//------------------------------// // Chapter 28 : Memories // Story: A Twilight Landing // by MerlosTheMad //------------------------------// Twilight was unconscious. There wasn’t a sound that reached out, on Earth or any other world to make her stir or wake up. Minutes stretched on into hours for an unmeasurable amount of time. Brief sensations reached Twilight, however, for fleeting moments. A tingling here, or the odd, cool breeze there, building slowly like a glass filling with water over time. Still, there wasn’t so much as a single thought playing its way through her head. So, the silence stayed its course. Eventually Twilight’s form began to move and her eyes fluttered, trying to open. “Uuhh…” Twilight groaned instinctively; one of her arms shakily rose up to touch her forehead. “What… Spike?” she muttered. No answer responded to her, so she tried another name that came to mind. “Jo? What happened… Jo? Are you there?” She said the name a few times, hoping her other friend would answer. Twilight finally got her eyes open, and felt all of her body’s soreness immediately, though it was all in the form of a headache. Oh, wow, she marveled. Even her thoughts felt incredibly disoriented for some reason, and she couldn’t think of a reason why they would be. Laying there for a second, Twilight stared up blankly and tried to regain her bearings. “What was that flash?” She directed the question at herself in an effort to jog her own memory. Slowly, she began recalling where she just had been, which was back in a stranger’s home. Did… Did my crystal cause this? her thoughts asked, beginning to catch up. Twilight felt unsure. “Jo?” she called again, weakly shifting. There still wasn’t a response of any sort. Still coming to her senses, she began trying to take stock of her surroundings in full, picking her head up off the ground. The room she was in, if it was a room, was very dark, and she guessed she must have been placed somewhere to rest. Oddly, though, rather than a bed or a comfy couch, she seem to be rested upon some hard, flat surface, like stone. Twilight’s eyes swiveled to either side of herself curiously. “Ohhhh, dear.” She suddenly had an overwhelming sense of vertigo ripple through her; all around, in every direction, was sheer blackness. The floor was indistinguishable from anything else, but somehow solid and smooth to her touch. Besides that, there was no light, no sounds, and it all felt very wrong. Stranger, though, it was as if there was light at the same time, as she could see herself clearly. “Where in Celestia’s name am I…?” Twilight asked aloud; her voice was the merest whisper. Twilight looked down at her body, and found she was still wearing all of her winter clothing. Wherever this is, it looks like I’m not in Idaho anymore... Seeing as there was no longer freezing cold Earth snow all around her, she weakly removed the coat, then the gloves. With one hand, Twilight reached up and began rubbing the side of her head soothingly, her soft fingers trying to work away some of the throbbing. These do come in use... sometimes, she begrudgingly admitted. Wherever Twilight was, it was no place she had ever seen before, nor did she recognize it. She turned around, slowly, to avoid aggravating the headache and trying to see anything that stood apart from the area. What Twilight wanted to find was something that could give some sort of clue or explanation; she did find something, and it surprised her. “Oh my goodness-” she managed to say, then let out a shrill noise and fell down on her butt. The thing moved, and rather suddenly; she repeated the same noise of surprise and began scuttling backwards on hands and feet away from… the something. It was a splash of color, like oils off of a painting falling from their rightful place on the wall. It had appeared as if from nowhere and began flowing towards Twilight across the ground. She panted, trying to get further away from the sudden phenomenon, only to stop again and blink in confusion; right there in front of her, they began to sort of fade away until they were gone entirely. Twilight let out a worried sound, then exclaimed, “I have no idea what’s going on!” She stood up quickly, not at all eager for a revisitation of the weird colors, only for them to begin appearing on and off all around her. I’ve never read about what to do in case of being attacked by colors! Her eyes darted back and forth around herself. Twilight called out, “Jo!? Alice? Princess?” She shook slightly, perhaps because she was on two legs, or perhaps because she was nervous. I’m running out of names to call and nopony’s answered me. No, no I’m on my own so they can’t… I wish I at least had my magic right now! She gulped and warily kept watch around herself. There were more swirls of deep colors; blue, green, red and more, flowed and cascaded in dim waves off in the distance. They began appearing, then disappearing again with increasing irregularity, but they stayed distant. Other than the ethereal scenery, however, was one other new thing that stood decidedly apart from them. Twilight blinked, her gaze honing in on the nearby stranger; they seemed to be unaware of her, as they were lying prone on the ground. Were they always there!? Twilight thought, becoming a little frantic. After a brief pause to still her quickening breath, and a glance at the weird colors, she made a decision over what to do. Twilight decided to get answers, and called out to the person. “I- Hello?” Slightly hunched at her shoulders, she slowly approached the prone, sprawled out shape. She moved closer, content that for now the colors weren’t coming closer. It’s a human, she noticed quickly, and a woman. Her clothes looked strangely familiar, she thought, too. Twilight looked around again, just making sure nothing else had changed, then got close enough to the stranger to kneel beside them, making sure that what she was seeing was real. “Hello?” Twilight repeated, then shook the woman’s shoulder lightly with one hand. “Are you okay?” She certainly felt real. “Could, uhm, you wake up, please?” she asked. Whoever the stranger was, she was human and someone Twilight had never met before. The woman didn’t stir necessarily, but did begin muttering things. “Hrmf-r- Crepes…” Crepes? Twilight frowned. “Miss? I reeeally hate to disturb you, but I’m sort of lost right now...” She tried again. After a minute of waiting for her prompt to work, she huffed out a breath and looked around herself tiredly. Great, Twilight thought. So now what? The colors swirling around nearby didn’t answer her. She looked all around herself again, but they seemed to be staying away for the time being. “So,” Twilight began, determined to get to the bottom of things. “To recap, there was a bright, weird purple flash, wasn’t there? Before that, I was with Jo and that family… with a man called Stan and that mare… that mare!” Her eyes widened, recalling the incredible, unbelievable news she had been given by the Equestrian, who had turned out to be named ‘Mary’, and claimed to be the mother in that same family of humans. She said she wasn’t originally a pony, though, Twilight marveled, a hand held under her chin in thought. But what does that mean? Her gaze fell back upon the human laying before her. She wanted me to make her human again… Huh. She considered well just how impossible that would be for her to do, and felt a twinge of guilt, because under normal circumstances such a spell might not be quite so impossible. I bet she won’t like that answer… The next great, important oddity occurred to Twilight, and she stood up again, thinking. How in the name of Equestria did she get turned into a pony in the first place? Magic doesn’t exist on Earth... She groaned, realizing she was just making more questions for herself that needed answering. “And what the hay happened that ended me up wherever this... place is?” Spinning on one foot, she looked around again at the nothing surrounding her and her unconscious company. “Mary touched my hand just before this…” Twilight stared down at her arm, recalling the last thing she could remember. “That could have caused the flash, instead of the crystal… but why? Better yet, how?” She scrunched up her face hard in thought, then relaxed it, unable to recall ever reading about something that would explain things. “Great, I have no idea what to do next or an idea about anything else.” She exhaled hard and sat down with a thump. “Pony feathers…” she lamented, and began looking around herself once again, studying the shifting colors. At least the scenery’s nice… Twilight waited, and watched, thinking hard, until a nearby sound, which turned into a groaning voice, became louder. “Uggh… ponies… no more… ponies… get them away from me...” At hearing the stranger suddenly mutter something, Twilight got up, then leaned over her on hands and knees. “Miss? Miss, are you alright?” She waved a hand over their face. “Could you wake up, please?” I really need some answers here. Thankfully, the human’s eyes cracked open then. “Oh, uh, hello,” she greeted simply, then sat back right away to give them some room. The woman spoke again, if slowly, and said something quite confusing. “Ooh… Are you an angel? Am I dead?” she asked, her eyes widening at a very slow pace until she seemed to be mostly awake. Twilight blinked in surprise, leaning back slightly in confusion. “I- Uhm, I don’t think so- That is, you seem very much alive to me.” She briefly recalled the human legends of angels, or perhaps they were real, given how many accounts of them there were. “And I’m no angel. I am a unicorn normally, though, and those are quite mythical where you’re from too. That is, assuming you’re from Earth…” The human gasped and leaned up in a flash. “Twilight?” she asked, and began staring in a visible state of shock. It was then, that a thought came to Twilight. I recognize that voice. She mulled over the possibility she had already arrived at, before then taking a small leap of faith. “Mary? Is that you?” she asked slowly. “Yeah, it’s me.” Mary’s voice was a little short as she sat up. “Ooh, my head…” Twilight helped the other mare sit up, both hands on her shoulders. “I thought it was you. Easy, you were out cold for a while there…” Of course, she’s wearing the same clothes as when she was a pony… But how is she human now!? Despite the shouted thought, she continued calmly. “When I woke up I had a really bad headache, too. It should get better soon.” Mary grunted and shut her eyes. “That’s good to hear… Where are we now? I remember that there... was something purple…” Squinting, she looked around at the surroundings while standing up. “Whats going on now, Twilight? Did you do something?” Twilight was taken aback for a split second, then shook her head jerkily in response. “No!” she exclaimed quickly. “I didn’t do any of this. At least, I don’t think I did. Well, I guess it’s more accurate of me to say I didn’t do anything on purpose...” She laughed a little sheepishly at that, a bit embarrassed that her failed experiment might still be causing her trouble, even several months after its ill fated conclusion. Her eyes darted to the side while she considered what might have caused the earlier, purple flash of light, and the following relocation. “Great… just great,” Mary muttered in return, one hand held up against the side of her head. Twilight thought on about what could have happened, but looked back at Mary when her curiosity of the situation caught on one question in particular. “Mary, why are you human now? I thought that...” She trailed off, realizing she wasn’t fully aware yet of what to think at all. Mary stared back bleakly with a raised eyebrow, then looked down at her hands and arms, only to gasp. “I- Oh…” Her excited look was very short lived, though, it seemed. “Huh,” she mumbled, before continuing. “Here again…” Twilight tilted her head to the side, confused, and watched as Mary paced slightly. “Wait, ‘here again’? What?” She stood up as well, and found she was roughly the same height as Mary now. “Do you know where we are?” she asked quickly. “You mean you don’t?” Mary blinked at Twilight several times while gauging her reaction, then pressed on. “Well, I think I do, anyway… It feels about the same.” She looked up and down between her hands and Twilight, wearing a strained expression as she did. “Okay, I was speaking to Princess Luna about this, and she called it a ‘dreamscape’—” Twilight’s eyes widened to their fullest in an instant. As soon as she heard the name, she reached out and grabbed Mary by her sweat shirt’s collar. “Luna!? You’ve spoken to Princess Luna? How!? When!? How? Wait-” she paused abruptly, then went on hesitantly, her eyes squinted suspiciously. “Is this some sort of roleplaying thing? Because while trying to convince people I was real I ran into that way too often…” Mary shrugged out of Twilight’s grasp with an indignant look, and got a sheepish, apologetic one in return. “Heheh, sorry,” Twilight apologized. Mary sighed, then responded curtly. “I’m positive I don’t know what you mean by roleplaying, Twilight, but my private life is confidential- Oh, wait, you mean that fake acting stuff Marge keeps talking about?” She thought she could recall Herbert talking about the term in the past, too. “No, Twilight, it isn’t that, and in any case I mean the real Princess... Luna…” She trailed off slowly, until she stopped talking altogether. Twilight waited for Mary to continue, but the other mare stayed quiet. “Mary?” she prompted. After a moment without getting an answer, Twilight realized she wasn’t staring at her, but behind her. “What is it-” She turned around, and quickly spotted what had torn away Mary’s attention. Colors swirled all around them, each gathering of them forming great pools hanging in the sky at different angles; the pools were shiny, like the surface of a mirror, or rays of sunlight streaming through water. Twilight gasped at the same time as Mary, just as one of the pools exploded outward silently. The colors resettled just as quickly, pulling back inward and strangely, beginning to look as though they were gaining definition, and shape. Twilight realized that Mary had begun clinging to her arm, and that she was clinging back on impulse. “Twilight, what is this?” Mary huddled down towards the floor a little, eyes glued to the chaotic and ethereal light show. She was obviously trying to make herself as small as she could. "What's going on?” she shakily asked again, ”Twilight?” Twilight's eyes were unblinking. "I don't know. I really don’t know what's going on, Mary." Her eyes scanned from horizon to colored horizon. "Didn’t you say you knew where we were?" she asked, while trying to focus and get a grip on the situation. As it was, she still had no idea what to expect. “N-No-” Mary shook her head furiously for a few seconds, then stopped. "Oh, wait. Right, I think we’re asleep, actually." She braved a glance in Twilight’s direction, breaking her staring contest with their shifting surroundings. Twilight, continued taking a closer look at their surroundings as she answered back. “Asleep!?” she exclaimed, and spared Mary a quick look. “What do you mean?” The explanation had been short, and simple, as well as completely nonsensical as she saw it. Asleep? she asked herself, That makes no sense! Mary answered, but shakily. “Well, I don’t know anymore! It’s different! I- Darnit, I’m supposed to be home, raising my kids and fixing lunches! Not here in this! This is crazy-” Twilight listened, and waited for Mary to go on, while simultaneously scanning around herself at the flowing scenery. Then, a choked sob from beside her drew her full attention. “Mary!? What’s wrong?” She had thought something might have happened to the other mare. Instead, she merely had her free arm covering her eyes, but seemed alright. “I’m not supposed to be here!” Mary nearly screamed, though it came out weak. “That’s what’s wrong! I’ve- I’ve had to live the last several months of my life looking over my shoulder in fear that some random neighbor or car would see me! I’m a freak, trapped in some crazy b-movie plot with talking animals! Have you ever seen Rock-A-Doodle? Or Brave? I have! Neither of them lasted four months!” Twilight listened with an expression that deepened in worry slowly. Finally, she shook the other woman lightly by the arm. She recalled everything she knew about Mary, which wasn’t much, and tried to put it to use. “Mary! I- Look I understand that things have been hard, but now isn’t the time to-” Mary’s shocked, frantic look, shifted into an angry, accusing one. “Oh, you’re right about that, Twilight!” she interrupted, voice raised. “It’s been plenty hard having your hands turned into hooves-” For a brief second, something hard jabbed Twilight in the chest, which she could have sworn was a hoof where Mary’s hand should have been. “-Having your son denounce you as his mother, your husband look at you with eyes like you were already dead. Yeah,” Mary let out a terse breath. “It’s been hard, and now here I am in Wonderland, torn away from my family, probably about to be scooped up on some stupid quest to destroy the ring of power and slay the Jabberwocky-” “Mary!” Twilight shouted, but wore a pleading look. “This is not helping! You’re doing the opposite of helping! We could be in real trouble right now and need to work together.” She looked around herself quickly, to emphasize that point, and also to make sure nothing dangerous was happening. Why is she acting so… so crazy all of a sudden!? The idea to ask that came, then went, after she decided it wasn’t the best idea. I guess she has had it pretty rough from the sounds of things. Deciding to move forward with care, and before Mary could take a breath and yell more, Twilight continued. “Look, I am really sorry for your ordeal, and I mean it-” “Good!” Mary cried out, flinging a hand out towards the colors. “Because all of this is probably your fault. Not that sorry gets me my life back, Princess Twilight!” Twilight bit the inside of her lip. Okay, she’s upset now… and at a very bad time, too. What would Celestia say in a situation like this? She tried to think back to her mentor’s wisened expressions, her calm demeanor, and the unshakable air of confidence she always held. I’m nothing like Celestia… but maybe I don’t need to be. Twilight gathered her resolve, and began thinking up a string of logically chosen words, focusing on the need for a cohesive effort to solve their current situation. After taking a calming breath, she was interrupted. A scratchy, confident sounding voice broke through the relative silence that had started up. “I can clear these clouds in ten seconds flat!” the words rang in both the mare’s and human’s ears. “Rainbow, not now, please,” Twilight shushed to her left, then continued. “Mary, you…” She trailed off, then went stiff backed and whirled around. “Rainbow Dash!?” she cried. Suddenly, Twilight was filled to the brim with hope at the idea of seeing even one of her friends again. She whirled around again, still searching for the source of her friend’s voice. Rainbow Dash was not immediately behind her. “Rainbow!?” she called out again. Twilight began jerking her head in every direction, searching for origin of the voice, but all she could see were the shifting colors in every direction. “Twilight, look up.” Mary’s voice seemed to have lost the edge of anger it had held, and sounded wary again. “Do you see that?” she asked, pointing a finger at the glowing bubble only a few feet from where they stood. Twilight snapped her head up to follow the gesture, and found something, almost like a circular television in the air. She stared at the peculiar phenomenon, and after a moment thought she could make out the image of a blue pegasus hovering at its center. “Rainbow? Rainbow Dash!” Twilight’s face lit up with excitement, and she sprinted towards the bubble-like swirl of colors until she stood directly beneath it. “Hey, down here! Can you see me?” With one arm, she tried to wave and get her friend’s attention. Yes! Yesyesyes! They found me! Somehow! Oh, wow this is convenient! She thought she couldn’t smile bigger if she tried. “Twilight,” Mary began quietly from nearby. “I don’t think…” She had started to protest, but stopped again. “Prove it,” Twilight’s voice said, but at the same time didn’t. Twilight stopped jumping up and down; her arm froze mid-wave. “Huh?” Rainbow was looking in her direction, but at the same time, didn’t seem to notice her. The look the other pony wore on her face was an incredulous one, as if she’d heard something unbelievable. Twilight furrowed her brow, her attention on the scene unfolding in the bubble. “What’s going on?” Twilight asked breathily. “Rainbow?” she asked again, then became speechless, watching as Rainbow Dash flew up to the sky at incredible speeds, then began a sky clearing routine Twilight was well acquainted with. “Wait a moment,” she murmured, “This is…” “A dream,” Mary spoke up, answering Twilight’s murmured question. Twilight looked over, and found the other mare standing just beside her. “A dream?” she repeated, then realized what she had said. “You- We’re dreaming?” Remembering what Mary had said already, she added, “And asleep?” Mary nodded twice, slowly, while still looking up at the bubble; her face held onto hints of being upset. “Yeah, a dream. I met your other princess in one kind of like this, but she could control it, and told me I could as well just by thinking. Though I figured most of it out on my own because she disappeared… I wanted to know more about things, like the weird ‘Earth Pony’ magic I’ve been saddled with-” She paused for a second, then growled and muttered something under her breath that sounded like, “dammit, Herbert.” Twilight could hardly believe what she was hearing, both from Mary, and from the bubble, which continued to literally replay one of her oldest memories of Ponyville. She stayed quiet, already feeling a backlog of questions building in her head. “She really is a good flier,” Mary marveled absently. The bubble depicting Rainbow Dash’s aerobatics blurred somewhat, moving back and forth across the sky trying to follow the speeding movement of the pegasus. Her voice could barely be heard, too, as she called out her flying moves as she made them. “Loop the loop around, and wham!” Mary continued speaking over the phenomenon. “I’ve watched your show, and I always wondered how a horse with wings would ever be able to fly at all. She’s more like a humming bird up there the way she moves. More magic, I’m guessing.” In just ten seconds, the bubble’s images moved on until Rainbow Dash landed on the ground with a smirk. “What did I say? Ten. Seconds. Flat. I’d never leave Ponyville hangin’!” Twilight felt a little surprised that Mary was talking at all after how angry she had sounded. “I’m not an expert on pegasi, but in truth just about everything in my world involves magic… so technically speaking, yes.” After a moment, she added, “and yeah, Rainbow’s one of the best.” She spoke the latter quietly, but with pride. “Haha. You should see the look on your face,” Rainbow Dash’s image jeered. “Hah, you’re a laugh, Twilight Sparkle! I can’t wait to hang out some more.” Twilight’s features became relaxed, merely watching her friend fly backwards lazily through the air. She had seen the scene, ironically, once already, even if it was in the form of moving drawings made by an alien race. The image overhead continued, even after Rainbow zoomed away again and out of sight. Spike replaced Rainbow Dash, in what Twilight was now certain were events she herself had lived. Twilight managed to tear her gaze away, and looked over at Mary. After studying the woman for a moment, she looked up again at the bubble. “This is exactly how I remember that. It was the first time Rainbow and I met. I’m pretty sure this is my memory, actually. Not a dream.” After a moment’s pause, she added, “So we’re in my head right now?” She looked at Mary again. “Or mine, maybe-” Mary began to say, but was cut off by a sharp gasp. Twilight’s thoughts caught up with her in a rush, and words began streaming out of her mouth. “Wait, Mary! You said you spoke with Luna in your dreams-? But this can’t be a dream, can it? We’re wide awake right now! Unless…” She hummed for a split-second, thinking hard out loud. “Perhaps this is some sort of advanced spell of telepathy? But who cast it and why? Did Luna?” She paused long enough to consider the likelihood. The implications of everything were almost too much for her to handle. “No, that doesn’t make sense! Maybe the crystal acted as a conduit between both of our psyches? But how? Why? What do dreams have to do with this? How were you talking to the princess in a dream? The crystal’s reaction couldn’t have simply been caused by our mere proximity with one another. Does it have to do with your being a pony mysteriously? Mary you’re such an unknown. How did what happened to you, happen?” Twilight waited a full second for a response from Mary, but when none came, she prompted the human again. “Mary? Hellooo.” “Huh, oh, yes, I’m here,” Mary responded absently. She was standing a short distance away, and looked over long enough to meet Twilight’s gaze. “Hey, there are more bubbles now, Twilight.” With a gesture from her arm, she pointed out towards the surrounding blackness, sparsely filled with what looked to be random deposits of color. “They all look like memories to me… A couple of them are definitely mine, too. I saw one of when my hair first changed color, and another of the day before that.” She frowned back up at the bubbles, then added, “None of them go very far back, though. Not as far back as yours do, anyway. Is that important?” "Important? Uhm, Maybe." Twilight blinked, already interested, and nearly forgot what she had already asked. “That is very… that’s amazing, and interesting, if odd. Perhaps my hypothesis about a psychic bridge between our two minds was accurate after all!” Mary scrunched her forehead up at that, despite having been right there to hear everything Twilight had said. “Your hypothe-what?” she asked plainly. Twilight barely heard Mary, and continued speaking. “Though it being a spell or caused by the crystal makes no sense whatsoever. Even less so now. Items rarely cast magic on their own, or randomly, unless they’re designed to, at least as far as my studies have ever shown. And that crystal was a byproduct of my arrival! I guess Luna could have cast such a spell, but she isn’t on Earth, is she-?” “Twilight!” Mary shouted, and stomped a foot. Somehow, she was standing right in front of Twilight and waving one hand furiously in front of her face. Twilight took in a sharp breath and stepped backward on instinct, surprised. “Ah! What? What’s wrong?” Mary deadpanned a moment, then rolled her eyes. “You were in your own little world, present situation notwithstanding." She looked around, then went on. "Anyway, how about we figure out how to get out of here, first? Then we can talk about your shiny rocks and the… the other stuff. Like making me human again.” Twilight blinked, thinking over the suggestion, then nodded. “Right, right! Priorities are important in a situation like this… and…” She looked at the ground, realizing immediately what she wanted to say already and not let linger. “That means I probably owe you an apology then, Mary, for dragging you into this place. I’m really sorry.” Mary had begun to turn again, as if to start walking, but stopped; her expression was surprised. “Apology?” she asked, wrinkling her brow. “What- Oh, Twilight… look, about that, I’m the one that owes you the apology. I- I don’t know what came over me back there and…” She began to trail off, a renewed sadness on her expression, then hiccuped slightly. Twilight saw Mary wipe her hand across her face again, as earlier, and was surprised to see the grown mare almost crying again. The sight gave her a brief reminder of Fluttershy, though she dispelled it quickly. After a sniffle, Mary continued. “I used to think I was unshakable years ago.” She made a short laugh. “If I had turned into a pony then, I could have just blamed that for how I feel right now, or how I’ve been acting. It’s funny how my life was just falling to pieces even before that. So, I guess even if this was your doing, you aren’t to blame for anything worthwhile.” Mary turned towards Twilight, her back straightened. “You’re not at fault in the least, Twilight. We’re both in a serious situation from the sounds of it, and me taking my… half of it out on you isn’t helping at all. I’m an idiot.” She took a quick breath, having gone without stopping for one yet. “I’ve been an idiot a lot lately,” she finished, and began a staring contest with her feet. Something thumped against Mary. “Twilight?” she exclaimed in sudden surprised. Twilight had heard enough sadness in Mary’s voice to get a feeling for what she had been through, or a small idea of it at least; without waiting, she had rushed up, and hugged the other mare as she would have a friend. “Twilight,” Mary started, coughing. “It’s alright, I- you don’t need to hug me…” Twilight swallowed back her own emotions, her head draped over Mary’s shoulder. “Oh. I’m sorry you… you just sounded so sad.” Mary was silent a moment before she answered. “Well… I’m fine now, Twilight. You didn’t need to… but thanks.” Twilight sighed. She desperately wanted to work out Mary’s situation in her head. “I have studied humans a lot, and I haven’t got everything about your culture down yet… but I can only imagine how frightening it must have been trapped in a strange body here. Er, no offense to you or your race, but-” Mary coughed again, more loudly this time. “A-Actually, Twilight,” she said, laughing a little, perhaps nervously judging by the sound of it. “I meant to say that, you’re sort of a stranger, even if I did watch you in a show, and… you can let go now.” Twilight backpedaled away as soon as her mind clicked, and gave Mary a sheepish look. “Ah heh heh, sorry…” “It’s okay.” Mary smiled back at her. “Like I said, I’m the one that owed you the apology, Twilight, but thanks.” Twilight returned the softened expression, then nodded simply. “Apology accepted.” After a deep breath, content that things had calmed down some, she decided to not waste time getting the deduction of things back on track. After all, she considered, We still have no idea where we are. “So, first thing’s first, Mary. Since you seem to know something about… all of this, how do we get out of here?” Mary’s eyes widened after a second, and she began waving her hands back and forth defensively. “Twilight, no no no, I ran into Luna in my dreams. At least, that’s what she told me, and all I know is what she said. I could have been having a schizophrenic episode for all I know...” She looked around at the bubbles hanging in the sky. “But I kinda doubt that, I guess. This is completely different, and to be honest I don’t know that much or think I understood anything anyway...” After a sigh, and brushing back some of her hair with one hand, Mary folded her arms and looked back up at the darkened sky, eyes focused on a pony she thought she recognized as ‘Scarcity’. It was still playing through Twilight’s memories, it seemed. “Huh,” Mary tilted her head in a thoughtful looking way. “Hey, I think it changed, Twilight. It’s playing a different one, now. This one has your orange friend in it. Uhm, the southern one obsessed with clothing that always wears the hat.” Twilight blinked in confusion. “Applejack?” she asked aloud, then looked up. “Oh, yeah, that’s Applejack, but Rarity is the one obsessed with clothing.” Her correction was soundly interspersed with giggles though. “I can’t believe you got those two mixed up.” She laughed some more, smiling, while trying to recognize the memory. “Wow, they would either laugh or get really indignant about you mixing them up.” Mary harrumphed where she stood nearby. “I guess I didn’t pay that much attention while Anna watched the episodes…” she admitted. Twilight continued to smirk, then oooed in recognition over the memory. She instantly spotted and recognized certain piles of notes on her old work desk from the Golden Oaks library. “I remember this! This was my talent potion.” The fact that it was her last, few moments in Equestria, briefly pinged through her thoughts, which she did her best to hide. “Talent potion?” Mary asked, but was spoken over by a louder voice from above her. Overhead, the other voice came from the bubble, slightly distorted, while the view that could be seen was of various, floating vials of different liquids hovering over a desk. The cone of vision quickly panned over, and a pony, unmistakably Equestrian, came into full view. Behind the mare were a few windows and the cozy looking interior of a curious looking building. A couple bookcases, seemingly built into the walls could be seen, as well as an impressive mess of random items all over the floors. Twilight laughed sheepishly, spotting the state of her home. I hope Mary doesn’t notice that… I’m not not even anywhere near my home, and it’s embarrassing me. The orange mare in the bubble, Applejack, muttered something, and in a southern accent. “I’m not sure that I am followin’ you, Twi’.” She wore a skeptical look, perhaps tinged with worry, and was scratching a hoof through her mane while tipping her hat back slightly. Twilight’s cheerful, slightly manic sounding voice piped up next. “Applejack, you look tired. I take it that you’re still harvesting the apples in your orchard around the clock?” She was obviously talking towards something with her questions. Applejack shifted, uncomfortably by the looks of it, on her hooves. “Well… yeah, I've been workin’ all mornin’.” She paused for a second, her eyes looking around slightly, then asked, “Is it really that obvious?” The other Twilight responded quickly, and excitedly. “No, not at all…” She trailed off, then spoke again. “Well, maybe just a little bit,” she admitted. “But that’s not the point. I meant, are you feeling fatigued? Exhausted? Jaded?” “Hey, Twilight,” Mary spoke out of the blue. Twilight heard Mary speak up, and turned to look her way. “Yes?” She gave the other mare a smile, her gaze flicked somewhat between making eye contact and watching the memory bubble where Applejack still spoke. “I don’t know about that there last one, or what it means for that matter, but the first two for sure,” Applejack went on. “Mah legs feel shakier than Fluttershy around a crowd full of stallions.” Mary continued, also having waited a moment for Applejack, though the pony wasn’t technically present. “It feels a little odd just looking in on your memories like this… we can try and find a different spot if this is too personal or something. I don’t want to intrude on your privacy, is all.” She smiled a little sheepishly, glancing up again. Twilight blinked. “Oh, no it’s fine, Mary. I don’t mind at all. Uhm, let’s just watch this one, and then we can stop..." Twilight had an additional thought on the matter, but kept it to herself, smirking slightly. I mean, at least watching myself and friends like this is accurate. Mary stared for a second, then shrugged. “Okay, but we should speak about what we’re going to do soon.” Twilight nodded absently, already watching her friend again. She hadn’t said so, but seeing Applejack, the real Applejack, even just in a memory, was very comforting. Overhead, the memory continued. “Well then, allow me to help you…” There was a ding from nearby, then the cone of vision turned to face the desk again, where it began to stir something, which looked to be held in a familiar, purple magical aura. Applejack continued speaking from out of sight. “Twi’, please I don’t-” but was quickly cut off by an interjection from Twilight’s voice. “Applejack, just hear what I have to say, please?” Twilight’s voice began to fade out slowly, until the memory dissipated, and the bubble became a darkened orb. Twilight let out a disappointed sound quickly. “Aw, it didn’t even get to the good part! Or… actually,” she trailed off, recalling just how that experiment had ended up. “I guess it wasn’t that great of a part.” Drat! Actually, it might have helped to have seen how things went after I teleported... She looked over at Mary then. Or perhaps this spares Mary of seeing what happened to me. Beside her, Mary made a thoughtful sound, then spoke. “Well, seeing your memories is interesting, Twilight, but it doesn’t really get us out of here…” She was still looking up at the memory bubble, but faced Twilight when she finished speaking. Twilight began to nod. “You’re right. We should exchange more information to figure things out some… Let’s start with all of this.” To emphasize what she meant, she spread her arms out in a general direction across the area. “Both you, and Luna, could control things in here… I guess we’ll call it a normal dream? But in this one you can’t-” Mary interrupted, nodding through the entirety of what Twilight was saying. “-can’t will myself awake or get us out of here,” she finished. “That’s right. I could change what I looked like before, too, and make things up if they weren’t too hard to do. In here though, it feels weird.” Twilight’s eyes widened a little in fascination. “That sounds amazing! It- I have never encountered a book about this before… I wonder why that is.” She held a hand to her chin, humming. “I will have to speak to Luna about it I-” A stray thought occurred to her, and a few dots connected in her head. She can talk to Luna, that’s right… Uggh, I’ll need to ask about that soon. This whole situation has been so crazy, it’s impeding all sense of linear thought progression. Quickly, Twilight thumped a hand into her palm, then addressed the other mare again. “Mary, you said you spoke to Luna, and before that, when we were talking about meeting each other over the phone, you said that you were looking for me. Or, well, that the pony was, but you’re the other pony so… Also, it’s occurred to me that this entire situation is crazy, by the way.” Mary smirked slowly, then shrugged. “I’m not sure if I should be relieved or worried that you think that, too.” Twilight couldn’t help a quick smile. “Maybe both…” she suggested. Her expression became serious again, readying herself to ask her question. “In any case, back to my point, you were looking for me. Does that mean Luna told you I was missing?” Mary nodded, wearing a thoughtful look. “Yeah, that's right, actually. Uhm, which brings me to that other-” Twilight’s mild cheer cut off the other mare. “Yes! Of course, I knew they could find me. The princesses are incredible.” Mary gave Twilight a weak smile, but raised her voice to get another word in. “Yeah, Twilight, I don’t want to get your hopes up… The last time I was able to speak to Luna was over… two months ago?” Her eyes scanned the floor a moment before she nodded. “It was back during Halloween, if I remember correctly. I’ve been trying to call her again ever since, almost every night, but it hasn’t worked.” Twilight brought her cheering to a halt, then asked, “It hasn’t?” Her confusion deepened for a moment. “Why not?” At the same time, she was trying to work out in her head an explanation for how something linked to Luna, that she hadn’t heard of before, could be done by Mary. It must have to do with her being a pony, now, she decided quickly. Mary wore a flat look as she responded to Twilight. “I’m not sure. I don’t think we can do anything about it here, though…” Twilight opened her mouth to speak more on the subject, then closed it again and looked around herself. The dark still stretched on, and looked all the more massive, due to the occasional, flickering lights of ‘memories’ that stretched outward. “Yeah…” Twilight murmured, watching a nearby bubble that seemed to contain one of her memories. Absently, she tried willing it to stop, or change, just on a hunch, as Mary had claimed she could in the past. After a few seconds of concentration, nothing changed. Grunting in frustration, she turned to face Mary. “We aren’t trapped here, are we?” Mary frowned, still looking at the ground, wearing a darkened look. “I was going to ask you that…” She took a deep breath before speaking again. “I… I might be able to get us out of here, I guess. Maybe I just need to concentrate on it. I haven’t tried really hard yet.” After looking around again, she added, “This started because I touched your hand, didn’t it?” Twilight was reminded of what she’d thought of earlier. “Oh, I, uh… I think it did, actually.” Mary was quiet for a moment, she looked as though she wanted to say something. Instead, though, she looked up, her eyes partially lidded. Twilight almost spoke again, but began frowning, deep in thought, and sought out the bubble overhead as well; she did so more out of something to do while not talking, rather than for any productive purpose. Okay, I just need to organize all this information… then I can ask about how she turned into… Her thoughts trailed off momentarily, her eyes settling on the memory bubble overhead. Rather than Fluttershy, Rarity or even Rainbow Dash, there was now a familiar, large man with red hair, sitting squarely at the center of the bubble’s view. The sound of laughing from two different people made its way to Twilight’s ears. She quickly forgot the difficult decision she had been considering. Oh, it changed, Twilight tilted her head, studying the new memory. And that’s not mine… Right, Mary said she saw memories of her own, too. “Mary, this is your memory?” Twilight looked over and garnered the other mare’s attention, then looked up again. “Interesting, we could learn a lot about each other just watching these, huh?” She tilted her head again, wondering what sort of scene it was. The background was darkened, making it hard to see much. Mary followed Twilight’s gaze and looked up. Her eyes widened at what she saw. “Stan?” she asked dumbfoundedly. “Huh, yeah I guess it is a memory of… mine… Uhm, Twilight...” Her voice had a wary tone to it. “What’s wrong, Mary?” Twilight asked back, while still trying to puzzle out what exactly Stan and Mary were laughing about. “Uhm, Twilight, not to alarm you, but is there a way to turn this off?” Mary began circling around the looming bubble, a look of dread on her face, even as the scene continued to play out. “We need to turn this off right now!” Twilight looked over in surprise and spotted the sudden concern on Mary’s face. “Hm, there might be a way, since we’ve established we’re likely in a kind of mental simulation...” She trailed off as the large man leaned in and cut out most of the view with his head. “Didn’t you say you control things here? Oh! We should probably test-” “Mmmm…” interrupted a low, happy sounding voice. The groan was Mary’s voice, and could be heard from the image over head, even with no real visuals. “Mary, what was that sound?” Twilight slumped as the realization of what she was watching hit her. “Ah! How do we turn it off!? I don’t want to see this!” “Why do you think I wanted to turn it off!?” Mary was vainly waving her arms up at the images, jumping up and down trying to reach them, though that seemed to have little effect. The scene was escalating quickly as the man’s head pulled away. The view was then jerked toward the ceiling as the man, by all appearances, seemed to have thrown Mary onto the bed. “Please, Mary, make it stop!” Twilight hunched forward onto the ground and covered her eyes with her hands. “How!?” Mary cried back in desperation. Twilight tried to think non-human thoughts, about bunnies and cute kittens. In hindsight, I should have first thought about respecting Mary’s privacy, but this is ridiculous! When her plan to think of unrelated somethings failed, Twilight leaped up and grabbed Mary’s hand, falling back on a tried and true method of solution. “Mary, I think we should run away from it. No offense to you and your husband, but-” Before Twilight could finish, Mary was waving a hand and staring intently upward. “Wait wait wait,” Mary replied hastily, her attention focused entirely upward. “There, it’s gone. I just- I just had to think really hard on it.” She exhaled a huge breath, her hands leaning on her knees. Overhead, the bubble was now a cloudy grey, no longer containing any discernible colors or shapes at all. Twilight shuddered and leaned on Mary’s shoulder with one arm. “Oh,” she breathed. “Good, very good. I’m… glad. Thank Celestia...” Mary looked over, frowning slightly. “Sorry about that, Twilight. That whole thing was… strange.” She paused, face scrunched up into a strained look. Twilight looked up and quirked an eyebrow. “You think so, too? Huh, maybe the personal relations humans share with one another isn’t universally thought of as normal and-” Mary hissed in protest and waved a hand at Twilight. “I don’t mean the memory, uggh, I mean, I’ve been trying on and off to do things since I woke up here with you leaning over me.” She face palmed. “That came out wrong.” “It did?” Twilight questioned, tilting her head slightly. She wondered absently what Mary was talking about, but more importantly she was intrigued by the thought of Mary trying to control the ‘dreamscape’. Mary looked back, then rolled her eyes. “Never mind… Let’s finish solving Davinci’s code.” “Hm, that book was awfully convoluted…” Twilight mumbled. She had her arms folded over her front, still busily trying to suppress the earlier images and any subsequent thoughts she might be having about them. “So, to sum things up, you were taught briefly how to change your dreams, but haven’t been able to do so easily in this instance?” Mary opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off again by Twilight, already doing that for her own question. “Perhaps because we’re not in a dream, so to speak. We have been seeing memories. I guess this supports the bridge between us theory, so to speak…” Twilight donned an intense look of concentration, blocks falling into place in her head. “Twilight,” Mary murmured, almost a whisper. Twilight continued her line of thought. It all makes perfect sense. Mary’s a by-product of my experiment, somehow. Her eyes flickered towards Mary, then looked away again. I have to tell her about that… Oh, she won’t like that I’m sure, about as little as I imagine she’ll like hearing that I can’t turn her back into a human. The second consideration returned, reminding her quickly about just how much she had yet to cover with Mary; she seemed to be looking up at a bubble again. This is going to be tough. Twilight took a deep breath. I need to get this out of the way, and right now. She built up her resolve as best she could, and took a few steps until she was standing directly before the human she had inadvertently… turned into a pony of Equestria. “Mary, I have a quick question for you,” Twilight began. “Could you answer it for me quick before I go on? Because I have something really important to say.” Mary continued to stare upwards, her jaw hanging open slightly. “Yeah?” she said absently. Twilight furrowed her brow slightly at the woman’s odd behavior, but went on. “What was the date you turned into a pony, because I became a human… er, that is, I landed on Earth about the start of October… If you turned into a pony about then, I think I am directly related to the incident...” She bit her lip and flinched, ready for another angry outburst. Mary was quiet when she spoke, staring upward, and blinking quickly. “Oh, yeah, I did. I guess you’re right,” she answered simply. Twilight opened her eyes and looked at Mary, then tilted her head in wonder after a second. Huh, she’s taking this really well. Not wanting to sit on the information and wait, she continued, wanting to get it over with, so to speak. “Alsooo, I’m stuck as a human, just like you’re stuck as a pony. So, I can’t actually turn you back yet, because I don’t have access to my magic at all and I lost my horn… I have a theory that because I’m human, my body contains no magic, and as my hair grows out, it's begun changing to a human shade, and right after I landed, which also supports my theory. Mary, I just want to say, before you get upset, that-” “Twilight,” Mary broke in. “Shut up and look up, please. I really want to yell at you right now, but there’s… a thing. And it’s on fire.” Twilight recoiled somewhat, taken aback by how direct Mary had been, and was about to ask what she’d meant. She was interrupted though, by a deep rumbling, as well as a distant, rushing sound, like wind. A voice called out, surprisingly audible over the other sounds, and said, "Twilight... Sparkle." It was loud, almost a rumble itself, and difficult to discern the gender. Twilight held her breath for a fraction of a second, watching as Mary’s face and surrounding area lit up in an orange glow. The darkness was no longer quite so dark, but was now a pool of light that extended out in a circle all around. Twilight whipped her head to face upward, and found the memory bubble hanging just over head, but it was different from the cloudy grey Mary had shifted it to earlier. Now what? Another memory of mine? She didn’t have much time to think, as the memory continued to become clearer, and more transpired within. “It’s such a pleasure to meet you,” the voice continued, all while surrounded by the rushing sound, which actually was, Twilight noticed, fire. The entire scene that could be made out overhead was unreal. An ocean of lava and distant mountains stretched out to the distance. The sound of magma and the crash of rocks filled the air in a muted way, leaking out of the bubble. “Who’s there!?” Twilight’s voice cried out from overhead, and only slightly distorted by the strange phenomenon it came from. The cone of vision in the bubble shifted left and right, looking around themselves. The voice from before answered, slow and measured, as if making a point. “Who. That’s a good question… Who would do this to you. I might tell you, if I could.” The hurried, panicked breathing from the Twilight in the bubble increased. Her vision panned around again, then looked down, and caught sight of herself. She seemed to be held aloft in the air above blackened rocks, suspended by nothing. “Tell me who you are and release me-! I- This isn’t-” Twilight’s past voice trailed off quickly, replaced by rapid breathing, and was interrupted by a sound of wonderment from Mary, standing just beside the actual Twilight. “Wow, you really have seen some amazing… places, Twilight.” Mary gulped, and looked over at Twilight, her eyes wide and not entirely hiding the apprehension and nervousness she felt from seeing such things. “W-Who is talking to you in this? Uhm, if you don’t mind my asking…” Twilight looked over to meet Mary’s gaze, her hands twitching uncontrollably. “I don’t know! I don’t even remember any of this.” She made to look back up, but hesitated. “Maybe these aren’t just memories like we thought?” Before Mary could answer, the rumbling voice spoke over them again. “You are so afraid. You have only been trapped for a few, measly seconds, yet you are so afraid.” The voice held an air of calm, and disinterest, as though thinking, but the effect was ruined by its ferocity. “But I guess the decor I chose is what has you so afraid, or perhaps it is because I captured you? Or both? It must be both… I don’t understand these things myself, no more than I think I understand much of anything other than… anger?” The voice of Twilight from the image rose in protest again. “Listen, you! I was in the middle of a crucial experiment! I don’t care who you are anymore, but you will release me right this instant. I am the personal student of-” A zipping sound cut off Twilight’s voice. The voice continued after what might have been a gentle roar, or possibly a sigh. “Much better. I apologize, but I really just want to talk at you, not so much talk with you. I am more used to talking at things. Rocks, ice, lava… mostly rocks.” The voice grumbled a sigh again. “I am wandering in thought. I am sorry for that. Time is of the essence, and I am very used to having all the time in the world. This is such a strange feeling I- I rather like it. Much like talking to you, Twilight Sparkle.” The voice began laughing the moment it stopped speaking, but only for a split second. The rumbling voice continued, its laughter already finished and replaced by the disinterested tone again. “That is enough of that, I think that-” A second voice interrupted the first. “Time. It is running shorter than planned. The spell weakens. We suggest you hurry so we can finish.” This voice was completely different, sounding both far and near at the same time, like the echo of an echo, or a breeze blowing over several twisted instruments. Below the memory bubble, Twilight scrunched her face up in utter confusion, still watching the scene, though there wasn’t much to see. The Twilight overhead, because Twilight had to assume it was her given she knew her own voice, continued to look all around, visibly straining to try and see the speakers. All the while, muffled sounds, as if she were unable to speak any longer made their way downward. The rumbling voice continued, answering the newcomer. “Yes, yes, thank you.” It drawled slowly. “We will hurry. I just… want to enjoy talking to her as long as I can.” The second voice returned in a rush, surprisingly, almost shouting. “There will be more to talk to!” After a second long pause, it whispered, “Speed, quick. I must change what the unicorn sees. This wastes my strength.” The bubble’s image’s shifted, or rather, it began to melt. While the bubble maintained itself, the fire and mountains that could be seen faded away, and was replaced by a familiar view of a few, random pockets of color and darkness. Twilight’s eyes could go no wider, but they tried, and she tore her gaze away from the bubble long enough to look all around herself. What in Celestia’s name am I watching? Barely breathing from shock alone, she looked back up, not knowing what else to do. The hope for answers coming hung in her head like one of Jo’s sticky notes. The rumbling voice spoke up, sounding genuinely upset. For just a split second, it held a decidedly feminine air. “Truly, you cannot maintain it? Very well… I apologize for making the request in the first place. I wanted to share my whole story with the first thing I spoke to after our escape. Wanted to show it what I have… lived through. Wanted to so badly…” The echoing voice whispered again, replying, “Do what you want. You still can. Hurry.” A hand patted Twilight’s shoulder, and she spotted Mary in the corner of her eye. “Twilight, what is going on up-” Mary was cut off by a sharp shushing noise from Twilight, which she didn’t intend to be harsh, but at the same time needed to hear what was being said. “Acceptable. Alright. Hurry…” The rumbling voice repeated. “Very well then. Twilight, you may speak once more. I want you to see me now.” A great, scaled claw reached out of the darkness in the bubble, as if from a thick mist, and placed itself on the ground. “And I want you to know the things that will befall your world.” A second claw followed after the first, settling onto the ground and spreading out some. “I don’t want this because you have wronged me.” The two claws worked together, moving forward, towards the eyes of whomever Twilight and Mary were looking through. “I want this because you all wronged me.” A horned, reptilian face emerged out of the darkness. Soon following was a long, spined neck, and then a massive body, two great wings draping themselves down its sides. The creature’s maw was a nest of thick fangs, while spines and spikes covered and accentuated every inch of its face and body. However, despite every aspect working towards making the beast look fearsome, it all held a quality of age; the horns and teeth were cracked, the yellow colored scales and webbed wings were tattered and ragged. Unmistakably, Twilight immediately recognized the creature for what it was: a dragon. Furthermore, despite the possibility of scale being skewed by the view of the bubble, it was far larger than any she had ever seen or read about before. Given the size some dragons had been recorded to reach... that was saying something. Overhead, the dragon inhaled deeply, and leaned down some, almost seeming to be peering out at them. “And they will all… pay,” it finished simply. There was silence, for a moment, before the dragon murmured, “You may speak.” Twilight thought she heard Mary gasp, or shriek, or perhaps she shrieked and Mary gasped; Twilight wasn’t sure. Overhead though, she could hear her own voice again, coughing and speaking back to the other, dreadful ones. “I don’t know who you are. Either of you… B-but it doesn’t matter if you… it doesn’t matter what you do to me, the princesses and the Elements of Harmony will stop you!” There was a long silence as the other Twilight’s opposing remark faded slowly. The dragon leaned down somewhat, one eye widening to seemingly scrutinze the bubble up close. On reflex, Twilight shrunk down where she stood, and was vaguely aware that Mary was right beside her, and shaking. “Twilight,” Mary whispered, but was cut off. Twilight shushed Mary, her eyes glued upward. "You seemed so smart,” the dragon rumbled. “But you have a simple mind, I see. Only focused on pointless somethings. Smarter would it have been to try and get information, helpless under our power as you are.” The sound of Twilight’s hurried breathing and fear sounds increased. “You’ll never get away with-!” Her voice cut off, the muffled sounds of speechlessness returning. The cone of vision, Twilight’s sight, began looking to and fro around the dragon. “That’s enough. If you did not hear, we haven’t much time. Now then, there is much I wish to share with you, regardless. If you were regretting your choice of words, do not worry, it did not matter what you were going to say, only that you listen. I only intend to share what I can, once.” The dragon’s expression, if one could call it that, softened, and its eyes closed. “So… this is awkward. I’ve waited thousands of years to talk to another living creature, and here I am, forgetting what I wanted to share.” The dragon groaned loudly and sat. One of its large, clawed talons came up to rest on its head. “Existence is so woeful… My apologies, little pony, I’m scattered, but my anger keeps me driven. Perhaps I do not sound angry. This is because I have been such for so long that it doesn’t show any longer.” The rumbling deepened, somehow. “And I am, always angry.” After a short, suspenseful pause, made more so by the dragon’s glowing eyes, it plainly said, “You may ask me something now.” The dragon made a gesture, a flick of one claw, and then a gasping sound came from Twilight’s voice. "W-why are you telling me this?" the other Twilight asked shakily. "Why indeed," The dragon breathed out, smoke curling from the mouth and nostrils; there was a hint of a chuckle, as well. "Use that impressive brain of yours, Twilight Sparkle. I told you I've been locked away for a long, long time, didn't I? I told you that, and you still wonder why I would want to simply talk? I'm not made of stone, you know." The voice chuckled again, deeper this time. The mirror Twilight asked the question at the same moment Twilight thought of it, still watching. “Discord?” The two Twilights asked in tandem. “Trapped in stone after his escape… that was very interesting.” The dragon growled, or perhaps inhaled deeply. A moment later, it answered, “No, not Discord. I’ll ask you once, to not mention the fool’s name before me. And I will only let you live after doing so because I did allude to him first.” More chuckling followed, accompanied by a plume of smoke from the dragon's snout. “What do you suppose all this means, Twilight? What was that place that I tried to show you? To let you experience for yourself?” Once again, at the same time as her other self, Twilight came to the quick arrival of an answer and thought, Tartarus. At the same moment overhead, Twilight’s voice said, “Tartarus.” “Yesss,” The dragon hissed, in a quiet way; a grin climbed up the sides of its face, amused. “Very good, pony. I can see why the current queen chose you as her pupil.” A laughter, booming and loud briefly shook the bubble’s vision, before cutting off quickly. The dragon exhaled, its calm returned in a flash; the exchange between emotions gave it an air of instability. “Apologies. We’re having a polite conversation here. If I remember correctly, it is rude of me to laugh at your expense.” Twilight laid a hand over her mouth. The scene playing out above her was incredible, unbelievable, and more so because she couldn’t remember it ever happening, no matter how hard she tried. But both her voice, and the purple mane she could see at the corners of the bubble’s vision, were almost definitive clues that it was her memory. But how? She didn’t have time to pursue the question. Overhead, Twilight’s voice shouted again, “I don’t know how you escaped Tartarus, but if you were there, it’s where you belonged!” Her tone shifted from an overtly defiant tone, to one that clearly emphasized determination, and confidence. “My friends will stop you,” she finished. “Did I belong there?” the dragon asked in a drawl. “Honestly, I don’t remember. I really, really don’t… I don’t feel like I did. Maybe I did.” It was difficult to discern what emotions its voice held. The dragon’s voice chuckled in a low rumble before speaking again. "And please, spare me your baseless optimism over your friends." The voice turned into a growl before continuing. "Your friends will be doing no, such, thing." The smoke curled out from the pitch black and enveloped other Twilight again, sending her back into a fit of coughing. "Two of them are neither alive nor dead, another is torn between worlds and will stay lost forever and soon, the last two will be sent so far away they will never be able to return. You should all count yourselves lucky. Being the Elements of Harmony, it is safer to banish you, rather than kill you. You will be the sole survivors of your world." Twilight’s voice cried out overhead again. “You don’t need to do this! If you’re from so long ago, maybe things are different! Think about it-” “Irrelevant.” As the dragon spoke back, its jaws snapped like a cracking whip, accentuated by a snarl. Then it continued. “It is funny which memories one holds onto after so long, Twilight Sparkle.” Two great claws shifted across the ground, scraping as if on stone, until one of them turned up in a showy gesture. “Take me, for example.” The dragon laughed once. “I cannot even remember my name. But… I remember all of my hate, and what I want. The ones I want to destroy, first...” Twilight’s voice returned, putting a pause in the constant, heavy panting from her. “And-” She swallowed audibly before continuing. “That is the princesses?” Her voice was shaky, and full of evidence that she was fighting to not be afraid. In response, surprising the actual Twilight, and she imagined her past self as well, the dragon answered, “No. Not, the princesses. Your two rulers, the false sun and moon, were not even born yet in my time. I am sure a few have come and gone since my time...” Twilight’s voice answered in return. “They aren’t false! They’ve been- Well, Celestia has ruled for over a thousand years! She’s always controlled the sun. Ever since-” Her words cut off with a strangled sound. For the first time, the dragon sounded unmistakably female, and screamed back, “I AM THE SUN!” The words became a roar, loud enough that even if the ground didn’t move, it still felt like it. The dragon continued, its eyes now alight with fire. “I extinguished the everlasting night. I brought order to a dissonant world,” it continued to shout. “But what was I repaid with? Hm?” A claw dragged itself across the ground, sparking and eliciting a shrieking squeal. “Disloyalty. Rebellion. My rule was overthrown by whelps that wanted it for themselves, and by the so-called ‘Elements of Harmony’. I was sent to Tartarus to join the very loathful, wicked creatures I spent so long putting in their place.” The dragon reclined back, breathing hard, and spewing forth smoke. It continued to pause for a moment, then added, “No offense intended, of course,” It dryly muttered the apology off to the side. The echoey voice from earlier briefly returned, superseding the rumbling of the dragon’s. “None taken,” it replied. The wind-like words continued on hurriedly, not pausing. “I didn’t want to interrupt you, as this was our deal, but I cannot hold on much longer. You must finish your end of the spell. Hurry. Only minutes remain.” “Truly?” the dragon replied, almost sounding sad. “That is… very unfortunate.” She continued slowly. “Well, Twilight, it seems our time together is at an end, but I will confess, I think I enjoyed every second of it. I will think fondly back on this moment for a long time.” A short bout of laughter preceded its next words. “Yes… The memory will be second only to killing my descendants and destroying the world.” Twilight’s muffled attempts at shouting returned, but were drowned out quickly by more of the dragon’s laughter, which quickly became a smokey sort of wheezing. “Excuse me…” The dragon apologized, coughing. “Ahem, you may speak, if you wish.” It gestured its claw again, and Twilight’s voice gasped immediately. On the ground, beside Mary, Twilight furrowed her brow worriedly, trying to keep up with the influx of information. She decided that, somehow, things made less sense than they did before. Twilight spoke overhead. “You’ve made a big mistake if you think you can beat us.” Despite Twilight’s words, her tone didn’t share their strength; she sounded unsure. Twilight felt surprised at listening to herself; she had thought she would have said something different under the circumstances in that instant. Her other self continued, still surprising her. “Telling me all of this just means that I’ll be able to stop you. It doesn’t matter where you send me, or the girls. I now know that you can’t harm us. So we’ll stop you from hurting others. We’ll come back.” Twilight’s other voice laughed, another surprise, though it sounded forced. A long silence settled in. The dragon tilted its head slightly, studiously. “Oh, apologies,” It grumbled again, and laid down, its head coming right up to the bubble’s surface. Visible waves of heat could be seen around its teeth and snout. “I am getting on in years. Yes… Do not trouble yourself with returning, Twilight. I’m making sure that you will not be capable of doing any such thing, though I doubt you would be able to manage it in any case...” The dragon raised a claw; at the tip of one, blackened talon, an orange glow began to grow, and spread across its scales. “I merely wished to tell you my story, not give you a fighting chance. You will not remember anything of our encounter. You will not possess any means of fighting back. You will be long gone, and I will soon be laughing over the graves of everything you hold dear.” The bubble exploded in a flash of white, and red, then popped. Little sparkles of light and motes of glitter shimmered towards the ground, where they settled on the darkened floor. Twilight stared at them in disbelief, and reached out with one hand to touch them. They disappeared before she could, fading into the pitch black surroundings. After a moment, she became aware that Mary was hugging her, and that she herself was on her knees. “Twilight- I…” Mary began to say, but trailed off, and didn’t add more. Twilight sucked in a shuddering breath, and laid a hand on one of Mary’s arms. She stayed like that for a time, until she managed to work a few words out. “I need to get home, Mary,” Twilight murmured. In a flash of movement, Twilight turned to face to other mare, holding her hands in her own. “Mary,” Twilight started, nearly choking on her own voice. “Tell me everything, and if you can, try to get us out of here. But first, tell me everything you know. About Luna, about anything since you became a pony. I need to know everything. After, I can tell you what I know… and… and…” Twilight felt a tear struggling to come into existence, but she fought it back ferociously, and clamped her throat shut. “I can’t turn you back into a human, Mary. I don’t have any magic.” Mary’s consoling look shifted for a moment, to perhaps a surprised one, then settled again into a very calm expression. “I know, I heard you before,” she breathed in answer. Her voice had quavered slightly, but she pressed on. “I sort of knew since our meeting on the porch. I wasn’t too certain that you could after that, I guess. I mean, I assumed you could. You just seemed like a genius, and that stupid show’s literal embodiment of endless solutions…” She choked a laugh out quickly. “Well, I can’t really be upset about that now. It… wasn’t your fault.” Mary smiled, a ridiculous, large thing, then leaned forward and hugged Twilight a second time. “I… This whole thing is crazy, Twilight, but… I don’t know what to say… I really don’t… if there’s anything I can do for you, please ask. I mean…” Twilight blinked, a little emotionlessly, but patted Mary’s back. For a moment, she considered that she might be in shock; she didn’t think that what she had seen had struck home just yet, assuming it had been real. She had to work under the assumption it was, she decided. “Thanks, Mary… and thank you for thinking so much of me... but that show, by the way, greatly exaggerates things.” She tried to laugh, but couldn’t. Instead, a pensive breath escaped. “I think our problems are one and the same, now.” Mary smiled, but her eyes wandered, sliding down to face the ground to Twilight’s side. “So, and I know this may not be the best time to ask… but can I ever be fixed if you get your magic back?” “Oh,” Twilight said in surprise. Quickly, she tried to put that fear to rest, at least. In a forced, cheerful voice she went on. “Of course, that shouldn’t be hard at all, assuming I had magic.” She shifted her consoling expression to a slightly confident one instead. After taking a moment to lay a hand on Mary’s arm, she added, “I will get you changed back, Mary. Just like I’m going to find a way home.” Twilight leaned back, and gave the human mare the best smile she could manage under the circumstances. “Let’s figure this out, and start with day one… and then try to get out of here, alright?” Mary sniffed in return; she was teary, if not crying, but nodded. “Okay,” she replied, then, shakily began. “Well, to start… I didn’t run into Luna until much later. And, I don’t really know what turned me into a pony, either. There was no really noticeable flash of light or anything like… earlier.” She sighed and briefly looked at her hands. “I just, sort of woke up with hooves, a tail and a mane…” Twilight listened to Mary—the two of them sitting across from one another—and soaked up the information as well as she ever did anything. Still, her mind and thoughts were distracted, and wandering. She would nod every so often, then, later began to share things back with Mary and answer questions herself. All the while, though, the voices that she had heard hung in her thoughts, as well as the dragon’s face.