last two days were a literal blur in her mind. Details about anything were sketchy at best. There were broad parts of it she couldn't remember at all, and what few images she could remember made her shudder. She'd hurt ponies. She was sure of that. Those memories seemed to crawl their way to the surface when nothing else would. Worse, she had hurt both of her daughters...maybe even killed them. She had been coated in Catherine's blood. Twilight Sparkle said that she wasn't responsible for that blood. That didn't seem like it could be true. If she wasn't responsible for all that blood, why was she covered in it? She vaguely remembered attacking Haley, somewhere dark and cramped. Was Haley alright? They hadn't given her word yet about either of her daughters, only her grandfoals. Had she attacked her grandfoals too? She couldn't remember doing that, only remembering seeing them during Thanksgiving.

So much was missing. The last really clear memories had been her coming to her daughter's house. She remembered she had gone to bed with Roger. She remembered them happily laughing at their clumsy efforts to be intimate after so long. After that, she remembered small pieces of the next morning. Arguing with Catherine about something. A car ride to somewhere...it wasn't clear. It got progressively more foggy as the day went on. She wasn't sure about anything after that car ride. Images of different places she had been, but not how she had gotten there. Bill crying because he was so hungry. Feeling that hunger herself. Images of ponies fighting her. It was like she was looking at the broken memories of somepony else.

Her head lifted at the sound of the doorknob turning. A human man walked in, carrying what looked like a big piece of quartz. He walked over to her and set it down in front of her, before backing away. "I was told to bring you this. If you feel like you might be getting low on magic you can absorb from that."

She looked at the crystal in disgust. Her need for magic, that was the root of all the hurt she had caused. "I don't want it. I don't want to even think about absorbing magic. Why isn't she just ending this spell, so I don't hurt anypony else?"

The human gave her a wary look. "She said it might not be safe to let the spell end. It needs to keep going until she feels that it is safe to end it. You need to absorb magic in order to do that."

"And if I refuse to absorb any more magic?" She sorrowfully challenged. "You can't force feed me."

He shook his head. "If you don't...well, I'll have to call her to see what she wants to do. She's taking care of a lot of people right now; please, don't make this difficult. Everyone is already having a hard enough time."

She reached her hoof out towards the crystal, and then kicked it away in defiance.

The man sighed. "It's going to be like that then? Fine, let me call her and find out how she wants to deal with this."

Before he left the room she called out to him. "Do you have any word about my daughters, Wild Growth and Rosetta Stone?"

He paused. "I don't have any word about the Dreamwarden's wife, but I know Wild Growth has been taken to the hospital. That's all I know."

She stared at where the crystal now lay in the corner of the empty room. "If you can bring me word on both of them I'll absorb the magic from that thing."

The man let off a long breath. "I'll see what I can do." He then left the room.

Minutes passed by. The sounds of activity could be heard outside, a lot of activity. Something had happened, but she was unsure what. There was a barred window, but the view from where she sat just showed a darkened sky. Whatever had happened didn't really matter to her. She just wanted to know that her daughters were both still alive, nothing else mattered other than that.

Her ears picked up as she heard a familiar voice just outside the door. Roger was there, arguing with the man who had entered the room before. She quietly begged that Roger didn't come in. She couldn't stand the idea of facing him right now. How do you face your spouse when you just tried to kill your own daughters? There was no greater crime than murdering your own offspring. He had every reason to hate her, and he would be right to do so. She was a monster, unworthy of his love.

The arguing came to an end. She held her breath as the doorknob turned, and cowered into her corner as she saw him enter. She kept her head down, watching his feet. She didn't want to look up and see the accusation that must be in his eyes. Her jaw was tight from wanting to yell out that he needed to go away, but too ashamed to open her mouth. Instead she just squeezed her eyes shut, awaiting the coming condemnation.

The sound of his steps ended right in front of her, but she didn't open her eyes. Seconds stretched on as she waited for his declaration he was done with her, that he never wanted to see her again, that their daughters were dead and it should have been her instead.

Instead, arms wrapped around her, and pulled her close. She found herself held tightly in his embrace, the scent of him filling her nose. It was a light, musky scent, mixed with the smells of soot and sweat, the wool of his sweater, and something almost like freshly cut grass. He was breathing in a way that made her think he had been crying hard up until recently. His muscles were tense, and she could feel minor spasms in them. There was so much to his presence; her quiet, gentle husband who gave so much of himself for his family. Haley, Catherine, Jose, and Miguel had been lucky to have a man like him as a father, an example for their lives.

"I was so worried about you," Roger whispered. There was no accusation in his voice, no condemnation, just worry and love. She should have known there wouldn't be. Her Roger didn't know the meaning of the word hate. She wasn't even sure if he was even capable of it; no matter how much he should hate her.

"They told me you wouldn't take care of yourself until you heard the news about our kids," he continued.

She stiffened, but nodded enough for him to notice. She still hadn't lifted her head to look him in the eyes.

He let her go and sat down in front of her, legs folded under him. She heard a paper being unfolded. "This is the early medical report they gave me about Catherine. They're still examining her, but these are the things they know." He cleared his throat and coughed into his hand. Then cleared his throat again before reading. "Severe critical hematidrosis throughout the entire body, critical dehydration, acute exhaustion, critical blood loss due to hematidrosis, compound fracture of the third rib, compound fracture of the upper left forefemur, inoperable acute rupture of the external thaumatic flows, acute magical fatigue, critical hemorrhage on the lower abdominal muscles due to high impact abrasion, and... miscarriage."

A few of those terms she didn't even know. What was herma--she wasn't even sure what the word was? What was an inoperable acute rupture of the external thaumatic flows? She recognized enough of what else was said to know it was all bad. "Is she...is she going to live?"

Roger took a moment to answer. "They don't know yet. She's lost so much blood. They said anyone else would already be dead. The baby is gone, though. No question about that."

She began to cry. "I-I did this."

"No, you didn't," Roger replied sharply. "From everything they can tell. She did this to herself. She did it to save everyone in the city. You, me, the foals, thousands of others." He took a deep breath. "I don't know how much you're aware of what happened, or have been told, but a lot more was occurring than her trying to deal with you. They're still trying to gather information about what caused it, but the Bastion exploded. It exploded with enough force that it could have killed everyone in the city, or at least most of the city. Our daughter is a hero who threw everything she had into protecting us from that. They told me that the government intends to tell everyone exactly that before the day is out."

There had been burning branches, and smoke. Those memories had been there, but she thought them a dream. "And Haley?"

Roger sighed. "Phobia found her in the dream realm, so she's still alive. Phobia is also confident that she only has minor injuries, other than needing time to recover from an extreme magic drain. You did drain her, but you weren't in your right mind when you did it, and you didn't kill her doing it. They have a rescue team getting her and the others trapped in the school building. There's a lot of damage inside the school, and what Phobia learned in the dream realm doesn't tell the team about the current state of the hallways. Luckily, nothing collapsed on her or the others during the quakes, but there are obstructions to getting to them. They're confident they'll have them safely out soon."

She didn't respond. All that she could think of was that her daughter wouldn't even be trapped in that building if not for her. No...she could think about the fact that her other daughter was dying of blood loss right now.

When she didn't respond right away, her husband continued. "Rosetta told Phobia she wants the chance to talk to you in the dream realm, if she doesn't wake up soon. Phobia can get you into her dreams. She's worried about you, we all are. What happened to you isn't your fault, and the only one angry at you is you."

"They don't arrest people and keep them under armed guard if they didn't do anything wrong," she muttered.

Roger glanced at the door and frowned. "We're still waiting to hear if anyone you attacked is going to press charges. Twilight Sparkle is going to talk to their families, and Phobia is talking to the ponies that are still recovering. They're explaining what happened and why. There's a good chance that if anyone gets charged with anything it will be Sunset Blessing, since it was her mistake that caused this. The police just have to hold you for the time being, for your protection and everyone else's."

"If they are worried about other people then why haven't they ended the spell yet?" She demanded harshly.

Roger was quiet for a few seconds. "Because it might kill you to do that. Your human resonance might be broken. Do you remember Wild telling you about the danger of that happening? It was yesterday morning."

She blinked, and tried to remember. They'd argued about something, but she couldn't remember the details. Yesterday morning was so blurry.

"If you can't, that's okay. Twilight Sparkle said that the further your mind went from being reasonable the harder it would be to remember things from then. You definitely weren't acting like yourself when you were told about it."

She looked at her legs. "So...am I going to die?" The possibility of that occurring didn't seem nearly as frightening as it should have.

He bit his lip and then shook his head. "Twilight is working on a solution. She said this form will keep you alive, if it is maintained. To do that you need to absorb magic. We need you to absorb the magic from those crystals they give you, otherwise we might lose you. We all love you, and have been nothing but worried about you. We want you to be all better, but that isn't happening if you don't do what you need to in order to take care of yourself." He started to sob. "Jean…please...just take the crystal and absorb from it. We…I can't lose you. I wouldn't be able to take it. I love you too much."

She looked up at his face; her sweet and gentle husband. Then turned to look at the discarded crystal in the corner. Taking a deep breath to steel herself, she got to her hooves and began walking towards it. She was still angry at herself, and couldn't bring herself to do this for her own sake. It wasn't her own sake that moved her now. She just didn't want to hurt her family anymore, not Catherine, not Haley, not Miguel or Jose, or her grandfoals, and definitely not him. They'd all suffered too much because of her, and she wouldn't repay that by selfishly punishing herself. She wasn't sure if anything would ever be alright, but she could do her part not to make it worse.

Robby sat near his parents. He'd only recently gotten away from having an oxygen mask put over his face, and they'd told him that if he started coughing or having any shortness of breath to let someone know. His barrel felt a little tight, but he didn't think that was because of all the stuff he breathed in on the way here. No, the reason why was what was on the other side of the door they were standing outside.

The doctors hadn't come out and said what everyone seemed to know. They kept saying they'd do all they could. There were a lot of them, human doctors and pony mages, that were in there, and more kept being added. Twilight Sparkle herself was there now. Whenever one walked out the same message was repeated. That they were doing all that they could. He could see the truth in their eyes, and so could his parents. His little sister was dying, and soon they'd be forced to say that they were sorry, they couldn't save her.

His mom was being held tight in his dad's arms, and she wouldn't stop crying. Dusk was in a cradle in front of his grandmare, and Dusk also wouldn't stop crying, no matter what his grandmare tried to do. He wanted to cry as well, but he wanted to be brave for his family.

The period of self-recrimination had passed. He had briefly blamed himself for having fled his sister and the foals, leaving them to fend for themselves. Jessie's words came back to him, though. He wouldn't have been able to protect them. If he hadn't gotten Wild Growth they might have all died. For all he knew, if she wasn't on top of the school when she was she might not have been able to save everyone in the city. Jessie had been right to send him for help. Jessie was almost always right about things. He was lucky to have a sister like her.

He was just unsure how much longer he would have his sister. A part of him, the night pony part, actually swelled with pride at what she had done. Jessie had been brave, and a hero. She had stood her ground when Jean had charged her in the hallway, and when Jordan was in danger she had literally lept to the rescue. Any night pony would cheer her for what she did. A second part of him, the part that was a big brother, selfishly wished that she hadn't. He wanted his sister to live.

Amanda and Tom hurried over to his parents. He hadn't even heard their hoofsteps in all the noise of the hospital. Jordan was asleep on Amanda's back, and Jackie was asleep on Tom's. His dad let his mom go and she immediately crouched down and hugged the earth pony, while Tom went to his dad and they pressed hoof against palm in somber greeting. That was how men and stallions were supposed to be, showing calm and strength in the most dire of situations. He hoped he was doing a good job at that. It was hard to do; especially knowing his sister was fighting for her life.

A doctor exited out of the room, and ran down the hallway. The door was briefly open before swinging shut again. In that short period of time he heard small pieces of conversation within. Words like organ failure, blood loss, and rupture; all words no one wanted to hear. He wasn't sure if his parents had been able to hear, as they gave no additional reaction, but he caught sight of Tom's face, and knew that the stallion had heard it too.

He listened into conversations around him. Amanda was trying to say something comforting to his mom, and had already told her about how Jordan and Jackie had been sedated to get some rest.

"She's...dead?" Her dad whispered in horror.

Robby whipped his head around in despair, to see what doctor had brought the news. There was no doctor, just his dad and Tom. His dad had bent down and Tom had reached up and hugged him. Both of them were crying.

"Jessie's...dead?" Robby whispered. His mom was shaking her head in horror and disbelief.

Tom turned to them and flattened his ears, still crying. "Not Jessie...sorry for scaring you about her. It's...it's Tonya, she's dead. I'm sorry. I just learned about it a few minutes ago."

"My sister...I didn't even know...I should have thought…" his dad haltingly muttered through tears.

Robby felt like someone had kicked the air out of him. They were sitting here dreading the worst with Jessie, and out of nowhere they learned this. He didn't even know how to react. He had been spending the last hour prepping himself for the worst with Jessie, and then learnt that his aunt was already dead. He loved his aunt Tonya. She was always cheerful, and tried to talk to him like the cool aunt when they were around each other.

His mom hurried over to his dad and hugged him tight. "I'm so sorry, Paul."

"She was right at the heart of the explosion...at least...at least she died quickly," his dad sobbed. "I didn't get to say goodbye...I'm not even sure what the last thing we said to each other was." His dad wiped his nose on his sleeve and stood up. "I'm sorry, I need a moment."

He watched as his dad walked down the hall, sniffling and still wiping his eyes and nose. His mom sat down with her back against the wall. He went over to her and nuzzled close to her, and she laid a hand on his back.

"Here we are again," she whispered, holding back tears. "This is where our long, crazy journey started. Jessie in the hospital, with them telling us that there's no hope." That hadn't been said in words by any doctor yet, but the understanding was there. "You'd think only having to go through this once would have been enough."

"I'm here this time. Last time you sent me away," Robby whispered in turn, his head held low.

"You were Jessie's age last time," his mom responded in a low voice. "We didn't want to expose you to the fact your newborn sister was dying. At least, that's what we thought was best back then. I'm still not sure if we made a mistake with that or not. Who could have predicted that a pony from another universe was going to show up and try to transform the entire world into ponies? What sane person would have anticipated anything like that?"

"Today was pretty insane," he replied.

"You're right. I think I preferred the madmare from another universe trying to transform us all into ponies," his mom mirthlessly chuckled. Then stared downward. "Your sister at least got a miracle out of it back then. We need another one now."

"Maybe...maybe they could do the temporary transformation spell?" Amanda suggested hesitantly. "I know it's the last thing anyone wants to think about, given being chased by temporary ponies was how she ended up in this state, but it would buy time."

"A day, maybe," his mom said bitterly. "She reverts back to what she was before it was cast, and they've already shown they can't safely keep it cast on her indefinitely, not in its current state. I'm not saying no to anything that could buy her more time, but I've got to face the facts. It won't save her. We need something more."

"And way too much time has passed for a proper rehumanization spell, not that she ever had any memories of being human to draw on anyway," Tom added in sadly.

The door opened again, and Twilight Sparkle stepped out. She gave them all sad looks, unable to meet their eyes. No words needed to be said. They had known. There was no way to save Jessie.

"She's not dead yet," Twilight Sparkle whispered. "I promise, while she's still alive, I'm still trying everything I know to keep her that way." The alicorn then paused. "That being said, the doctors will be taking a short break in a few minutes. When they do, you will get your chance to see her...just in case you don't get another."

Special thanks to ASGeek2012 for writing the Jenny section, and to Lawra for providing the Sapphire section.

Next chapter, a character exits the Pandemic series as a whole.