After her bout of screaming, I think the Mane-iac was beginning to calm down.
And then she had a panic attack.
Her red-green eyes darted around the room as she hyper-ventillated, her chaotic mane was moving about of its own accord as she attempted to get up. She clumsily got to her hooves and tripped over both her mane and her hooves and hit the floor face-first. I cautiously walked closer and heard sobs from underneath the tangle of green. I lifted a few locks of her mane and saw her hypnotic eyes.
"Are you okay, miss?" I asked quietly.
"Wh-what are you? Where am I? What am I?" she asked in rapid succession, tears leaking from her eyes.
"Miss, I'm afraid...you suffered an accident..."
"I can see that!" she snapped "How did it happen? I remember...I was...walking? Yes, walking, I was walking on the catwalk, funny name for a platform...and then...then...I-I- don't remember anything after that..."
"It's alright, take your time"
"I- I- I need rest" she said, shakily standing up.
"Here, let me help" I said, siding up to her.
I walked her to the couch and she laid down, out like a light almost as soon as her head hit the cushion.
I sat there, staring at her for a few more minutes, before I shook my head and sat down.
X X X X X X X
The Mane-iac blinked as she came to, I watched as she stared curiously at me, then tried to get to her hooves, it was like watching a newborn attempting to take its first steps. I walked over to her and put my hand on her shoulder, she stared at it, then at me.
"Miss Silk, please forgive me...I-I- had no idea...it- it was an accident...p-please..."
She stared at me longer before she spoke.
"You...you did this?" she asked "I-I- r-remember...I remember! YOU! It was YOU! I saw that box appear! That was what caused me to slip! The power lines crashed through the roof! It was YOUR FAULT!"
"P-please forgive me..."
"Forgive you? Forgive YOU?!" she laughed "Creature, I should be congratulating you!"
'What?'
"What?" I asked, puzzled.
"Oh, how I wished I could escape the tyranny of society!" she said, ignoring me "I have had my wish granted!"
"Bu-but...I-I-I'm confused..."
"I've hated living in this city for the longest time" she explained "The crime rate is too high, there's too much pollution, everypony is just outright rude! I can leave now- I can leave this company! I can leave this blasted city and its inhabitants, and I have you to thank for it!"
Before I could react, her long hooves shot out and took me by the shoulders, she compressed me into her chest as she stroked my hair obssessively.
'This isn't weird...'
"What a strange creature you are" she cooed "Falling out of the sky in a box..."
"Could you maybe, please put me down?" I asked, struggling to breathe under the bone-crushing hug she had me in.
A mad laugh escaped her muzzle before she slicked back my hair with her tongue.
My mind drew a blank as we stared at each other.
"Creature, are you aware that you have two heartbeats?"
"*Cough* Yes, and my name is Zero, I'm a human"
"Well Zero the human, tell me, are you enjoying this?"
'Is it a bad thing that I kind of am?'
"No...not really...could you please let me go?"
"Please?" she asked, digging her muzzle into my neck.
'...a few more minutes couldn't hurt...' I thought, blushing at how awkward the situation was.
She continued to hold me as she rocked back and forth, humming a soft tune to herself.
'What's happening to my life?' I wondered, trying to figure out how I was roped into being cuddled by the Mane-iac.
Wait a minute...wasn't the Mane-iac part of Spike's comic book world? If so, then I must've crossed over into a pocket dimension...this isn't Equestria, or at least a different version of it, that would explain the alarms...
I was snapped out of my thoughts by the Mane-iac, she's giving me a questioning look right now.
"Sorry, what?" I asked.
"I asked you how you knew my name" she said.
"Well...everypony knows you!" I thought quickly "You're the CEO of the company, who wouldn't know you?"
"Correction, dear Zero: I was the CEO"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm leaving, and they'll wonder how I had managed to disappear into thin air, they'll be scratching their heads for months!" she laughed.
"That's all fine and dandy...but could you please let me go?" I pleaded.
"Oh, very well" she huffed, releasing her grip.
"Thank you" I said, straightening my jacket.
She was silent once more as she watched me.
"Can I have a mirror?" she asked suddenly.
"Sure..." I said, heading to the bathroom to retrieve one.
'This is not going to end well...'
I returned with a stray hand (hoof?) mirror and handed it to her.
She opened it and stared at her relfection, she seemed absolutely mesmerized as her pupils seemed to shrink.
She then shrugged and tossed the mirror, she didn't flinch as it shattered as it hit the floor.
"Are you alright?" I asked.
"I think" she said "But...I have questions"
"Such as?"
"Why do I look the way I do?"
"I...don't think I understand"
"What I think I mean is, why do I look like this?" she said, gesturing to herself "Why was I not transformed into something more horrid than this? I'm not quite the same as I was before...there's just...no way to explain how I feel..."
"How do you feel?"
"Like a weight has been lifted from me, like I could do anything, like I'm free"
"Well...that's good, isn't it?"
"But why me? There are plenty of other ponies out in the world that are worse off than I am, why was I made to be this, instead of another pony? Not that I'm complaining, I'm rather enjoying this"
"To be honest, I don't have the answer, maybe it's because that's how things work out"
"But that is not a satisfactory answer! Why had fate chosen me? I was not the most likeable pony, in fact, I believed my old self to be quite mean-spirited"
'First sign of insanity, she's referring to her self as two separate ponies'
I remained silent throughout her speech, more questions had been planted into my head by her train of thought.
'There is, indeed, a method to her madness' I thought 'she certainly doesn't see it as a punishment, I think she's happier than she's been in a long time...even if she is an insane lunatic'
I erased that last part from my thoughts, after having that whole conversation with her and seeing her react to her situation, I think she's enjoying her insanity, it's not very malicious, as the show portrayed her, then again, this could be a different Maretropolis than
what I've seen. Her playful insanity was kind of cute to watch, actually, she was content, and I guess that's all that matters in the end...even if it was my fault...