//------------------------------// // Chapter 18 : Nightmare Night // Story: My Little Marriage : Mary is a Mare // by MerlosTheMad //------------------------------// October 31st 2023, Tuesday 9:31 PM Halloween Bobby felt pretty great all things considered. Sure, the surroundings were a steady roar of random noises, but it was a steady roar that he was a part of, and shared in. That was thanks in part to the cute girl he had his arm around. All in all, he found overlooking the distractions of a party were pretty easy when you yourself were contributing to it. The setting definitely felt like he could get used to that. The noise seemed to dull occasionally, the people yelling, people drinking, dancing, making out...it was all a buzz in the background. There was a sudden, new source of buzzing, however, that pulled his mind away from the dreamland. Bobby leaned back from talking to the girl who had grabbed his attention earlier. He reached for his cellphone on reflex, wondering who it was. While clumsily trying to hit the keys on the phone he thought, I wonder what her name is? That really hadn't seemed important a minute ago. It was a party though, everyone might as well be a stranger. More so with all the weirdness here. The Halloween theme of the party didn't extend to many of the participants, but some took part. The poetic thoughts Bobby was having about the night all flew out the window after he managed to read the message on his phone. His eyes would have bulged, but it came as too great of a shock, he stared dumbly down at the text. It read, "bobbe yu gut the hel ut ere right now111!". Bobby felt a steady groan of anguish grow in his throat at the orders laid out in front of him clearly. Without a doubt, the jig was up, the number was from his Dad's phone, which he knew Mary had. "Hey, what's wrong?" The light touch on his arm that he'd come to associate with pure bliss returned. Bobby looked up and over at the girl beside him. She had an ironic costume on, that had been slightly off putting after he noticed it. That lasted of course, until she'd kissed him anyway, what seemed like forever ago. He had been trying to get her to do that again...even with the simple costume ears she wore that bore a striking resemblance to his mother's. "Huh?" Bobby said dimly, he coughed and raised his voice so it could be heard. "Oh, just got a really depressing text is all." He put the phone into his pocket and leaned back, sliding his arm around her again. "I'll just ignore it, where were we?" The smile he put on got one in return as he'd hoped. Unfortunately, instead of the kisses he'd come to await from the pretty stranger, he got a nod of her head. "So, is that your girlfriend then?" Her smile was casual and her tone wary. "Woah, what?" Blinking rapidly, Bobby tried to keep his mind on the up and up of everything, for some reason it seemed to be slowing down. He threw his hands up defensively, "No no no, that was just my mom, here look, see?" With some difficulty he fumbled the phone out of his pocket again and pulled up his mother's number, along with a picture of her. Before she was a pony, that is. The girl laughed weakly. She didn't look at the photo right away. "Oh, I didn't mean anything by it, just curious... I just like to know is all." Still, the girl gingerly took and peeked at the picture on the phone. His mother's brown eyes and darker brown hair from when she had...been normal, stared up at the strange girl. "Wow, that's your mom?" she asked, a suspicious quality to her voice. "She's pretty..." The girl paused a moment, looking at the phone for longer than he had expected, then handed it back. "She looks so young, old picture?" Bobby flicked his hair back and sat against the couch, talking about Mary period soiled his mood. "Pheh, no, she just married at like, eighteen. She's still got the nerve to try and rule my life though with mistakes like that in her past." The girl crossed her arms and stared at the ground. "Lame..." Bobby shrugged and looked up at the ceiling. "Yeah, I know, I don't get what her deal i—" His companion interrupted him though. "No, you misunderstand, I mean you. You're lame, I mean." She said pointedly. Bobby looked over and pulled the length of his hair that got in the way back. The girl scowled. "Oh don't look at me like that, you've talked about yourself all night and acted like a jerk to everyone. For the last hour you've kept telling off every member of your band." She stood up, towering over Bobby's seated position. "It's too bad, you seemed cool, from a distance anyway. But it's pretty easy to tell you're just a spoiled jerk on the inside." Tossing her hair over one shoulder, the girl sighed into the noisy atmosphere of the home. "Whatever, you're probably too wasted to understand a word I just said, so later, say hi to your mom for me." Bobby stared after her confusedly while she made her way out the side door without another word. What the hell just happened? He blinked in disbelief when her head popped back into the room. "Oh, and that tattoo you were showing off to everyone? Totally the gayest spot you could've gotten it, loser." The door slammed behind her. Bobby was vaguely aware of people around the room laughing and making 'ooo's in his direction. The room glided around him while he tried to control the burning in his face. Embarrassment wasn't something he was used to. His eyes were drawn back to his phone as it vibrated again. "Bobbt if yu dnt get ouut ere ight no you are grunded for te rest of frever!" How the hell did she know I was here? Dammit, somehow I just know Anna has something to do with this, what'd I do wrong? I locked my door and left my music playing when I left... Thoughts continued to turn over the situation Bobby suddenly found himself in while he stayed on the couch. That is, until a random couple that could have both very well been bearded—judging by how much hair was wedged in between them—fell onto the couch he occupied. "What the hell!?" Bobby jumped off the furniture in a moment of clarity. The two party goers didn't notice him, or his further protests about them though. After a moment, he gave up. Whatever, I'm gonna go find...whatever her name was, where did she go? He decided if he was screwed, he'd make the most out of the night anyway, Mary couldn't very well come inside after all. It had taken him a moment to remember that, but it was reassuring when he did. As quick as he could, he moved steadily to the doorway his friend had taken. A table and a couple other rude people in costumes got in his way, but he managed to navigate around them. The cool chill of the October air was a huge contrast to the sweating warmth from the indoors of Cory's home. The back of the house was empty except for a couple lights, everyone was probably around the garage. "Uggh, that's him right there, he followed me..." Bobby saw the girl's pretty form look back from where she stood at the corner of the house. Calmly, he walked up to her, thinking carefully about what he could say to get her good graces for the rest of the night. It was so easy at first, what the hell even happened? His brain reported back it didn't have a clue. Alright just, play it cool, maybe she'll pay attention if you play another song? She mentioned the band at some point. The girl sneered at him before he could get a word in. "Hey, woohoo," a hand snapped in front of Bobby's face, "over here." "What?" Bobby blinked disbelievingly for the second time that night. Two hands grabbed his shirt, then shoved up against his chest. He stumbled, rolling in a heap into the side yard where they'd thrown him. His wits left as quickly as his feet and stability had. Just as quickly, he felt himself get hauled back up. "Jake, don't hurt him, just make him go away!" Bobby wondered how the pretty girl had gotten pretty far away... She sure could move. "Listen jerk," a finger from someone at least half his height drew Bobby's eyes down. "You obviously aren't that great at taking hints, so listen close. Jenna doesn't want to see you for the rest of the night. Beat it." The guy had a really bad gorilla mask on. Bobby raised an eyebrow at the shorter guy, he had an obnoxious goatee that was already getting on his nerves, along with his attitude. I just wanted to talk to her, what the hell, who does this guy think he is? He felt his body sturdy up, the initial surprise gone. "No," Bobby started. "You listen close, man..." His words came slowly, calmly, "There are a lot more polite ways to tell someone to get away from your girlfriend. I don't mind leaving, but still I owe you a little something first." The powerful right hook Bobby sent at the guy missed, somehow. Then something hit him back, dead on in the stomach. A rushing feeling ran up his esophagus. "First, that's my sister. Second, now I'm gonna kick your %$^ from here, all the way to the street." The man's voice was calm, and a cracking noise accompanied it. Bobby vaguely thought it might be the man's knuckles... however, he was at that moment busy trying to empty his guts. October 31st 2023, Tuesday 9:31 PM Halloween Mary rubbed her two hooves together methodically... In fact, it would be more accurate to say that she ground them together fiercely. The sound her two instruments of mobility made was prevalent enough over the chaos booming into her car from the nearby house, that the outdoor noise was almost the dull roar it should be. That wasn't the case though, it was a veritable mob, something she had not seen coming upon her arrival. Do we even have this many people in Belsdale!? Looking back at the crowded scene surrounding the garage caused the thought to come automatically to Mary. Honestly, where did they all come from... Mary had been parked in the driveway, the car now sat on the side of the road opposite the house. After it had become clear what the situation was, simply honking her horn until he came out obviously wasn't an option. A few other kids had been what she expected while driving out to Cory's, where all these others had come from she could only guess. They had all looked older than she expected too, which was more unsettling to the bad news she'd already gathered. Ignoring the worry over being seen, the mare's mood was somewhere between putting Bobby up for adoption and a fourth trimester abortion. Mary shook her head, trying to focus. All of that wasn't what was important right now, she needed to come up with something. The window she had given herself after calling the police was small, even on a busy night like this. Okay, it had been obvious that whoever had called me, wanted to out Bobby. Of course, the reason hadn't particularly mattered at the time, did it Mary? I should've got their number... Beside her, the cellphone sat idly in the cup-holder, seven messages sent and no response had come. While in the midst of Mary's thoughts, two people grabbed her attention, and she watched them carefully like a rabbit watching a wolf. They probably couldn't see her in the car, especially at night. One of the two party goers stepped up onto the hood of her car and hopped over the other side, both of them laughing drunkenly. I'm gonna kill Bobby, I'm gonna... With a sigh, Mary crossed her forelegs over herself and leaned back to huddle in the corner of the car. I don't know what I'm going to do... She made a disapproving tsch sound. When do you? Asking herself why she was so bad at fixing things seemed like it was where her life was at, certainly. Another man slapped noisily onto the hood of Mary's car, which made her look up in alarm. She stifled the scream she'd felt try to get out. The sound of him retching a moment later made her cringe. Ew-heeew? The man rolled until he collapsed in front of the headlights, making Mary sigh and roll her eyes at the disgusting show of what humanity's youth had to offer. Something caught her attention though, that gave her an idea. Seeing what could very well be Bobby at that moment sparked enough desperation in her to decide it was foolproof. On the hood of her car, was a white sheet, with eye holes cut out of it. Less importantly the sheet also had a very prominent and well detailed buttocks painted on the bottom... That wasn't going to hurt the costume's ability to hide her though. Looking around to see if anyone else was nearby, and confirming no one was, Mary opened her car door quickly. In the words of Dad, thank you deus ex machina... Her hoof reached over her car door and grabbed the white sheet the man had left on the hood. The costume wasn't puke ridden—for which Mary uttered a silent 'thank you' to God—and was glad to find it had some wire at the head to hold it steady. Yeah, this'll work. Hesitantly, she donned her impromptu disguise, then stared a moment longer out her car window. The shapes of the young adults enjoying their nighttime revery, and her present state, placed a very unsettling worry in her gut. It'll work. You can do this, she repeated to herself. Mary slid carefully out of the car, locking it, while adjusting and fidgeting with her impromptu disguise. The crowd nearby increased in volume drastically as she crossed the road towards it. She stayed on all four hooves for now, but carefully stood up as she got closer. Just act naturally Mary, you're a drunk college girl...pony, you'll be a natural at this without the knack for standing on two legs! Her faux cheerful attitude only went so far as to make her angrier rather than ease her worry. The garage seemed the most likely place to find Bobby, the house...probably wouldn't be a good idea she decided right away. There was light in there, not to mention hard to navigate closed spaces and unfamiliar interior design. Furthermore though, the distinctive sound of the 'heavy metal' Bobby loved and worshiped was coming from that direction. Accompanying it, were quite a few 'boo's that numbered in the dozens at least. The noisy style of music always made her ears cry out in pain, more so since being a pony, but what she was subjected to the closer she got to the garage and the crowd seemed worse than usual. Mary stopped at the front of the house and peered around the side to look over the scene. Beneath the sheet her face contorted in fear and worry. Okay... I have no hope of pulling this off. The crowd of people before her was dense, there was no way she could get up to that stage on two legs. You have to try Mary, your son is here somewhere... She turned around and sunk against the side of the house. Dammit Bobby... Her hooves pressed over her eyes angrily. The fact that everything could be at stake for Mary didn't escape her, but abandoning her only son didn't cross her mind as an option. She got up and steeled herself. "You can do this Mary, you can do this you can do this, oh lord... You can do this. EEP!" The sound of a door banging open nearby made Mary wheel around and dive back into the bushes in front of the house. Nopenopenope! Mary's sheet caught caught halfway out of the greenery, causing her to immediately begin trying to free the costume. Her hooves struggled to pull it into the shrubbery, even as a familiar voice reached her ears. It was almost imperceptible before the musical backdrop, but she heard her son speak. She heard Bobby. "No, you listen close, man... There are a lot more polite ways to tell someone to get away from your girlfriend. I don't mind leaving, but still I owe you a little something first." Maybe twenty or thirty feet away, was Bobby. Mary watched, shock freezing her, as her son swung at the person standing in front of him. The man barely had to move to avoid her son's attack, which was answered quickly. Bobby took a solid hit in the stomach, and keeled over a second later. "First, that's my sister. Second, now I'm gonna kick your %$^ from here, all the way to the street." Mary had time to wonder how she had gotten across that yard so quickly, but nothing else. One moment she had been crouched outside of the grabby shrubbery, the next, she had been sprinting across the ground, sheet long forgotten. Her hooves were wrapped over the boy's neck, the one who had hit Bobby. Behind her she heard a scream, but that wasn't important at the moment. "Go to sleep, go to sleep..." Mary growled and hissed the words out at the figure who's struggling was already at an end. Her forelegs knocked the man out in seconds after cutting off his circulation. Years of idle housework hadn't made her forget how to do a simple rear naked choke. She had heard a cracking sound, which made her start, but it didn't sound dangerous. Mary's hooves hit the ground as the boy's legs gave out beneath him, and she laid him down gently. She looked up to see Bobby, squinting at her in the dim twilight and glow from the garage. "Mom?" He mumbled, shakily standing up. Mary paused long enough to feel relief that he was okay, then wheeled around, remembering the scream. There had been a girl. She saw a slim shape sprinting towards the garage, and already heads were turning. "Come on Bobby, Mommy's taking you home." Mary's hooves wrapped around his hand and began dragging him towards the car. Anxiety and panic were already welling up in her, adrenaline fading. Bobby nodded weakly and managed to comply. "Yeah, kay..." After nodding to Mary, and just before she turned around, Bobby collapsed into a pile of heavy, unconscious teenager. Behind him, several people were running out to see what was going on. The moment he collapsed, and thus became a giant, dead weight, Mary felt she could've screamed in frustration. In fact, she would have yelled at the crowd itself, if it weren't for the fact she was already hoisting Bobby up onto her back. Her hooves could have turned her around on a dime, they practically gave her flight, and she was crossing the road seconds later. Okay, Mary opened the car's back door and shoved her son inside. I'm calling it a night mister, also, you are so grounded. Turning around, she saw that surprisingly, no one had followed her. It became clear though, that this was in part due to the several other cars that rolled up silently, and were now blaring their sirens. The pony's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "Oh...no..." 9:37 PM Stan's squad car rolled closer to the alleged frat party that had migrated for some odd reason into his lovely little town. The college they had all seemed to have come from was only twenty miles away, so this sort of thing happened at least once a year. He imagined it would go as it always did, stop the cars trying to make a run for it... Charge the hosts for providing alcohol to minors... All in all it was standard really, they weren't here to get everyone of course, that just wasn't feasible. With the local cops in tow though, he sure intended to get as many as he could. "Alright," Stan began to say over the radio channel, "light 'em up guys." The blaring sound of five police vehicles engaging their sirens all at once, then pulling into the remote house's driveway echoed into the landscape. The crowd in front of Belsdale's finest immediately began to disperse, a lot of the kids and college goers taking off in random directions or towards town. The sound of squealing tires almost right after his patrol group turned on their lights, drew Stan's attention immediately. Huh, must've already been at their car, that was fast. A local cop came over the net as soon as the car peeled away into the street. "Alright, who wants to go catch this one?" Stan picked up his mic and smirked, saying, "I'll pass, I've got a wife and two kids to think about." A couple laughs came through the radio in response to him, last communications before everyone got out and got to work. Stan himself was already out of his squad car and making it towards the crowd, anyway. 9:39 PM "Daaahahammit, Why me!? Why!? I want to know!" Mary was almost in hysterics, just enough that she was laughing while swearing, but still able to focus on the road and escaping. "Where would they even put me in prison? I imagine I would be fed moldy hay or the like." The flashing blue and red lights in her rear view mirror were closing distance quickly, she wasn't likely to get away, even speeding and taking confusing turns as she already had. Distantly, Mary heard Bobby sliding around in the backseat. Wear your seat-belt, dear. She let out a groan of frustration and continued glaring as hard as she could at the lights that rounded a corner and began gaining on her again. Even if I got away, once they get close enough they'll see my car! Darnit, how many brushes with the law do I need to do to complete my week!? The thoughts weren't helping she knew that, but what could help wasn't presenting itself to her. All Mary could do was try and outpace the law that chased her relentlessly, and glare at them... "When did my life become this crazy?" Mary's eyes burned and and her brow drew down at the policeman behind her. "When I find out what did this to me." The flashing red and blue came closer, the headlights almost reaching close enough to touch her bumper. "And made my life into a big joke." It wouldn't be long now before she would have to stop. "I don't care if it's a god. If it IS God! I. Am going. TO KICK IT IN THE FACE!" The lights behind Mary's car stopped immediately in the road, accompanying it was the sound of crumpling metal and snapping county property. The mare jumped in her car seat, and a gasp shook her body. She stared back at the quickly shrinking lights behind her. Eyes blinking, she stared at the rear view mirror until there was nothing but the dark of the night behind her on the country road. What-? "Uggh, Mom, slow down, you're going like, eighty." Bobby leaned into the front of the car. Mary craned her head slowly over to face him while easing on the brake. Words tried to form but nothing came out right away. Instead, she turned to face the road again, the first thought she had once her mind restarted was, where am I? 9:49 PM Stan and two other officers stared down in disbelief and confusion at the sight before them. Well, the other two men stared in real disbelief and confusion. Stan was faking it, he had a pretty good idea what had happened, even though he didn't know all the details...yet. Wrapped around every wheel of the squad car were arm thick vines. The chassis of the poor car had been torqued beyond any hope of repair, and the axles had all snapped. That was just what was obvious looking at the wreck. After he and every other law enforcer had gotten the frantic call for help due to "killer plants", Stan had made sure to get here first. "Hey Bob." Stan scratched his stubble while listening to the two men that had been chasing...what he assumed had been his wife. "Yeah Joe." The other man said, still staring down at the sight that stretched across the road from both sides. The lights from Stan's patrol vehicle illuminated at least fifty feet of tangled wilderness. "Think I'm going on vacation this next week, thinking fishing..." "Eeyup, think that sounds like a good idea." Stan tried not to groan from the building emotions that played through his head right that moment. 11:31 PM It was almost midnight. Mary had kept driving, lost as she was from the chase that had taken her randomly through Belsdale and out into the countryside. She figured out where she was, eventually. After some looking that is, but the escape lead her in the opposite direction of home. To play it safe, she was driving Bobby and herself back carefully, through the long way around town. The car was quiet. The gentle buzz of the engine made Mary's ears twitch periodically, her body was still in an elated state after being pushed so hard. Her feelings of course, didn't share that. She felt, for lack of a better word, tired, at the moment; calm, but tired. The cruise control that she had come to use constantly helped a little, her hooves didn't have to work so hard thanks to that handy feature. All the same, there wasn't exactly much in the way of positive other than that which would explain her calm. Maybe, Mary thought, I'm calm because Bobby's out cold again. It stood to reason she supposed, that her distantly bubbling anger would want to wait for him to be awake. Am I overreacting? I mean, most kids do crazy stuff when they're younger all the time, right? Her tail twitched up enough to slap her shoulder. "Well what's that supposed to mean?" Mary asked angrily. "I don't speak tail." The tail swished side to side in response. "Uggh, you're useless." Bobby groaned from the backseat, a moment later his face appeared in the rear-view mirror. I probably shouldn't have come to get him, stupid maternal instincts. Mary's mouth drew across into a wide frown as she looked at her confused and dazed looking son. I don't regret having you Bobby, never have, even with all the heart ache and trouble you cause. I mean that, dammit. Her hoof reached up angrily and pulled out the hair tie, hair fell free of the loose pony tail around her shoulders. But I also mean it when I say I wish I could go back at and smack myself for going so easy on you. "Mom, pull over. I'm gonna be sick again." Bobby leaned forward as he spoke. It was close enough that Mary could smell the stale beer and various liquors on his breath. Her muzzle wrinkled at the burning sensation it seemed to cause. From her stomach came a grumble of disgust. "Alright, hold on one second." Mary pulled the car over quickly, the tires crunching slightly on the loose pavement and the breaks squealing a bit from being well used. Not a moment later Bobby lept out the side of the car and began hurling over the grassy ditch on the side of the road. Inside the car, Mary winced as she felt her own stomach turn over from the sound of it. Uggh, just hold on girl, you're almost home after all. Despite the soothing words she gave herself, this time she didn't think she could hold it in. Her hoof pulled the door handle and pushed the car door open quickly. The cold air helped for a moment, she took deep, gulping breaths trying to steady her unruly digestive system. The second wave of icky, splashing, retching noises from her son made Mary's eyes squeeze shut. "Oooh crap." She leaned over where she'd stood on all fours to try and catch her breath, vomiting onto the pavement herself. "This is all your fault Bobby!" The words managed to slip out before she began getting sick in full force. It was probably partly the chase and the nervousness from evading so many lifestyle threatening events, but the vindictive words certainly didn't seem out of place to her. Mary felt a big hand lead her over to the side of the road a minute or so later. She was dimly aware that her own spell of sickness was less the torrent Bobby's had been, and more of a coughing choke. "Are you okay Mom?" Bobby was kneeling beside her, his voice somber and steady. Surprising, with all the circumstances considered. Mary nodded, unable to speak. The quiet night air prevailed for another minute, except for the mother's well spaced nausea. Bobby quietly intoned the words he spoke next. "I called animal control, Mom. That was me, three weeks ago." Mary looked up after spitting foul substance on the ground, her eyes painted with disbelief. "I kinda... I mean I knew, it was the most screwed up thing a guy could do to someone...his Mom." There was quiet again except for the car purring gently behind them. Bobby fell back and sat in the grass with a thud. "I can't say why I did that, just wasn't thinking I guess. Lame, but it suits me, maybe it's ironic cause this is the drunkest I've ever been. Yeah, I drink..." In some part of Bobby's mind, a siren was going off, fully aware he was signing his own death warrant at the moment. "But, right now's the first time I think I've been aware of just how little thinking I do." Mary stared at her son, wiping her runny muzzle with a foreleg as she sat back herself to join him. His face was mostly obscured by the night, but she could make out his features from the side. It might have been the exhausting night, or her overly hopeful imagination... Bobby looked regretful, though. "I see." Mary's voice was even and flat. "Wow." She swallowed, unsure of how to continue, then grimaced from the nasty sensation that unthinkingly swallowing bile had gotten her. Bobby jumped back in, a desperate quality clear in his voice. "Mom, I'm sorry. I don't think I've ever really been sorry for shit before-" He paused when Mary scowled and pointed a hoof at him. "Language," her shoulders sagged a second after and she sighed, "sorry, nevermind, go on." "...You'll probably never forgive me, I dunno. What I said...what I did." Bobby's features sunk as he spoke. "I don't think I'd deserve it, to be honest." He looked up at her, a hand combing his long, ratty hair back. "Yeah, I don't know what else to say. I tried to hurt my own Mom, what does that say about what I'm worth?" Six foot or not, when the boy wrapped his arms that matched his father's around his legs, he made a pathetic sight. A foreleg wrapped around Bobby's back, and Mary's head pressed against his chest in a motherly embrace. "You're worth every star in the sky, Robert." Mary squeezed him tight, "You don't have to say anything. Your choices are your own to make, son. I'll tell you now though, I love you no matter what, and you'll always be my baby boy." She got a little satisfaction at feeling him wince from that, despite the moment they were having. Mary continued, not yet finished speaking. "That said," she began again, calmly. "You can be my son from six feet under just as easy as you can from above ground." While speaking, she'd taken a few steps in front of Bobby, and stared him in the face. From Bobby's angle, it looked like two pools of emerald fire were staring into his soul. Mary's expression softened. "I love you, Bobby, we all do wrong sometimes, it's not always forgivable either, despite what those preachy movies they make nowadays say..." She laid a hoof on his hand and finished curtly. "But I can forgive you. It might take some garden work for the rest of forever... But I can forgive you. You owe everyone else an apology, too." Bobby had a weak, worried smile on after listening to his mother. It felt good to him, coming clean. What came next though, didn't feel very good at all and surprised them both. It was a bit like the scene from 'The Exorcist' as Bobby hurled over his mom, a green river of slime coming up from his stomach and taking all present by surprise. Immediately after, Mary jumped back, eliciting disgust at being covered so. A moment later and she joined him, unable to hold back the renewed efforts of her own stomach to empty themselves. It was an interesting way to bond between mother and son, certainly. Eventually, they made it home. There wasn't much talking, both members of the Morris family were exhausted. The car pulled in slowly and stopped. It stank, of course, too. Mother and son all but dragged themselves inside. Anna was asleep on the couch, beside, was a giant bowl of crispy, blackened lumps. They vaguely looked like the remnants of cookies. Probably, Mary thought, the cookies that she had not taken out of the oven before she had left the house. She facehoofed, and silently thanked Anna for her diligence. Mary would have woken her daughter up right then to put her to bed, but she needed a shower, first. She would put her to bed as soon as she was done. Bobby went upstairs to do just that for himself as well, and afterwards fell into a deep sleep of his own. A long, steamy, cleansing of blissful running water later, and Mary felt human again, so to speak. Her hooves clambered out of the bathroom tub and landed on the towel laid over the floor. She pulled another towel from the door's rack and began drying herself, something which took a good ten minutes longer than it used to before her change. Her hoof steadied herself from where it leaned on the counter, being that at the moment she was standing upright. As was usual, she looked over and saw herself in the mirror, and she stared at what she saw for most of while she dried off. "Well, you're home once again Mary, and you're now a wanted pony on top of it all." Mary gave herself a rueful smile at hearing the silly words. A sigh heaved out of her and she leaned on her forelegs to stare more closely at herself, up close. Behind her own eyes, she could see those of the only other pony she'd ever seen. Those teal orbs that belonged to the dream creature stared back at her through the mirror. "I gotta get to the bottom of this." "Hello again, Mary..." The voice calling out was calm and melodic, but edged with a hardness, as though it had more it was eager to say. Mary hesitantly opened her eyes to the dream that awaited her.