When Maria awoke, she was in a brightly lit room with sunlight streaming in through the window. She was on a hospital bed, which she assumed she had been brought to after the spell failed.

She rubbed her eyes. She was alone, with not a doctor nor a nurse in sight, and she was glad that it was so. Remembering the events before becoming a Witch had been hard for her. She had worked with Griff and Wisp for three years prior, and Chang only one, but over that time they had done a lot together, so seeing them die was not easy.

”Amen to that.”

Maria's blood ran cold. It couldn't be her. She was dead. She was gone.

“Well, unfortunately for me, I'm not. Though, I wish I was.”

The voice was clearly in her head, but there was only one being with a voice that matched her own so perfectly.

Witch.

“Got it in one, but it’s not me who you should be concerned about.” The Witch is more talkative now than when she was in control. “Have you taken a look at yourself yet? I think there's a mirror to your right”

Maria had already seen the mirror, but she hadn't really put any thought into looking at herself. The way the Witch had spoken made her very worried. She snatched up the mirror and looked at herself. She looked almost exactly as she had before the spell. However, her skin looked more alive than before, and her teeth had returned to normal. Aside from her canines, at least. Those remained as long and sharp as a wolf’s.

“HA! Made you look.”

"You’re getting really annoying," she thought at the Witch. "How are you still here, anyway? I killed you."

”You did a pretty good job of it too. It gave me a chance to reevaluate my life.” The Witch paused. ”I wanted to die, but something kept me here. To tell you the truth, I hated being what I was”

"That didn't stop you from killing anything that came close," Maria pointed out. "How many was that? Twenty people in the past year?"

“Well, excuse me for not being able to control my urges. Have you—” The Witch stopped. Something had just grabbed her attention. “one of the nurses is coming in. Best stop talking to me, or they'll think you’re crazy.”

"Wait! I'm not done wi—" She stopped as the door creaked open, and a white mare in a nurse’s uniform peaked in.

“Hello?" She saw Maria sitting up. "Ah, you’re awake! I'll get the doctor."

The next hour was spent with a stallion by the name of Bandaid running tests on her. She had apparently been out for two weeks, and they had feared that she wouldn't wake up. After the tests, Princesses Celestia and Twilight were allowed to enter.

"Maria," the alabaster Alicorn greeted. "It is good to see that you are well."

Maria shrugged. "Well... Physically, anyway."

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked. "Luna said that you were having nightmares, but when she tried to enter your dreams so—"

"Wait what?!" Maria cut her off, looking at her in shock. "She tried to get into my dreams? How?"

Celestia laughed. "My sister is the ruler of the night, and dreams fall into her dominion." It made sense. "Now, what is the problem."

Maria thought about what to tell them. She could lie and tell them that she was just shaken by her nightmares, or she could just tell them the truth about Witch and risk them not believing her. Plus, how would Witch herself react?

”Just tell them. I’d rather know why I'm still here.” Well, there was her answer.

She took a deep breath. "Witch is still here," she said, tapping her head.

"You mean that thing you became? She's back?"

Maria nodded solemnly. "Yes, that Witch. And, she's more talkative than before. A lot more."

The two Alicorn Princesses were growing more worried by the moment. "Has she tried to take over?"

”I'm not going to try and take over again. You'd only kick my ass again.”

Maria repeated what was said.

"And, you trust this thing?" Celestia enquired.

"Hell no! Not as far as I could throw her." She shrugged. "But, she's right about me being able to kick her ass, your majesties."

She slid her legs out of bed and stood up, stretching to get rid of the stiffness left over from being in bed for the last week. Just then, all at once, she realized that she felt a great deal more agile that she had prior to her transformation into a Witch.

”Well, what did you expect? I mean, you've got most of the abilities I had.”

"Shut it, bitch." Celestia and Twilight looked at her in shock. "Talking to her, not you two. She's saying that I've got half of her abilities."

Twilight nodded slowly. "She could be right. When the spell backfired, you were left partially infected, so it makes sense that you'd be left with some remainder of her abilities." She scratched the bottom on her chin. "But, I would refrain from jumping from any tall buildings."

Maria looked at Twilight quizzically. "Why would I jump from a building?" she asked. "Witch had to spend a few days recuperating after her fall."

”I could have survived that, you know.”

The Alicorn shrugged. "Well, she had just been set on fire and shot..."

”The purple pony is right.”

Maria rubbed her eyes in annoyance. "Well, I'm not going to be doing anything like that. I'm an Air Force Major, not a skydiver. And, you!" she said, pointing at her own head. "Stay quiet, or so help me god I will make you!"

”Uh, yeah. Two things.” A mental image of a pointed finger popped into her mind. ”One, what are you going to do? Hit yourself in the head?”

Maria grinned evilly, raised her fist, and hit herself hard.

Witch yelped in pain. ”Ow! Okay, I’ll behave!”

Maria nodded once, satisfied with herself. This earned her an odd look from the two Alicorn Princesses "What? She was getting on my nerves."

Twilight and Celestia shared a look. "That's not normal, is it Celestia?"

The half-Infected poured herself a cup of cool water and sipped some. "Ma'am, after you've gone through what I've gone through over the years, normal goes out the window."

Celestia's sun shone through the window. Despite not being fully human and hosting another consciousness in her head, she couldn’t be better.

"Now I know what the hosts of the Tok'ra feel like."

"What’s a Tok'ra?"

Two months later, it was night, and the stars were out over Canterlot. A crisp breeze was blowing through the city.

Maria was perched on the guard railing of her room in Canterlot, looking at the twinkling lights. She was wearing a set of thin trousers and a shirt that Twilight’s friend, Rarity, had designed and made for Maria. She had to admit, whoever this Rarity is, she sure had style.

After being discharged from the royal Canterlot hospital, Maria had been given a room in Canterlot to stay in. Twilight had explained that Witch’s return to Maria’s consciousness may have been an effect of the spell.

Celestia had told her that she was to schedule a few therapy sessions to help her deal with Witch, but a month into the sessions, they realized that this Witch was different from the one that had taken over Maria before. First off, she talked. Witch hadn’t had the mental capacity for speech before. Secondly, she didn't spend her time crying as she had before. Thirdly, she began to show a number of emotions that clashed with her prior being. The Witch showed apparent shame and remorse for her past actions. She had also made a promise to Maria, swearing that she would find a way to earn forgiveness for everything that she’d done.

It was then that Maria had decided to change Witch's name. Even though she didn't totally trust her, she was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. After all, the doc had said that Witch may have had a bit of humanity left in her mind, which would explain her reluctance at killing human survivors.

"How's Sparky?"

”No,” Witch said flatly.

“How about Taylor?"

”Those are both a boy’s name.”

"Well, I'm running out of ideas here!"

”That's because all the names you’ve picked are stupid”

Maria sent a mental slap Witch's way.

”Ow! Dammit! I hate that you figured out to do that.”

"You have Cadance to thank for that. She showed it to me before she left for the crystal empire."

There was a knock at the door, and Maria got down to answer it. "Come in."

Luna pushed the door open and stepped inside.

"Princess," Maria greeted, bowing her head respectfully. "I thought you had night court."

"I finished early," the night princess returned. "What were you two doing?"

“Trying to figure out a new name for me,” Witch answered out loud. Twilight had found a spell to allow Witch to talk to the Princesses without having her take over Maria's mouth.

"And, how's it coming?" Luna asked.

”Bad,” Witch said flatly. “She keeps coming up with terrible names.”

"They are not terrible! You’re just picky." Maria turned her attention to Luna. "You have any Ideas?"

Luna thought about it. "I believe the guards that brought you through the gate had a nickname for you." Luna thought hard. "I believe it was... Red! That was it! Red, after that red streak she had in her hair."

”Red... I like it! Red it is, then. Thanks.”

"It is no problem, Red. But, my visit is also for business." She pointed towards the chairs in the center of the room. "May we sit?"

Maria nodded, claiming a chair.

Luna began. “As you know, my sister and I want to help your race with this new cure we’ve developed base on the one we used to cure you. However, Twilight has been analyzing the data from said cure along with documents we’ve retrieved from Stargate Command, and she may have discovered the initial cause of the outbreak." She pulled out a folder which she had been hiding under her wing and passed it to Maria. "She believes it is a device called the Phenex which the ancients built long ago, before they created our race a—"

"Wait what?” Maria interjected, cutting her off. “Pony kind was created by the Ancients?”

"Indeed." Luna continued. "Twilight believes it was moved to a human research base by the name of Area Fifty-One to study, but after that, she is unsure."

"And, let me guess. You want to go there and find it to see if you can use it to disperse your spell over the entire infected population?"

Luna nodded "Yes, that is the plan. We know where it is, but Celestia is worried about sending a squad of royal guards, so she and I are going ourselves with four of our best Eclipse Guards"

"Um... Sorry if this is offensive, but Princess, have you lost your mind!"

”I agree with Maria with this one. You know what's over there, and Equestria can't afford to lose its rulers.”

"I understand your concerns," Luan said, asking them to calm down. "While my sister and I are not defenseless, we are also not fools, so we will have you accompanying us."

Maria and Red were stunned into silence.

“I'll have a guard come get you when it is time," Luna stated, her tone the utmost in finality. She went to the door and left Maria and Red alone.

Author's Note

Coming up... Chevron 8 locked