It was tricky getting the hooves on with the goggles already on, but that was the only way it would be possible. He got them on (eventually) and leaned back his recliner. He grinned when he realized how much this was like a TV show he had seen.
"Link, start!" He joked, referencing the TV show. Just then, the goggles came to life, a vast array of colors flying at him through a vortex (much like the TV show). After that, there was blackness, with periodic flashes of light intermingling with the dark. The first sense Adalson experienced was sound. It was heavily muffled, as though he was under water. It sounded like he was on a train. It smelled that way to.
"Next stop, Canterlot station!" A voice announced. Finally, his eyelids responded to him and they opened. Lifting his head up, he looked around. He was definitely in a train car, but the strange thing was: he was the only one. He noticed something at the bottom of his vision a blurry red thing protruding from his face... then, he looked down.
He saw his hooves, curled up in a sleeping position. They were a dusty orange-red. Upon further inspection, he saw his body and dark green tale. He even had a pair of wings! But the strange thing was, he could feel them. Every part of this alien body, he could feel. He even felt his ears twitch on top of his head. There was a mirror at the end of the car, which was good because he needed a reflection. He stood up, and took his first step as a pony. It was easy, much easier than expected. When Adalson made it to the mirror without incident, he narrowed his eyes. "I... know how to walk like this." He said, dumbly. In the mirror, a dusty orange-red stallion with sky blue eyes (his eye color) stared out at him. He was so awestruck, he fell down onto his haunches. Adalson raised a hoof, his mirror image did the same. He started making funny faces at the mirror, his reflection made the same faces right back. The novelty wore off (after a surprisingly long while) and he returned to his seat, a grin on his face,
"I'm a pony." He chuckled to himself. He had used an oculus rift before, and had experienced vertigo from falling off a cliff in a first person game, but this was something else. With the rift, he could still feel his body (come to think of it, he could here as well, it was just muted a lot, but thinking about it brought it back)... but here, he actually was the character! Not just seeing their perspective, he was in their body!
His eyes turned to the window, and he saw a mountain wall rocketing past. However, on the other side he saw a gorgeous view of a large plains area, with a town nestled in it. He saw streams, and brooks, it was breath taking. A thought occurred to him.
"If I'm a pegasus... dose that mean I can fly?" He mused aloud. Only one way to find out! He thought. So, Adalson got into position, and started flapping his wings. The second he got air born (by an inch) he lost control, and face planted into a seat. "OK... that needs some work." He moaned, getting to his hooves. He was thrown to the ground again by the train coming to a stop.
"All off, Canterlot station! All of Canterlot station!" The voice boomed. As Adalson departed the train, it dawned on him that the train car was more like a tutorial room, than anything else. He shrugged it off, and looked around. He was on a platform right next to the train tracks, there was a building with a poster on it. The poster was full of bright colors and a picture of a winged unicorn with a gold ring/harness (thing) with a purple gem embedded inside around it's neck, golden slippers on it's hooves, and a golden tiara adorning it's head. The (rather large) pony was sitting on it's haunches pointing at the viewer in the fashion of an old Uncle Sam "we need you" war poster, but instead, she was smiling. "Attention new ponies!" The top text read. The text below the pony read: "Come to the princesses to get your pony name!"
"Oh, I see now, it's an introductory quest." Adalson mused to himself. "So guess I'm supposed to go get a username from this 'princess'... Then I guess I'm off." Adalson trotted off down a road toward the city.
It was a large city, with a "mild" fantasy touch (mild being subjective). Lots of white marble spires with curvy shapes, royal purple bricks, as well as other fantasy things. It was truly a sight to behold. Adalson oohed and ahhed at the sights. In fact, there was so many spires and buildings, it was hard to tell which ones looked like an actual palace.
"Ugh! This place is so big!" He groaned to himself. "I'd ask someone for directions, but they'd probably-" He stopped when he realized he wasn't in New York (or for the sake of the reference: "Kansas") anymore. The game had a fun, friendly atmosphere, maybe the people- ponies here would help him. He saw a coffee shop, and decided to start there. The sign above read "Stare Bucks" and looked just enough like what it was parodying to make it easy to get the reference.
Inside, it was a typical star bucks, dripping with calmness, and he could practically smell the hipsters (more than likely due to him remembering some hipster cologne he smelled in an actual star bucks). But, he still liked it. There was a sky blue unicorn sitting at a table with a coffee, paper, quill and an inkwell. Adalson decided he was as good as any to ask.
"Hey." He said, trotting up to the unicorn. The unicorn groaned in frustration, and looked up.
"Yes?" He asked, annoyed.
"Never mind I didn't realize you were-"
"Oh, it's no problem, I'm just a little frustrated with my story's all." The unicorn sighed. "I've caught a bad case of writer's block, I needed a break anyway. So, what was it you needed?" He asked.
"I'm new to-" what Adalson meant to say was "this game" but it came out as: "Equestria". "... And I'm looking for the castle to get my pony name." Adalson said. "But I have no idea where it is." The unicorn levitated his objects into a saddle bag and put them on.
"How about I guide you there? I needed a break anyway."
"Really?" I asked, shocked. "You'd do that for a stranger?"
"Well... why not? You need a hoof, and asked me for one. I'm Moon Light." He said, extending a hoof. Adalson took it, and gave it a shake. "Hey, before we go, I need to grab another coffee." Moon Light said, trotting over to the counter and levitating a cup to himself. Adalson gasped, as the cup was lifted away, one exactly like it took it's place, appearing from thin air! Trotting back over, he noticed the astonished expression on Adalson's face. "What? You never seen a cornucopia spell in action?" He asked. Adalson shook his head. Moon Light nodded,
"I see... any way, you a coffee drinker?" He asked.
"Yeah, from time to time, but coffee is just too expensive to get anymore." Adalson sighed. Moon Light looked confused.
"Since when is free expensive?" He asked. The he nodded, a look of realization on his face. "Oh right! You don't have the cornucopia spell where you're from, Well anyway, thanks to the cornucopia spell, you don't need to "buy" anything. You just walk up, and take a copy. Simple as that!" Moon Light explained.
"That's... amazing!" Adalson exclaimed. "So, I can just go grab a coffee, for free?" Adalson clarified. Moon Light nodded.
"Go ahead." So, Adalson grabbed a "white chocolate mocha" and took a sip. It was better than any coffee he'd ever gotten! The chocolate was... and the cream... It was too much to describe.
"Mmmmm..." Adalson moaned, greedily taking another sip. The coffee wasn't too hot anymore, but the taste more than made up for it. "This is much better than any coffee I've ever had!" Adalson exclaimed.
"I know right!" Moon Light agreed. "Now come on, I need something to call you." He joked, leading Adalson out of the Stare Bucks and into the street. We took a few blocks, left and right turns thrown in here and there. As they went, they chatted about what Moon was writing. Eventually they made it to the castle.
"Alright! Here we are." Moon Light exclaimed.
"Thanks." I said. "Maybe I'll see you around some time?"
"Sure, I have a place near the local writer's guild where I spend most of my time. So if you decide to stay in town, that's where I'll be." He explained. I nodded.
"Then I will see you sometime. I can't wait to read your book, it sounds interesting!" Adalson said. The hoof pumped, and parted ways. It was at this point, that Adalson met Celestia... and his world was turned upside down.