She woke up, and the buzzing in her head was gone.
It was, she realized, the strangest sensation, like suddenly not being able to feel your own heartbeat or pulse. She could feel her magic, strong and bordering on crippling, thrumming beneath her, but no more distortions.
She could, finally, think.
Astral Plane.
That was her name. No question about it.
She tried, in vain to throw back her thoughts, to try and remember what had happened, but her memory was weird, like a dream, vague impressions that slipped away before she could really figure out what happened.
Her strongest memory was of her telling herself to think of springtime. She could remember thinking of springtime, of fields of beautiful flowers, of grass shooting up, of her friends smiles.
Astral had not been expecting to be accosted by some random Earthpony, but there you go.
She had been trotting down the street, lost in her thoughts as to what happened- why did she feel so horrified and scared and nauseous by something she couldn't remember?- when an Earth Pony crashed into the ground at her hooves.
It took a while for her to figure out who the pony was, since she was absolutely covered in blood, but then Astral noticed the brown coat and curly, reddish pink mane.
It was the mare from Sugarcube Corner. The one who got into a fight with a Unicorn.
The mare choked, trying to say something, and on instinct, Astral tried to cast a healing spell, only for- and there was no other way to say this- her magic to balk and refuse.
But the mare sucked in a breath and managed to choke out "time spells, Canterlot Archives" before shuddering and curling inwards.
She wrapped a hoof around Astral's leg, and Astral was surprised by the strength of it. The mare looked half dead, yet her grip was as strong as Bulk Biceps.
Astral watched in disbelief as some sort of energy ran out of the mare's mouth, and down her arm, travelling up to Astral's body. She couldn't see where it went, but she flinched as something hit her horn hard enough for it to hurt.
And then, before her eyes, the mare . . dissipated, turning into some kind of mist that traveled straight into Astral's mouth. Panicked, she tried to use her magic, only for it to spark and fail.
It all took a couple of seconds at most, and, when it was done, Astral lay on her back, eyes wide.
"What, the fuck?"