Chapter 28 : I'm What?
Mary started off with putting on the coffee, then followed it up quickly by starting some assorted breakfast for everyone, herbivore and human alike.
It struck her as a little ironic that the vegetarians present in the home were all humans.
The Morris family kitchen was soon filled with the sound of Mary’s cooking. The gurgling coffee maker, the sizzling eggs and bacon on the stove top and the ding of the toaster were each an instrument in the balanced breakfast orchestra.
Mary herself helped with some light humming to accompany the ever present clip-clopping of her own hooves on the linoleum tiles. She was in her own little world at the moment. At times like this, her life was almost normal again, even with everything that had happened recently. It was easy for her to forget how long it took her to relearn the simplest of tasks, like for example, buttering toast.
Mary paused in mid-swipe with a knife to admire how far she had come, and chuckled at how quickly she could go back to business as usual. Well, the more things change, the easier we adapt…, she ruefully thought with a lopsided smile.
Mary’s ear twitched at a sound, and she turned her head just in time to see Stan stroll into the kitchen with Jo following behind.
Stan smiled and took in a deep breath. “How's it coming along, Mar? Need any help?”
“No, thank you.” Mary glared while plating a few eggs, staying balanced with practiced ease on her hindlegs. “It’ll be done soon enough; I’ll be just a few more minutes.” She nodded to Jo before continuing. “I hope you two are hungry.”
“Oh we are, and thank you so much for—” Mid-sentence, Jo took note of the nearly complete pot of coffee and made a beeline. “—everything! And that coffee smells great. You don’t mind if I...?” She teetered off, motioning toward the coffee with one hand and shooting Mary a hopeful smile.
Mary gave a knowing smirk before nodding her head towards a cabinet to Jo’s right. “The mugs are up there, and the cream and sugar are already out. If you need anything else, our home is open to you.”
Mary and Stan shared a chuckle while Jo helped herself to the pot with fervor, muttering, “Come to me, precious.”
Stan leaned against a counter and seemed content to watch Mary pace back and forth in front of the stove. “We really should get to the tree soon, Mar. The kids might end up ripping into each other instead of their presents if we take too much time.”
“Alright, but I’m sure they’ll be fine—” A shout, followed by a crash, came from the living room and cut Mary off.
“Where did you hide my present, twerp!?”
A tense silence filled the kitchen as the three adults listened to the thumping of running feet from across the house.
Jo spoke up after an exaggerated slurp from her cup. “Great coffee, by the way.”
“Thank you, I ordered it online from Tim Horton's." Mary replied almost automatically before clicking her tongue. “I wish those two would get along better…”
Stan glanced at her, and then to where Jo was looking. “You get used to it after a while. I hope they aren’t too big a bother.”
Jo chuckled. “It’s fine. I had a younger brother growing up. He’s a pain to this day.”
Mid-stride while crossing the kitchen, Mary noticed that Jo was looking at her hooves.
When Jo noticed that Mary had spotted her, she shook herself in response. “Uh, sorry, I didn’t mean to… stare. I’m just still a bit in shock about the stuff that Twilight said actually turning out to be true. Believing is one thing, but actually seeing is...”
“Another thing,” Mary finished for Jo as she trailed off, smiling. “It’s quite alright, and I’m quite used to the attention these get thanks to Anna.”
Jo chuckled nervously, not wanting to sound rude, but feeling as if she was managing the opposite. “Yeah, and honestly I’m finding your hoof noises to be far more distracting than anything. Even more than the rough-housing going on over there.”
“W-What?” Mary’s cheeks brightened as she came to another stop during her trip across the kitchen tiles, while Stan barked a laugh.
“That took me a bit less time to get used to.” Stan gave Mary a warm smile, patting her back.
Mary, for her part, did her best to hide her embarrassment by biting the side of her cheek. “Speak for yourself, dear. It still drives me crazy every now and then. I’m considering having the kitchen carpeted at this point!”
Stan and Jo laughed along with Mary at that before Jo took on a thoughtful look. “Why waste the money on new carpet when you could just get some new socks?”
The remaining laughter died away, and Mary slowly gave Stan an affronted look. “Why didn’t we think about that sooner?”
Stan just turned to Jo with a frown. “Look what you did, you’ve gone and ruined the Christmas gift from Agnes… and Marge, if rumor is to be believed. Although they’re not socks, they’re more like slippers with special little grips on the bottom so—”
Mary did a double take. “Y-You already thought about this?” she sputtered.
“Surprise?” Stan offered with a meek shrug.
Mary sat back on her haunches and sighed amidst a smirk. “I'll pretend to be surprised. Now, why don’t you go keep an eye on the kids? I’ll be out as soon as I’m done fixing food for our guests.” she suggested before smiling in Jo’s direction. “If you go take a seat in the dining room, I’ll have your food out in a jiffy, Jo.”
Jo smirked, and gave a meek thanks as she exited the room.
“Need any help first?” Stan offered, hesitating at the doorway.
Mary sighed again, then headbutted Stan’s rear while laughing. “Would you just go already, silly? I’ve got this.”
“Alright, I’m going,” Stan laughed back, fighting weakly against being forced from the kitchen. “Oh, hold on. Twilight would like some coffee with extra sugar.”
“Order received. Now shoo!” Mary watched him go, smiling. Her pleasant look, however, shifted to being more thoughtful. She could have sworn there was something, maybe apprehension, on Stan's face.
I must be imagining things. Mary shrugged, humming pleasantly as she set about finishing up with buttering Twilight’s toast.
Mary yawned, still tired from her dream filled night, as she trotted swiftly through the house while searching for Anna. Apparently her daughter had hidden one of Bobby’s gifts and then herself, as well. Where could she be? Usually she’s the one begging everyone else to hurry up. She passed by Jo, giving her a friendly nod as she did. Well, at least I have a pretty good idea where she went.
Mary poked her head into Stan’s office, the place where Twilight was currently working on something she’d said was pivotal, and quite important to their cause.
“Anna?” Mary smirked to herself as she immediately located the errant daughter she was seeking with her very first guess. “Oh, there you are! Hey, slowpoke, we’re opening presents over here.” She raised an amused eyebrow and smirked. “Your brother’s got smoke coming out of his ears being forced to be social, so hurry up!”
Instantaneously, Anna whirled around and rushed past Mary, causing her to blink as she momentarily saw two Annas.
“Whoops. Gotta-go-Twilight! Remind me to tell you after presents!” Anna jumbled out, almost as quickly as she raced out of the room. “And I got questions I want to ask! So many questions and… and, and-and—” With what seemed like an immense amount of struggle, she clenched her eyes shut and dove out of the room. “Bye!”
Mary briefly stared after her daughter in shock, then resumed her smirk.
Just a moment after, she met Twilight eye to eye, and stumbled over forming a practical greeting. Instinctively, she wanted to ask about last night’s events and if everything was alright. Not to mention she still needed to broach of subject of a certain cutie mark...
A little forcefully, Mary smiled and tried managing a simple hello, but Twilight beat her to it.
“Good morning, Mary,” Twilight said, and quite cheerfully. After the night before, it sounded almost odd coming from her voice. “Heh, your daughter’s very cute, like you said. And smart, too.”
Mary shook off her calculating thoughts, and gave Twilight a consoling look. She then smiled in the direction Anna ran off. “She certainly is, though I don’t know from which side of the family she got her smarts from.” She chuckled, then looked at Twilight again. “Well, we’ll be over in the family room out of your way if you need anything. Oh, but I nearly forgot. I’ll be right back with your coffee!”
Twilight gave Mary another friendly nod as they parted ways.
As soon as Mary was around the corner, she let out the tense breath she’d been holding in without even realising she was holding one.
“Blurgh… well, that felt awkward.” Mary softly face-hooved as she trotted back through the house to fetch Twilight’s coffee. Oh well, Twilight seems fairly understanding. I don’t think she minds much whether I’m nervous around…
Her quickened pace took her past Jo, who seemed to be entirely invested in her coffee and breakfast.
“Need a refill there?” Mary stood up on her hind legs to peek into Jo’s cup, trying her best not to get so close as to be considered rude.
“Oh, please!” Jo, looked as if she had second thoughts and started to rise. “Er, if it’s not a hassle. I can get it myself.”
“No no no, you’re a guest and I’m far from helpless. I mean that, really.” Mary clicked her tongue derisively as she trotted into the kitchen. “I mean, if ponies can manage adventures like what Twilight told me about I think that I can pour a little bit of… coffee.” She noticed Anna, who was in the kitchen rather than at the tree, as she stepped in. “One moment, Jo.”
“Oh, hi mom.” Anna grinned sheepishly upon noticing she had been spotted, a powdered donut in her hands.
“Anna, no sweets. You’ll ruin your breakfast.” Mary made to reclaim the treat, but was stopped fullforce by large, begging eyes from her daughter.
“But mom! It’s Chriiiistmaaas. Please, please please please can I have one?” For emphasis, Anna dropped onto her knees and half begged, half cuddled her mom’s side, eyes still turned upward in a pleading fashion. At the same time, powdered donut residue from Anna’s grubby child mits covered Mary’s coat.
“Well…” Mary looked to the ceiling, as if deep in thought on her answer, and just barely managed to hide her smile. “Alright, Anna. But only because it’s the holidays. Now hurry up and get out there! I’ll be right out behind you after I give our guests some coffee.”
“Yes!” Anna celebrated by taking a huge bite out of the treat. “Thanks, mom!”
Sheesh. Mary rolled her eyes, breaking from the embrace to instead see to her guests.
As Anna began to skip from the room, Mary saw one last thing that needed to be addressed with her daughter.
“Hey, you, and take off that hat indoors! I won’t ask again.” As her daughter raced from the room, Mary reached over without waiting and snatched the offending woolen cap.
Anna gasped, skidding to a halt. “Mom, no!”
Mary harrumphed, the hat clenched in her teeth. “Anna, ‘here’s ‘o ‘ay on Earf you’re—” frustrated, she spat the hat onto the counter, “—cold with how warm your father runs the… heater?”
“Mom, I can explain. Uh, I think.” Anna had her hands covering her head, but they did a poor job hiding the absolutely eye-wrenching yellow mixed in with pink and beige stripes; and it was certainly very straw-yellow, not merely a normal blonde the likes of which quality hair dye would provide.
Mary stared wide eyed at her daughter, caught completely off guard. She blinked, thinking it would go away. She struggled to speak, or yell for Stan, but no sound could get out of her muzzle.
Before letting things go any further, Anna broke her silence, while keeping her wounded look. “Mom, please don’t be upset or freak out, okay? It’s not what you think it is.” She put on a thoughtful look, then shrugged. “Uh, probably?”
“AH!” Mary’s eyes were already at their widest, but they fought to go further. She raced over to Anna and, with a hoof on either of her shoulders, jerked her daughter’s scalp to where she could get a closer look.
Mary still couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “A-Anna!? What happened to your hair? It— Why— How—” She found herself nearly choking for air, and had to stop in order to breathe.
“Tssh! Mom, no!” As Anna sshhhed her own mother as she tried to cover her mouth with a hand. “Please, not so loud! I was going to tell you, but don’t make a scene. It only happened last night, and I don’t want anyone else to know! Please!”
Mary scowled at her daughter, mustering her very best ‘I’m very disappointed in you’ face. “Anna, explain this, right now.” A hundred confused thoughts were in her mind right then, but a very desperate one surfaced ahead of the others. “And please tell me that you somehow just dyed your hair like that to impress Twilight.”
Anna looked sadly at the wall, then the ground; anywhere but her mother. “No… I didn’t, mom. I’m sorry, but it isn’t Twilight’s fault, either! After last night… Twilight dropped her crystal and… I held onto it overnight because she was out cold. I swear I was gonna give it to her right away! I just gave it to her, in fact! But, when I woke up my, uh… my hair was all colorful like this. I haven't told her about what it did yet eithe—"
Mary’s eye twitched. “—like a pony’s,” she finished, a determined look dawning on her face.
“No, mom, listen!” Anna jumped in front of her mom, who had begun to trot briskly out of the kitchen. “I already talked to Twilight, mom. She said it’s not like that. The crystal literally can’t do that! It just made my hair all… vibrant, I promise! Although, I still haven’t told her this happened… Please don’t get mad at her.”
Mary stared up into the most soulful, heartfelt puppy dog eyes she’d ever seen. After a moment’s hesitation, she shook her head, and came to a resolute decision, even if it didn’t quite clear things up for her. “Anna, sweetie, please put your hat back on and go join Bobby by the tree. I need to talk to your father, and then we’ll be right there.”
Anna stared back at her, obviously taken aback from the lack of either outrage or panic. “But mom, what are you—”
Mary held up a hoof to her daughter, which summoned immediate quiet. “Sweetie, please, I believe what you said, but this is important. No more buts. Now come on— Oh my goodness, Jo.”
Jo nodded jerkily. “Yes, that is me. Uhm, sorry, I didn’t want to interrupt.”
Mary face-hooved, having completely forgotten the guest seated at the dining table. “As you can see, we have a lot of strange goings on in this house. I’m really very sorry.”
“Oh no, no no no, it’s okay. Uhm, do you want me to go tell Twilight, or...?” Jo trailed of, shifting her uncertain look between Anna and Mary.
Mary's response was curt, but snappy. “No! I mean, please, if it’s alright I’d like to let Twilight finish this important business she has, first.”
Jo shrugged. “Sure thing. Just let me know if you need my help, Mrs. Morris.”
“Thank you.” Mary chuckled nervously as she walked around behind her daughter, then started casually nudging her out of the room with gentle nudges to her back. “And just Mary is fine. Anna, come on now.”
Without further pause, Mary trotted on ahead into the living room, with Anna scampering close behind her.
“Wait here with Bobby, Anna. Stan, come here please. We need to talk.” Mary stood in the doorway and watched solemnly as Anna went to sit, and Stan traded a glance with Bobby before standing up to approach.
Everyone seemed to understand the mood of the room simply from Mary’s tone, and said nothing for the time being. Except for Bobby, anyway.
“Ohhh, what did you do now, twerp?” Bobby raised an eyebrow at the scene playing out in slow motion.
Anna hissed at her brother, “I didn’t do anything. Shut up!”
Stan turned back. “Kids, behave.” He then faced Mary, and searched her expression for some clue of what had occurred. “What’s wrong, Mar?” he asked quietly, and followed her into the hallway, and into the seclusion of the laundry room.
Before saying a single word, Mary looked around in a cartoonish fashion, then waved Stan closer. When she did speak, it was with her ears pinned back, and in an absolute whisper. “Stan, we have to talk about… something new and big that just came up.”
“Oh geez.” Stan, following Mary’s lead, crouched down. “What is it now?” His tone was serious and filled with concern.
Before speaking, Mary considered all the implications of what had been learned. She was certain that Anna wouldn’t prank her like this and it probably wasn’t Bobby’s doing, either. At the very least, Anna’s claims of an explanation from Twilight over the sudden hair color change offered some comfort.
Still, she wanted to break this as calmly to Stan as she could, and broached the subject gently.
“Well...” Mary poked her front hooves together nervously. Just thinking about the news, and trying to come up with a way to talk about it was making her nervous. “It’s… quite troubling to say the least. Twilight will have to know about it. I’m hoping she can help somehow.”
Stan blinked in surprise. “It’s that bad, huh? Uhm… I have an idea about what it might be, then… but honestly I hadn’t brought it up yet because of everything that’s been going on, Mar.” He rubbed a nervous hand behind his head and looked away.
This time, Mary blinked. “What? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I didn’t want you to worry.” Stan put a hand on Mary’s shoulder and gave it a comforting rub. “I mean, there’s about a million things going on right now. I’d hoped you and Twilight could at least get settled before throwing one more thing on the pile… even if it is really important, I wouldn’t have kept it to myself if I thought it was pressing news. For starters, the kids still need to open gifts.”
Mary heaved a breath out. “Okay. Okay… I understand. Well, don’t do that anymore. If you suspect something then tell me about it, okay?”
Stan’s nervousness and apprehension was clear on his face, but Mary supposed that made sense since this was their daughter they were talking about.
Mary nodded to herself. “Alright. So then what are we going to do about Anna?”
Stan’s expression shifted from worry to confusion in an instant. “Anna? I thought we were talking about what I’d noticed about you?”
Mary spluttered. “What? No!” Her voice almost carried above a whisper, and she re-hushed herself and leaned in closer. “Wait, what did you notice about me?”
Stan mumbled something, but it wasn’t at a level that Mary could understand.
Mary groaned. “Stan, you’re being quieter than yellow bird-horse from Anna’s cartoon show. Speak up.”
“It’s… I noticed that you’ve been putting on a little weight, and—”
Mary deadpanned at her husband, and a sudden primal urge to swat him on the head, hooves or no, filled her.
“N-Not like that, Mar! I mean… It’s not just that, and I’ve seen it twice before already so I think I would know, but… I think you might be having another baby.”
Mary stared starkly at her husband for moments on end.
Stan waited patiently, and thought he’d reached ten by the time he got a reply.
“Seriously? That’s what you thought?” Mary started chuckling and shaking her head. “No, you’re mistaken, and I know it. That couldn’t possibly be possible. I can’t have children anymore, for starters! Not to mention— Well, anyway, we need to focus on Anna because it’s actually—”
“But, Mar,” Stan began, carefully raising his hands up as if to calm a dangerous predator ready to attack.
“No, Stanly!" Mary thudded a hoof against the ground, her emotions and opinion on the matter displayed clearly for her husband to see by her stone-set expression. "That. Is. Unacceptable! I am a miniaturized, multicolored, horse. I cannot, and will not, be pregnant." Her volume had steadily risen, but she once again whispered, almost calmly, with the exception of the warning undertone her words carried. "Do. You. Understand me?" At this, she squared herself where she stood on the ground, hissing up at the man towering over her equine body.
Stan jerkily nodded his head, concern covering his expression.
Mary sank in on herself as if Stan had given her a signal with his acquiescence. “Oh, goodness. Look, we’ll look into it later, but for now let’s make sure our daughter is alright, first. Okay?”
“Okay.” Stan moved in and hugged his wife, who returned the gesture immediately. “It’s gonna be alright, Mar. One thing at a time.”
“And one more thing just keeps popping up, doesn’t it?” Mary mumbled into his chest. She raised and lowered her head multiple times, then, thumping it against his chest repeatedly while groaning in frustration. “Every. Single. Time.” She punctuated each word with a thump.
Stan winced each time Mary slammed her head into his sternum, his face curling in pain, but like a dutiful husband he weathered the storm nonetheless. “There there, it’s alright,” he quietly said, both wishing to calm her for her own sake as well as his.
Mary sighed. “It never ends, honey.”
“Yeah, it sure seems like that,” Stan agreed.
Mary stayed there for a moment longer before pushing away and getting straight to business. “Alright, so Stan, did you notice that Anna is wearing her wool hat?” Her ears airplaning out as she spoke. “Well… it’s because her hair has become vibrant and pastel, much like mine.” Behind her back her tail flicked back and forth, making her stress levels easy to read.
Stan’s eyes widened, and his expression took on a dark composure. “Did Twilight do somethi—”
Mary gasped. “Stanly. Don’t even suggest that. Twilight hasn’t done a thing and I’m sure of it. Besides, apparently Anna had picked up Twilight’s gem-thing. She was going to return it but… this happened before she could. Anna said Twilight told her the crystal couldn’t have changed her hair like that, but I’ll need to ask her myself.”
Stan put a hand to his head. “Hoo-boy. You were right, this is a lot.”
Suddenly, a chorusing chant from the living room interrupted their secret council.
“Presents! Presents! Presents!” came the chanting of two kids waiting patiently in the other room. Or, as patiently as any kids with a pile of gifts staring them in the faces could be.
“Okay, okay… you go talk to Twilight. I’ll just tell the kids that you’re helping her with some important pony stuff.” Stan’s worried face relaxed a bit, and he gave his wife another quick hug.
Mary grumbled. “Alright, but Anna won’t be happy about it.”
“Only because she won’t be involved, but she’ll understand why.” Stan stood up, and spared a glance towards the still chanting son and daughter in the other room.
The pair’s eyes met for a moment, and with a wordless nod, like so many they’d shared before during their long marriage, they each set off on their own missions.
Okay, first thing I’ll do is bring Twilight that coffee I promised… what, twenty minutes ago? Mary’s hooves clunked noisily as she reentered the dining room, and immediately found that Jo was nowhere to be seen. Okay, first thing I’ll do is find Jo. After reaching the kitchen, she found that Twilight’s friend was busy refilling her coffee cup.
“Oh, hey Mary. Is everything alright?” Jo sipped her coffee with a smile. “This coffee is great, by the way. Twilight always burns ours when she tries to make it. I didn’t even think that was possible with modern coffeemakers, but she found a way…”
Mary had to consciously resist the urge to give the younger woman a withering stare, and forced a smirk instead. “Well, it could be better, I must admit.” She shook off her resentment for Jo’s cheerfulness, and hastily poured her own much needed cup of coffee. “And that is impressive… Well, speaking of Twilight, I’m about to go fill her in on some things. Hopefully she’s finished talking to those scientists she mentioned last night.”
“The nerds?” Jo piped, and chuckled. “Yeah, I’m not too sure what to think about them, but Twilight’s convinced they’re okay.” She shrugged and picked up the cups of coffee she’d prepared from the counter. “And I think she’s got me beat in the judgement of character department.”
Mary offered Jo a consoling look and followed her out. “Well, if it’s any consolation, Jo, understanding others seemed to be her job or something where she’s from.”
“True. Well, at least I can cook for her while she figures this all out.” Jo chuckled while shaking her head in wonder. “Sometime I’ll have to tell you how Twilight accidentally set my microwave on fire, for science.” Jo concluded with another hearty chuckle.
“Remind me not to let her near ours, then,” Mary joked. “Oh, here let me bring that coffee to Twilight, you finish your breakfast. I have to talk to her about something anyway...” She reached up and carefully took Twilight’s mug of coffee from Jo’s grip.
“Are you sure?” Jo asked hesitantly, smiling at Mary’s confident smile and nod. “Alright, I won’t say no to more free bacon. Thanks!” After seeing Mary just stick both of the mugs to one hoof, Jo hesitated in her retreat. “Whoa, how are you holding those with hooves?”
“To be honest, I have no idea,” Mary muttered in her concentration, staring at the two mugs of coffee that ultimately looked as if they were just glued to the bottom of her hoof. “It’s definitely magic, whatever causes it. Well, that and my concentration.”
Jo leaned down to look closer. “Wow.”
Mary nodded, grinning and feeling a bit of what might be called pride in her strange horse-magic abilities. “Yup. Well, if you’ll excuse me, Jo, I’m going to go try and broach several new subjects to Twilight that need her attention.”
Mary maintained the grip with her raised hoof as she crossed the house, and nudged the door to the office open with her head. She found Twilight sitting in front of the home computer, just as she expected. Before she could announce her arrival, Twilight looked over, smiled, and muttered a quick, “Hold that thought,” before swiveling in the office chair to greet her.
“Ohhh thank you so much!” Twilight swept up one of the offered cups and immediately took a grateful swig. “Sweet delicious caffeine.”
Mary was caught off guard by Twilight’s reception and laughed. “I don’t think I’ve seen someone that happy to have coffee in years.” Well, then again her friend had a similar reaction… I can’t imagine what these two ladies have been getting into.
Mary put the thought out of mind and focused on what Twilight was doing, instead. She hoped Twilight had some sort of good news to share that would balance out the bad that she had to report.
“So, what is it you’re doing on the computer, Twilight?” Mary sat back on her haunches and regarded Twilight with a friendly look.
Twilight idly sipped her coffee with a lost look on her face as she stared off into space. “Hm?” She blinked a few times, answering once she seemed to process the question. “Oh, I’m actually trying to make some headway in getting back home by speaking with one of those friends I mentioned.”
Mary raised an eyebrow. “Already? Wh— That sounds great! Do you really think they stand a chance? And I thought you said last night that they weren’t being particularly cooperative?”
Twilight sighed. “Well, maybe, and not as of late they haven’t, no. Apparently it’s complicated… but I think things have a chance of working out. If they do… well, I’ll give you details in a moment, Lex is about to go, actually.”
Twilight turned to regard the screen. Mary allowed her curiosity to sway her gaze towards what she first assumed to be the picture of a surprised man frozen on the screen. She was about to ask Twilight what the picture was for, when the girl spoke up.
“Oh, that’s right! Introductions. Lex, this is my new friend, Mary. You haven’t met her yet but I told her all about my searching for a way home and the help I’ve gotten from everyone up until now. Oh, I have so much more to fill you in on by the way. And Mary, this is Lex.”
Mary’s eyes widened in time with her growing horror when she saw the man on the screen blink. Twilight’s words felt like gunshots to her poor heart when she realized the man on the screen was looking directly at her. She found herself frozen on the spot while her mind shut down.
Powers that be, what did I do wrong? Please, tell me. Mary gulped, and it felt like she was trying to swallow a sharp rock.
Lex, in turn, seemed to practically have half his face pressed to the monitor on his end of the call.
Twilight raised an eyebrow at them. “Guys?” she asked, the gravity of the situation not quite registering in her eyes.
After a minor tilt of her head and a slow blink, understanding flashed across Twilight’s face. Slowly, without any sudden movements, she put a hand over the webcam atop the computer screen. “I probably should have mentioned earlier I was going to be on a video chat with my friend. Er, so you wouldn’t walk in while, well, you know.”
Mary stared open mouthed at the frozen man on the screen. “I-I…What, Twilight—” Her breath was catching, her heart felt like it was ready to burst from her chest and she felt the panic gnawing away at her thoughts.
Twilight looked back to the screen, but kept her palm over the camera. “Lex? Lex are you alright? And it’s okay, Mary! Lex is a friend.” She gave her most convincing smile, but it looked as uneven as her voice had become.
“Oh, of course,” Mary replied emotionlessly, unconvinced in the slightest. Mustering what little composure she had left, she finally managed to turn around and briskly trot out of the room, her grip on her coffee loosening and sending little splashes here and there as she set about to the important task of distancing herself from the computer.
As she retreated, Mary adopted a mantra in her head. Stay calm, Mary. Stay calm, Mary. Stay calm, Mary. She repeated it like that quietly, passing Jo in the dining room, who once again gave her a curious look. Stay calm, darnit! Ignoring her other house guest, Mary entered the kitchen, where her concentration finally seemed to leave her, and her coffee mug dropped to the floor.
Mary gasped at the sudden noise and jumped back.
“Everything okay in there, Mary?” Jo asked.
“Y-Yes. I’ve got it.” Mary took a deep breath, fetched a dish towel, and then sat. She stared at the shattered pieces of kitchenware and splattered coffee all over the linoleum floor. “On the bright side, if I had put carpet in here, the mug would be fine. But, then my new carpeted floor would also be stained.” She exhaled the breath she'd taken.
Strangely, the coffee mug and the spilled coffee vaguely looked they were in the shape of something, Mary thought, but she couldn’t quite figure out what.
Or several somethings.
Mary’s ears twitched as she heard the rapid approach of footsteps. That would be Twilight. She thunked a hoof against her head, trying to get herself to think about what was important. Come on, Mary. Anna, you, crystal, Twilight’s friend, focus.
Mary looked up, and was both surprised and immediately upset to see Twilight already cleaning up the spilled coffee on the kitchen floor.
“Twilight,” Mary said in her best no-argument tone of voice. “You are a guest in my home, and I will not have you cleaning up after my mess.”
Twilight began to stammer an apology, but Mary had the sneaking suspicion it wasn’t about the mess. “Mary, I’m sorry, I just—”
Mary’s brow furrowed for a moment, her thoughts becoming somewhat scattered again before old habits helped her calm her mind. She forced a calmer expression before cutting off Twilight’s apology. “Twilight,” she let out in a sigh. “It’s fine, really.”
“I don’t know what I was thinking. I should have told you that…” Twilight trailed off when she realized Mary had already responded. “Oh.” She thought for a moment before asking, “Wait, about the coffee, or Lex seeing you?”
Mary snorted a laugh, before shrugging and replying, “Both, I guess.”
Twilight rocked back on her heels before falling onto her butt. She sat there on the floor watching Mary clean up the mess in silence, until she finally managed a soft, “Really? I mean, I’m sure you remember my explanation about him and that I do think he’s trustworthy. I told him about myself, though I don’t know if he really believes. Although… I guess he probably does, now. Maybe I could convince him you’re some sort of machine, if you’d like?”
Mary paused in her labor to look up and meet Twilight’s gaze. “No, it’s okay, Twilight, what’s done is done. And besides, I doubt telling the scientist a lie would work.” She spoke with an unexpected calm that surprised herself. “You do trust him? Lex, right?” Twilight nodded in answer and she continued. “If both him and those others you described are really everything you’ve sold them out to be, it shouldn’t hurt if they know about me. Especially if they can help us both. So, seeing me was inevitable, right?”
Twilight scratched a hand behind her head, giving the ground a serious look. “To make an analogy, Lex spotting you was the equivalent of us playing our ‘hand’ of cards prematurely.”
After dumping the shattered mug in the trash, Mary began to trot in a tight circle around the kitchen floor. “It’s just ‘Lex’ that’s seen me, so let him vouch for you to his friends and question his own sanity for now.” She paused long enough to study Twilight’s lingering worry. “So, how did speaking to him go?”
Twilight flashed a smile at the change of topic. “Good.” After a moment, she added, “Sooo, when he asks, may I tell him all about you?”
With a wince, Mary facehoofed slowly, still pacing. “Even though he saw me, I’d really rather if you avoided the subject, Twilight…”
“But—!” Twilight cleared her throat. “It’s just, you said it’s fine if he knew, because no one would believe him. He may as well know the full story so he doesn’t get the details wrong. Well, not the ‘full’ story, exactly, but you get the idea.”
Mary could feel the cringe come unbidden and had to stop her pacing to hold her head. With a great internal sigh, she felt the last bits of her resistance crumble at Twilight’s tyrannical logic. “Alright! Twilight I’m trusting you on this. I just… don’t know what to think about this situation, it’s too crazy for me.”
Twilight took on a nostalgic seeming look. “Not to brag, but I am pretty familiar with crazy.” She placed a hand on the stressed out mare’s shoulder. “And I’ve encountered waaaay crazier stuff than this, let me tell you.”
Twilight let out a small laugh that Mary felt grateful for. Mary’s poor stressed mind latched onto the reassuring words, and she had Twilight in a tight hug before she could stop herself.
“Thank you.” Mary squeezed her harder. “For being real, and showing up, and for helping, and—”
“I could say the same to you.” Twilight returned the hug, and gave Mary a few comforting pats to boot. “I actually thought I had imagined being a pony for a little while, you know. Though, admittedly it was mostly Jo trying to convince me of it, and the magic crystal phenomenon and crater I’d made were pretty good evidence to the contrary… but you get the idea.”
Mary pulled back from the hug and settled back on the floor, regaining her composure and reasserting her caution. “Alright, I don’t really like to have anyone else involved in this little… problem. If it will help you, then do what you have to, Twilight. Just please keep my family and I in mind.” She took a breath. “I just don’t want to talk to him myself. Okay? ...I don’t think I could do that.”
Twilight gave a firm nod in reply. “Alright, Mary, you can count on me. And I’m sorry again I wasn’t more clear about what I was doing over there on the computer.”
Mary snorted a laugh as several embarrassing occasions came to mind with that sentence. “Oh, it’s fine. I’ve caught Bobby doing far worse things on the family computer, so believe me I’m used to it.”
“Caught?” Twilight tilted her head at that, giving Mary a searching look. “Caught how?”
Mary chortled a bit more, though weaker. “Oh, you know. Boys at his age and the internet what with… the… You know, never mind, Twilight. It’s just occurred to me that you probably aren’t aware of some of the darker parts of the internet.”
Twilight’s back, it seemed, went rigid at the mention of that. She even rested a hand on the near kitchen counter for support.
Mary raised an eyebrow, taken aback by Twilight’s sudden reaction. “Twilight? Are you oka—”
“Fine.” Twilight murmured, then said again, “Fine!” a bit more forcefully.
“You’re sure?” Mary adopted a somewhat unsure look.
Twilight’s head bobbed its vehement assurance. “I’m sure, yes. Uh, now where were we? Oh yes! I was about to go finish organizing our best chance at getting you changed back and myself returned home.” She inhaled a fresh breath as she turned to slink back toward the computer.
Mary also thought she said something else, but it was barely a whisper. “I… didn’t catch that last part, Twilight.” She trotted up to stand just behind her, ears still straining.
Twilight turned, wearing an all too unconvincing smile to go with her forced sounding cheeriness. “Oh, it was nothing. Uhm, I’ll be finished shortly, and then Jo and I can get out of your family’s hair.”
Mary stopped short at the doorway, she felt there was a story somewhere in that topic, but decided to relent and leave the poor girl her sanity. “Well, alright. And I guess good luck!” She gave a little wave that Twilight took as her signal to leave and was out of sight in a blink.
Mary felt a bit of her anxiety give way as an exaggerated sigh knocked her on her haunches. “Oh, darn it all.” She slapped a hoof against the floor as soon as she remembered that she was supposed to talk to Twilight about a hundred other things, still. "Well, I guess it can wait until Twilight smooths things out with Lex."
A sigh escaped Mary and she reclined further against the wall. One thing at a time, Mary ol’ girl. You’ll make it. She rested a hoof against her stomach briefly, before jumping back up to all fours and trotting quickly out to the living room to join the rest of her family.
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IT'S ALIVE!!! JOHNNY GET THE CAMERA!!!
Woot! Welcome back!
So much hppenings in the house, so much delightful drama. And pony doing pony stuff. It's all good.
Just glad to see it back in action. There is no cause for concern. It's a large chain of stories. Letting it unfold from your mind is going to take time. I am glad it's not rough resumption after the hiatus. Please continue.
Wow. The writing has gone a longgg wayyy. :)
Also those twists!! Sheesh!
I did not expect those curveballs. I'm stunned hahaha.
Well played!
7599809
Pft, like I've never heard that one before.
Actually, funnily enough, I haven't. I honestly would've thought someone woulda said that, even as a joke, a lot sooner. Maybe it was just too obvious.
Also, the 'baby' is actually Discord, who's going to do a chest-burster thing because pop culture references like that are hilarious!
I mean, sure, someone dies... but the lulz!
Observe!
See? Hilarious gory death!
There's a saying that I think applies here... "When a scientist says something is possible, he's almost always right, but when he says it's IMPOSSIBLE, he's almost always wrong". In other words, Twilight's assurances about the crystal aren't quite as comforting as Anna thinks...
IT STILL LIVES! IT STILL FUNCTIONS! :D
OMG IT LIVES YAY
It's updated. I was wondering how long we were going to have to wait.
Eleven months pregnant?.Oh you are evil.
Still is nice to see this story back.
One would think that Twi would start to change back into a pony after the dream but whatever.
Oh, God! Aren't they lucky it wasn't Sweetie Belle who got sent to Earth!
Alright MLM has updated and it's back on par with ATL.
Had to refresh what was the last titbits on the side of story, but it's okay. So Anna is turning her turn into a pony and Mary might be pregnant in addition having now Twilight's Cutie Mark.
Anyway, doesn't matter which side I read, the encounter between Mary and Lex still make me laugh imagining the face their making.
I found a mistake by the way.
shushed
YES YES FINALY, ONE OF MY FAVORITE STORIES, IT'S BACK OH MY SWEET SUGAR COATED JESUS IT'S BACK!!!
*Goes crying in the corner*
Back in action again! Awesome to see you back at it! Was hoping this would come back about.
2948676
4821454
BTW, Merlos, something just occurred to me as I was reading this last chapter, plus I recalled the two side stories involving Twlight watching Porn:
I remember in your main story that Jo made sure to steer Twilight away from anything of the cartoon that was after Season 3 Episode 26 so as to not pollute the MLP timeline....
However, as this chapter now makes it "canon" that Twilight is aware of the "dark Internet"...Wouldn't Twilight ever question why the posters are frequently depicting her as an alicorn, in both SFW and NSFW stuff? Especially as there's almost nothing of the rest of the Mane 6 depicting them as alicorns (which is a possible explanation Jo might give to evade revealing Twilight's future to her, by suggesting that those images of her as a princess are just deluded fantasies generated by the posters).
weeeell, as long as it isn't gas, everything will be fine in the end
Woohoo! Thanks!
Added to my 'read next part as a pick-me-up when I'm feeling down' list.
Whaaaaat??? I was looking at this story just a few days ago, curious how far back it was on your stories pages. It was on the last page, it hadn't been updated in so long. Made me sad. Few days later, and it updates? I'm not sure what made you want to return to this, but I'm happy about it! Hopefully you're not relying on multiple other authors to do stuff before you can, this time around? :P
(haven't actually read the chapter yet, need to refresh myself on the previous couple of chapter first, I just had to say something)
7600554
I and others kinda bugged the author to at least update Mary Is a Mare but since this story now runs on parallel to the Twilight one, that got updated too.
So Anna still has Twilight's crystal-thingy? Hadn't she just been talking to Twilight about it before showing it to Mary? Why hadn't she given it back? Has Twilight not even noticed that it's missing? Does she have more than one and I just forgot?
Oh good god, the baby-thing is finally being acknowledged in-story? It feels like I've been waiting years for this moment.
And then it came out that Twilight was in cahoots with Lex Luthor all along.
Oooh hey, yeah, I just remembered that the kids were showing signs of having magic, or at least comic book superhero-like abilities. Wonder when that'll turn up again. Probably soon, considering Anna's hair.
An update?!
7600277
Jo poked at a black mass. She swore she heard it say "smooze".
7600706
Cedriiiiic! Than k you so much! I knew I'd forgotten an important detail last chapter! OKAY everypony! Small retcon! Anna already gave Twilight back her crystal last chapter/31/28!
Geez... I even still had a reminder I put at the top of the chapter saying that I still had to decide that! " Insert scene here of Twilight saying goodbye and Anna Returning/NOT returning the crystal. sheeesh I'm dumb.
7600369
Honestly Kevin Twilight doesn't think anything post season 2 makes any sense and that it's just a sign that the further from the start humans got, the more they changed things to suit their needs. Which hooonestly makes the most sense anyway when you consider things. ^^ But, hey, who knows? It isnt set in stone.
7601125
We all derp sometimes, it's a sign that you're not a robot from the future. Or that you're a really convincing robot from the future. Either one's fine.
Good luck!
7600706
Yes! That was my first thought, too
Lois: "Clark! I just intercepted a message between Lex and some unknown about an alien landing, that it's disguised itself as a human, and there were some strange crystals found at the crash site!"
"
"
Clark: "*sigh* That damned Lex just won't leave me alone!
Lois: "Except, it's not about you. It's about some kind of strange alien horse."
Clark: "
Silly Twilight, he'd never buy it. Sure, in this timeline robotics are getting pretty advanced, but there aren't any robots that can pass themselves off as living beings to that degree.
*Sweetie Bot happily skips past in the background, pursued by Stephanie*
Absolutely no robots that can pass themselves off as alive.
Food baby? I doubt it, there have been signs for a bit now. It's even hinted at in the Sunflower crossover.
Now that you are updating again, what's to become of The Mane Two: Contrail?
7601629 Lycan and myself are talking about it. In all likelyhood it'll be moved back to my account, I think , since he's distancing himself from the fandom. But we'll see.
7601632
Ah. Unfortunate to hear about Lycan. I know it happens.
At least it will get some love again.
IT'S BACK!!!!! :D
I waited 2.5 years for this, thanks for the update.
I'm glad to see I can remove another story from my Deadfic List.
Glad to see you back, Merlos. I kinda missed the old writings of the resident mad wizard.
Words cannot properly convey how god damn excited I am for the rest of this story!
Twilight wouldn't be one to ask anyway, she might've read about it once, but I don't think she paid much attention to others going through it.
7603360 Please..
Replace the newspaper with comics and...
I found this story probably around this same time 3 years ago when I found FimFiction. Imagine my surprise when I found this back up in the updates!
Stan really has been a rock for Mary this whole time.
Hmm. Seems Twilight's still not quite over the history of humanity.
Unless this is some of the other stuff she's seen?
But what did she whisper?
Oh, and also a polite yet enthusiastic thanks to Merlos for continuing. I understand that the world is full of things and I'm glad that you've been able to snaffle away the time, energy and motivation to spend on this.
You've definitely re-set the stage, and planted new story ideas to carry you forward. Good job.
I picked this chapter to read first over Hoopy's latest chapter of Sunflower, because it had less words. I'll read his new chapter tomorrow. ;)
7604410
I'ma brag to him about that, but without the word count context. xD
chapter 28... released.
*looks at date*
2 years later from the last chapter...
...
...
IIIITTT LIIIIIIVEEEESSS!!!
My tip: Don't orientate yourself to much on what the new seasons present in terms of what is canon or how a character reactions to situation X.
Your story started well before Twilight was even an alicorn Princess, before the spinoffs of EQG released.
Therefore you are in the right to write any responses, reactions and ways of thought from Twilight as you see fit, considering/recounting the information(s) you had from back then, and not what they added now in the new seasons.
This story has a right to pan out disregarding new bombshells dropped in recent seasons and episodes.
7604416 Don't get me wrong; I love both of you guys' stories.
7605854
Hehe oh I know, I know. I simply take great joy in being a nuisance. ^^
an
Mary's response
something or some things
Haha, no. I knew where this was going from the chapter title.
I'm glad to see this story is back, and alive. Someone should update the TVTropes page. :)
You have no idea how shocked I was to find this story on top of my updated list, welcome back
7599835
lol I watched your video then found myself watching spaceballs just now.