The Four Dimensions
Star opened his eyes. The sun was streaking down on top of him. The warm rays were hitting his face and he didn’t want to move. It felt like time was standing still. There were butterflies above him that fluttered into his vision. One of them landed on his nose and he felt an itch coming on.
Star raised his hoof to itch and suddenly time continued. The butterflies flew away and the sun was blocked by a cloud. Next to the cloud was a Pegasus who turned around to get another cloud. Star looked around at the rest of the room. Colts and Fillies were playing on the playground and some that were even his age had begun to play tag.
Star could assume the Pegasus would make it rain again and they would all be herded back inside. Just like he thought, his mom was coming out of the laboratory to tell them all to get inside. He rushed in ahead of the others and started making his way to the room they were going to be locked inside of.
On the way, he felt the need to use the restroom and looked around. The restrooms would be on the other side of the building. Usually his mom had to come with him to make sure he didn’t get lost, but he was feeling adventurous today.
Star ran in the direction he thought the bathroom was. Behind him, his mom was paying attention to an argument the rest of the children were having and didn’t notice him leave. She really didn’t like the whole ‘bring your foal to work’ day. She was always the one put in charge of them.
Star found the bathroom after only two dead ends. He felt proud to have found it at all. After releasing his bowels, he walked outside of the bathroom and looked around. Every direction looked the same. Long hallway after long hallway and steel walls and floors didn’t help. It looked like a steel cage he was trapped in.
Star turned the direction he thought he came. Now, the hallways twisted and turned in every direction. After deciding he was lost enough, he came to a metal door with the word Horizon on it. Star decided to start opening doors until he found his way back. Star opened the door and was left staring at a room that was bare other than the table in the middle of the room.
On the table in the middle of the room was an orb of light that looked like a rainbow floating in the air. It drew Star’s attention and he lost interest in his search for the others. As he watched and stepped closer, there was a tiny voice that echoed in the room.
“Ten,” The voice said softly. It sounded feminine and yet masculine at the same time. Star took another step closer and heard the air in the room move. It was like a gust of wind trying to escape.
“Nine,” The voice continued. Star stepped even closer, his hoof reaching up to touch the beauty. Nearby, he heard a distant alarm go off.
“Eight,” The voice was right in his ear now. The sounds of hoofsteps approaching entered his ear but was almost completely blocked by the sound of the last of the air leaving.
“Seven,” The door slammed shut and Star felt his throat start to grasp for air that wasn’t there.
“Six,” Star was panicking. The door was being pounded on and his hooves didn’t want to do what he said. The light in front of him started expanding and was creeping towards his face.
“Five,” The rainbow light made contact with his horn and he felt a surge of pain. Star crumbled to the floor in agony and lack of breath. His eyes were burning too.
“Four,” Star saw his horn glow bright before the room went a bright white. His entire body was in shock now. He could feel a pain like electricity course through his veins and stab his coat like daggers.
“Three,” Star no longer felt anything. All the pain was gone, all his sight was white, and the only sound he heard was the countdown still audible in his ears. There was nothing left.
“Two,” It was like an explosion in the calm environment he was in. Suddenly he felt everything in him return. The air was back, his mind was working again, and his body felt great.
“One,” Star opened his eyes. The sun was red in the black sky above. The ground around him was dirt and he was at the bottom of a crater that had rising steam from it. His mind went into overdrive.
“Zero,” He heard what sounded like millions of echoes of that word in his head. He recognized that voice. It was his own. The sound bounced off the walls in his head and he raised his hoof to put it on his head. Then, the sound continued. He heard voices in his head. His own voice repeated again and again in different words.
Star widened his eyes and stood up. The air smelled of smoke and he could smell blood. In panic, Star ran. He ran as fast as he could. It wasn’t until he reached a house that he realized it was his house. He didn’t know how he got there, but somehow he just knew he was going to get there. Like it was programmed into his head.
Still, the voices continued to speak, they brought him to his knees as he reached the inside of his house. He fell to the ground and held his head. Finally, he passed out from the anxiety attack. That was when he met them all. That was when he learned the truth. They told him. He told himself.
He saw millions of himself, all of them speaking to him. He heard them discussing physics, mathematics, probability, he couldn’t keep up with what was being said. Still, he caught the part that he was the result of Project Horizon.
“What now?” Star managed to ask in between all of the voices. The answered quickly and as precise as possible.
“I don’t know,” was repeated millions of times in his head.
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Luna looked at her sister as the last of their magic dwindled. She managed to pull back before completely running out, but they’d need time to recover it either way.
“What did you find out?” Celestia asked. She’d been waiting patiently, but her patience was running thin after two hours. Hey eyes had grown heavy as she saw Luna frown.
“Sister… what was Project Horizon?” Luna asked. Celestia closed her eyes.
“Let me explain…” Celestia said.