//------------------------------//
// Chapter 25 : Memories 
// Story: My Little Marriage : Mary is a Mare 
// by MerlosTheMad 
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Mary 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 Mary, but only for fleeting moments. A tingling here, or the odd, cool breeze there, building slowly like a glass filling with water overtime. Still, there wasn’t so much as a single thought playing its way through her head.

Absently, unconsciously, she was aware that she was asleep. On instinct alone, she tried to reach out to her dreams, to Luna. The act had been trained into her after weeks of trying to find the pony princess again. Her will strained itself, but came up empty.

Now, as it was then, there was no response from the strange, magical creature she had met over a month ago.

So, the silence stayed its course; until, that is, Mary thought she heard something, and felt herself begin to wake up, ever so slightly. 

“Hello?” The sound called.

Mary thought she felt her ear twitch, or maybe she imagined it, and also became aware of her own breathing. Whose voice was that…? she thought, but only after a second or two of time.

Next, Mary thought she felt her shoulders being shaken, if weakly. The same voice repeated itself, too. “Are... okay?” After a brief pause, and perhaps more shaking, it added, “Could... wake up, please?” 

Mary tried to answer the voice, but she couldn’t quite manage to wake up. She thought she managed to mumble something, though still under the veil of sleep, but wasn’t certain. 

Mary waited for a response, which did eventually come. 

“Miss?” The voice said yet again. “I... to disturb you, but... sort of lost right now…” 

Mary wanted to shout, to say that she was right there, but couldn’t quite manage it. She waited for more words, or perhaps a slap to her face, but it didn’t come; afterwards, she felt herself drifting again, despite trying to fight against it. The feeling briefly reminded her of trying to resist the gas at a dentist’s office for as long as you could, only to fall under its effects without realizing it had happened.

The moment didn’t last long, and then she was entirely asleep again.

Mary had flashes and images cross her vision which were unlike the dreamless, blank sleep she had been in before. It took time, but slowly, her surroundings became clearer, and she found herself standing in a bright, overly cheerful looking field of grass. 

Overhead was a bright and warm sun. To her left, a babbling brook with a happy pink bridge run over the top, and even amongst the grass itself were hundreds of pretty looking flowers.

Mary tilted her head left and right, then looked down at her hooves. Great, she thought. Still a pony. Actually, wait, what was I before? She tried to think about it, but couldn’t immediately remember. Eh, whatever. I guess if I can’t remember it isn’t that big of a deal… She yawned, patting her muzzle with one hoof, then trotted towards what looked like a nearby town. 

Mary stopped in her tracks and furrowed her brow until it was almost a scowl. Oh, God, that place looks ridiculous. Her eyes ran over the silly looking design of the buildings she saw just up the dirt road.

“So what’s this place?” Mary asked the question out loud, as if hoping to get an answer. Funnily enough, and almost all to conveniently, she glanced over and came face to face with a welcome sign that read ‘Welcome to Ponyville’.

“Ponyville?” Mary asked in a confused tone. “Why does that sound so familiar. I- Oh no.” Her eyes widened to their fullest, her jaw crept open in a look of horror, and suddenly she was completely aware of where she had heard that name before. “Oh, no no no no! Not Ponyville!” Her teeth gritted, and she looked all around herself in dread. All at once, the memories had returned, memories from Marge, and Anna, all of them about pony this and pony that.

Mary huddled down somewhat, fearful already of what was in store for her. It was almost as if she knew already what was about to happen. “Why me?” she asked, then repeated the question louder. “Why me!? Why couldn’t this happen to someone who actually likes horses-” a sound caught her attention and cut her off. “What was that!?”

Mary’s shouting and confusion was quickly interrupted by a distant rumbling, and she looked down at the ground. There was a pebble there, laying in the road just before her hoof; it was bouncing and jumping slightly in the dirt. 

“Oh no,” Mary breathed again in dread, then looked up. 

There, creeping up the near horizon, was a cloud of dust, climbing into the sky between the eaves of the buildings in the town named, annoyingly enough, Ponyville.

Mary’s fur stood on end, her ears rose, and her tail swished in panic. No no no no no, her thoughts screamed, all the while she knew exactly what was coming, even before she heard and saw them. 

“One of us! One of us! One of us!” sang a chorus of voices, all growing in strength and loudness.

Mary hesitated long enough to see the horrible, frightening, candy colored faces of hundreds of cute, cartoon animated equines, all racing towards her. It was an entire herd, a literal army of stampeding ponies.

“Nooooo!” Mary screamed, and whirled around on all four hooves to charge in the opposite direction from her chasers. “Leave me alone! I just want to be normal!”

Even as Mary galloped away hard as she could, she knew it wouldn’t be fast enough to escape. Sure enough, a pink pony, the spitting image of the one from Marge’s and Anna’s cartoon show, came up alongside her, but in a canoe rowing through the dirt, that was somehow moving fast enough to keep up on land.

Mary sobbed and repeated herself. “Go away! No more ponies! No moooore! I just want to be normal!”

The pink pony smiled, and answered while laughing. “Silly! You are normal! Just like us! Come on, let’s go back into town and party!”

Mary shook her head and mane, her ears picking up the sounds of equines all around her, matching her speed despite her best effort. “No! Go away!” She looked up, and the flying miniature horses were everywhere in the sky. 

“One of us. One of us!” the flying horses sang down to her.

Mary shook her head harder, her limbs began to feel sluggish for some reason, and she felt a pony grab her shoulders. For some reason the world began to fade, even as she fought to be free. “No… No…” she mumbled.

Mary struggled to sit up. “Uggh… ponies… no more… ponies… get them away from me...” she continued to say.

From out of nowhere, a voice that was as clear as day spoke up, and got her attention. “Miss? Miss, are you alright?” She felt a breeze of wind, like a fan over her face. “Could you wake up, please?” the voice pressed on. 

Finally, after what had felt like an eternity, Mary cracked her eyes open, and took in the blurry sight of someone sitting over her. Oh god, was I having a nightmare? She couldn’t remember much, but the weird face of a pink pony with fuzzy hair had stayed burned into her eyes for some reason. 

The blurry form sitting over her seemed to speak again, louder this time. “Oh, uh, hello,” she greeted simply, then sat back away from Mary somewhat.

Mary struggled to speak; her tongue and mouth felt leaden. “Ooh…” she groaned, and quickly began to feel a pounding in her head that steadily grew in strength. Her next choice of words, which seemed entirely appropriate given how she felt, were, “Are you an angel? Am I dead?” 

Mary widened her eyes more, taking in the colors that played over the blurry woman’s face. They held a very pretty, almost magical quality. I must have died. This place isn’t my home.

The blur leaned away from her slightly. “I— Uhm, I don’t think so... That is, you seem very much alive to me,” the blur said, soundly dashing what Mary had already begun to assume. 

The blur paused for a moment, appearing to consider something. “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…”

Mary gasped and leaned up quickly. “Twilight?” she asked, staring in shock at the blur. Slowly, through her narrowed vision, the blur began to resolve itself into a familiar, purple-haired, pale skinned girl, that was also wearing a thick sweater.

Twilight blinked back at Mary and touched her chin as if she was considering something. “Mary? Is that you?” she asked slowly.

Mary paused, studying Twilight in closer detail to make sure it was her. “Yeah,” she finally answered, “it’s me.” Her voice and throat felt hoarse as she spoke. She winced, leaning up in an attempt to sit, and became even more aware of the pain that began to fill her senses, particularly around her eyes. “Ooh, my head…” She put a hand on her temple reflexively.

Twilight helped support Mary as she leaned forward, both hands on her shoulders. “I thought it was you. Easy, you were out cold for a while there… When I woke up I had a really bad headache, too. It should get better soon.”

Mary grunted and squeezed her lids shut, trying to dull the ache. “That’s good to hear… Where are we now?”  What happened back there? “I remember that there... was something purple…” Squinting, she looked around at the surroundings while standing up. The entire area was definitely not her quaint country home’s back porch.

Darkness stretched in every direction, including up and down, and made her a little sick to her stomach just by looking at it. Curiously enough, shiny lights, like windy disco-balls were interspersed every so often, just hanging in the air at various heights.

Mary tried to keep herself steady while looking all around, and simultaneously trying to puzzle things out. “What’s going on now, Twilight?” After remembering just who she was talking to and dealing with, and remembering the TV show that told her everything she needed to know about the unicorn, she added, “Did you do something?”

Twilight looked taken aback for a second, then shook her head jerkily in response at Mary.

“No!” Twilight exclaimed quickly. “I didn’t do any of this. At least, I don’t think I did.” 

Mary frowned slightly and gave Twilight a withering glance, then look back at the shifting scenery briefly. Somehow, I doubt that, and now things have somehow gotten even weirder… When I get back I’m yelling at Herbert for saying this would happen. Sighing, and finding the lights were just making her headache worse, she turned to face Twilight Sparkle herself once again. Maybe it’s Herbert’s fault for jinxing the universe. 

Meanwhile, Twilight continued speaking. “Well, I guess it’s more accurate of me to say I didn’t do anything on purpose...” She laughed a little, admittedly sounding very embarrassed. Her eyes were darting from one side to the other, noticeably avoiding Mary’s gaze.

“Great… just great,” Mary muttered, and held a hand up to the side of her head. What does she mean purpose? That she doesn’t know what she’s doing? She looked up to find Twilight making eye contact with her. My luck never ceases to amaze me. She kept the thought to herself, but only just.

Twilight had on an obvious look of curiosity over something, even as she spoke. “Mary, why are you human now? I thought that...” She trailed off, seeming unsure of herself.

Mary stared back, blinking, and not not understanding the other woman at all. She raised an eyebrow, then looked down. Once she had, she found her hands and arms, but no hooves or forelegs at all. 

Mary felt a scream of joy build in her throat, but it came out as a startled gasp, instead, then died quickly altogether. “I- Oh…” Her excitement was very short lived. “Huh.” Sadly, she turned her hands over at waist level, and felt her expression sink once again. I can’t believe I let that surprise me. I’m just dreaming… She looked up and around herself at the ribbons of light, feeling sure she knew where she was. “Here again…” she mumbled dourly.

“Wait, ‘here again’?” Twilight asked, and stood up as well, coming to stand at roughly the same height as Mary. “Do you know where we are?” she asked; there was a hint of confusion in her voice, which didn’t bode well.

Mary frowned and looked over at Twilight. If I’m dreaming, how is she here, too? Her thoughts were already turning over the situation, as well as everything from before. She had questions, and wanted answers, first and foremost over Twilight’s initial reaction to a certain confession she had made…

For now, Mary addressed Twilight’s response over their whereabouts. “You mean you don’t?” She blinked at Twilight several times, expecting for a mistaken reaction, hoping that the other woman would laugh and leap into an ‘egghead’ explanation about everything over where they were.

Mary continued when she didn’t get an explanation right away, but hesitantly. “Well, I think I do, anyway… It feels about the same.” She looked up and down between her hands and Twilight, feeling confused. “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. She reached out and grabbed Mary by her sweatshirt’s collar. “Luna!?” she all but yelled. 

“You’ve spoken to Princess Luna? How!? When!? How? Wait-” Twilight 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’s own expression was wide with surprise, but not over Luna. Roleplaying!? she thought in shock. Growling, she proceeded to shrug out of Twilight’s grasp, and put on what she hoped was an indignant look. She got a sheepish, apologetic one from Twilight, in return.

“Heheh, sorry,” Twilight apologized, and scrunched up her shoulders in an ashamed look.

Mary stared at the strange, purple-haired girl for a couple seconds, trying to think up whether or not she should say anything over the rough treatment. Instead, she sighed, then responded curtly. “I’m positive I don’t know what you mean by roleplaying, Twilight, but my private life is confidential-” While speaking, her thoughts were fixated solely on why a magical unicorn would ask about, or even know about such a thing, that is until she realized what she must have actually meant. 

Mary blinked. “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…” 

A swirl of colors whipped around suddenly in a flash of movement, just behind Twilight’s head, and made Mary jump slightly.. “Luna…” she finished, and stared in surprise. It was behind Twilight, and different enough from before to have caught her attention.  

Mary began to stare openly, watching as the colors mixed together and flowed into a big, blobby kind of bubble. What is that? she thought, more than a little worried. 

“Mary?” Twilight prompted out loud to her. “What is it-” 

Mary was vaguely aware that Twilight had turned around to watch the scenery with her, but didn’t answer. All around, colors were moving about and putting on a light show even more impressive than before, shifting and flashing briefly; the entire thing put any fireworks show she could remember to complete shame. She turned, trying to watch as many of them at once as she could.

Despite the incredibleness of it, Mary couldn’t help but think of how beautiful it was.

Soon, the colors shifted again, and began gathering to form what looked like great pools, each hanging in the sky at different angles; the pools were shiny, like the surface of a mirror, or rays of sunlight streaming through water.

Mary gasped along with Twilight, 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.

At the same time, Mary reached out and clung to the other woman’s arm on impulse. Surprising her a little, Twilight returned  the embrace without any obvious hesitation.

“Twilight, what is this?” Mary started to huddle down towards the floor a little, eyes glued to the chaotic and ethereal light show. She wanted to be small, just in case it was something she needed to actually be afraid of, and not just startled from. "What's going on?” she asked shakily, and then again said, “Twilight?”

Twilight's eyes were unblinking, her head panning to search around. "I don't know,” she responded, and in a tone that wasn’t very comforting. “I really don’t know what's going on, Mary. Didn’t you say you knew where we were?" 

Mary decided right then that Twilight’s expression and tone were decidedly worrying, uncertain, and not at all what she wanted to hear or see from the pony that was supposed to have all the answers. 

“N-No—” Mary shook her head furiously for a few seconds, then stopped. "Oh, wait.” She realized she hadn’t yet mentioned where she thought they were, and resisted the urge to curse over forgetting. “Right, I think we’re asleep, actually." 

The pools continued to shift from angry reds to eerie greens and more, but Mary risked braving a glance in Twilight’s direction, breaking her staring contest with the shifting surroundings.

Twilight visibly paused, then exclaimed, “Asleep!?” Quickly, she flashed a worried look in Mary’s direction. “What do you mean?”     

Mary answered, but shakily. “Well, I don’t know anymore! It’s different! I—” She bit her lip and held her own words back, feeling an unmistakable sense of frustration building up inside. In truth, it had been there ever since she had woken up. Briefly, she reflected why she hadn’t tried to wake up, and did just that. 

Mary found she was still there, standing beside Twilight. Her eyes widened, then clenched shut, and she tried harder. Come on! You stupid- Shen she opened them again, same as before, nothing had changed. You have got to be…

Mary scowled, then, began to vent her frustration, a sense of powerlessness working its way through her. “Darnit, I’m supposed to be home, raising my kids and fixing lunches!” Not getting caught up in crazy fantasy! “Not here in this! This is crazy-” The absurdity of her life and everything that had happened to her up to that point washed over her, and all in a rush. She didn’t want to be there, or anywhere but her home.

Mary surprised herself when a sob worked its way out of her, and a slightly feeling of dampness cropped up around her eyes. Great! And now I’m crying! What is wrong with me!? She scrubbed an arm of her eyes angrily. 

“Mary!?” Twilight piped out of the blue after staying quiet for nearly a minute. “What’s wrong?” The other woman had on a consoling look, a kindly look that held a strong measure of understanding and willingness to help.

Mary stared at Twilight, sniffling and feeling at a loss, then sucked in a deep breath. “I’m not supposed to be here!” she nearly screamed. Unfortunately, it came out weaker than she wanted, and her voice cracked. 

Mary panted and shook herself, pressing on. “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!” Her eyes clenched themselves shut briefly, and she had to rub another hand over her eyes. Dammit- Dammit! 

Mary continued, trying to keep her voice steady, and not slowing down. “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!” She took a step back from Twilight, but kept her attention focused on her, not looking away for an instant. I want answers-

Twilight’s worried looking expression only deepened, annoyingly enough, and worse, she moved closer, too, giving chase. She took Mary by the arm with one hand, a measure of desperation appearing in her voice. “Mary! I- Look I understand that things have been hard, but now isn’t the time to—”

Mary’s emotions shifted gears from shocked to angry in a flash, and she interrupted Twilight. “Oh, you’re right about that, Twilight!” she began, raising her voice steadily. “It’s been plenty hard having your hands turned into hooves-” She stepped up and poked Twilight in the chest, keen on getting her point across. It felt harder than she’d meant to, but kept going. “-Having your son denounce you as his mother, your husband look at you with eyes like you were already dead.” 

Mary let out a terse breath, trying to catch her breath. Her throat and eyes burned, and worse, the headache from earlier had returned with a vengeance. “Yeah, 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 interrupted suddenly with a shout, and loud enough to get her voice over Mary’s rant. “This is not helping! You’re doing the opposite of helping!” Her voice sounded strict, with an edge to it, but she wore a pleading look. “We could be in real trouble right now and need to work together.” 

Twilight looked around herself at the colors pointedly.

Mary stared back with an expression of shock. Her head wasn’t filled with any full thoughts, but she reeled from just being told off by a younger woman, something that had never happened in her entire living memory, and worse, by a woman that she knew was actually a cute, lavender pony princess.

Twilight continued, her wary expression returning after glancing around the area. “Look,” she began, and in a calmer tone “I am really sorry for your ordeal, and I mean it-”

“Good!” Mary balled her hands up and shouted the word, desperate to get control back. “Because all of this is probably your fault,” she went on, and flung a hand out towards the colors Twilight seemed so focused on.  “Not that sorry gets me my life back, Princess Twilight!”

Twilight recoiled back, and seemingly speechless. The expression she wore looked like it was searching for something to say, but was coming up empty.

Mary shuddered, taking deep breaths. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt so angry, confused, and upset. But, she did know it had been about the time she became a tiny, miniature horse.

Mary built her resolve, and organized her questions into demands. I’m going to get to the bottom of this, and get some explanations right now—!

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.

Mary looked around in confusion, while Twilight spoke up first, answering the strange voice. “Rainbow, not now, please,” she chastised, then began to speak directly to Mary right away, catching her off-guard. 

“Mary, you…” Twilight trailed off, wearing a stupefied look, then went stiff backed and whirled around in a flash to face away from Mary. “Rainbow Dash!?” she cried.

Twilight was searching all around, apparently for the source of the voice. “Rainbow!?” she called out again, cupping her hands and yelling.

Mary frowned deeper, and in the short break, since Twilight wasn’t looking, wiped the sleeve of her sweatshirt over her eyes again. The anger that had built up was strangely gone in a flash, replaced again by mostly despair. Alright, calm down, Mary. You’re acting like a jerk… Not that she doesn’t deserve it. I mean, augh! she doesn’t deserve it though, does she?

Mary frowned, realizing she wasn’t terribly sure if she knew the answer to that at all. Meanwhile, she watched Twilight, suddenly intent on finding something and no longer paying her any attention. What is Twilight doing? Was that her friend’s voice?

Mary looked around a little as well, and quickly spotted the nearest bubble. There was a familiar looking, cyan colored pony with wings in it, resting atop a cloud and surrounded my old-timey looking buildings. The voice she’d heard matched up with the colors of the pony’s mane, she realized. 

What was her name? Mary tilted her head, thinking hard to remember. Rainbow Splash? I should have paid better attention to that weird cartoon show, I guess. She looked between Twilight and the strange color orb, then thought she had figured it out. Twilight was looking for her friend, but hadn’t thought to look in the bubble.

“Twilight, look up.” Mary took another breath, further calming herself. “Do you see that?” she pointed a finger at the glowing bubble, and waited for Twilight to pay her some attention. Her own voice still sounded angry, she was aware, and she did still feel angry... but it was the best she could do.

Twilight, in a blur of eager movement and purple hair, snapped her head around, then followed the gesture upward. She stared at the peculiar phenomenon, along with Mary. 

Both Twilight, and Mary focused on what was unmistakably the image of a blue pegasus, hovering at the odd bubble’s center.

Twilight spoke up again first, and in the form of a happy cheer. “Rainbow? Rainbow Dash!” Her face lit up with excitement, and she sprinted out until the swirl of colors was directly above her. “Hey, down here! Can you see me?” With one arm, she waved up at what Mary remembered was one of her friends.

Mary raised an eyebrow at Twilight, trying to talk to the strange orb. She glanced around herself at the others, and wondered why there were so many. The sounds of other, distant voices from them just barely reach her. 

“Twilight,” Mary began quietly at first. “I don’t think…” She was cut off by Twilight, but it wasn’t the Twilight. Instead, the voice had come from elsewhere.

“Prove it,” Twilight’s voice said.

The actual Twilight stopped jumping up and down; her arm froze mid-wave. “Huh?” 

Mary continued to watch the scene overhead, as well as the expressions from the pegasus. This is familiar. And I think I know why… This really is just like the cartoon just, well, real. Sure enough, the colors and pony floating in the bubble were nothing like the cartoon, but actual flesh and blood, and somehow, surprisingly believable; they looked just like her back on Earth, sans the rainbow mane and blue coat of fur, of course.

Mary looked around herself quickly, trying to think back to everything Luna had ever told her, only to come up a little empty. Unfortunately, the first pony she had met was her only clue as to what was going on. 

“What’s going on?” Twilight spoke up abruptly, still staring upward. “Rainbow?” she asked again, then paused, and began watching as the pegasus in the bubble flew around in the sky at what was obviously incredible, and utterly impossible speeds.

Mary gaped openly, her eyes widening slightly. The stunt show was such that she began to walk closer towards Twilight and the bubble, even without entirely realizing it.

Twilight continued, her voice still tinged with curiosity. “Wait a moment,” she murmured, “This is…”

Mary closed her mouth and came out of the mild entrancement. That pony can really fly… she marveled, then faced Twilight and spoke, knowing the answer. “A dream,” she said, reasonably sure that it was right, or at least close.

Twilight looked over, surprise etched all over her face. “A dream?” she repeated, then continued, obviously beginning to catch on. “You- We’re dreaming? And asleep?”

Mary nodded twice, slowly, and looked back up at the bubble to avoid scowling again. Didn’t I already say that? she thought at herself. Calm down, Mary… Still trying to fight to keep from scowling, Mary answered Twilight. “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.” 

Mary vaguely recalled the tea, and table sets, and even the full sized horse that she had seen materialized with just thoughts alone in Luna’s ‘dreamscape’. She continued speaking, a twinge of absentness entering her voice. “Though, I figured most of it out on my own because she disappeared…” Two months of trying to find Luna, and she still hasn’t picked up the phone yet.

Mary moved past the angry thought quickly, trying her hardest to stay focused. “I wanted to know more about things, like the weird ‘Earth Pony’ magic I’ve been saddled with-” Her train of thought cut off the second she uttered the pun, and she stumbled. After growling in frustration and hunching her shoulders up, she muttered a curse for the one responsible. “Dammit, Herbert.”

Mary huffed a sigh out and looked up at Twilight, only to find the younger woman still staring up at the bubble in a daze. Mary’s own expression softened a great deal, at that, almost immediately. Annoyingly enough, she even felt her eyes hazing again slightly, and she found herself looking up at the strange bubble in an effort to drain the breaching tears back.

“She really is a good flier.” Mary spoke in a soft tone, softer than any she had managed yet so far. 

Overhead, the pony, apparently named Rainbow Dash, continued to perform an impressive show of aerobatics. The pictures blurred somewhat, moving back and forth across the sky as they seemingly tried to follow the speeding movement of the winged pony. Her voice could barely be heard, too, as she called out her flying moves while making them.  “Loop the loop around, and wham!”

Mary witnessed the end to the performance, it seemed, and spoke again with the next thing that came to mind. “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.” Mary felt like she should try and find some kind of common ground with Twilight, even if it was something she knew little about. “More magic, I’m guessing,” she finished.

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’!”

In the corner of her eye, Mary spotted Twilight turning to face her. 

“I’m not an expert on pegasi,” Twilight began, a definite lecturing tone in her voice. “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, almost in a sad way.

“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.”

Mary frowned, feeling worse as thoughts caught up with her. She distracted herself by watching Twilight’s friend as she flew backwards lazily through the air, somehow. She had seen the scene once already, she recalled, but it had been in the form of a children’s cartoon show. 

Mary frowned and bit her lip. I should apologize. She sort of knew why, but also sort of didn’t know why she had yelled at Twilight, at all. On one hand, she had developed a temper over the years, somehow… but she had never yelled at a stranger, and Twilight was a stranger, someone she didn’t know.

Somepony. The thought flickered in Mary’s head, and she smirked sarcastically for a second.

Twilight spoke up, and grabbed her attention away. “This is exactly how I remember that. It was the first time Rainbow and I met.” The ex-pony’s voice was regretful sounding, almost mournful, perhaps from seeing happy memory. “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 over again, one hand held up to her chin now in a thoughtful looking way.

Mary considered the question carefully. Well, there are other memories out there, and I think I actually saw one of mine… Not waiting, she decided to bring up her thoughts. 

“Or mine, maybe—” she had begun to say, but was cut off by a sharp gasp, which also took her by surprise.

Twilight had apparently had a thought, and words literally streamed out of her mouth in rapid fire, the gasp having been the only warning of what was to come. “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 trailed off.

Twilight hummed for a split-second, then began to seemingly talk to just herself. “Perhaps this is some sort of advanced spell of telepathy? But who cast it and why? Did Luna?” She paused again, for even less than a split-second, which was ages considering how quickly she was speaking. Still, it ended all too quickly. 

Mary frowned and raised a hand, trying to speak, but was unable to even get a syllable out. 

“No, that doesn’t make sense!” Twilight exclaimed; she was tapping a finger against her cheek quickly, and scrunching her face up in a way that looked painful. “Maybe the crystal acted as a conduit between both of our psyches? But how? Why?” 

While Twilight went on, Mary tried to keep up with the questions. At the same time, she looked again at the surrounding bubbles. They were definitely scenes that she recognized as containing humans, she realized.

Nearby, Twilight was still in full swing. “—What do dreams have to do with this? How were you talking to the princess in a dream?” 

Mary rolled her eyes, and tried to answer at least one of the questions, which she assumed was intended for her, but was not surprised when Twilight kept going, still not slowing her rant down. At least, Mary considered it a rant. Was she always this bad in the show?

“The crystal’s reaction couldn’t have simply been caused by our mere proximity with one another...” 

At that point, Mary heaved a breath out and began to inspect the closest bubble, the one still overhead. She’ll figure it out eventually. Her eyes were a little glazed over, calmly watching the scene above of Twilight’s memories. It was different now, and Mary began trying to figure out if she recognized it from the show, the only real thing she had to go on besides a couple, brief encounters with Luna. The scene playing now certainly looked different now from the one before.

Twilight was still talking. “Does it have to do with your being a pony mysteriously?” she asked, in curious voice, almost beginning to calm down. “Mary you’re such an unknown. How did what happened to you, happen?”

Mary blinked after a few seconds, surprised to hear Twilight actually stop entirely. She just waited until I happened to look away, I bet… Still, she continued to stare upward, her thoughts trying to actually think of the answers Twilight had sort of asked for. 

“Mary?” Twilight repeated. “Hellooo.”

Mary resisted sighing, and instead feigned like she had been the one that had drifted off.  “Huh, oh, yes, I’m here,” she said back, and briefly looked over long enough to meet Twilight’s gaze. 

Mary continued speaking, looking back up. “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 briefly frowned over at the bubbles, then added, “None of them go very far back, though. Not as far back as yours do, anyway. Is that important?” Twilight’s memory, if she had understood correctly, was at least a year old or something like that.

“Important?” Twilight repeated first, then continued in an interested tone. “Uhm, Maybe. That is very… that’s amazing, and interesting, if odd.” After the brief, fascinated tone, her voice picked up again in the excitement department. “Perhaps my hypothesis about a psychic bridge between our two minds was accurate after all!”

Mary scrunched her forehead up at that, and tried to think back to what exactly Twilight had been talking about; there had been too much for her to keep track of. “Your hypothe-what?” she blurted out, partially on accident.

Twilight hummed again and responded. “Though, it being a spell or caused by the crystal makes no sense whatsoever. Even less so now.” She must not have been listening, because the response was hardly an explanation. 

Mary looked over with a frown, and found the other girl blabbering to herself once again. 

“Items rarely cast magic on their own, or randomly, unless they’re designed to, at least as far as my studies have ever shown.” 

This is getting silly… Mary concluded, and decided that it was time for a direct approach again. Stepping quickly, she walked on over to the other woman. “Twilight.” She said the girl’s name first, a little forcefully, but not too much.

Twilight was looking up at the bubble, but gave no indication of paying attention. “And that crystal was a byproduct of my arrival!” Her eyes held a sparkle of wonderment, as though she were witnessing the resolution of something right before her eyes somehow as she spoke. “I guess Luna could have cast such a spell, but she isn’t on Earth, is she—?”

Mary growled and waved one hand furiously in front of the other woman’s face. “Twilight!” she shouted, and stomped a foot, too, for good measure.

Twilight took in a sharp breath and stepped backward in surprise. “Ah! What? What’s wrong?” She looked around, settling her look on Mary, as if she hadn’t realized she was even there a moment before.

Mary deadpanned a moment, then rolled her eyes. “You were in your own little world, present situation notwithstanding." She looked around, too, considering carefully what exactly to say that wouldn’t set the cartoon librarian off on another rant, 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…” She struggled briefly for a polite word, and ended up having to make do. “The other stuff. Like making me human again.”

Twilight was quiet a moment, with a flat look welded in place. When she did answer, it was first with a nod. “Right, right! Priorities are important in a situation like this… and…” She looked at the ground after trailing off, and the hesitant tone that she seemed to use a lot returned. “That means I probably owe you an apology then, Mary, for dragging you into this place.” 

Mary turned back towards Twilight, taken completely by surprise over what she had heard. 

Twilight continued, and while giving a soulful look, her head tilted downward in an ashamed fashion. “I’m really sorry,” she muttered quietly.

Mary felt her jaw working, trying to speak, and finally managed to stop by saying, “Apology?” She realized she sounded as confused as she felt, and wrinkled her brow as a result. “What-” Realization struck her next, quite sure she knew what Twilight was talking about, that the other girl thought she was responsible for everything. And, Mary guessed, she had quite soundly shoved all the blame off on her, even without knowing anything. 

Mary tried to sound apologetic herself. “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 welling up, and out of no where. Then, she surprised herself completely by hiccuping slightly.

Mary’s eyebrows climbed, and quickly scrubbed an arm over her face again. Oh, come on, this is ridiculous. What is wrong with me? She sniffed, harder than she meant, and found that like before she was inexplicably, or almost inexplicably, on the verge of tears.

Fighting it back, though, Mary managed to continue. She wasn’t sure what to say at all, but words worked their way out regardless. “I used to think I was unshakable years ago. 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.” She used the tip of a finger to wipe the corner of her eyes. “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. She looked at the girl, standing there across from her; she tried hard to picture a pony there, what she had been envisioning her as since waking up, she realized. She’s not a cartoon. She’s a living thing. A living person, and not at all like that cartoon… She also isn’t indebted to you.

Keeping her voice steady as best she could, Mary went on. “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. Without any warning whatsoever, Twilight had raced up to her, stopped, then tossed her arms over her into a fierce hug. Mary had to hold her breath, her eyes bugging slightly from her middle being squeezed so hard.

“Twilight,” Mary fought to get her words out but coughed when Twilight squeezed tighter. “It’s alright, I- you don’t need to hug me…” A surprised thought ran through her head, along with a noticeable increase of blood flow being pushed upward. Wow, she’s strong for a book worm.

Mary could have sworn she heard a sniffle before she received a response.

Twilight’s head was draped over Mary’s shoulder as she replied, “Oh. I’m sorry you… you just sounded so sad.” 

Mary remained silent a moment before she answered. “Well… I’m fine now, Twilight.” She tried to force a smile onto her face, then found it creep on easier than she would have thought. “You didn’t need to… but thanks.” 

Twilight let out a strained sounding breath. “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-”

Twilight’s assurances, particularly the crushing hug part, were having a decidedly different effect than what Mary thought was intended. She coughed again, more loudly this time. “A-Actually, Twilight,” she started, while a nervous laugh shook out of her throat involuntarily. “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 seemed to freeze up for a split-second, then backed away from Mary in a flash, her hands folded behind her back. “Ah heh heh, sorry…” she apologized, and wore a sheepish grin. 

“It’s okay.” Mary forced the same smile she often used after scolding Anna out of habit. “Like I said, I’m the one that owed you the apology, Twilight, but thanks.”

Twilight’s expression lifted somewhat and she nodded. “Apology accepted.” She took a deep breath and visible relief washed over her features. “So, first thing’s first, Mary. Since you seem to know something about… all of this, how do we get out of here?”

Mary stared back appreciatively, glad to finally be getting the ball rolling in a manner that involved her, took her turn to freeze up. Her eyes widened, and she quickly 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.” She swallowed, briefly considering just how little she actually did know and how very in the dark she was about everything. 

Mary went on, laying a hand on her front as a self-gesture. “I could have been having a schizophrenic episode for all I know...” She looked around at the bubbles hanging in the sky, squinting nervously up at them. “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...”

Twilight looked like she was about to say something, but instead held back to search the ground.

Mary sighed, and decided to wait, not sure what else to add. After brushing back some of her hair with one hand, she folded her arms and looked back up at the darkened sky to distract herself

The bubble still hung overhead, depicting an orange pony with freckles and a hat. 

Mary thought she recognized the mare as ‘Scarcity’ or something to that effect. The bubble was still playing through Twilight’s memories, it seemed.

“Huh,” Mary tilted her head in a thoughtful looking way. Just wanting to stir up conversation again, she addressed Twilight about the memory. “Hey, I think it changed, Twilight. It’s playing a different one, now. This one has your orange friend in it.” Uggh, come on Mary, think… what was her name? She frowned, feeling insensitive for not remembering. “Uhm, the southern one obsessed with clothing that always wears the hat.”

Mary nearly growled in frustration, getting angry over not being able to come up with the name, but was saved.

Twilight spoke up, walking a bit closer. “Applejack?” she asked aloud, then looked up alongside Mary. As she did, she began giggling suddenly, as well as talking. “Oh, yeah, that’s Applejack.” She had to pause a second to laugh and take a breath. “But Rarity is the one obsessed with clothing.” 

“I can’t believe you got those two mixed up.” Twilight laughed some more, smiling over broadly. “Wow, they would either laugh or get really indignant about you mixing them up.” Her chuckles subsiding, Twilight seemed to manage standing straight up again, her head craned back to regard the bubble.

Mary smirked along with the other woman’s giggling, then turned as well. After, she harrumphed soundly, frowning a little, but not really meaning it. “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. “I remember this!” she began, sounding excited. “This was my talent potion.” There was a twang to her voice on the final word.

“Talent potion?” Mary asked, but was spoken over by a voice from above her.

Overhead, the voice came from the bubble, though the only thing that could be seen in the view was of various, floating vials and different liquids. The cone of vision then panned over to the right, and a pony, unmistakably Equestrian, came into full view. Behind the orange 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. Food, splashes of liquid and more all seemed mixed on the ground.

Mary heard Twilight, laughing sheepishly, and assumed it was due to the state of her home in the image. She briefly wondered how much Twilight and Bobby may have in common given their similar lack in house keeping.

The 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, seeing as how she’d entirely ignored what Applejack had said.

Mary was struck with a brief sense of deja vu, but kept listening and watching through what for all intents and purposes seemed to be Twilight’s old day to day life.

Overhead, Applejack shifted on her hooves, and uncomfortably by the looks of it. “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?”

Mary felt a twinge of discomfort as a thought occurred to her, and looked over. “Hey, Twilight,” she started, trying to get her only source of company’s attention.    

Twilight pulled her sights away from the image long enough to look back. “Yes?” She smiled, her gaze flickering between making eye contact and watching Applejack continue to speak.

“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, 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…” she confessed; in truth, watching the memories felt like an invasion of Twilight’s privacy. “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 weakly, before glancing around for a possible blank spot between bubbles.               

Twilight responded to her, an absent tone coating her voice. “Oh, no it’s fine, Mary. I don’t mind at all. Uhm, let’s just watch this one, and then we can stop..." She trailed off with a hint of a smirk on her face, and not sounding at all as though she minded.

Well, even if she is alright with it, it feels strange to me… Mary stared for a second, then shrugged. “Okay, but we should speak about what we’re going to do soon.” I would ask right now, but I really don’t even know where to begin! Briefly, she mused, I guess I could ask about making me human again… but I  guess this might not be the best time. Uggh, come on Mary, patience, and stop thinking just about yourself. 

Mary looked up and over at Twilight again, who was well and truly sucked in by the events overhead. The way she was looked, Mary could tell Twilight felt pleasantly at ease from the sight of the pony in the memory. For a moment, she considered the possibility that Twilight might be going through a few problems of her own during her stay on earth.

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?” The other Twilight began to fade out slowly, becoming quieter. Soon, the memory became blurry and dissipated until the bubble became a darkened orb.

Twilight let out a disappointed sound. “Aw, it didn’t even get to the good part! Or… actually,” she trailed off, looking down in a thoughtful way. “I guess it wasn’t that great of a part.” 

Beside her, Mary hummed in acknowledgement, then spoke. “Well, seeing your memories is interesting, Twilight, but it doesn’t really get us out of here…” She looked over, hoping to get back towards the productive side of things. How would we even get out of here? I guess Twilight might know a spell… She eyed the unicorn turned human a little nervously, considering just what more questionable pony-witchcraft might do.

Twilight began to nod in return. “You’re right. We should exchange more information to figure things out some… Let’s start with all of this.” She spread her arms out in no real direction across the area. “Both you, and Luna, could control things in here…” She appeared to struggle in thought, as if trying to come up with something. “I guess we’ll call it a normal dream? But in this one you can’t-”

Mary interrupted; she had been pretty sure of what Twilight was trying to say right away. “-can’t will myself awake or get us out of here,” she finished, nodding. “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.” She briefly recalled the experiments she had tried before, and their unsuccessfulness.

Twilight’s eyes widened with a look of rapt fascination. “That sounds amazing! It-” Her face locked up in a confused expression, until she went on slowly. “I have never encountered a book about this before… I wonder why that is.” She held a hand to her chin, humming and starting to pace. “I will have to speak to Luna about it I-” She stopped talking abruptly, falling silent. Her face flashed through a look as though she had realized something important, which was quickly followed by a frustrated one instead.

Mary decided to wait, raising an eyebrow slowly as the other girl’s pause began to continue for quite some time. 

Twilight suddenly thumped a hand into her palm. “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.” She briefly ran a hand through her hair, correcting herself. “Or, well, that the pony was, but you’re the other pony so…”

Mary smirked a little, feeling a twinge guilty over the deception she had pulled, and a little bit amused that it had even worked.

Twilight paused for a split second, then added, “Also, it’s occurred to me that this entire situation is crazy, by the way.”

Mary blinked flatly, her smirk gone. You sure said it, sister… she thought dourly, then nodded. “I’m not sure if I should be relieved or worried that you think that, too.” Her words were frank, a bit like how she felt after hearing the very familiar opinion.

Twilight laughed lightly, and appeared to force a quick smile. “Maybe both…” she suggested. Her expression became serious again before she continued. “In any case, back to my point, you were looking for me. Does that mean Luna told you I was missing?” Her face held a very expectant look suddenly.

Mary thought carefully how to answer, then nodded. I wonder why Twilight wouldn’t have been able to contact her if she still has her magic?  “Yeah, actually. Uhm, which brings me to that other—”

Twilight’s mild cheer cut off Mary before she could start. “Yes! Of course, I knew they could find me. The princesses are incredible.”

Mary gave Twilight a weak smile, just the slightest movement of her features, but raised her voice to get another word in. Rats She quickly filed away the question about her humanity for later. “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. I’ve been trying to call her again ever since, almost every night, but it hasn’t worked.” The princesses need an answering machine… hmph.

Twilight brought her cheering to a halt, stopping mid hop. “It hasn’t?” she asked. Her confused look deepened. “Why not?” 

“I’m not sure,” Mary responded quietly. “I don’t think we can do anything about it here, though…” She regarded Twilight solemnly. The news sounded pretty bad when she thought about it, and made her feel a little guilty that she had just rattled it off so nonchalantly. She tried to pick her next words better, as well as make them sound more thoughtful. 

Twilight opened her mouth, as if to speak more on the subject, then closed it again and looked around herself. The colors from the memory overhead, as well as the others in the distance all played across her complexion and winter clothes in the relative dark.

For a moment, Mary did think she saw something regal about the flighty, eccentrically behaved girl.

“Yeah…” Twilight finally murmured, staring off at a nearby bubble. Her stare intensified and her face screwed up into a look of total concentration. The look dissipated after a sigh, then she asked,  “We aren’t trapped here, are we?”

Mary frowned, looking at the ground, wearing a darkened look. “I was going to ask you that…” She took a deep breath before speaking again. Earlier, she had tried waking up, but it hadn’t worked. Then again, she considered that she had already tried for a moment, and while angry. “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.” 

Mary frowned a little, a thought coming to from the way things had started. After looking around again, she surprised herself, adding, “This started because I touched your hand, didn’t it?” Looking up, she gave Twilight a stern look, though she tried to keep her eyes soft.

Twilight looked back at Mary quickly; her lips pursed on the edge of answering before she eventually spoke. “Oh,” she began slowly. “I, uh… I think it did, actually.” Her confession definitely sounded as if she herself wasn’t sure.

Mary stayed quiet for a moment, and looked away at the ground to think. So, Twilight brought us here somehow, but on accident without even knowing what this place is… Well, this might not be a movie, but if it was, then this wouldn’t be some kind of weird coincidence… Then again I’m not exactly the expert on pony voodoo. Sighing, she looked up at the bubble, not yet wanting to face Twilight again; Mary’s eyes were partially lidded. Why do I get the feeling that we’re connected somehow, though?

Mary saw Twilight seek out the bubble overhead as well, not speaking either. I wonder what she’s thinking about. Is she hiding anything? Probably not… why would she? Twilight’s a really nice girl, for a pony… but I guess that shouldn’t be a surprise. 

Mary smirked, shifting her stance from one leg to the other, still stuck in her thoughts, even as the bubble overhead began to transform and shift. She didn’t take notice of the changes. After all, Twilight is a character from a kid’s show. Then again, seeing as how that ‘Invader Zod’ cartoon was for kids, too, I guess that doesn’t say a whole lot… I wonder if she knows how we have a cartoon of her? I swear, if she tells me why and it turns out Herbert’s idea about stupid alternate realities is right, I will throw a-

Twilight’s voice piped up from nearby, and seized Mary’s attention quickly.

“Mary, this is your memory?” Twilight asked in an interested tone. 

Mary looked over blinking, and hummed in acknowledgment. Shoot! I wasn’t listening at all, was she talking to me?

Twilight smiled briefly as their eyes met, then looked overhead for some reason. “Interesting,” she went on. “We could learn a lot about each other just watching these, huh?” She tilted her head again, in a sort of curious way, as though pondering a mystery. 

What is she talking about- Mary followed Twilight’s gaze and looked up. Her eyes widened at what she saw. Overhead, centered in the memory bubble, was the unmistakable features of her husband, though they were darkened by the shroud of a room without lights. Still, Mary immediately recognized the hutch in her bedroom, and the plain colored paint of their walls. There were clothes scattered around, and the plastic tubs that held old clothes briefly panned through the cone of vision as well; it seemed as though the person moving in the bubble, which was obviously her, was not sitting still.

“Stan?” Mary asked dumbly. She quickly blinked away the surprise, having figured out what was going on, then replied to Twilight. “Huh, yeah I guess it is a memory of… mine…” She trailed off, in thought, thinking back to her earlier worries about Twilight’s privacy. The same thoughts now switched, but to her own privacy. I mean, I don’t even know if ponies need privacy. They’re cartoons, but— 

Mary’s breath caught, suddenly recognizing which memory of hers must be playing overhead, or at least, one of many that it could be. “Uhm, Twilight...” Her voice had a wary tone to it. Overhead, her own giddy laughter rained down around her ears, like a doombell ringing in warning.

Twilight’s voice, still curious, and obviously oblivious, answered, “What’s wrong, Mary?” 

Mary gulped, and tried to stay calm, as well as not hyperventilate. “Uhm, Twilight, not to alarm you, but is there a way to turn this off?” She began circling around the looming bubble, a look of dread on her face, even as the scene continued to play out. 

Mary thought she could hear a belt unbuckling from in the memory. “We need to turn this off right now!” she shouted.

Twilight answered her back, but not with what Mary wanted to hear. “Hm, there might be a way,” she began in a studious, interested sounding way. “Since we’ve established we’re likely in a kind of mental simulation...” 

While Twilight was still speaking, overhead, a large man leaned into full view, bare-chested, then leaned in to filled the view of the bubble. 

Mary could feel a nervous sweat begin to build, and she risked a fearful glance over at Twilight. Though, amazingly, the other girl was still talking. 

“Didn’t you say you control things here?” Twilight asked, also still looking up. “Oh! We should probably test-”

In the middle of considering a mad dash over to Twilight to avert her eyes, Mary heard the thing she had been dreading since the moment she had put two and two together. 

“Mmmm…” A low, happy sounding voice interrupted Twilight, and made Mary’s eyes shoot open to their widest in fear. The groan was unmistakably her own voice, and could be easily discerned from the image over head. Her mouth opened in a look of embarrassed horror. Not in front of the stranger! Not in front of the cartoon pony stranger!

Twilight spoke again, quickly, but with a hint of dread in her voice now. “Mary, what was that sound?” 

Mary face-palmed with both hands, hiding behind them. She knows!

“Ah!” Twilight cried out, seemingly aware of what was happening now. “How do we turn it off!? I don’t want to see this!”

Mary shot an angry look over at the other girl, then began trying to do just that: shut it off. “Why do you think I wanted to turn it off!?” She waved her arms up at the images, jumping up and down trying to reach them, but her best efforts seemed to have little effect on the scene playing out overhead.

The scene was escalating quickly as the man’s head pulled away, bringing his hairy chest back into view. From her own, past self’s view, Mary could see herself exploring the man’s shoulder through a mirror on the wall. She was being carried, she realized, the last time she could recall that happening had been the night before her change.

Suddenly, the view was jerked toward the ceiling as Stan, just as she remembered, hurled her down onto the bed.

Twilight cried out again over the noise of creaking bed springs and happy sounding laughter; very happy sounding laughter. “Please, Mary, make it stop!” The other girl hunched forward onto the ground and covered her eyes with her hands.

Mary floundered in her efforts to will herself up to the bubble so she could smash it. She tried making a crane appear, or a bazooka, but nothing seemed to work the way she wanted it too. “How!?” Mary cried back in desperation, still waving her arms, and was caught by surprise a moment later as Twilight grabbed her hand.

“Mary, I think we should run away from it.” Twilight stated matter of factly, with no unevenness to her voice. “No offense to you and your husband, but—”

“Wait wait wait,” Mary replied hastily, her attention focused entirely upward. Please stop, please- It worked? She took a moment to making sure the view hadn’t just been her closing her eyes or something, then looked at Twilight. “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 once she got the one back from Twilight.

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, relief evident in her voice. “Good, very good. I’m… glad. Thank Celestia...”

I can’t believe that just… Oh my god. No one must ever know. Mary looked over, frowning slightly. “Sorry about that, Twilight.” She tried hard to think of the best thing to say, and decided just not bringing anything up would be the best choice of words. “That whole thing was… strange.” 

Twilight looked up and quirked an eyebrow in a skeptical look. “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 once she understood what was being said, and waved a hand at Twilight. I don’t want to talk about it! her thoughts shouted, while verbally she said, “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.” 

Mary blinked briefly, then resisted the urge to scream. Dammit, Stan! I don’t know how, but I’m convinced this is all your fault! She pressed her palm over her face, trying to hide the look of embarrassment she felt there. “That came out wrong,” she muttered.

Twilight spoke up, but still using the half interested, half clueless tone she seemed to love. “It did?” she questioned, tilting her head slightly. 

Mary peered up at Twilight through the cracks between her fingers, then rolled her eyes. “Never mind…” She sighed slightly. “Let’s finish solving Davinci’s code.”

Twilight paused a second, still looking lost, then muttered back, “Hm, that book was awfully convoluted…” She had her arms folded over her front in a guarded way, her shoulders hunched up. 

Mary frowned a little. I hope that didn’t traumatize her. Would cartoon ponies even… do that stuff? She blinked, then shook her head, sending her hair tossing from side to side. No, Mary, bad thoughts, bad thoughts- During her minor fit of mental helplessness, she was addressed. 

“So,” Twilight began. “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 was thankful for the question’s distraction, though, after trying to answer it immediately, realized she needed to think about it for a moment. Well, Luna did more of just saying I could do it, then because she sort of abandoned me, and after saying I could contact her whenever I wanted, I had to figure it out all on my own… Before she could share her thoughts with Twilight, and in a slightly less direct manner, she was interrupted. 

“Perhaps because we’re not in a dream, so to speak,” Twilight suggested abruptly. She was pacing and staring at the floor, with one hand planted firmly in a fist at the base of her hair. “We have been seeing memories. I guess this supports the bridge between us theory, so to speak…” Her pacing stopped during her pause, and she looked out at nothing with an intense look of concentration smoothing her features.

Mary frowned a little, waited, then when the girl didn’t seem keen on including her, she looked up absently. 

The same memory bubble was overhead. Cursed thing, Mary thought angrily, and wished she could kick it. Something caught her eye though, something odd and different from before. The colors were back, rather than a movie-like replaying of one of their memories. What was strange, were the patterns that the colors shifted through, like a kaleidoscope cranked up into overdrive.

Mary felt her eyes unfocus slightly staring up at them. Pretty… she thought, then tried to get Twilight’s attention. “Twilight.” 

Mary continued to watch, waiting in a distant way for a response. It occurred to her that the situation probably meant staring at the colors in the way Bobby, as an infant, used to stare brain-dead at a television, was probably a bad idea, but she still didn’t look away.

Twilight’s voice from nearby briefly caught her attention. “Mary, I have a quick question for you,” she 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 responded absently, only half hearing what was said. Did she say something about something important? Overhead, the colors began to flash dark, then light again, but never changing their pattern. She thought she heard the sound of rushing wind growing in volume, too. What is going on up there? Is this one of Twilight’s memory’s? When did she on Mr. Toad’s wild ride?

Twilight coughed, and continued slowly. Rather than an indignant tone, though, she used a calm, consoling one. “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...” Twilight’s confession hung in the air.

The bubble overhead was being distracting, and had Mary’s full attention. It changed suddenly from colorful sort of screensaver,  into a clear blue sky. She continued to stare upward, as she answered back. “Oh, yeah, I did. I guess you’re right.” 

Mary tilted her head, confused, but curious, then just as quick it was all swallowed up by shadow in a frightening way. There was something else odd that appeared, but only for a moment, like some sort of frightenly misshapen animal. All the while, she thought she heard two voices, but they were distorted, if clearly different.

Mary shook herself, still trying to make out what was being said. Okay, this is weird. Wait, what’s Twilight saying? She told herself to listen this time and pay attention, but still watched the bubble for more changes. 

Twilight continued. “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 that supports my theory.”

All while Twilight spoke, an orange glow began to grow, melting the shroud slowly. At first, Mary didn’t know what to make of it, but the sounds of scraping rock appeared soon after, followed by what was unmistakably fire, and a lot of it. At the same time, Mary had been hanging on Twilight’s words, each of which made her want to turn and address in detail, but, was unable to bring herself to do so.

Mary’s eyes widened further as the memory grew brighter, and the sound of panicked breathing finally rose above the rest of the scene. 

“Mary,” Twilight continued, obviously not aware of what was going on right above her head. “I just want to say, before you get upset, that-”

“Twilight,” Mary broke in, very much intent on getting her only companion to see what she was seeing. “Shut up and look up, please.” Quickly, and after remembering that Twilight had just confessed to not being able to do the one thing Mary had been hoping for, she added, “I really want to yell at you right now, but there’s… a thing. And it’s on fire.”

A noise louder than thunder washed over both women as Mary finished speaking; it was a sort of deep rumbling, accompanied by a distant, rushing sound, like wind.

Immediately following it was a voice, surprisingly audible over everything else vying for attention. The voice said, "Twilight... Sparkle." It was loud, almost a rumble itself, and difficult to discern the gender.

Mary continued to stare and listen, her thoughts all but frozen. Oh my God. This is Twilight’s? After a moment, her face took on a worried, fearful quality. This place looks like… She didn’t want to think the word. The brief realization struck her that she had never really believed in such a place, that a place like the one she was looking at could exist. The thought that Twilight herself was from an entirely different world struck her, and that in reality everywhere might not be so nice as what she knew.

The scene overhead continued, not waiting for Mary’s thoughts to get ahold of themselves. 

“It’s such a pleasure to meet you,” the voice rumbled again, all while surrounded by the rushing sound, which actually was, Mary 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.

Briefly, Mary had a thought of movie night with Herbert. It’s like that movie with that villain that’s kind of a superhero… shoot, what was it?

Twilight’s voice cried out suddenly from overhead, interrupting Mary. “Who’s there!?” It was 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.

Mary winced more the longer she watched, and stole a worried glance at Twilight. I take it back, this way worse than any movie. She wanted to speak up and tell Twilight they should leave, but the other girl, surprisingly, was paying the memory rapt attention. Her expression was confusing, almost curious.

“Wow, you really have seen some amazing… places, Twilight.” Mary gulped, and tried to go on.  “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 almost blank look shifting to a very worried one in an instant. “I don’t know! I don’t even remember any of this.” She made to look back up, but stopped. “Maybe these aren’t just memories like we thought?” A quick shrug hunched her shoulders up.

Mary opened her mouth to answer back that she wasn’t really so sure, but before she could answer, the rumbling voice spoke over them again.

“You are so afraid,” it said. “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?”

Mary furrowed her brow, a spark of anger filling her. Who the Hell is this creep? Who even talks like this? The rest of her expression built up into a scowl that was almost a snarl. This must be one of Twilight’s old… villains. She gave Twilight a glance, and then remembered what Twilight had already said. Maybe she has a bad memory? she thought doubtfully.

The voice of Twilight from the image rose in protest again, obviously just as upset about what she said as much as being where she was. “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.

Mary tilted her head, wondering what had happened.

The bodiless 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, more discernible this time. “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.

Mary made an abrupt observation. Is this thing senile? then frowned, still trying to figure out what she was looking at. She wanted to talk to Twilight again, but not if it meant interrupting the memory.

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, coming out of nowhere. Mary recognized it though, it sounded like the whispers she had heard just minutes before. 

“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 wind blowing over several twisted instruments.

Mary’s eyes narrowed a moment later. No, I’ve heard that voice before. She tried to think of where could have heard something like that in the past. Before she could come up with an answer, the scene continued.

The rumbling voice spoke, 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.

Mary’s eyes could go no wider, but they tried, realization creeping in immediately at the familiar scene. They were here? She stole a quick, fearful glance out into the blackness around her. Where even is here!? Isn’t this just a brain link like Twilight said!? She spotted Twilight, looking around just as she was. Her face had desperation and confusion painted all over it. She looked pretty afraid overall.

The rumbling voice spoke up again overhead, still talking with the other. It sounded genuinely upset, and for just a split second, it held a decidedly feminine sounding quality. “Truly, you can not 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.”

Mary let the words sink in, still watching Twilight. The other woman was staring up at the bubble again. Not waiting, Mary walked over, recognizing someone in need of comfort. “Twilight, what is going on up-” She was cut off by a sharp shushing noise from Twilight.

Mary’s eyebrows climbed up quickly, then she put on an indignant look, then harrumphed and looked up again. Alright, tough-girl, I’ll just leave you alone then. I was entirely joking before, but that is exactly something Bobby would do.

“Acceptable. Alright. Hurry…” The rumbling voice continued to speak. “Very well then. Twilight, you may speak once more. I want you to see me now.” 

Mary’s eyes widened a little. Wait, what did I miss? Augh! Why wasn’t I paying attention!

Meanwhile, overhead, 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.”

Mary’s breath caught in her throat. Without even realizing it, she was forgetting to breathe.

A horned, reptilian face emerged out of the darkness then, shadows creeping back along its long face. 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.

The dragon inhaled deeply, and leaned down some, seemingly peering out of the window to a past event. “And they will all… pay,” it finished simply.

Mary gasped, or tried to, and instead silently brought her hand up to her mouth in shock. Beside her, Twilight did gasp, loudly, into what became a short, shrill scream. On reflex, Mary raised her other hand again and laid it on the girl’s shoulder.

There was silence, for a moment, before the dragon murmured, “You may speak.”

Overhead, Twilight’s voice responded to the dragon, full of strength. “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!”

Mary blinked. You go girl. She briefly considered that she would probably be crying uncontrollably if a thing like that was facing her down. 

There was a long silence as the other Twilight’s opposing remark faded slowly.

The dragon leaned down somewhat after the pause. One of its eyes widened slowly. Eventually, it almost looked like it was scrutinizing the bubble itself, or looking out of it..

On reflex, Mary retrieved her hand from Twilight’s shoulder and clutched both her arms to her front. “Good gravy,” she whispered, then looked over fearfully. “Twilight—” she tried to say, but was cut off.

Twilight shushed Mary, her eyes glued upward.

Mary put on a pleading look. Oh come on! What if it sees us? Her attention was grabbed away by the voices from overhead, still going on without waiting for her.

"You seemed so smart,” the dragon rumbled, sounding superior. “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,” it interrupted back. “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.

“Discord?” Twilight’s voice echoed, alongside another. 

Mary was vaguely aware that Twilight had said the name from beside her at the same time as her past self. Discord… Wasn’t she the black skinned pony with the bug wings? She tried to think if that was right, but didn’t have time to figure it out.

The dragon answer the other Twilight quickly. “Trapped in stone after his escape… that was very interesting.” It growled afterward, 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. “What do you suppose all this means, Twilight? What was that place that I tried to show you? To let you experience for yourself?”

From the bubble, a louder version of Twilight replied to the dragon, murmuring, "Tartarus."

At the same moment, from beside Mary, she heard Twilight say, “Tartarus.” Mary looked over, blinking in disbelief. Tartar sauce? I thought that was Hell. What does… oh, Tartarus. She looked up again, biting her lip fearfully. Isn’t that Latin for Hell or something?

Mary must have missed something, because when she looked back up the conversation had moved on.

“—The current queen chose you as her pupil.” the very second it stopped speaking, a laughter, booming and loud briefly shook the bubble’s vision, before cutting off quickly.

Mary gritted her teeth, having nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise.

The dragon exhaled, its calm returned in a flash; the exchange between emotions gave it an air of craziness. “Apologies.” it murmured. “We’re having a polite conversation here. If I remember correctly, it is rude of me to laugh at your expense.”

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."

Mary felt her body relax, suddenly feeling like she understood. I don’t believe it. Her mind flashed through brief disbelief over actually being caught up in such a fairy tale, and then a myriad of other things, ranging from guilt for blaming Twilight, anger towards the jerk hovering twenty feet over her head, and the indescribable urge to hug Twilight; she had been through a lot, it seemed.

Twilight’s voice cried out overhead again, desperation in her tone. “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 now.

In response, 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.

Twilight immediately answered the dragon. “You’ve made a big mistake if you think you can beat us.” Despite her words, her tone didn’t share their strength; she sounded unsure. “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 then, though it sounded forced.

A long silence settled in.

Mary briefly glanced at Twilight, then the bubble, then Twilight again. She tried imagining how someone, anyone could go through what she was seeing. When the loud, rumbling beast’s voice returned, she forced herself to look again, determined to finish watching. 

Overhead, the dragon tilted its head slightly, studiously, seemingly looking through the film of the bubble. “Oh, apologies,” it grumbled again, then 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...”

It sent her to Earth. Mary thought, confirming her suspicions for herself. That much was obvious, at least. But why make her human? Her brain clicked a second later. So she couldn’t use her magic. And I… I got it somehow? She kept watching.

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.

Mary watched as Twilight walked towards them, her boots clicking slightly on the black, endless floor. She stared at the remnants of light, all glittering on the floor. Her face was full of shock. With one hand, Twilight reached out to touch them. They disappeared before she could, all of them fading into the pitch black floor. 

Twilight fell down onto her knees then, quiet.

Mary’s featured thinned in sadness, a hand held over her mouth. After a moment, she stepped quickly towards the other girl, and knelt down to bring her into the tightest hug she could manage. I know what I said about hugs, darnit, but this… this is different. She felt tears fighting at the edge of her vision to come out, but she wasn’t the one that needed them right now.

“Twilight- I…” Mary began to say, but trailed off. What do I say? Her family… her friends could be- She wasn’t sure what she could say.

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 finally murmured back. In a flash of movement, Twilight turned to face to other mare, holding her hands in her own.

Mary blinked in surprised, but released her hold and sat back.

“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 visibly struggled for a moment, but Mary already felt quite sure about what was coming, but still felt surprised by the confession. “I can’t turn you back into a human, Mary. I don’t have any magic.”

Mary felt calm as she answered Twilight. “I know, I heard you before.” She breathed out slowly, briefly recalling the last instance. 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, then leaned forward and hugged Twilight a second time. “I… This whole thing is crazy, Twilight, but… I don’t know what to say…” Maybe we can get a fighter jet to Equestria… Brushing past the consideration, and realizing that they probably couldn’t get there at all, she continued. “I really don’t… if there’s anything I can do for you, please ask. I mean…” She trailed off again, thoughts all a jumble.

Twilight was quiet in Mary’s embrace, but did answer. “Thanks, Mary… and thank you for thinking so much of me... but that show, by the way, greatly exaggerates things. I think our problems are one and the same, now.”

Mary leaned back and smiled. It was a little surprising, because it wasn’t forced, despite the fact they were talking about her condition back on Earth. Still, 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…” I have to know… “But can I ever be fixed if you get your magic back?”

“Oh,” Twilight said sounding very surprised. In a cheerful voice, she quickly answered, “Of course, that shouldn’t be hard at all, assuming I had magic.” She shifted her consoling expression to a 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, smiling broadly. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a hint of the desperation remaining, or any of how afraid she had looked from before. “Let’s figure this out, and start with day one… and then try to get out of here, alright?”

Mary stared, then sniffed in return; tears cropped up around her vision, despite her best efforts, but she at least managed to nod. “Okay,” she replied, then, shakily said, “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…”

Mary did her best to share everything she knew. Still, her mind and thoughts were distracted, and wandering. She would drift topics every so often, not meaning to, but was brought back quickly anytime Twilight asked a question. In return, Twilight eventually told her story back to Mary.

All the while, though, the voices that she had heard hung in her thoughts, as well as the dragon’s face.