COMA

As soon as she made it onto the streets, she looked for the monumental greats she'd seen earlier. Being very difficult to miss, she saw them nearly instantly. She guessed that direction was also south. Quickly, she began moving towards it. Or, at least she tried to. The streets all followed the cardinal directions, but nonetheless were hard to navigate. Random dead ends, many alleyways not leading anywhere or back where she'd already been, and in some places the street just... ended. No walls, no blockades, no nothing. The buildings continued all the same, but the ground just wasn't there. She looked back up to the sun to recover some kind of sense of direction, only to be distracted by something she hadn't noticed before - it looked like it was melting, painting the sky in fiery tones of orange and yellow.

Nevertheless, it gave her a slight advantage as the buildings were too tall to see the crest at all sometimes. But mostly, it got her thinking even more - why was it like that? Was this just what this realm was like? Well, that didn't matter. The voice led her to believe she was beginning to approach the end of this living nightmare. She couldn't wait to get back to the real world. Even though... Even though she couldn't remember it. She didn't remember her name, her friends, or even where she lived anymore, but anything was better than this place.

As she reached the massive gates, she noticed just how large they actually were - enormous. There was no way even a fully-grown dragon could open it, let alone her magic. Her sledge wouldn't, either. Just as she was about to give up hope, the voice spoke again.

"You won't get past here without the seals of the sun and moon."

"The seals? What seals?"

"Long ago, our world was linked to yours. We traded knowledge for resources, and generally had an alright relation. However, when your solar goddess came to power, it conflicted with our beliefs, and we were afraid it would defile our culture. In turn, we stole what connected our worlds before she found out about us and we cut the pathways forever. Everyone who knew about us is dead. The path to La Ruga lies inactive at the south pole of your realm. We still hold the talismans used to re-open the gateway."

"Well, where are they? I'd love to hear more of this story, but I really have to get going."

"To the west, lies the elder district. There is an old airport there. It used to lead to our grand clocktower. The symbol of the moon lies in its underground section. The solar icon is within the palace, by the mechanical dancers."

"Can you help me get them? Surely, if you want me gone, you'd want me gone ASAP."

"I'm opening the gate for you when you have them. Is that not enough?"

With a sigh, Twilight began to move back to the palace from whence she came. Even though she'd just gotten used to not having her eyes bleed from light, she was forced to return. On her way back, she quickly realised she hadn't gone the same way as she got here. This was because there were two large statues doused in the same light as the palace, surrounded by shimmering particles suspended in mid air in the beam of radiant light falling onto it from the heavens above. The first statue was of her. Or, rather, the reflection she'd seen for only a split second. The only major difference was that this one wasn't wearing clothes, revealing the mare underneath. The same stripes present on her cheeks littered her body, but much unlike a zebra's. Instead of stretching the body evenly, these looked more like jutting spikes that stretched across her cheeks, legs, and back. The statue was stood in a rearing pose, one hoof raised aloft, pointing towards the bleeding sun. Notably, the statue also did not have a cutie mark. But, based on their mane and facial features, it was undoubtedly her. Just not "her" her.

Twilight's admiration of the statue was abruptly interrupted by loud and frantic knocking and sounds of a door handle, like someone was trying to beat down a door. She hurriedly looked around, but there was no source to the noise to be seen. Could this be what her real body was hearing? That would soon be answered, as she heard the voices from outside once more.

"Who in the name of Celestia are you supposed to be? How did you get here? Out, immediately!"

"Let me in. Let me in. I need to see Twilight. I said LET ME IN!"

"No, only authorized personnel can go in there. Leave before I call the guar- Ow! Guards! Restrain her!"

"Let go of me! I demand you to! I need to see Twilight! Let go!"

"Are you alright, doctor? You're bleeding."

"That lunatic BIT me, but I'll be fine."

The flailing and manic screams of the madmare grew distant, as did the other voices. What chaos was going on out there? Why did someone want to see her? She was sure all these questions would be answered when she woke up again, but still it gnawed on her.

Twilight turned to the other statue. It was vaguely familiar, but she couldn't put her hoof on who it was. It was a stallion, considerably larger and more muscular than Twilight, standing solely on his front legs. His hinds were just kind of laying limply on the ground, as if they didn't work. His mane was a bit similar to hers, but shorter and a bit rougher. Similarly, he was covered in the same stripes, only, his hooves and lower legs were covered entirely by the dark. Unlike the statue of her, this one did have a cutie mark - A towershield. Carved out of stone was also a large crown, lying on his head and covering his eyes. Behind the stallion was a big, mostly undetailed and generic sword. Twilight's only guess was that this was some old lord or perhaps some other kind of royalty. She wondered why a statue of her would be placed so close to someone of importance.

Soon she realised that she had gone completely off track, and tore her eyes from the statues and continued to the palace. This path was slightly more open and a lot more straight than the one she'd taken to get to the gate, thankfully.