I charge at the door and slam into it hard, hissing at the pain in my shoulder. A window nearby shatters, fire and glass spraying out of my room. I narrow my eyes and kick the door as hard as I can, aiming just next to the lock. The door crashes outwards and a huge rush of heat blasts inward, pushing me backwards and forcing me to cover my face from the heat.
"............." Someone shouts at me. I stop for a second, what did they say? No time, I have to get out now.
I rip off the sleeve to my lab coat and wrap it around my mouth to protect me from the smoke, no time to wet it for maximum efficiency. I run out of my room, bright crimson flaring on all sides. The fire dances in ecstasy as it consumes the house, belching huge clouds of black smoke, chocking the life out of any foolish creature to enter it's domain, namely me.
"...........!!!" Another shout
I charge through the flames, ignoring the huge increase in heat and the smell of burning fabric and even skin. I come out to find the top of the stairs. I remove the burnt bit of cloth from my face and vomit to one side because of all the smoke. I collapse to the floor and take heaving gasps of air close to the floor where the air is clearer.
"............" Gah! A whisper, right in my ear, but where? No one's there.
Have, to get down, the stairs
One step at a time. Dammit, too much smoke, not enough, oxygen. Visions fading, must, carry, on
No taste except burning. No feeling except pain. No smell except fire. No hearing except screams. Who's screaming?
Oh wait, its me.
I scramble on the oak floor, desperately clawing my way forwards. Nails chipping and ripping as I scratch the surface of the floor in my frantic attempts to move forwards
"............." There it is again that voice. What voice? Did I hear something? No, it was nothing, just the fire.
I cant breathe, darkness is corrupting my vision. Pain has my head in a vice, forcing me to submit.
I suck in air and glare outwards. I thought I had banished that nightmare. Must be Hell affecting my mind.
Lets see, situation evaluation
A small room, made from grey bricks. Dusty too, hasn't been used in a long time, if ever. A small hole is near the top of the room and lets in a few rays of sunshine, or hell fire. At the other end of the room are twelve vertical metal bars, with no signs of a door or opening. How did they get me in here then? Bah, this world is bad for my sense of logic.
There is a corridor beyond the bars of metal, iron or steel at first look., with a small flaming torch set onto the wall. This is more as I expected Hell. Trapped in a prison, waiting for my torture session to begin.
A small clink. I look down and IGNORE MY TOTALLY NORMAL BODY WHICH I AM NOT FOCUSING ON RIGHT NOW OH MOTHER OF GOD, because I am also looking at the chains. I flex slightly and feel resistance. No way I can break these with brute force. But there is a lock, and locks can be picked. If I had some small piece of metal, like a paper clip or even hair clip.
Dammit, nothing. What about pockets?
Ah
I'm naked
...
WHERE ARE MY CLOTHES!!!!???
Well I suppose they would do anything to psychological break someone, for example removing someones clothes to make them feel vulnerable.
I'm still a horse as well. Four legs, all coloured a rather unflattering dark blue. Hooves at the bottom, so shoes aren't needed at least. Lengths would suggest pony but still, something seems off. I can still see some brown hair poking down into my vision, despite the fact I keep it short and well trimmed. Or 'mane' as I suppose it is now. I also have a tail, a rather different experience, but not unpleasant. I can see my nose and mouth, or snout, sticking out of my face. All in all, as far as I can see, I appear to be just any old blue pony.
Wait, whats that. Clinking? Must be the demons on their way to bring me for torture. Well bring it on.
I'm lying of course, I really, really, really don't want to be tortured. It doesn't sound like fun.
And apparently demons are ponies as well, go figure. Well, at least this one looks more like a horse, a large navy blue horse with wings and a horn. And a crown. And a amulet. And sparkly shoes. Did I mention the crown?
At a guess I would say 'she'. Dark blue, with what appears to be the milky way for a mane and tail. She also has a black crown, onyx most likely. She's also wearing a onyx amulet with the image of a crescent moon on it, which is very similar to the image of a moon in the night sky on the side of her 'butt', or flank as I suppose it is in horse terms.
Oh, did I forget to mention? She looks pissed.
This can not end well.
"Thou art to come with us. Our sister has deemed imminent banishment too...brash."
Huh, so she's the one from last night. Also, it's a talking horse.
It's a talking horse, speaking in ye old english, in third person.
"Of course, I'll get right on that." I say with a flat look. She rolled her eyes and suddenly started glowing, or more accurately, her horn. A dark aura surrounded this unusual body part and a small beam of it shot out from it, striking the prison bars.
At once the bars glow a dark blue and split in half, six moving to the left side and six to the right. I was suitably panicking.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?!" I scream pointing at her with finger.....hoof
She raised one eyebrow "What?"
I took a shuddering breath. "Please, in the name of all that is good and wonderful, tell me that was a holographic sensory activated by the presence of your horn and NOT what I think this insane world is trying to tell me."
She blinked a few times. "No, that was magic"
"THE HELL DID I JUST SAY?" I shout
"CEASE ALL THIS YELLING OR WE SHALL BE FORCED TO SUBDUE THOU!" She shouted back, at an impressive loudness. Regardless, I did not take the hint
"YOU DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO YOU OVERGROWN TALKING HORSE!!" I yelled. I put up one hoof as high as I could and gave her the best I could manage of the finger
So, apparently waving your hoof in that manner still translates as something rude here. And she took it better than I expected. In hindsight it probably wasn't a good idea to piss off the jail keeper, or queen, or whatever the hell she is. At least now I get a good look at the palace wrapped up in several layers of chains, upside down and being dragged along the floor behind her.
And this is a hell of a palace. Complete opposite as to what I would expect from her. I am of course assuming she's the queen, or princess as she did mention a sister. There are golden banners hanging down the wall depicting a radiant sun of very high cloth standard, glass windows showing ponies, strangely without wings or horn or only have one of either. No torches up here, plenty of sunlight coming in through the windows. I could swear the walls are made of pure marble with pillars of gold holding up the ceiling
Seeing this beautiful golden castle, I can now confirm that there is 70% less chance I am in hell, and a rise in 34.5% chance that I am now in heaven, as unlikely that may sound.
"We art here." She whispered softly, must have calmed down a lot, dragging me up all those flights of stairs and along the floor up to the huge gem embedded golden doors in front of me.
Using her magic (yes I am over it...for now) She surrounded the two handles of the door in the same azure aura and then they started to move open on their own.
She moved confidently forward, still dragging me behind (this pony body is more resilient than I expected) through the doors and into quite possibly the most magnificent room I have ever seen, or at least I would have if a pinkish barrier hadn't appeared that gave me a massive shock and sent me flying back out of the magical grip
At once, the blue horse stormed backwards and glared down at me.
"Sorry?" I tried
Once again her horn glowed, but this time a bolt of electricity came out and burnt off the tip of my tail. It also stung.
"What was that for?" I stare up angrily
"Not a changeling then?" A voice came out, and what a voice. It spoke of kindness, sunshine and warmth. I immediately disliked her.
"It would appear not." So sayeth the horse of dark blue
"Very well, bring him in. We shall see why the barrier refuses him." Goes that voice of a goddess.
The blue horse nodded and once again used that blue aura magic to drag me inside, this time with my own special hole in the field.
Okay, so this is the throne room. The give away is the two thrones. And guess what...more horses! Well, one big white and rainbowy hair. I'm not joking, it's like sunrise and spring all mixed into floating hair. She also had a picture of the sun on her flank as well. Maybe they are tattoo's meant to symbolize ones place in society?
"Well then Luna, who is this little pony" She asked looking towards big blue
two things went through my mind.
1. So the blue horses name is Luna, must be play on lunar and the moon.
2. 'little pony'???
I coughed to bring her attention to me "Excuse me but isn't it a little degrading to refer to me as 'little' simply because you're bigger than me?"
She raised one eyebrow "It is not meant to be degrading, more affectionate. I treat everypony more like family than subjects. Yet I have never heard a complaint about it before, which leads me to conclude you're not from Equestria"
I snort "Equestria, that's a terrible pun. Anyway, no, I am not from around here. And I am not sure if you would believe me if I told you."
She shifted slightly, uncomfortable "The bad lands?" She asked, hopeful to be wrong
I shook my head "No not the bad lands, from the best I can tell this is an alternate dimension."
She blinked once. Twice.
I sighed "Yes I realise how ridiculous that sounds but it is true"
She gave a small smile "And what is life like in this dimension, am I the same, how about Luna, ohh, what about Twilight?"
I stared at her blankly "Ummm no, you don't exist, neither does Luna or this 'Twilight'. Also no one is a talking horse."
And now it was her turn to stare at me "Well, that's quite the story, but you are in fact right now a pony and there is no evidence to prove you are telling the truth."
I tapped my chin against the floor "At any rate could you please let me out of these chains"
The white horse nodded her head "Very well" Her horn began glowing gold and a similar aura formed around the chains, slowly unwrapping themselves from around me. I twisted my head to the left until a satisfying pop sounded out. Bad habit, I know.
"Well, I suppose we should make introductions. You first as you are clearly highest in command here." I spoke with half my face still pressed to the floor
"Since you insist, I am Princess Celestia, goddess of the sun and co ruler of Equestria. And you?"
"I lied, you don't need to know me." I chuckled
I saw her eyes narrow by a fraction "Are you going to remain on the floor or are you going to grace us with a bow."
I sighed "On principle, as I scientist I detest the idea of a goddess or a perfect being. There is always room for improvement, changes can, and always must be made. How disgustingly boring a life a perfect order must be. Regardless, the point is that I have no idea how to stand up."
Celestia raised one eyebrow "I beg your pardon?"
Rolling my eyes I explained "I have only just come into this world last night and have gone through an entire metamorphosis into this body. I was subsequently knocked on the head several times, fought a ferocious beast and then was banged on the head by a tree after meeting what was presumably Luna over there."
The pony in question gave me a small kick "That beast you speak of was our pet Fluffy."
"Details details, the point is I'm going to need a few seconds to learn how to control an entire new form."
I then did my best to stand up. I won't bother with all the exact details, but needless to say the two horses had a very amusing time of it.
I shook off the dust I had collected from my experience on the floor. "Sooo, what now?"
"A name?" Celestia asked
I thought for a moment, these ponies obviously have weird names, relating to what they do, for example, Luna. Or Twilight. I can choose any name I want. "You may call me...Doctor Stein, Franken Stein in full."
"Very well, Dr Stein, what do you intend to do now, no doubt you intend to 'go back to your old dimension'?"
I scoffed "Nothing of the sort. I am going to give you the best deal to ever happen to you. I am going to become your chief scientist. In exchange for your biggest lab and the freedom to perform all sorts of experiments, I will offer my great services as the greatest mind to quite possibly ever exist here. Besides, it would take years to re-develop the technology to take me back, time I could spend studying this new world instead."
A few moments passed in silence. A few more. Close to a minute now.
Celestia finally decided to break the silence "Are you being serious?"
I nodded "Of course. I am a genius and I am giving you the opportunity to acquire my talents before I decide instead to simply work for my own goals."
Luna sounded out behind me "How can we trust you!? Your first act was to brutally murder our pet!"
I sighed "One, I had just arrived in this world to face what looked like a monster, I thought I was in hell. B, he tried to kill me first"
Luna shifted, uncomfortable "He was only playing"
"Which might be great for you, but for me, it looked dangerous, so I killed him out of self defense."
Celestia held up a hoof, ready to speak. "If you are the great scientist you claim to be, then we will first give you a test."
"Understandable, so what is this test." I say
She looks out of the window "Do you understand magic to a great degree?"
I tapped a hoof to my chin "No, not in the slightest, where I come from there is no magic."
"Even though you're a unicorn?"
I froze for a second "I'm a what?"
"A unicorn"
"Are you sure"?
Luna rolled her eyes "Yes, the horn on thy head is as clear as the moon in the sky."
I couldn't help a grin spread across my face "Excellent, this shall make the study of magic much easier. Everyone in the world is an experimental test subject, including myself"
"Unicorn magic is not the only magic in existence here" Celestia replied.
"Fascinating, do explain." I pushed eagerly
"I have little time to explain it now, but it is clear you cannot help me with this problem then, therefore another test is needed. Luna, do you have any suggestions for Stein?" Celestia asked Luna
Luna grinned "Why yes, we do believe we could come up with a suitable test for his intellect"
She turned away and started walking until she reached the door "Well, art thou coming?" She called after me. I looked to Celestia who smiled reassuringly and motioned forwards with a wing. I groaned inwardly and stumbled after Luna.
This castle is truly amazing, and much more impressive when walking through like a normal person instead of being dragged along in chains. I inspected a stained glass window nearby. It depicted three different ponies each doing some task. One appeared to be a normal pony, orange in colour. The pony in question was farming at the land, and had a large sack of crops to one side. The next pony was winged and up in the sky, coloured a deep purple, a Pegasus I guess? Interestingly enough she seemed to be holding the clouds back with her bare hooves, allowing the sun to shine down on the land below. This universe obviously works on a different set of laws and logic. And then, to the right of those sat a unicorn, with a quill pen nearby which was caught up in a colour the same as the unicorns fur, a soft gold. It would appear they are they intellectual side of this society. It was surprising how much information you could get of a society from a single image.
Luna spoke from the other end of the corridor "We art waiting."
I rolled my eyes and complied, going after here as fast as I could. We wandered the corridors for hours. I could have sworn we were lost but Luna seemed sure of where we were going. She never hesitated in making a decision. About twenty minutes of awkward silence I decided to try it
"Um...Luna, that window looks familiar."
"Yes, it does." She said through gritted teeth
"..."
"..."
"We're lost aren't we?"
"...Yes"
"Ahh." I thought for a few minutes. "Can't we ask a guard?"
Underneath her coat, I could see her start to turn a slight red around the cheeks "We could, but we, as in-" She pointed at herself "-are supposed to be a Princess, one of the rulers of Equestria. We should know our way around the castle by now."
"Fine" I whispered. "What are we looking for?"
Luna looked around at some of the guards in front of the doors "Room 006, patient 006 if that doesn't work"
"Be back in a second."
I wandered off around the corner, out of Luna's sight. I turned towards a guard standing, well, guard beside a door. Looks like a Pegasus, green fur and wearing golden armor with a spear held in one hoof.
"Excuse me, could you give me some directions." I asked
He ignored me and continued staring into a space somewhere behind me. I waved a hand, hoof, in front of his face. "Anyone there."
Still nothing. Just like the guards in front of Buckingham Palace.
"I'm here on behalf of Luna?" I tried
He blinked "And who are you?" He had a very deep gravelly voice that spoke of brawn and little intellect.
I smiled "I am Dr Stein, the new master scientist here. I'm looking for room 006, and patient of said number."
The guard nodded slowly "Sounds about right, getting the new scientist to take a look at her. Very well, go left from here then take a right, followed by a left, another left, three rights, a left, straight ahead, and sixth door along the corridor. Got all that?"
I nodded "Yes, well see you soon...?"
"Thunder Shield, Sir."
"Yes, Thunder Shield, good job, keep it up." I threw back as I walked away. What a ridiculous name.
I turned around the corridor and waved for Luna to follow me.
Following his directions we soon came upon a door with two guards, one with a hammer across his back and another with two spears. The one on the left, with the hammer, had the same golden armor all guards wore, except it seemed to be thicker, no doubt built for strength rather than any sort of agility. A brown horse with serious green eyes and a large, heavy, metal hammer. The other was his polar opposite. The difference in snout and body elegance seems to indicate this one is female. Very light plating, with more leather used to provide high mobility. The two spears seemed to indicate quick darts of movement instead of the heavy hits of her partner. No doubt together they made the perfect team for dealing with any problems. She had light grey fur and dark blue eyes, filled with anger. Someone had screwed with her recently, in a bad way. I could give you full psychology report on the both of them, but that would distract me from the talking
Luna stood tall and looked down on them "We wish to enter, this pony claims to be a scientist, we shall see if that holds true."
"I'm not a pony, I'm a human, I may look like one, but I'm not." I mumbled while the grey pony spoke to Luna
"Are you sure, many doctors have tried and failed, what makes you think this one will have more success?" She sounds touchy, there is a 87% she is closely related to the patient inside, either through blood or friendship. That would explain the body signs.
Luna glanced down at me "We shall see."
The two guards nodded and moved to each side.
Oh thank God, technology. If it was only in the form of an IV drip and heart monitor. There was still hope for this world left.
Lets see, situation evaluation. There is a pony lying in the single green bed. Grey fur, guess relation theory was right earlier, with light blue hair rolling down the sides of her body. On the desk sat many cards, all get better soon. Hmm, by the residue dust, they've been here a while. That means a long term suffering patient. However, the flowers are fresh, guess the pony from outside is supplying new ones. I listen, there is a faint breathing coming from here, instinctual, not deliberate so asleep, or in a coma as the case seems to be.
"How did this happen?" I ask, eyes now closed
Luna spoke beside me "She was in the Everfree forest and came running out into a nearby settlement. The last thing she was shouting about was that something stung her. She fell asleep there and has not woken up for 8 months. We know not what creature stung her, nor of any cure to this. The only clue is a blue spot on her neck where we presume she was stung."
I nodded and opened my eyes and walked over to her. Her eyes were closed and she breathed shallowly. The only noise was a faint drip of the IV and a regular bleep of the heart monitor. I pressed gently against her neck with one hoof, these hooves were very soft and acted more like skin, even though they were hard and good for walling on. There were faint lines running everywhere, too many to count. Not veins or capillaries, but what else.
As unlikely as it sounds, I believe those are her nerves. Which is impossible, as they should be too small to feel, and yet here they are. I ran my hoof over her collarbone and slightly down her body. The same everywhere. I can feel the nerves running all over her body, as if they wrapped up in something. Maybe whatever it was is suppressing her entire body and creating the paralysis. I opened her mouth. Herbivore teeth, seem normal, and a tongue. I pull it out slightly and press my hoof against it. the same lines. I can feel Luna staring at me oddly from behind. Once again checking the neck I moved closer towards the blue spot on the back of her neck. Here the lines were strongest and thickest. Obviously the poison entered here and spread, using the blood stream, and began to freeze up her nerves, and yet it has not killed here. Must be meant to only paralyse then.
I turn around to see Luna has been joined by the two guards and are staring intently at me. I give a small wave and the grey one glares back. Well then, back to work.
I open up one of her eye lids. Her light blue eyes stare out at nothing, small sickly green lines criss-cross the surface. So this is paralysed too. Wait, a flicker. For a second her iris moved, just a fraction. There, again. She's reacted to something, but what.
The heart monitor! She's reacting to the beep of the monitor. That means something is still working. And if I can use that I should be able to shock the whole system, a good shock should break the hold over the nerves and restore her.
I turn back towards the guards "Has a lot of noise been made around her recently?"
The grey one pauses for a bit which the brown one fills "No, the only noise has been the daily check up, which is usually done in silence by the doctor."
Excellent, that means she will be vulnerable as she hasn't experienced a loud noise for a while.
This had better work.
I try murmuring in her ear and, still holding an eyelid open see her iris quiver slightly.
A flash a grin at the three confused ponies.
"BOO!" I scream into her ear
Her eyes open and she sits up screaming "GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
The two guards start screaming at the movement "WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Luna starts screaming at the loud noise, from me, the patient and the guards "EEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!"
"SHUT UP!" I shout and it soon settles down into quiet.
"W..Where am I" She finally asks
I shook my head "Why do you ask 'where', when the much more delicious question is 'how'. As in 'how am I alive/awake right now?'. The answer of course, is me." I give a little bow
The grey pony earlier shoves my out of the way and rushes towards the patients side. "Oh thank Celestia and Luna, you're all right now Amber" She smothers, or I suppose hugs, the other pony, tears of joy leaking down her face. The one in the bed, or I suppose Amber, is still bewildered but hugs back strongly.
I look back to see genuine joy on both Luna's and the guards faces. There isn't even a trace of annoyance in Luna's face about me completing the challenge so easily. She is just happy to see her subjects happy.
The brown one stands in front of me, looking down on me due to his strong build. "My name is Solid Oak, if you ever need anypony to help you for any reason, consider me in your debt. That was my wife's sister you just saved."
Woah, that was..unexpected. I now have a pony in debt to me. And a strong guard at that.
He smiled. "I don't think we have been introduced properly. That over there is my wife, Dart, and her sister, Amber Glass."
I flashed back a quick smile "I am Dr Stein, soon to be head of research, science and adviser to the Princesses. They may not accept all my advice straight away, but they will come around, eventually."
He roared with laughter "With skills like yours, I don't see how they could possibly refuse"
The grey pony comes over towards me, sniffling slightly "Thank you so much, I had lost all hope in Amber ever getting better. I am also forever in your debt."
I scratched the back of my head awkwardly "It's nothing, I was just told this was a test, I didn't realise it would be this important to anyone"
Dart snorted "Well I can tell you it means a lot to me, and my husband Solid. We will not forget this."
Dart turned back to Solid Oak and together they both went back to Amber's side. I should be swelling up with feelings of pride and so on and so forth but all I could think about is the type of creature that could do that. I clearly made the right choice in deciding to stay here and study this world. I can't wait to dissect all the wonderful animals this world offers!
Luna walked towards me after those two had left. "Well, it does seem you have some skill, as you claim-" I snorted "-However, we still don't completely trust you, it is never a ponies instinct to kill an attacking creature, always to run. Only a monster would think otherwise"
I grinned "Maybe so, but I am the damn best at my job so you're going to have to put up with my...eccentrics for now."
Luna nodded, almost respectfully. "Very well, we shall run a trial period then, and see how you can be of use"
I twisted my head left until it cracked "Excellent, but first, I'm going to need to understand this world better. the quickest and easiest way is if I could meet and judge some of the different types of pony
A thought crossed Luna's mind, I could see it in her eyes "I've just had a perfect thought. This would be an excellent time for you to meet Twilight and her friends, she can teach you all about the different kinds of ponies and about the strongest force in Equestria!"
"Really!" I cried out, enthusiastically "And what is that?"
Luna looked down at me "Friendship"
"You have got to be kidding me..."