"Caroline, come on! It’s time to go."

A little girl stopped swinging and looked to the one calling her. "Aw, Mom," she moaned dejectedly. "Just a little longer?"

Her mother frowned. "We've been here all afternoon," she said, crossing her arms. "I need to put dinner on, and you know how your..." she trailed off at her daughter’s begging puppy-dog eyes. Her resistance crumbled, and she sighed. "Fine, but only fifteen more minutes."

The girl’s face lit up, and the air filled with her laughter as she made a prompt return to her swinging.

As the mother watched her child play, she smiled. The kid could be a handful at times, but she loved her either way. If she could do anything to make her happy, she would.

Witch's eyes flashed open.

What was that? A dream? Witch knew it was impossible, as she hadn't had one since becoming whatever she now was, and it couldn’t have been a memory, could it? She quickly dismissed the ridiculous notion, moving on to the more pressing matter at hand.

Witch tried to rise, but she quickly found that her body would not respond to her commands. All she could do was move her eyes, and all she could see was the dull grey of the ceiling.

As if cued by her awakening, one of the irritating pony princesses stuck their head into her field of view. "Well look who's finally woken up! How are you doing?"

Witch rolled her piercing red eyes and growled, hoping to intimidate the pony to the point of leaving her alone. The pony, however, had other ideas. "You may have noticed that you can’t move your body. That's because when you were brought in, you were in pretty bad shape, and... You’re not listening, are you?"

Witch had shifted her concentration elsewhere. She was trying to imagine tearing the pony limb from limb. However, for some reason, she was finding it difficult to do that to something so cute and furry. Witch knew why she couldn't move already, most certainly not requiring the assistance of one of these creatures to figure it out. The injury she had sustained was no doubt the cause, as the only thing that had kept her up and moving earlier was adrenalin, which by then had worn off, leaving her helpless.

The pony tried to talk again. "When they brought you through the Chappa'ai, we were so glad..." She paused, bringing her hoof to her face in clear show of displeasure. "I'm such an idiot! I should sit you up, right?" The pony's horn glowed a faint lavender, and Witch felt her body tingle as it was gently lifted off the ground. Witch wanted to scream, thrash around, and do whatever else it would take to break from the pony’s magic grip. The pony sat Witch down on her cage’s bed, straightening her into an upward sitting position as she continued her story. "We've been hoping to find an 'Infected' like yourself ever since our advanced squad arrived through your Chappa'ai, or a Stargate, as you humans call it." She checked to see if the Witch was listing, and continued. "We tried it with one of the normal Infected, but with no success. However, you’re different."

Witch inclined her eyebrows, unable to refrain from displaying her sudden interest in what the mare had to say.

"Our capture team was watching you for a week, and they claim that, when you would kill a survivor, you would never eat the body. You would just leave it there." She began to pace the floor around the cage. "And, when you did eat one, you would always hesitate. Why?"

Witch growled half-heartedly. The annoying pony presented a good point, though she hated to admit it. Why had she always hesitated? Why did she prefer eating animals instead of humans?

The pony seemed to read the look in Witch's eyes. "You’re asking yourself the same question, aren't you?"

Witch did nothing.

“I’ll leave you to rest." The pony started towards the exit, but she stopped just inside the gate. "You should pay attention to your dreams," she said, looking back over her shoulder. "They’re more important than you think." She left the Witch with her thoughts.

Celestia had been watching her former student as she talked to the poor creature through a one-way mirror. She didn’t turn around when she heard the newly crowned princess enter. "What do you think?" she asked the young princess. "Do you think she can do it?"

Twilight stood next to the older Alicorn. "She's strong. That much is certain. She's fighting her savage side without even knowing it." She faced Celestia, who nearly towered over her in size. "Yes, I think she can do it."

Celestia nodded. "I think so too. The memory I was able to dig out was a powerful one, as would be the case with all memories belonging to a mother." She looked Twilight in the eye. "But it will still be a trial for all involved."

Twilight agreed. "Maybe Luna should do the delving. She is the ruler of the night, and dreams fall into her domain."

Celestia shook her head. "No. I don't want her or anyone else to do this. I fear that this woman's more recent memories will be very traumatizing, and I do not wish either of you to be exposed to this." She walked away from the transparent mirror and to a desk, lifting it with her magic. "Once we free her of the beast, then we can begin the curing process."

"Princess, I don’t think it will be ready by then. I need a little more time to—"

Celestia silenced her with a lift of her hoof. "Twilight, sometimes you have to run before you walk."

Twilight nodded. "Yes, Celestia." She turned to leave, but Celestia called her back.

"On your way out, could you ask the guard to bring me some tea? It's been a long day."

Twilight nodded, walking through the door.

Celestia turned back to the disabled Witch. "Now then, let us continue."

Author's Note

Yes I know you asked for longer chapters and I will start next chapter but for now here you are.
If you have noticed yes there is going to be soem connection to the Stargate universe in this story but there will be no connections to any of the series I.E: SG1, Atlantis, Universe.
Also I will be uploading these unedited versions until I can get help with grammar and proof reading.
And thank's to everyone who liked the story so far and I will try to get a chapter out every 3 to 5 days.