Marcus shifted in his sleep. He wriggled around for a while before sitting straight up, eyes wide open, with only one thought on his mind:

I need to go take a piss.

Marcus scrambled up and tiptoed his way to a nearby bush. It was still the middle of the night, and he didn’t want to go and piss off a bear or something. He unzipped his pants then sighed as he relieved himself. When he was done, he zipped his pants back up and turned around to find a wolf staring at him.

Well, shit.

The wolf tensed, seemingly to pounce onto Marcus, but he wasn’t going to let that happen anytime soon. He rolled to the side as it leapt at him, causing it to crash into a tree. Marcus immediately took advantage of this and threw himself onto its back as it was getting back up. It shook itself furiously before running and jumping all over the place, trying to throw Marcus off. Marcus managed to wrap his arms around the wolf’s neck and twisted its head as hard as he could.

He was not expecting it to snap off into his hands.

A golden-red sap began to drip from the wolf’s neck and head, which Marcus could now tell was made of wood. The corpse collapsed onto the ground with a dull thud. Marcus cautiously approached it and poked it. The corpse did not respond. Relieved, he began searching the body for anything of use. He dug out the creature’s claws and fangs, and decided that the tail would make a nice club and ripped it off. It came off rather easily, and he pondered the stability of the wood. I should probably fire-harden this. But how? It’s not like I have a lighter… Marcus sighed in defeat. Well, back to bashing stones together, I guess.

He spent the better part of an hour finding and smashing random stones together until he found two that produced a spark. Marcus gathered some tinder and wood, then proceeded to start a fire. He then put the stones away for later use. He held each of the claws and fangs above the fire until they were as hard as rock, then did the same for the tail. By the time he was finished, it was still dark out. Marcus shrugged. I guess I could spare an hour or two of sleep. I mean, it’s not like any guards have found me yet.

He did a few drills with the tail, then went back to sleep.

When Marcus came to, the sun was just beginning to rise. He got up with a groan and stretched for a bit, then stamped out the embers of the fire he had made and threw dirt onto where the fire had previously been. Marcus picked up Applejack’s hat, dusted it off, and placed it firmly on top of his head, ignoring the various blood splotches, patches of dried vomit, and spit marks on it. He then picked up the claws and fangs and put them in his pocket, before hefting his club and setting out for the town he fought in earlier. When he reached the outskirts, he heard the sound of some ponies talking. He dropped down to the ground and listened quietly.

“…think this monster is?”

“I don’t know, but I’m not sure if I want to meet it. It took on all of the Bearers of Harmony, and even managed to kill one of them!”

“Yeah, but we have to find it!”

Who do these ponies think they are, guards?

“I know, I know. But why are we posted so close to here? Shouldn’t the Captain be here instead?”

Oooookay, yes, yes they are guards. Great.

“Yeah, I guess. But I don’t want any trouble.”

“Neither do I. Let’s get out of here, I’m starting to get creeped out.”

Marcus heard the two leave, and got up before peeking out from the tree he was hiding behind. He saw the guards grow smaller in the distance, and turned his attention back to the quaint little town, which now had many a pony milling about. How was he going to sneak in? Damn these ponies and their lack of the internet keeping them inside! I knew I should have woken up earlier!

“Hey there!”

Marcus whipped around, club at the ready. Had one of the guards found him? Or worse, Celestia? His gaze fell upon a familiar mint-green unicorn, who was staring back at him in surprise.

“Please don’t hurt me! I knew you guys existed, and this is awesome, but why do you want to hurt me? And the Elements of Harmony?”

Marcus dropped his club in surprise. Could it be? He leaned a little to check the pony’s cutie mark. And there it was, that golden lyre. “L-Lyra?”

The pony stumbled backwards a bit, before tripping and falling on its hindquarters. “How do you know my name?”

It really is her! Marcus walked forwards and embraced Lyra in a crushing hug, before he started to weep into her fur. “YOU’RE ALIVE! You’re alive! You’re alive.” Lyra began blushing at the intimate position they were in. Of course she was alive, she was alive right now, wasn’t she? “Err....the last time I checked, I was alive, yeah.”

“How...how did you escape? Do you have a safehouse nearby?”

Lyra glanced at him in confusion. “Safehouse? Why would I need a safehouse? It’s perfectly safe here in Ponyville, aside from the odd monster from the Everfree. That reminds me, why are you even here? Don’t you know that the Everfree forest has manticores, hydras, cockatrices, timberwolves, and who-knows-what-else in it?”

Marcus felt like he had just threw himself at a grenade as it exploded. “P-Ponyville? Everfree?” He gave a short chuckle of astonishment. “I...I thought we were in upstate New York, or maybe in the Sleepy Hollow Bureau...easier to deal with me away from the chaos of Manhattan. But this... this really is Equestria, isn’t it?”

Lyra frowned as she wriggled out of Marcus’s grasp. “Of course this is Equestria! And what was that about ‘Manehattan’? I’ve got family there, and I’m certain they would have let me know if someone like you had dropped into the Big Apple! WHAT’S GOING ON?!”

Marcus could only stare at her. Did she really remember nothing? He kneeled and stared into her eyes, searching for any remnant of the Lyra he knew. He began lightly scratching at the sensitive spot behind her ears, but she didn’t seem to notice. “Yes...yes it is you, Lyra. I could never mistake you for anyone, or anypony else. Which means...”

He collapsed against the foot of the tree with a groan, the stress of the past day catching up to him. “That bitch took your memories, didn't she? She wiped away all your recollections of us, of your friends, of the PHL...” He roared, pouring all of his rage and frustration into that one shout, before beginning to pound the ground with his fists as Lyra retreated in fear. “DAMN YOU CELESTIA! IT WASN’T ENOUGH FOR YOU TO TAKE MY FAMILY, MY HOME, AND MY CULTURE, WAS IT?! NOW YOU HAVE TO STEAL MY FRIENDS TOO!”

Lyra edged closer. “Um…I don’t think we’ve ever been friends,” she said kindly, although Marcus detected a slight bit of hesitance in her voice. He wasn’t surprised, seeing as she had probably heard about how he had attacked Pinkamena when she began talking about being friends. His previous outburst wasn’t making him any look better, either. But his previous attitude towards her was one of happy familiarity; at least, he hoped it seemed that way. “But I’d like to be. Would…would you be willing to talk about…whatever it is?”

“Heh. Still the same Lyra...” Marcus shook his head, but reached out and scratched her head anyway. “Don't worry, once I figure out how to breach the barrier and get us back home to New York, we’ll find some way to restore your memory. Maybe Vinyl knows some kind of spell that could jog your mind, or perhaps we could just play you some Charlie Chaplin movies. You always loved those old comedies...” He gazed up at the sky, thinking about how great it would be when he went back to Earth, and restored Lyra’s memory, and-

Marcus snapped out of it when Lyra poked him with her horn. “Alright, this isn’t all coming for free. If I’m going to play along with this, then I want some answers. First of all, what’s this ‘barrier’ you’re going on about?”

“The one that surrounds Equestria...or half of Earth the last time I checked,” he grumbled. “Don’t ask me to go into an exact thaumic description of how the damn thing works; explaining trans-dimensional physics was always more Cheerilee or Doc Whooves’ domain. Anyways, it-”

“Waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait, backtrack for a moment!” Lyra interrupted. Marcus stopped his explanation and looked at her, eyebrow raised. “What are you talking about?! Cheerilee and Doctor Whooves? What do Ponyville’s schoolteacher and Derpy’s husband have to do with anything? How come I’ve never heard of any barrier around Equestria? Where or what in the hay is ‘Earth’? And most importantly, why do you keep talking to me like I died or something?”

Marcus gazed at her sadly. She really didn’t remember, did she? But then again, how would you expect a living person that was told that he or she is dead to react? Now that he thought about it, it really didn’t make much sense at all, but he had a hunch on what had happened. “Because you did die. You were Lyra Heartstrings, former Equestrian ambassador to the United Kingdom, first pony to speak out against the Conversion Bureaus, heroine of the Battle of Thunderchild, founder of the Equestrian rebel group PHL, the Ponies for Human Life, and leader of the Manhattan/Manehattan Underground Railroad. After all that, how could you, ‘the pony who said ‘No!’’, not be at the top of Celestia’s hit list? When they caught you, she had you publically executed ‘to make an example of you’. Or, that’s what we all thought.” Celestia probably just glamoured another pony to look like Lyra and executed it, probably so she could either torture Lyra, corrupt her, or use her as a bargaining chip. Probably all three, in that order. Vile bitch.

He stood up and gestured towards Ponyville and what he assumed to be Canterlot with his arms. “Here, however, you’re just a memory-blanked drone, one of Celestia’s millions of pony-puppets. But back home, you’re a symbol, a legend, a heroic martyr who provides hope and inspiration to everyone who stands against Celestia’s tyranny, human and pony alike. You led the PHL for our cause, you saved thousands of human lives with your warnings and actions, you sabotaged dozens of batches of Potions so that they were ineffective, and you smuggled human artifacts and culture into Equestria to subvert Celestia’s propaganda.”

Marcus heard Lyra mutter, “I...I don't understand.”

“You came to the aid of mankind in our time of crisis, and other ponies followed. You all fought alongside us to save humanity, and to liberate both Earth and Equestria from the tyrant Sun Princess, Celestia, and her dark protégée, Twilight Sparkle.”
Marcus knelt down once more and grabbed Lyra by the shoulders before staring into her eyes, with a quiet fire burning in his.

“Lyra, you were trying to save humanity from being ponified.”

He gazed into her wide eyes for a little while longer before rising and picking up his club. “Come on, I found a clearing nearby, and I don’t think the soldiers are too keen on searching this particular forest.”

Marcus beckoned for her to follow him, and together they trekked back to the clearing he had camped out in the previous night. Upon seeing the corpse of the dead wolf, however, Lyra let loose a terrified scream. “AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHAHHHHHHHHAHHHHAHHHHHHHH!”

Marcus immediately turned towards Lyra with his club in his hand, bellowing, “WHAT IS IT?!”

Lyra gave a jump at his shout, and managed to stutter out, “T-T-TIMBERWOLF!”

Marcus looked around his surroundings, listening closely for any kind of sound, before his eyes landed on the corpse of the dead canine.

“Ah, so it’s called a timberwolf. That makes more sense.”

Lyra, visibly confused, examined the body once again. She then walked over and bopped the severed head’s nose. The head rolled an inch or so away. “How…how did this happen? Were you the one that killed it?” Lyra questioned shakily.

“Yeah. Thing tried to kill me when I was taking a piss.” Marcus answered.

Lyra briefly glanced at Marcus with fear in her eyes. Marcus noticed, and assured, “Don’t worry. I only kill things that try to harm me or anyone else I care about.”

Lyra looked away.

“Look, let’s just camp out here tonight, okay? I stayed here yesterday when I was afraid that Celestia sent her guards after me, and I haven’t been found yet. And I’ll protect you no matter what, I promise.”

Lyra was still turned away, hesitant.

“Look Lyra, what’s wrong? You can tell me, and I’ll try to fix it the best I can.”

Lyra suddenly spun around with a fire burning in her eyes. “WHAT’S WRONG IS THAT YOU KILLED AN INNOCENT PONY LAST NIGHT! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?”

Marcus stepped back in shock. “Innocent? What do you mean?! Did you not hear anything I said? APPLEJACK WAS A KILLER!”

“NO SHE WASN’T!” Lyra screamed back. She turned and started walking away from Marcus, back towards Ponyville.

“Lyra! Where are you going? It’s dangerous out there!”

She stopped and looked back. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I would be much safer around somepony that murders innocent ponies.” And with that, she ran off into the distance without looking back.

Marcus slumped back down onto his knees. Lyra’s gone again…I failed her again! He tried to think about what could have caused Lyra to defend the Bitch Six. There was his theory on Celestia brainwashing her…but that wouldn’t explain the lack of newfoals, the lack of guards, and the Six’s feeble attempt at fighting. Marcus’s desperate mind begin to race to find an idea, to stop his world from crumbling.

Lyra’s gone…

Maybe a trick? But he would be dead by now. Maybe he was in an alternate universe?

Lyra’s gone…

No, that was just plain stupid. Why would the Elements of Harmony send him to an alternate dimension? They should have either been tools wielded by the Bearers or be true to their description and try to restore harmony.

LyRa’s goNe…

He didn’t seem very dead, and what good would sending him into an alternate universe be for the harmony of Earth and Equestria? Also, this land seemed much too similar to the real thing to be another dimension…

lYras Gone

Wait! This did seem quite similar to Equestria! Maybe, just maybe…

sheS gonE

Yes, it all made sense now! The Elements sent him back in time, to stop the disruption from ever happening, to prevent harmony from ever being disturbed!

goneGONEgone

Marcus’s mind latched onto this idea, and attempted to stabilize his sanity.

Yes, this must surely be it! It’s the most logical conclusion! Everything makes sense! It can’t be anything else, right? It can’t be that…Lyra hat-

YOU FAILED.

Something cracked slightly in Marcus’s mind, and he began to get back up, before he began chuckling in a slightly insane manner.

“Yes, that’s it,” Marcus whispered to himself. “They sent me back in time…to make things right…” He slowly picked himself up and faced Ponyville. “Lyra…don’t worry, I won’t fail you this time.” He started grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“I’ll kill each and every single pony who deserves death.”

“I’ll make them pay.”

Author's Notes:

Thank you all so much. Because of your support, this story...

Now has more likes than dislikes! IHkvbjGIKVJVkbvVIGKVIFkjcudiHKFUYlg
I would like to thank Reddy(redskin122004) for letting me even do this in the first place. I would also like to thank the first ten people who faved:Dragonlover553, lines n stuff, TheOverlord, Domzori, Rush, FlyingKitsune, WarKing76, thepinkparty, gwojo, and Lionblaze103(I hope that's all of you. Sorry if I got the order wrong!). I would also like to thank all of my followers(Skeeter The Lurker, lines n stuff, Rainwaffles, Meta Knight, Xarsor, Beyond the Horizon, Starcat5, and Your Face) for following me for...well whatever reason. *if you tell anyone that i [DATA EXPUNGED] i will [DATA EXPUNGED], got it? good.* Thanks to my editors/prereaders/whatevers(mainly Reddy, Rainwaffles, Word, and myself), and everyone who supported me, whether by liking, faving, or whatever!
PS: I'm so, so sorry if I screwed up anywhere, be it's grammar, speling, or canon-ness(GLaDOS is Chell's uncle). That means that I've failed in my duty as an editor and generic fanboy.
PPS: I'll try to do stuff over Thanksgiving Break, but I don't know. Sorry for the waiting!
PPPS: Gentlemen, if I may direct your attention towards my other story. You are now intrigued. Please don't sue me, SexualLobster.