//------------------------------// // The Great Unknown // Story: The Internal Workings of a Metal Head // by MetalBrony20 //------------------------------// “Uhh...” I groaned as I regained consciousness. Huh, deja vu. Regaining my sences my faster then before, I quickly took stock of my current situation. Well, the room looks similar, I guess, but that didn’t really hold too much weight around here, considering pretty much everything was a dull white. I was on a familiarly comfy bed (oh so soft), however I was not hooked up to any sort of equipment. Although I wasn’t hooked up to anything, I certainly was chained up to the bed. Glancing to my left, then to my right I saw two huge metal cuffs attached quite firmly around my wrists. Huge rings of metal formed heavy chains that snaked their way off the bed, attaching to what I assumed to be brackets on the floor. Wait, was that mirror always there? Fucking mirrored glass. I would be willing to bet money that that big white alicorn thing was watching me, taking notes of my reaction to my situation. Well, better play along. Placing my hands either side of me, I attempted to push myself to a sitting position. It was hard work, considering how weighty the manacles were, but I only managed to go about 30 cm before their was no slack. I applied more pressure, which was about as effective as attempting to trying to win a game of tug of war against a team of wrestlers, with the excess slack tied around a tank. After this pointless exercise I flopped back down. Trying to move my legs, I found they were under similar conditions, being restrained by heavy clasps and chains.Oh well, at least I wasn’t naked this time. Pulling my head down over the edges of the bed, my suspicion of the chains being connected to the ground was confirmed. Propped up against one of the dull metal legs of the bed, was my bag. It lay there, being about as useful as a bowl of petunias falling from atmosphere. Looking towards the ceiling, a small black box was mounted , pointing towards me. I presume this to be a speaker of some sorts. The black stick next to it was obviously a microphone. “Good Afternoon” That same regal voice of the white alicorn rang out, still with the same air of sophistication that she had had when we met. “How was your sleep?” Huh, making fun of another’s pain, well that’s very kind of you. “Never better, though, I have a, uh, this pain in all the diodes down my left side”. Giggling like a little girl, I collapsed onto the bed, realising what I had just said. Well, as my brother may or, in my confused brain, may not have said ‘Try to make the best out of any conversation’. I sure she didn’t have the foggiest idea what I said, well, like I cared. “Well, I can assure you that you don’t have any pain their. Though I suspect you hand is probably in some though.” Looking to my hand I just registered that, yes, my hand had been bandaged, and that there was a dull throbbing pain that was their. My brain immediately gave my pain receptors in my hand a cut in their pay for their shoddy work. “I need to ask you a few questions, regarding a multitude of different personal and general details that we need to find out about. Please see this is because you are an alien species and we simply need this information in order to fully understand you.” Right, the best thing I could do was to tell the truth, to honestly answer her queries so they could figure out this situation together. So I immediately thought ‘screw this’. I mean, why should I give away personal information. “OK, fire away” I could already guess what the first question would be. It was, after all, the first thing any logical being would ask you when they were trying to introduce themselves or find out about you. “What, is your name?” Totally called it. I silently wished the next questions would be, ‘What, is your quest?’ and ‘What, is your favourite colour?’. “The name’s Dr Ivo Robotnik, how do you do?” I reply with my best poker face, hoping she would buy it. “Please, tell the truth...” She replied flatly. Damn, too obvious I guess. No masquerading as an evil genius for me. “Fine, my name is, Zaphod Beeblebrox.” “Try again...” Whoa, she was good. One more try. “Dell Conagher.” I replied as firmly as possible, hoping I would pass. “I can see this isn’t going to be an easy relationship. Stop trying to be difficult and, please for one, answer the question.” Fine, you got me. “OK, its Thomas Chatten. Don’t get your royal knickers in a twist.” After a few seconds static filled the room. “Thank you. I thought it was going to be impossible for you to not tell a lie.” At this comment I turned towards the mirror, then stuck my middle finger up at it. Their was a pause, probably trying to work out what I just meant. I followed this up with a smug grin. Static refilled the room after a while. “Next, although we have already guessed your species, can you please tell us what you are?” I briefly considered the positives of trying to be civil and reasonable with her, adhering to her questions. However my brain couldn’t find the folder that contained the necessary positives for being civil to her, so it gave up looking and promptly said ‘screw this’. The only option I came up would end up with infuriating her further, so I chose that. “Dalek” I sternly insisted. I could almost feel her eyes trying to bore into me in frustration. “Fine, fine I was kidding. I’m really Klingon.” “STOP SPOUTING SLANDEROUS LIES AND TELL US THE TRUTH!!” That same ear wrenching voice burst from the speaker. Jesus, that thing had to be getting a sore throat often. I guessing that she had to be also royalty, judging by her tone and dialect. Should I pursue my current be-a-massive-dick approach, or be a good boy? Nah, I’ve been a good boy too long back home. “Say please.” I firmly stated back towards the mic. I then turned towards the the mirror, giving them the same smug faced look. “WHAT!!! HAS THOU NOT REALISED WE ART ROYALTY!!!? Hopefully my ears don’t bleed, that would be unfortunate. “Yes, I figured that out. It’s just I thought that royalty was suppose to have more manners. You sound like you are trying to impersonate a certain dictator with your voice.” I shot back at her with an almost matter of factly voice. God was it fun pissing this one off. “THOU WILL COMPLY OR THOU WILL LOSE PRIVILEGES!!!” I suspect this conversation is beginning to reach fever pitch, considering what she is threatening. “Heh, heh. Fuck you. I’m human, Homo Sapien, by the way.” I guess I’d better tell them eventually. I mean its not like I can go anywhere or anything. “THOU WILL BE MORE COURTEOUS NEX...” She was cut off. Obviously someone had enough of her bawling and tried to stop me from provoking her any more. Clever ponies. “Thank you Luna, that will be all, dear sister”. This was followed by an incredibly long and deafening silence. However it is impossible to be made deaf by nothing at all, as my mind, brain and ears reminded me of this, rather obvious and seemingly pointless to point out fact. Finally static filled the room again. “Now Tommy, would you please tell us where you are from?” Ooh, being polite now are we? Seems like I was beginning to get to them. “I live in England, United Kingdom, Europe, Earth, Star System Sol, Third Dimension.” “See, that was easy now, wasn’t it?” She appeared to calm down a little, only a little though, as was made evident by the slight huff in her voice. “Last question for now, how did you get here?” Oh, well, that isn’t a question I can actually answer; This is of course due to the fact that I had been out cold for, apparently, just under a week. So I came up with the best possible answer anyone has ever come up with ever. “I don’t know.” “I see. That will be all for now”. Wait what. She was serious? I gave her the most vague possible reply I could muster, yet it was sufficient? Before I could make some sort of response, my shackles were enveloped in what looked to be some sort of aura. It was a light yellow colour, which, after a few seconds, caused the metal pieces to drop to the floor, letting out a dull clang as it made contact. “You are free to roam your room. Don’t try to escape or anything of the sort”. She that last part in a very smug and trollish manner. I’m guessing that glass wouldn’t budge, even under some heavy bedside table application. The cell would most likely be monitored almost constantly, unlike my other room, so I really couldn’t do too much else. The room yet again filled with a faint static. “You are free to ask me any questions that, I have no doubt, are are on your mind”. Well, thank you alicorn thing, that would be really useful. “First off, who are you?” I decided to do this series of questions kind of like what she did, though I hoped the responses would not be a shit ton of references and lies. “My name is Princess Celestia. I am the ruler of the land of Equestria, along with my sister, Princess Luna.” OK, didn’t really expect that. I’ve been insulting and slagging off both of the rulers of this land. Also Equestria? Well, sure, I’m inclined to believe anything at this point really. “So, I’m guessing we are in Equestria, right? I mean it would be a little silly if wasn’t, would it? “Yes, you would be correct. More specifically you are in the capitol, which is known as Canterlot.” “Lastly, when am I allowed to go?” The question hung heavy in the air, like the cloying smell of your brothers girlfriend’s perfume. From the pause she was giving me, I suppose that the answer would be a tricky one from her to put into kind words. “I’m afraid that we cannot let you go. At least not yet, unless you prove yourself to be trusted and safe to be around. That however has been impeded slightly by you previous actions last night. Just what were you thinking, leaping from that high?” “Though this must be a dream or something. I mean, unicorns, especially talking unicorns, seem so far fetched. They are the stuff of legend and myth in our world. Unicorns are seen as creatures of purity and grace. They are not real. The most serious thing they are seen in is the national animal of a country called Scotland, but that's about it really.” Woo, thanks brain for that useless titbit of information. “No, I’m afraid this is not a dream. I should know of course, having lived in this world from thousands of years. I assume that is the last of your questions. I will come back some time later. Have a pleasant evening Tommy”. Then the mic cut off again. Picking myself up off the bed, I strode over too the glass, pressing my face into the glass and cupping my hands to block out as much light as possible. Inside I could only make out very vague shapes of figures, which, of course, were equine in shape. They appeared to holding notepads and were taking, what I assumed to be notes about me. Well, if they are going to be watching me like hawk, I might as well give them something interesting to write about. Grabbing my bag, I decided to check out the contents more thoroughly. Sitting back down on the pitifully small bed, I opened the main compartment and began to dig through. Most of what I took out didn’t quite grab my interest, so I dug further, revealing, ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’, ‘Cold War’ and, for some reason ‘Sun Tzu’s Art of War’ among other fiction and non-fiction titles. I settled on a nice horror book, titled ‘The Enemy’, which I hadn’t read in quite a long time. Rummaging around in the front pocket, I drew out my speakers, phone and charger. After connecting the wires, I glanced at the battery life of the phone, which read 9%. Thank god whatever brought me here had the decency of being able to reinvigorate it. Opening the music app, I just tapped shuffle and then put it into sleep mode. To my pleasant surprise, I was greeted by the opening bars of ‘Aces High’, the fast intro riff blared out of the tiny speaker, which I set to almost max volume, much to the predictable displeasure of my captors. Slumping down onto the bed, I propped myself up using the pillows and headboard, then open the book and began to read. As I progressed through the text, more questions formed in my mind, both disturbing and puzzling me at the same time. These mainly included such notions as, can I get home? Will I ever see my friends and family again? And, What can I get to eat around here? As if to answer my last question, a small flap at the base of the door, rose up. This revealed a white hoof which pushed as a what looked to be a ceramic plate through. After this, the shutter closed again with a small clunk as it landed on the tiles. Walking over to it, I just stood there, my brain and my mind both looking un-amused at the sight before them. For upon that plate was a small pile of yellowed hay. Boy was today fun.