Enigma's eyes snapped open. She was... home.
This was her bed in Ponyville. The place she'd gone to sleep two nights ago. No, one night ago. She'd just relived the previous day. What an odd dream. She'd put her things away and go speak with Twilight about it afterward.
She dug the frame of Cottontooth out of her bag, where it had been jostled from the top to hide under several of her dresses that she'd kept for possible future formal occasions. Staring at the damaged frame, she sighed. Maybe it was fitting that his picture stay like this. She'd still fix it soon anyway. As soon as she found out what exactly her dream had meant.
Unpacking three oversized bags of belongings didn't take as long as she'd expected, and she made the home look like somepony actually lived in here. Making sure that all things were in their rightful place, she exited her home... and ran straight into Cottontooth.
She blinked, stared at him for a moment, blinked again, and then stared at him for a bit longer. This was Cottontooth. She hesitantly asked, “... Cottontooth?”
The only reply she got was, “Nnnnope.”
And just like that, she realized the stallion was far too brawny to be him. This pony looked distinctly similar, but there were a few things different about him, like his overly large frame. This was definitely not Cottontooth.
“Oh, I'm terribly sorry... I thought you were somepony else! We haven't met, have we? I'm Enigma!” After a short pause without a reply, she asked, “What's your name?”
The large red pony looked around and said, “Uh... Big Mac.” He had a peculiar accent, but he hadn't said enough for her to really hear much of it.
“Well, it's nice to meet you! I, uh...” She could tell he wasn't interested in talking at this point. Perhaps he was busy? “I have somewhere to be. We can talk later, all right? Maybe later today!”
“Yyyyyep.” He was going to be tough to get talking, that was for sure.
She bid him a swift farewell and trotted in the direction of Twilight's tree house. She noted that, seeing as it was the middle of the day, Twilight would likely be running errands at this point, or Spike, that baby dragon. He seemed the assistant type.
The tree house was dark, but Enigma decided to knock on the door anyway, expecting no answer. There was none. She decided to explore and try to find Twilight in town, hopefully running into Pinkie Pie and asking her about the cupcake icing on the ground to ensure that she'd been seeing real events.
Exploring town, she spotted several ponies whom she'd met at the party last night and gave a heartfelt good morning to, but the ponies gave a bewildered hello, as if surprised that they would remember her after one night. In particular, Doctor Whooves looked startled when she greeted him, asking how she knew his name. Upon being reminded of the party the previous evening, he looked even more confused, stating that he did “not recall such a party for a pony named Enigma.”
Despite the odd behavior of the ponies who attended the party, she decided she would continue looking for Twilight. She found her thoughts drifting to this “Big Mac” pony, the one who looked like Cottontooth. His accent sounded somewhat like... that apple pony. She couldn't remember the name anymore. She'd ask Twilight for this apple pony's name.
After a fruitless search of the town, she decided to check the tree house again, and upon approaching, noted that it seemed somepony was home. She approached the door and knocked. Spike poked his head out and asked, “Yes? Oh, are you new in town?” Enigma nodded her head, and Spike opened the door, gesturing for her to enter.
Tilting her head, Enigma asked, “Have you ever seen me before, Spike?” The dragon shook his head, then realized she'd said his name and did a double take. “My name is Enigma. I moved in yesterday. Twilight met me at a party at my house. Pinkie Pie threw it.”
Spike nodded, slowly digesting all of this information. After Enigma finished, he excused himself for a moment and came back with a confused-looking Twilight. Twilight said, “Um... hello? I don't think we've met.”
Enigma wasn't prepared for this statement. “But... you went to a party at my house last night. You can ask Pinkie Pie. You most assuredly were there.”
Twilight exchanged a glance with Spike. “I was here reading all evening.”
“No, that was in a dream I had. You were reading about how sonic rainbooms are impossible.”
Twilight looked a little freaked out at this. “That... is just plain creepy. No... uncanny. Tell me about this dream you had?”
Enigma explained the events of the past day, as well as the parallel dream day she had, and Twilight nodded her head while taking lots of notes on a piece of parchment provided by Spike. After the explanation, Twilight said, “How odd! I remember the events of what you consider a dream, but I have a piece of paper just like what you described next to my bed! There were a few letters on it, too... as if somepony had tried to solve it already. I guess that pony is me!”
Enigma appreciated that Twilight was able to digest all of this information with a level head. Had they switched positions, Enigma probably would have thought that Twilight was a crazy pony... maybe Twilight secretly thought that, but everything Enigma described pointed exactly to Twilight's theory. Maybe somepony did believe her.
“Do you know if this will happen after you fall asleep again? What do you know of this phenomenon? Have you considered options for keeping a pony's memory of your day intact instead of what actually happened? What are you planning to do if this continues? Will you try--”
Enigma covered Twilight's mouth with her hoof and smiled understandingly. “I'll find out as much as I can tomorrow about it... or today, depending on how you want to think of it. And you'll be the first pony I come to about it. If I need help with ideas, I'll make sure to ask you. Is that all right?”
Enigma removed her hoof from Twilight's mouth, and Twilight nodded her head. “Sorry... I just get excited whenever something like this happens. It's my researcher's instincts!”
After a little more friendly conversation, Enigma decided she would see if Pinkie Pie remembered her, so she excused herself, citing this reason, and grudgingly departed the tree house. She beelined for Sugarcube Corner, expecting to find Pinkie Pie here, and was surprised to learn that she actually lived in the upstairs of the shop. She simply went up the stairs to the door fitting a bewildered Mrs. Cake's description, the door adorned with paintings of balloons and cake. She knocked once, and instantly, Pinkie Pie's smiling pink face burst out and she came nose to nose once again with Enigma, yelling a very loud “HI!” with her cake-smelling breath.
Enigma backed up a few steps and said, “Oh, um... hello, Pinkie! Do you remember me?”
Pinkie Pie stared at Enigma, getting a very serious look on her face, before deciding half a second later and saying an extremely happy, “Nope! So, what's your name and how did we meet? Huh? Huh? You must be new in Ponyville, because I know everypony in Ponyville and I mean everypony, but you already know my name so you must have met somepony who knows me, but nopony told me that somepony new is here so I need to talk to my spies, I mean friends, and get them to tell me why I wasn't the first pony to meet you like I told them to! You know, I was thinking of firing that tree branch for letting somepony through and not telling me... but there was no wind, so he wouldn't sway! HAHAHA--” She hadn't even finished her laugh before she suddenly gasped and slammed the door on Enigma, then immediately opened it again and flew out in a speedy pink blur.
Enigma still didn't get a single thing about Pinkie Pie, even have re-lived the same day twice. She also hadn't gotten a chance to ask about the frosting. She sighed and walked back downstairs, desperately hoping that Pinkie Pie had stayed, but fairly certain that she was already gone. Mrs. Cake was looking out the door Pinkie Pie had just burst through, then looked back at Enigma and said, “What did you say your name was, dearie?”
Enigma muttered a halfhearted reply of her name, then asked Mrs. Cake to let her know if Pinkie Pie came back, to which she nodded. She decided she would return home before deciding on her next action, because she didn't know what would happen tomorrow. Maybe things would go back to normal after she went to sleep. She was hoping so.
After opening her front door, Enigma was surprised to find another surprise party waiting for her, and a just as ecstatic Pinkie Pie ready to throw it once again. The crowd was a little smaller this time, mostly missing some of the ponies she'd greeted this morning, but still quite big for such a small town. She tried to memorize a few more names, but none ended up sticking except re-learning Applejack's name. She would remember it this time. Twilight was here again, giving Enigma a sympathetic smile, as if she realized that this was Enigma's second new arrival party. Enigma, for her part, just wanted the party to end so she could talk to Twilight about what they'd both learned.
The party eventually ended, lasting just as late as the party the previous night, and ponies began trickling out once again. Twilight stayed behind, past even Pinkie Pie's farewell that was punctuated by a series of yawns and guarantees that she'd be talking to Enigma lots in the future.
Finally, it was just Twilight and Enigma standing alone in the house. Twilight gave Enigma an uncertain smile. So cute.
Enigma smiled back. “I don't know if you'll remember me tomorrow... but make sure you keep notes on me just in case, all right?”
Twilight gave the most assuring nod she could muster, then left before the situation got any more awkward. Enigma really liked this mare. She hoped against hope that Twilight would remember her tomorrow. Mentally exhausted from the long day, Enigma went up to her room, lied down on her bed, and fell right asleep.
On the one hoof, it was a good thing that Enigma woke up in her bed. On the other hoof, she found out almost instantly that she was “dream walking” again. Her blanket had fallen through her insubstantial body as if she'd never been there. In fact, her bed didn't even look like it had been slept in. It was still made and tidy. She hopped off her bed and traveled downstairs. There were no oversized bags in her living room, no belongings set up around the house, no broken picture of Cottontooth. It was as if nopony had ever even been here.
She sighed, her cyan curls obscuring her face and masking the tears that began to form in her eyes. If this continued, she would have to wake up every day and painfully recall that there was a world in which she didn't exist, a world where ponies didn't believe in her. She really hoped this didn't last long.
She explored Ponyville, feeling more destitute than the previous day. Nopony could see her, and nopony knew she existed. Tomorrow, if things kept the way they were going, it would be as if she was a new arrival to Ponyville all over again. This was already starting to get to her. Still, every puzzle could be solved. She'd find the answer to this.
She reflected back on what she'd learned of this dream world. Or was this the real world? No, she firmly decided. She only existed in the real world... even if ponies would only remember her dreams then. She thought about the first few things that had happened when she had been in the dream world at first. Then she realized: That stallion had hit her! The bland pegasus! She decided to try to replicate the situation in which she had been touched by another pony.
Standing in front of a pony did nothing. Standing around and waiting for a pony to walk into her without her knowledge did nothing either. It seemed like nothing of what had happened the previous dream morning could happen this morning, either. What had been different that one time? She couldn't put her hoof on it.
So, in very specific conditions, she would be treated as a solid pony; however, she had no idea what those exact conditions were. She'd definitely ask Twilight about it tomorrow... right after she caught everypony up on what was happening.
Enigma just moved around the dream world in a daze. She didn't feel much like memorizing anything in Ponyville. She saw happy fillies playing in the sun, she saw happy ponies enjoying their days, and she saw herself unable to touch or feel any of it.
She went to the tree house, because her favorite pony in the world would most likely be found there. Sure enough, Twilight was indoors studying. Enigma sat down next to her and attempted to lean against her, passing right through her and lying on the floor. She glanced around the library for the first time, seeing the massive shelves of multicolored books of every name and type. A pony could spend months in here and not even finish a single shelf. To a researcher pony like Twilight, this room would be a dream come true. To a practical pony like Enigma, this room was only good for boring rainy days.
Enigma stood back up and stared into Twilight's eyes. She hoped against hope that this pony would at least remember her a little bit. Enigma really hated being alone.
Eventually, slowly, Enigma wandered back to the abandoned-seeming building, resigned to the fact that nopony would see her this day. She saw her home, wishing that it would hold her things now as it would the next day, but knowing it wouldn't... not yet, at least. She crossed the road leading to her home, but was cut off by a pony that swiped her and knocked her flat on her rump in his hurry to be wherever he was in a hurry to. Why, that pony... she ought to—wait, he knocked her over!
She immediately jumped to her hooves and dashed after this pony. It was the same brown pegasus as before! She jumped at him and managed to grab his hindquarters, and he stumbled slightly, but then her hooves slipped through him and he kept running. She jumped back up and continued the chase, yelling, “HEY!”
After a few more moments of this chase, she could see the lips of the pegasus moving, muttering something to himself. She dashed beside him to see if she could catch a piece of this pegasus's self-discussion, and was rewarded with a quiet, “She doesn't exist, I'm a big pony now, I'll find a good mare and we'll be together and she'll stop bothering me...”
Enigma stopped in her tracks. Who WAS this stallion?
Took way too long to post this. It's been done for a few days now! I blame my brother, a neighsayer who loves spending time with me nonetheless.
Was asked to try to add in more description of everything, so I did my best to put in some of that in the earlier chapters. They should be updated now as well.
--xoxo, Gossip Gi... er, I mean, Scootareader