Chapter 27 : Screw Fairytales
Stan felt himself nodding off more and more. He’d done a great deal of standing guard for hours on end before, and had likely spent a year’s worth of time or more doing just that in his line of work.
Still, that never made it easy, less so in the comfort of his own home.
Letting a sigh out, he stood up out of the recliner in his bedroom and stretched. It was dark for the most, a dim glow from the near hall added the little ambient light that there was.
Mary’s and Twilight’s silent forms could be seen as shadows, the two of them laying still where they were. If it weren’t for the slight snoring, which Stan easily recognized as his wife’s, he would be more worried by how little they moved. Carrying them earlier that night had been akin to moving limp marionettes, rather than people.
Well, a pony and a person.
Stan paced for a moment, making sure they were alright. When he stopped he raised his wrist up to his face and checked the time. Almost time to switch off. Jo’s turn to keep an eye on the pair was coming up.
Staying up through the entire night had been his plan; he was surprised a little when Twilight’s friend had demanded to be woken up to help out.
Jo wasn’t directly involved, though. Or maybe she was; maybe she had a tail or a cutie mark and was hiding it. Stan hadn’t asked. As far as he could understand it, Jo was just another someone that was caught up in everything, not someone that knew Twilight beforehand or anything. Whatever he thought about the women—Jo or Twilight—he supposed it didn’t particularly matter in the end. Together they were his only clue to getting Mary, and maybe even the rest of his family, back to normal.
After making his way around the bed, Stan gently shook Jo’s shoulder.
Jo’s head raised up in a jolt, and she mumbled a strange word, or possibly words. “Hrmpfrfgr?”
Stan lowered his voice at first, but remembered that with Twilight and Mary asleep it wasn’t needed. He used a normal tone in its stead. “Hey, it’s your turn, Jo. Did you still want one?”
Jo’s tiredness was evident in the sluggish way she moved. “F-wha—? Oh, damn, yeah, yeah.” She stretched, and the sound of bones popping noisily surrounded her. “I forgot where I was for a second there... I guess they haven’t woken up, then?”
Stan shook his head, then answered as well. “Not a peep, unfortunately.”
Jo fell backward into her chair, seemingly going limp. “Damn,” she intoned.
“Mmhm,” Stan agreed wordlessly. It didn’t seem fair, really, that things seemed to keep happening that put him in a position to feel helpless. Somehow he was never the answer to a problem, or much help at all. “Do you want anything from the kitchen, maybe?” Just once, he wanted a problem he could actually do something about to show its face.
Not magic. Not a stranger.
“Nah, that’s okay.” Jo looked up groggily at Stan. “But thanks for askin’.”
Stan couldn’t tell if the strange woman was being short, or just tired. “Alright,” he answered back simply. The recliner caught his weight as he tiredly sat back down. Its surface was still warm, and partly compressed from having supported his bulk all night. “Well, I’ll see you in the morning, then.”
Jo’s head swiveled over briefly from the other side of the room. “...Yeah.” She had answered him slowly.
Stan waited for more, but eventually closed his eyes; they burned from staying open for too long.
He considered talking out some things with the stranger. Like, for instance, what they were going to do if Mary and Twilight didn’t wake back up… It seemed prudent to him to make that plan, just in case. But, he didn’t want to consider what few options they had in the matter again. There were a lot of things left that he probably should speak with this Jo girl about. But he didn’t want to think...
After a second thought, an idle worry crossed his mind, and Stan dimly thought of something that had to do with Mary and Twilight both. In a way, it was the most important thing, and he hadn’t asked about it. Maybe he’d been afraid to; at the very least he’d been apprehensive to.
“Jo,” Stan spoke suddenly, breaking the night’s quiet anew. “Mind if I ask you a question?” He could just make out Jo sitting a little straighter and looking over.
“Huh? Oh, sure, go for it.” Jo responded in the sort of casual, off-handed way that she seemed accustomed to speaking with.
Stan nodded, though the act was mostly to himself. “If Twilight wakes… When Twilight and Mary wake up, Twilight can make my wife as she was before, right? Return her to normal?”
A short moment of silence answered him. He didn’t see her move, either, and wondered if she’d heard him.
“Oh,” Jo’s voice held an edge of relief to it, as if thinking of something, then became more even and uninterested sounding. “Yeah, she has often told me that as long as she has magic, she can change… uh, forms easy.”
“Really?” Stan felt himself relax somewhat. The story that Dan had told him about Twilight being shape-changed made sense, then. He couldn’t make out Jo in the darkness, but out of habit alone he tried to lean forward more out of interest.
Jo cleared her throat noisily. “Yup, Twilight’s still the best authority when it comes to magic. Without a doubt.”
Stan wanted to ask more, but after another idle thought, decided that was all he’d needed to hear. “That’s good to know, thanks. All of this stuff is… well, it was something I’d always considered make believe.”
Jo gave a quiet sound of acknowledgement.
Stan thought of what more to ask. Perhaps about what Jo’s time spent with Twilight had been like. They hadn’t spoken much on that, just a few scattered details. It seemed like Jo didn’t know much, oddly.
While thinking about it, however, he relaxed, and was asleep before he knew it.
Mary jolted her head up at the sensation of something coming in contact with her shoulders, and the sound of her husband's voice. But strangely, the faint image of Twilight calling out filled her vision for just a moment.
"Mar, are you awake?" Stan repeated. Not losing a moment, he wrapped up Mary in a hug, which created a noise of surprise. "Oh, thank goodness. Are you alright?"
“‘ow ‘any days has it bin?” Mary yawned, hanging from her husband's grip slightly off the side of the bed. "What? Of course I’m alri—" In the middle of answering, she yawned again. “What’s wrong?” She thought back to the unexpected circumstances under which she and Twilight must have collapsed unconscious. “Is everybody okay? How is—”
“Everyone’s fine, just you and Twilight were…” Stan smoothed some of her hair absently. “You both, uh, fainted is the best way to put it.” His brow furrowed above a worried look. “Do you remember anything? How’s your head? Are you thirsty?”
Mary felt her ears twitch, maybe a sign of irritation, but definitely a sign to herself that she was okay. She shook her head, a smile growing. “I’m fine, Stan.” Besides being a little tired, something Mary was getting used to, she felt normal. Not normal, as in, human, just normal as in not having grown a second tail or something.
That was unfortunate, but there was at least the relief on Stan’s face to be had from the news.
Mary thought back to the thing responsible for all this concern, and recalled the meeting back on her doorstep. "Did you see that purple flash as well?" she asked.
Stan released his embrace with Mary and leaned back. "How could I miss it? We all saw it. You and Twilight both lit up like the Fourth of July. When the smoke cleared, you were stuck to one another and… unconscious."
Mary opened her mouth to go on, but closed it again. “What do you mean ‘stuck’?”
Stan paused for a long moment, then shrugged and nodded towards the other side of the bed. At the other end was another person, Jo, sound asleep in a chair with their head down. “I’m guessing the explanation involves more…” He paused again to curse under his breath. “Magic, I think, because after whatever happened, happened, we couldn’t pull either of your apart. We got you and, uh, Twilight? We got you both settled in and took turns keeping an eye on you.”
Stan paused to give Jo a slightly disapproving look. “She had the last shift. I guess posting up over an objective needs to be left to the professionals.”
Mary’s eyes had widened a little at the explanation. We were...? Well that sounds awkward. She looked at the bed, where the covers were thoroughly disheveled; but there was no Twilight. “Where is she now?”
As if on cue, a distant, excited voice could be heard, likely from a certain little girl that had recently become obsessed with ponies.
Stan nodded again, smirking, this time towards the rest of the house. “I woke up and heard her in the other room. I saw you asleep still and...” His hand ran over Mary’s shoulder, then came to rest on her back. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
Mary tried to dispel his worry and smiled, raising one eyebrow. “I said so, didn’t I? Relax, dear.”
Stan chuckled. “I haven’t been able to relax properly since before I met you, let alone lately.”
Mary put her hooves on her hips. “Oh, so I’m the one to blame, huh?” She’d gotten him to relax a little, but now she had to deal with his snarkiness. “I’ll have you know that you-”
“Twilight!?”
Stan and Mary nearly jumped off the bed at the startling outburst. They looked over to see Jo leaning on the bed, frantically looking around the room.
“Oh crap, I fell asleep! Is—”
Stan spoke up, raising his voice. “She’s fine. Twilight’s in the other room, I think, talking to our kids judging by the volume.”
After a moment, understanding and relief visibly washed over Jo as she slipped back into her chair. “Oh, good. Phew, that’s good to hear. She’s okay?”
Mary maintained a calm look. “She was okay last I saw. I’m just glad we got out of there. Actually, were we only out for one night?” She looked over at Stan for an answer. “It honestly felt like ages while-” The confused looks her husband and Jo made caused her to trip over her words. “Uhm.”
“Out of where?” Jo asked first. “What even happened?”
Mary suddenly found herself confronted by two very expectant expressions. “Oh that. I- It’s… complicated.” She rubbed her hooves nervously against one another, and could already tell that wouldn’t be a sufficient explanation. The real one wasn’t easy to put together, though. How do I explain living through something crazier than a drug trip? Not that I’d know I guess, but-
“The dream place again?” Stan asked out of the blue.
Mary looked up, then nodded once she understood what was said. “Yeah,” she affirmed.
At that, Jo looked ready to ask more questions. “Dream-what?”
“I’ll try and explain,” Mary began again quickly. She sucked in a large breath to ready herself. “To sum things up this whole situation has turned ‘Disney’ on us, as dad would say, because we learned that Twilight was probably cursed to be a human and made to forget about it ever happening in the first place and by a dragon no less. Yes, I’m positive that’s what it looked like. Whatever happened, it sent us to where I met that princess horse, er, Luna, and we saw some of what Twilight thought were her memories.”
Mary took a breath of fresh air and waited.
Stan’s expression stayed blank, hardly shifting, although perhaps it inched just a hair towards skepticism.
Mary didn’t really feel she could blame him for that look. If she hadn’t seen those things herself… lived it herself, she knew she would have never believed it in a million years.
Jo, however, soon sported a pair of bugged out eyes.
Mary had to wonder just what she’d seen to be an instant believer of such things.
“You have got to be kidding,” Jo stuttered out, and held a hand up to her head as if to keep her sanity from tumbling out.
Mary sighed, working over her hair with both hooves absently. “I’m not kidding in the least. I couldn’t make that up if I tried..."
Jo stared at the floor a moment, until finally her stunned look traded for an angry looking one; though it was impossible to tell what she was angry about. “What the Hell,” she blurted.
Mary coughed a brief moment later. “Ahem.”
Jo looked confused, then seemed to catch on and shook her head. “Sorry,” she apologized, and her expression softened. “There was really a dragon? Like Smaug?”
Mary nodded to her appreciatively, then raised an eyebrow. “Who?”
Jo deadpanned momentarily. “The Hobbit? Tolkien? Arguably the founder of modern fantasy.”
Stan leaned towards Mary briefly. “Dear, she means the movie with Orlando Bloom and Viggo Mortenson.”
Recognition flashed over Mary’s face along with a broad smile. “Oh, that old thing! I love those movies. Was Smog the bad guy in the armor?”
A half disgusted look flashed over Jo’s face, before she recovered. “Not really, but never mind. More importantly, are you sure about all that?” Under her breath, it sounded like she whispered, “Dangit, Alice.”
“You can go double check with Twilight, but I don’t think I just hallucinated it all. I would be so lucky.” She chortled bitterly for a moment at that. “Actually you probably should speak to her. She was…” Mary thought back as best she could to the thing she’d lived through with Twilight. “What we saw was a lot to handle.”
Jo looked unsure, but nodded. “Alright. I’m going to go talk to Twilight about all this… this stuff you mentioned, then.” She stood up and quickly strode around the bed, and towards the door.
Stan raised a hand, though, postponing her. “Oh, Jo, if it’s not too much trouble could you coax her back in here? I’d actually like to get this uh, well, you know, our own big problem taken care of first if we can.” He chuckled a little, and sort of gestured with his head towards Mary, before facing her with a smile.
Stan brightened up along with his tone. “Now that Twilight’s awake, it seems the next order of business is for her to make you up a cure. Right, Mar?”
Jo had stopped by the door, just before stepping out, and now seemed frozen to the spot.
Mary straightened up upon realizing what her husband was saying, and found her eyes locked with Jo’s; she saw clearly the well of panic that was hiding behind the other woman’s expression. Stan doesn’t know. In an instant, she understood that Jo must not have filled him in.
Stan continued on the same. “Or is there some big long procedure for, uh, that pony magic to actually work?” He let out a big breath, then grinned. “Hah. It’s incredible to talk about this stuff, but I guess if I hadn’t seen it already these last few months—”
Mary sat up on her haunches quickly, which just about brought her to eye level with Stan. She looked at him briefly open mouthed, then turned towards Twilight’s friend. “Uh, Jo, would you go on and please talk to Twilight? What we saw was… well, she’ll tell you. I’ll catch my husband up.”
Jo looked confused for a moment, before the tension in her visibly lessened. She must have figured out that the news brought up had already been broken. “Sure. Knowing Twilight she’ll probably want to rattle off theories to someone right away… I’ll- uh, I’ll be around.”
Mary watched as the short woman hurried herself the rest of the way out of the bedroom. She turned to face Stan again, and found her husband already staring at her. He didn’t look confused, or speculative as she would have expected; he looked drained.
“I—” Mary started to say, but Stan spoke at the same time. They ended up staring at each other quietly for a few seconds as a result.
“You go ahead,” Stan murmured.
Mary’s neck lowered a fraction. Suddenly she wasn’t sure what she had been about to say. How do I tell him? She’d had hours to accept what Twilight had said, and it had taken nearly all of it for her to even look at the pony that had stolen her humanity, even if it didn’t seem like it was her fault any longer...
“Twilight can’t use her magic.” Mary said the words flat out. They weren’t strictly what needed to be said, but they gave away the logical conclusion. The lump in her throat kept her from saying anymore.
Stan’s eyes closed slowly, and a tired look crossed over it. His face said it all. “Ah. Well, don’t I feel dumb.” His voice was level. “I probably should have guessed that on my own.”
“I’m sorry, Stan,” Mary started. She shuffled some across the top of the bed towards him. He was a couple feet away though, so trying to make contact threatened to deposit her onto the floor. “I was going to tell you right away, but with everything that just happened I hadn’t had the chance yet. I can’t become human again… yet.”
She continued, rubbing one foreleg against her other. “Twilight explained everything to me, and it sounds crazy even coming from her, and even after seeing so much proof. Even after going through everything we have over the last few months it still did…” She breathed out, maintaining her calm. “We were so close… I’m so sorry, Stan.”
Stan stood still in the quiet left by his wife, before stepping up and wrapping his arms around Mary in a hug that made the one from earlier seem like nothing.
Mary struggled slightly, more to keep from being crushed than anything. Can’t breathe. Can’t breathe… Don’t care, though, she thought.
Stan released his hold. “You don’t need to apologize, Mary. I- don’t understand, though.”
Mary struggled enough to wriggle free so she could answer. “It’s... It's complicated, dear. I don’t think I get all of it either, but… whatever’s going on it isn’t just about us. From what I can tell, we just got really unlucky and wrapped up in this stupid, magical power struggle.”
Stan frowned. “You can say that again... So, what, you said Twilight has no magic? And is stuck as a human? Then how is she going to...”
Mary could practically see the gears turning in his head, and the moment when he came to the same conclusion which Twilight had.
“So she can’t get back to wherever she came from, either?” Stan asked flatly. “Like what Luna told you?”
Mary shook her head. After, she paused and looked up. “Well, that’s true, but she’s been focusing on trying to fix that the most since she got here. She hadn’t even known about me, and hoped I was some kind of clue to get her home.”
Stan held a hand up to his head. “I… see.”
Mary smirked. “Confused?”
Stan frowned back at her. “No. A little… And for someone still stuck with four hooves you seem to be taking this in stride.”
Mary blinked, then threw on a scowl. “What’s that supposed to- Well excuse me for not letting hopelessness get the best of-”
Stan’s expression panicked, and he hastily waved his hands in a defensive gesture. “Wait, wait, I didn’t mean- I meant to ask if there was an upside to all this, Mar.”
Mary still had her brow furrowed as she studied her husband a moment. She harrumphed before going on. “Well, Twilight’s been talking to some NASA scientists or something about her getting home problem. Her plan has nothing to do with magic.”
The relief on Stan’s face slowly traded out for disbelief. “Is that even possible?” he finally asked.
Mary held up both her front hooves and shrugged. “Heck if I know. It sounded to me like she had it all figured out, just no way to actually make use of her plan.” The untold scientific terms that Twilight had been using the night before during their talk with another almost threatened to send her head spinning again.
Mary sighed, and shuffled about some on the bed. “Honestly it… wasn’t all that comforting to hear about, despite her confidence. She was very honest, and I’d say it all sounded about as likely as winning the lottery, or less so.” Her short muzzle scrunched up, showcasing the doubt she felt.
Stan clear his throat quietly in response, and opted to stare at the far wall. “That doesn’t sound like good odds… Mar, I’m sorry this didn’t-”
“Oh, forget the odds,” she broke in rowdily.
Stan raised his eyebrows.
“We need to help Twilight now, right? She’s the key to all of this! Even me.” Mary had nearly flopped back onto the bed in the wake of hearing the news a second time. She didn’t want to lay around, though. She hated feeling afraid or helpless, and wanted to go do something.
“I think I’m going to get dressed then. Today’s probably going to be exceedingly busy now that we have a magical pony stuck as a human around here. It’s actually Christmas too, isn’t it?” Having resisted the powerful urge in her to mope, she hopped off of the bed smoothly.
Stan blinked in surprise at his wife’s sudden shift in priorities. Other than the change in topic, she acted less focused on herself, too. “Alright, but how exactly are we supposed to help Twilight—”
Mary’s hooves clunked loudly on the floor, just as her legs simultaneously buckled out from under herself. The whole act of minor acrobatics gone wrong turned into a loud thud, and Mary sliding slightly towards her dresser and Stan’s legs.
Neither Stan nor Mary had time to gasp or cry out before it was over, and Mary slid to a stop, only letting out a surprised, “Oof!”
“Mar! Are you alright? You just landed on… your stomach.” Stan was helping her back to her hooves in an instant, kneeling beside her.
Mary held a fore hoof across her front. “I’m fine, I’m fine,” she hurried back. “My stupid legs just gave out is all…” She shook her head briefly to get her loose mane out of her eyes. “Don’t worry about it, I just should have been more careful.” A disgusted look crept onto her face. “Uggh, I’m a wreck on top of being cursed… great.”
“No, no you’re not,” Stan affirmed. He clearly saw the emotion on his wife’s face. “I’ll see about getting you a step for the bed or something-”
At the sound of a near growl from Mary, Stan cut off. The dour look she’d sported had shifted to a scowl.
“No stool,” Mary grumbled and tossed her head. “Now if you’ll excuse me, dear, I’m going to get dressed and make this the best Christmas I possibly can.” After a second she added, “For the kids.”
Stan was taken aback again, but nodded slowly. “Okay. That sounds good,” he agreed offhandedly. He paid close attention while Mary began rooting through a couple dresser drawers for clothing, but without looking like he was. Years of past experience told him that she didn’t want to speak at the moment, and that meant the conversation was done for the time being. Still, he had to make sure she was alright.
Wordlessly, Stan began to change as well, but over on his end of the room.
Meanwhile, Mary stayed busy, struggling her way out of the clothes she’d slept in and into a near matching set, the only difference being a magenta color.
Her coat was matted a good deal, and would need seeing to later. One of her least favorite parts about her body’s condition was, in fact, the fur and the effects clothing had on it… Perhaps Twilight could give some advice on the matter.
Mary eventually found and pulled out the clothes she needed. She’d never worn so many baggy clothes in her life before, but the workout sweats fit her equine body better than anything else she owned, or even some of the outfits Agnes had made.
It was during her attempts to don her pants that a strangled sound came from her husband.
Mary scowled anew and sighed. She was currently laying on her back and in the middle of struggling on the clothing. “Don’t laugh!” she growled, and looked up at Stan angrily. “You try doing this without hands. I bet you couldn’t even—”
Stan wasn’t looking at her directly, but at something at her side. “No, it’s not that, Mar.” He stumbled over the words, his eyes as wide as they could possibly get.
Mary turned her head sideways to get a more right side up look at him. “What? What is it?” She raised an eyebrow, honestly unsure of what Stan could be talking about. A heat filled her cheeks. He couldn’t be talking about the weight I’ve—
Her own thoughts came to a crashing halt as soon as she saw it, and gasped. “What is that!? Haaa— What—?” In a flash she stumbled up to all four hooves.
Stan swallowed, watching his wife get up and begin to dance roughly in a tight circle; her eyes were glued to one of her flanks one moment, before switching over to stare at the other. All the while she frantically gibbered out half-words and nonsense.
“So you see it too?” he asked starkly. His deep voice was little more than a mumbled, disbelieving question.
Mary whirled around again and stared daggers at him. “Of course I see it! How could I miss something like… this!?” Her hoof jabbed at her hip, pointing at the spot that drew both of their respective attentions. “What’s it doing there!?”
Under the tip of Mary’s hoof, nestled on her fur, was a rosy colored marking with six points, and surrounded by five, white sparkles. It was a cutie mark, unmistakably, and vaguely resembled a star, but was identical to something else Stan and Mary had seen before.
Mary groaned in despair and collapsed onto the wood floorboards, her pants still only half hoisted up her rear. “I just got done getting over everything that just happened. Why, fate? Why can’t you at least give me a breather before dumping even more things on me!?”
“Mar?” Stan questioned from nearby.
Mary felt a hand rest on her back, and she sat up tiredly to see Stan looking at her. Her own expression was just as dour as his.
“I have a cutie mark, now,” Mary sighed out, then quickly pulled up her britches in one final motion. It hid the mark, but did nothing to halt the oppressive feeling her hindquarters were now giving her in spades. “But how? Why now?” Somehow, she now had a mark, just as the rest of her family did. “Where did it come from? Why do I—”
Mary stopped speaking, and a completely blank look flashed into being, her muzzle hanging open. She looked up in time to meet eyes with her husband, and simultaneously blurted, “Twilight?”
“What did she do?” Stan thought hard about the subject for a moment. As he understood it, the marks appeared during a special activity, and had something to do with a ‘talent’ that the owner was profoundly skilled in. Whether the mark is what made the person good at the thing or what, he couldn’t figure out. His daughter seemed to think she was the expert on the matter, but he wasn’t sure how much he trusted the knowledge that was mostly from a cartoon show.
Mary shook her head violently. “I don’t know! Nothing! I think...” Frowning deeply, she craned her head around to look at it again, though it was covered now. “This is bad, I think. It must be...” She wasn’t sure of the implications of Twilight’s cutie mark on her own body, but they couldn’t be good at all.
“Well,” Stan started to say. “As far as random marks on your bottom can go, I guess that’s not a terrible one.” He tried to manage a smile, but it just sort of fell short and looked as doubtful as he sounded.
Mary looked up, her brow furrowed. “Stan, this is Twilight’s cutie mark. Don’t you remember from the show?”
Stan blinked, and looked briefly at Mary’s covered flank. The haunting memory of hearing that show’s theme song in his home for weeks on end returned.
“It is?” he said, and put on a thoughtful expression. “You’re right… Sorry, I’d forgotten.” The show hadn’t been terrible, but most of his attention had gone towards looking for clues to help his wife. The rest had gone to Anna, for the most, who had loved every minute of it.
“It’s fine…” Mary groaned and wiped a hoof down her face. “I’d be willing to bet this thing showed up because we made contact earlier.” That sort of made sense. She couldn’t think of another reason why the thing was on her hips all of a sudden, unless Twilight’s cutie mark was related to sleeping instead of performing magic.
“Well, I’m going to show her this, it may be a clue,” she stated plainly. A clue of what, she wasn’t sure at all.
Stan scrubbed a hand over his beard. “Is that a good idea?” One particular memory of the Twilight he knew about from the show, and a few different mental breakdowns she’d suffered flashed in his thoughts. “Is this the sort of thing that would get her upset? Do we want her to be upset?”
Mary began to speak against the question, but hesitated. Maybe she would… “It’s possible, Stan,” she answered. “I spoke to her a lot, though… she’s… nice.”
Stan exhaled slowly, frowning at the floor. He’d almost forgotten Mary must have had hours to talk with Twilight, if her dreaming story was to be believed. “One thing after another,” he muttered, and thought of how to go about things. “Well, nice doesn’t tell us how she’ll react.”
“Maybe not,” Mary replied tersely. “But it’s obvious that we’ll need to cooperate with her fully if…” She paused, biting her lip. “If we want any hope of a resolution. I’ll tell her soon… when I get the chance.” Sooner rather than later seemed like a good idea.
Stan nodded simply. “So, did anything else happen while you two were out?”
“Hm. No. There was no Luna, either. Twilight did tell me a good deal about magic though.” Mary briefly felt her head pulsate, likely in memory of the information dump the incredibly nerdy seeming woman had tried to share in such a short time. “I could have sworn my head was going to burst from that… I think you’ll want to ask her yourself.”
Stan smirked briefly, and shared a brief chuckle with Mary.
Meanwhile, Mary studied her hooves for a moment, their orange, peachy color almost a match for the varnished floor beneath them. At the same time, her ears twitched, and she could with definite certainty hear Anna approaching. Earlier, she’d thought she’d also heard what sounded like her yelling at Bobby.
“Well.” Mary looked up at Stan in a flash, and wearing a large grin, too.
Stan blinked, a little surprised.
“If I know the kids, then they’ll be wanting to-”
A rapid pounding of the door from outside filled the room, followed by a loud cry from Anna. "Hey, Daaaaad!” Anna’s voice came in from another room.
Mary smiled up to Stan, then turned to walk towards the door; in her wake flicked her tail, swatting Stan’s side. “Am I good or what?” She chuckled, trotting to the door.
Stan raised an eyebrow, then harrumphed a laugh. “The best, dear.” His wife seemed to be in high spirits, at least, in spite of everything. He guessed dragons and cutie marks were nothing compared to what she’d been through already… that, or she was hiding how she felt. Or maybe it was something else.
The door swung open, and in charged Anna. Immediately, she wrapped up around Mary’s neck, nearly hanging from it, and began speaking in an absolutely incomprehensible manner.
“Whoa, Anna, slower words!” Mary wrapped a foreleg around her daughter. “I’m glad to see you, too.”
Anna jumped back, revealing teary eyes. “Are you okay!? What happened? I—”
“Ssshh,” Mary hugged Anna tighter. “It’s fine, I’m fine, too. It was… well, I’ll explain later. The important thing is that everyone’s okay, and so is Twili—”
Anna interrupted. “Oh my God, Mom! Twilight, the Twilight is out there!”
Stan shook his head. Same old Anna…
Anna continued. “And— Oh, dad, Twilight needs your help!”
Stan looked up in surprise, then at Mary, who shared his confused look. “She does? What with?”
Anna began nodding rapidly. “She needs to computer! The computer! Something about nerds. And she told us about a dragon- Or Miss Jo did. And oh my God! Dad!? Are you gonna fight a dragon!? Please say you are! Please! It would sooo cooool.”
Stan and Mary slowly looked at each other. They could each see plainly what the other was thinking while Anna continued to go on and on about things she must have overheard. Both of them were forming plans to dissuade her various fantasies, or to at least distract her from them.
Eventually, Stan took the initiative and let out a sigh, looking up towards the door. “Anna? Why don’t you go lay out some presents and get your brother, I’ll be right there. And I’ll go help Twilight real quick first. How does that sound?”
Anna gasped, “Presents!” Then, she tore back out of the room. “I almost forgot it was Christmas! Best Christmas eeeever!”
Mary called after Anna hastily. “No running! And take off that hat! You’re indoors!” She heaved a sigh, happy to see at least some things never changed.
Mary began giggling, and Stan joined in with a deep chuckle a moment later.
“So, you got the kids, and I’ll get the food and handle our house guests?” Mary flipped her head as she spoke, using her hooves to finally pull her hair under control. She put it into a simple pony tail in seconds; it wasn’t easy, but she’d gotten better at manipulating it with just hooves. Anything more complicated was still beyond her, though.
Stan nodded, then raised a finger. “Actually, are you sure you wouldn’t like me to get something started inste-”
Mary narrowed her vision up at him. “Stan, I may be stuck in what is essentially the body of a miniature horse, but you still can’t cook worth a darn.”
After a moment, Mary smirked, then stood up on her hind legs to press her husband’s nose with a hoof like a button, producing a surprised look. “You open the gifts with the kids, I’ll see to our guests,” she repeated. “I’ll need to talk to Twilight again about… recent developments.”
Stan smirked. “Sounds good…” He held Mary up by her front hooves, keeping her upright, and their gaze locked in that natural way that just sort of happened.
He went on. “I’m glad you’re back, by the way. Please don’t do that again. I worried about you.”
Mary stared back at him. One of her ears lowered. “Did you? Well, I missed you back.” She inclined her head slightly as she returned the sentiment. “And I certainly worried about the house falling apart while I was gone, myself.” In an exaggerated manner she looked around the room, wide eyed, as if right then the ceiling and walls would just fall outward comically.
Stan guffawed, looking affronted. “Oh? You thought I’d let everything fall apart in one day? Well, sorry to disappoint you.”
Mary smirked coyly, then, buried her head against her husband’s chest. “Mmmhm. Not so much disappointed.” After a pause, she added, “Still, I’m glad to know I was missed.”
Stan held her, thinking twice about her words. He wasn’t sure immediately what she’d meant. “Of course you were,” he replied. “We’ll get there, Mar.” He knew there was no need to say what “there” was. “And if not, I’ll be happy either way.”
Mary nodded against him. “Thank you.” She heaved a breath and pulled back. “As long as I have you, I will be, too.”
Stan stood still, taking in his wife’s eyes, which sparkled with their own light.
After they stood like that for another moment, the angry yells from their son, likely directed to Anna, reached them vaguely, and reminded them of how busy things still remained.
Mary sighed and made to go. “Alright, let’s get to-”
Stan held on a moment, and took a step along with Mary. “Uhm, wait Mar, there was something else.”
Mary raised an eyebrow. “Hm? Did I forget something? There’s so much going on I wouldn’t be surprised in the least.” She laughed a little, though it held a hint of a nervous quality. She could certainly do with less interesting things in her life.
Stan looked around, as if thinking. “Well,” He let Mary go, and she thumped her front legs back onto the floor while he thought. Still, he hesitated a good while before finally speaking.
“I guess, just, will you be alright?” He looked over Mary quickly, his attention mostly directed towards her middle. “That was a really bad… fall you took. Did you-”
“Stan, I’m fine.” Mary responded before he could continue, grinning confidently. “Don’t worry, I’m… definitely tougher than I was… before, as we’ve gone over.” She shrugged, making a light-hearted expression. “It’s not much of a silver lining, but I guess I’ll take what I can get, heh. You can even talk to Twilight about it, she was talking to me about how fragile we seem to be compared to ponies.”
Stan made a doubtful look at that. Whether it was over his apparent fragileness, or believing Mary that she was alright, she couldn’t tell.
Mary went on, smiling to try and reassure her husband. “I’ll just get some food started for everyone, assuming the kids didn’t help themselves… and then we can hopefully speak with Twilight in private.” She smiled despite the stern tone of her voice.
Stan frowned for a good few moments, before the burrowing look Mary was giving him finally won over. He sighed, and crossed his arms, defeated.
“Alright, alright, you’re fine, like you say,” he relented.
Mary brightened up and nodded appreciatively. “Good, I’ll let you know when you can worry about me!”
Stan looked dour for a moment, before donning a smug look. “So,” he started to say again. “Chicken and waffles for breakfast?”
Mary blinked a few times, then rolled her eyes and fell back to the floor. “No. Also, you are so your father’s son sometimes, you know.” She swatted him with her tail again, for good measure.
Stan chuckled a little. “Ouch, that hurts. The insult, I mean.”
“Good!” Mary called back over her shoulder, moving hastily out of ear shot; at least for her husband, considering how much better her hearing happened to be. As she went, she spotted Twilight and Jo talking idly in the dining room. She avoided them, for now, and wondered how exactly she’d break her current secret to Twilight.
As Mary trotted across the floor, she thought idle thoughts over the sound of her noisy hooves. Well, at least I go into this knowing Twilight can’t turn me into anything strange… It was a small consolation, but at least it was comforting to know.
I really hope this whole thing works out in the end… The lone, desperate thought seemed weak to her. I mean, fairy tales always work out, and we officially have a villain, don’t we?
Mary paused, pulling a frying pan out from under her kitchen drawers. “Bah, screw fairy tales.”
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i.imgur.com/1JNHH.png
Yup.
Cool fanart.
The chapter's nice too. 
4144681
Eeeyup
So...Twilight's gonna have an anurism when Mary shows her the cutie mark...hehe
right after Mary pulls out a frying pan. Tiffany Aching?
Oh and she has Twilight's cutie mark now. Ummm. Ok. Hmmm. Well it fits my theory that Mary his hosting some of if not most of Twilight's magic.
The colors of the cutie mark look kinda strange on her though.
4145038
Yeah they do.
A lot of implications aimed towards her belly for some reason.
Wonder what that's all about. 
unless it's German.
On a side note, I feel bad for any dragon that has to tangle with Stan.
I so called it. Twilight magic getting transferred to Mary. Well, now Mary only need a horn and they change everyone back.
Well, after reading the latest chapter of ATL I came up with a theory as to why they ended up in that memory/dreamscape thing. Mary's cutie mark pretty much confirms it. If Twilight thinks about it enough, then some interesting things could happen real soon.
Whaaaaaaaat?
4145439 something something dreamscape something something ascension something something Alicorn?
4145336 either Mary's suffering from intestinal issues from not eating enough fibre-filled flowers or she's preggers.
4145548
I figured it was the chicken and waffles.
4145548 Are you insinuating that I haven't thought through my theory very much?
Because I have, I'm just keeping it vague in case I give away anything.
4145548 Something something something darkside.
That picture turned me on more than it should have. Not sure how I feel about that....
Haha
Another enjoyable chapter. Thanks!
My reaction to the Cutie Mark. Kind of Ironic whose line it is.
It'll be interesting, finding out what this recent development bodes...
This chapter was great, but I was wondering if either you or Hoopy McGee have any plans to write another installment of the non-canon crossover with Sunflower?
4146090
Next Christmas, perhaps. ^^
4145388 or danish
Dang it Stan, you need to tell Mary your cocerns. She doesn't know...
So, she has Twi cutie mark, will she grow a horn and wings next?
I just hope she didn't just miscarry...
Twilight's magic = Twilight's cutie mark. That makes sense, but it just raises more questions about where the others' cutie marks came from. If they just absorbed some bleed-off from the Event, they'd all be walking around with star-spangled flanks because it was still Twilight's magic.
Personally I'm still thinking it's Earth's magic experimenting with itself.
4146242
Does this imply that the series will last that long?
4145049
For now. Dundundunnnnn...
4145658 Nope! My own hypothesis is the murky one.
So ATL and MLM both update on my birthday! Couldn't have asked for anything more.
Well this is a surprising development. Mary now has Twilight's cutie mark.
Wasn't expecting that. 
I would have liked to have seen the dream end from Mary's perspective given that I wondered what she was thinking when she pointed out that she doesn't like having fur. I sense you're trying these linked chapters more, which is not unwelcome.
I recall your blog on this noted that you may have made some mistakes here. It's not much but you don't mention that Anna is wearing a hat until Mary notes it. I sense if you're not reading ATL, which I can't imagine why you wouldn't at this point, it might seem a tad confusing. But it's really just a nitpick. I was hoping that this chapter would clear up why she's wearing it. Given her shiftiness and an odd question about whether the crystal could turn someone into a pony, I stand by my theory that she's hiding a unicorn horn that she's somehow sprouted with the crystal or something.
Anyway, I'm glad these stories have finally updated when they did. I look forward to the madness that comes next. Keep up the good work.
it's happening
earth pony with a cutie mark in magic, thats gonna freak twilight out. huzzah!
4147528
I'd say that Mary took the brunt of the magic, which is why she has Twilight's cutie mark and is an earth pony and can do magic and all that, and the rest only took very little bits of magic that are barely identifiable as Twilight's, causing them to get their own cutie marks and respective talents, but no magical abilities or ponification.
Ooh, here's an idea. What if you break the crystal(s), and channel the released magic into Twilight? It could turn her into a unicorn again!
[She stretched, and the sound of bones popping noisily surrounded her.]
I misread that at first and thought it was saying her bones were surrounding her. I was just like, jesus christ, you should get that looked at.
[“There was really a dragon? Like Smaug?” [...] "Was Smog the bad guy in the armor?”]
I... think you might be playing up her pop-culture ignorance a little too much there, lol. Even without knowing their names, she should be able to guess that 'Smog' was the dragon, based entirely on Jo calling him a dragon.
[“Well, nice doesn’t tell us how she’ll react.”]
Does it even matter!? You've already concluded that her accomplishing her goals is necessary for you to accomplish your own goals; whether or not to give her information that you know could be vital to that shouldn't even be a question.
[I’ll tell her soon… when I get the chance.”]
... As in, not now? Dafuq, Mary. Dafuq.
Stan the Dragon Slayer. I like it.
[Huge shout out to Longinus for the Mary art!]
That guy is awesome. That art was amazing and adorable and perfect.
The words around it weren't bad either, I guess.
I'm glad it seems like the cutie mark thing won't be some much-delayed-for-no-good-reason thing, lol. Though it makes me feel weirdly uncomfortable to see Twilight's cutie mark on someone else. That's so much a part of her identity within her culture that it being on someone else just seems terribly wrong to me.
Forget a word?
Cute drawing. Though you continue to insist on using hyphens when you should have em dashes.
Looks like we still have to wait for that purple rock...
True, and as we all know, fairy tales usually end with the horrible dismemberment of the villain.
I fear you have hooked me soap opera style. You could have absolutely nothing happen and just elaborate on the life experiences of this group of misfits forever and I still wouldn't be able to put it down.
(you're killing me larry!)
4160423
Hey, that was my aim, originally. It worked against me though! My introduction of an overhead plot went shaky.
4160583
The overhead plot is fine. I like how it's progressing, and nothing has seemed too "out there" in it. Don't be afraid to make things happen, just because you've got something that works!
4147528
4151805
Ooh, ooh! The introduction of Equestrian magic jumpstarted Earth's dormant (but considerably weaker) magical field. Thus, humans can now aquire cutie marks.
4164263
If that was what happened, then Suddenly, Cutie Marks! would probably be a bit more widespread than what we've seen so far, but we haven't heard anything about it beyond the Morrises'.
Or maybe that is what happened, and we just haven't heard anything about it beyond the Morrises'.
4164494
Considerably weaker magic field. It doesn't start giving marks immediately... it takes time. At this point, maybe a small handful of people have found their calling.
Looks like this story is close to ending, but far from over. I'm guessing we have about 35% of this story left or something.
Yeah, I can see where this conversation is going to go:
Mary: "Uh, Twilight? I'm afrai--I think I found your cutie mark."
TS: "REALLY?!? Where?"
Mary: "On my butt."
TS: "..."
Mary: "uh--Twilight?"
TS: "..."
Mary: "uh--you okay?"
TS: "Y-y-you've got my magic?"
Mary: "I guess so. But that's good, eh? I mean, you can teach me how to fix us both! The show tells us you're good at teaching!"
TS: "B-b-b-but y-y-you're not a unicorn! If you were, I could teach you, yes. But you're an EARTH PONY! YOU CAN'T DO MAGIC!!"
Mary: "..."
TS: "uh--Mary?"
Mary: "..."
TS: "uh--you okay?"
Great work! Looking forward to the next installments.
BTW, are we ever going to have Twilight comment on Keep Calm & Flutter On? From everything that's been said about where Equestria is, it sounds as though your Twilight is from the Pre-reformed Discord period -- It'd be AWESOME to have her react to seeing herself become an Alicorn!
Oh, I just want to say how much I've enjoyed reading these. From your description of Herbert & Agnes, I'm picturing Sam Elliot & Katharine Ross.
Still working on figuring out the others in the story.
Mary's looking a little chubby in that picture...
4943104
Well it ain't just Mary in that picture if you know what I mean.
Twi: "Ahheh... um. We put magic in our clothing."
Mary: "That's cheating!"
...well f- ...udge. She better grow a horn, now.
Twilight is going to have a serious breakdown when she sees that...
5017489 Nah, not a breakdown... What neither Mary nor Stan seem to realize is just what having Twilight's cutie mark entails: A TALENT FOR MAGIC. Granted she still doesn't know the first thing about magic, but Twilight does, so between the two of them...
5264768 Ah, I see what you mean! That's exciting to say the least!