//------------------------------// // 3: A New Sensation // Story: Falling In Love with Myself // by ReadingRainbow //------------------------------// The day passed quietly for me. I played some music while I tended to the plants in the greenhouse, and I managed to find a few ripe tomatoes. Some pasta would be in order later, only Luna knew how much I enjoyed Neightalian food. I read a couple books, and did a few routine spacewalks. But after a long day, Mother of Celestia, did warm water ever feel good. Especially after having to repair a solar panel array, install and code a motherboard. So I took a shower. I let the water flow down my body, washing away stress and built up tension as it followed the curves of me. I stood there for quite a while, just letting the water flow, as I emptied my mind, thinking of nothing. I had washed my mane and fur at least 5 minutes ago, but this to me was the best way to relax. Nothing but the sound of falling water. And that's when I heard it. A faint giggle. I opened the shower door, and looked around. Nothing. I sighed, and turned the water on again, reminding myself that it was just my imagination. I was the only pony on this ship, and that certainly wasn't going to change anytime soon. I emptied my mind once more, ignoring everything but the warmth of the water. And then I heard it again.... Somepony had definitely giggled. And that somepony wasn't me. I wrapped myself in my towel, then I dashed towards the computer and input my query. Another giggle. But the computer said I was the only lifeform onboard. I stepped back shakily, and closed myself inside the shower. I sat back slowly under the stream of the water, trembling as I bit my bottom lip nervously. I was scared again. I wasnt losing it, was I? Was I? An eternity passed as I huddled under the endless stream of hot water. I could see the steadily blinking light that showed me my location, the computer screen shining steadily against the glass walls of my watery prison. I was the only pony on this ship. The only pony. I repeated that to myself over and over again, until it became an automatic thought. I was the only pony.... the only... ..... Pony.... -+-+-+-+- I awoke to intense heat, hacking and coughing. Sometime during my nap I had fallen over. The water was still on, and as I reached to turn it off, I breathed heavily, my lungs struggling to get the air they needed no thanks to the moisture around me. I gasped, and coughed up small amounts of water from inside my lungs. Finally, I mustered the strength to turn off the water, and rising shakily to my hooves, I exited my glass house, wrapping a towel around my form. A quick glance at the computer confirmed that there was still 2 dots...thank goodness..... ...... I whirled around to the screen with speed that would rival a ninja from Japone, gripping each side of the monitor with my hooves. One dot.... I saw two dots. I swore I saw EXACTLY TWO DOTS.... No...Star, calm down... I backed shakily away, water dripping from each bunched tip of my mane. I saw two dots.......my mind is playing tricks on me.... There can't be two, you were the only one sent on this mission...you know that! I literally flew through the station towards the GU, narrowly avoiding slamming into corners. I looked behind me for a fleeting moment, and as i did, i could have sworn that time slowed to a crawl... At the other end of the corridor...was a dark blue mare, with a light blue mane....just standing...smiling.... And that's when i slammed into a wall. Bright lights swirled in my vision, and i held my hooves to my head as i tried not to scream in pain. Gray creeped into the edges of my view, and as i looked back towards the pony who had been standing, there was nothing...just an empty corridor. This was it. I had officially lost it. I blacked out as a silhouette neared me.... Goodnight. -+-+-+-+- There had been cases of ponies who had gone insane. Lets....well...."review" a few of them. Screw Loose. One of the premier space mares, actually went insane just from the idea of travelling into space, and somehow became convinced that she was a dog. That one....lets just say they expected something to go wrong. Rock Bottom. Well, the name pretty much says it all. In anti gravity and underwater pool tests, he showed a continuing decrease in IQ everytime he did a "Spacewalk." More than once he just let go and sank to the bottom of the pool. While screaming. He didn't move, he just slowly floated downwards and screamed the whole time. Short Circuit was extremely good with electronics, and was known to use his own body to transfer electrical currents. Surprisingly, it worked. Only problem was, he was a better signal receiver than the radio. Whenever he was roaming the facility, he was often spouting off the latest nonsense from some radio network. He was sane, but one day, he just lost it, and ran straight into a running jet turbine. Poor guy. Would have fit in better in a submarine than on a space ship. And then there's me. Sure, I aced all the tests. I did Anti-gravity and water spacewalks, survived the centrifuge, and pretty much every other conceivable test they could offer me. I still think that Rat was cheating on the light up button test... But yea. I'm probably floating around somewhere in the space station, which is floating god knows where in our solar system, and after all the hard work I've done to survive, I had to choose now to go insane. This was going to be a beautiful ride. -+-+-+-+- I awoke with a start, lights flickering dimly around me. Ok....I'm in the GU....that's a start. Maybe this was just a small nightmare. I rubbed my eyes, and then noticed a large bump on my forehead. Well, that idea is scrapped. Maybe i was simply hallucinating from food gone bad. The lights gained brightness, the flickering dying out. Ok! Good time to hide under the blanket! I didn't move. I was afraid of the crazy disease, I didn't want it. "Star?" Wow. With that simple spoken sound of my name, i relaxed, the smoothness and comfort wrapped in the voice almost giving me a full body massage. But I tensed right back up when she spoke again. "Star? Are you alright?" I flinched, still not moving from under my blanket. "I'm not sure. You aren't real, so I still have to decide that." I could hear a light clopping as whoever this mystery mare was shifted her weight from one hoof to the other. "Are you sure I'm not real? For all you know, I could have hitched a ride on that shuttle." I was shaking slightly. "You. Are not. Real." I said, growling underneath my breath. "But I'm here am I not?" I flung off the blanket and rose to all four hooves with lightning speed. "YOU AREN'T-......real?" Nothing. Mystery mare was gone. No sign to be found. I sat down again, wrapping my hooves around myself, as I tried to calm down. "She isn't real.....she isn't real....she isn't real....she isn't...real....she....isn't...real....is she?"