//------------------------------//
// Rocks and Windows 
// Story: Clockworks Nightmare 
// by Draconican 
//------------------------------//


Shattered


My story begins in a world other than the one where it happens. A world inhabited by creatures very different than any you have known. No, it doesn’t matter what they looked like, or what they were called. What matters is that I was once one of them, and what I did last in that world.

I was a scientist, you see, working on a project in my basement that would most likely have been declared to dangerous or expensive to receive funding. Rightly so, in truth, though we could not have known why, at the time. 

I was attempting to create a machine to allow travel between realities.

My lab was really quite large. It had to be, if I was right about the size of the event horizon I was going to use. A half mile underground, reinforced with concrete and steel, it would have survived most anything the world could throw at it. But I made a mistake.

A miscalculation, really.

It happened on the first test run of the machine. I was planning to just open a window, allow me to see into another world. From there, I’d ensure it was stable, learn how to aim it, and make sure it was safe. Unfortunately, I made a mistake about how the space between realities acted.

I had assumed that either the between-space, what I now call the void, or the walls of reality itself would constantly attempt to close the hole that I would need to create for the devise to work. Naturally, I thought this would require significant amounts of power to accomplish.

So I used lots of power to keep it open. No, it doesn’t matter how much, exactly. Suffice it to say, that my methods of power generation weren’t necessarily legal for a civilian to practice. 

None the less, when I opened the window, the machine began to feed excessive amounts of energy to attempt to sustain the event horizon. Energy that the Void had no problem with taking. It then multiplied it, 100 fold, 1,000 fold, more, and fed it right back into the machine.

The event horizon grew. It had quickly filled my lab, and it was all I could do to reach the stairs back up. Not that I didn’t try to abort the experiment, but the machine was far in control any more. The event horizon lost stability. 

It collapsed.

And then, the universe exploded.

Eventually, I learned that that was not hyperbole, and about the sheer number of realities this bit in the but.


()()()()()()


I don’t remember, precisely what happened next. That’s probably a good thing, since what I remember is fear, terror, and pain.

But after that, I woke up in a crater.

It wasn’t a deep one, only a foot and a half deep, but the bowl had been glassed. You, don’t know what is do you, little one? I didn’t think so. It basically just means that the ground had been turned to glass. This would require a lot of heat, and for it to happen quickly, a lot of pressure. 

Which mostly means that I fell really hard, and really hot.

Now, the first thing I did when I woke, was try to figure out what had happened. Yes, before I tried to get up, or opened my eyes. Only took about five seconds to realize that I’d messed up. Badly. 

I mentally resolved to fix whatever I broke, opened my eyes, and got up. Then I stared at the glass. It was smooth and flawless, not something that would occur naturally, and just as reflective as a mirror.

So of course I stared when I saw a strange creature reflected back at me.

I had not noticed until then that I had changed. My first thought, was that I looked like a horse, though there were differences. Pitch black fur covered my body, and I had a ruffled looking mane and tail of the same color. Two large eyes, which appeared too large for the skull they were in, stared back at me with their blood red gaze. And no, they didn’t glow. That didn’t start until after the wolves showed up.

Anyways, I climbed out of the crater and onto a vast grassy plain that seemed to go on endless, oh wait, there’s a town over there. And a creepy forest and some mountains. How’d I miss those? Oh well, onwards to town!


******


Enigma stood atop the bench, one foreleg thrust forward, a grand grin splitting his face. 

As the foal watched him standing there, the images from the story slowly faded from his mind. Then he realized just how silly Enigma looked.

“You should get down.” He giggled. “Somepony might think you’re insane.”

Once more, Enigma chuckled. Hopping off the bench he said “Now, who ever said I was still sane? Heh. In truth, no one in this world is sane anymore.” A small grin grew on his face. “In fact, you can think of me as this worlds psychologist. The crazy treating the insane, so to speak.”

“If you say so.” The foal said, giving Enigma an odd look.

“I do.” Enigma sat down on the grass and tapped a hoof to his chin. “Now where was I?”


Glass