[10% Complete]
"You're sure about this?" the man in the white lab coat checks the cords and cables and air filters accordingly, then turns to you with a slightly nervous look.
Of course you are. "Of course I am. It's my idea, I'll test it. If it fails-"
"If it fails the world will have lost its greatest neurophysicist." the man argues. He admires you. You think you remember him visiting your office one day
... "..."
"Are you still sure about this?" It seems he would gladly take your place. But you have too much pride.
Yes, you are "... Yes, I am."
"Alright..." The scientist reaches up and pulls down the top of the stasis pod.
[35% Complete]
The man stares at the controls warily. Each tick of heart-rate monitor makes him jump, every signal that another sense is locked down brings him into a cold sweat. The light from the screens reflects off his security pass, reading "Dr. Sills". Sills' picture shows an unsmiling brown-haired forty year old, his face grim. His female companion shows a fraction of his worry, she was never briefed on the risks of this project. Her pass reads Dr. Lily, showing a blonde woman in her mid thirties, smiling as if she has no cares.
"Eyesight now locked in." She confirms in an excited voice.
[81% Complete]
"Only his mind now..." Dr. Sills pops his knuckles absentmindedly, the sudden noise making Lily jump.
"Dr. Sills, there's no need to worry, we have this thing in the bag." Dr. Lily pipes up. Sills looks at her with a haunted expression.
"No... no we don't."
[98% Complete]
"What the hell? His mind's going haywire!" Lily pushes a button next to a microphone on the wall. "Get some help down here now; we need to get the subject out of the capsule!"
"No!" Lily turns at Sills' panicked shout. "That will kill him!"
"He'll die if he stays in there!" his companion counters.
"If we wait, the system will find a way to complete itself on its own." Sills looks out into the test chamber. "He has to stay in it though."
[99.99% Complete]
Huh. That's odd.
You sit up and look around, groaning softly. It's not a good idea to sleep on benches. Or... were you sleeping? When did you get on that bench in the first place? You can't remember...
The bench you... woke up on is right in the center of a small park, surrounded by large brick buildings. No one seems to have noticed a man in a suit and tie just lying on that bench. In fact, no one seems to be around at all.
People.
Oh, there they are. a man and a woman walk by, chatting animatedly, the woman holding the man's arm. A young couple. The sound of a street-corner vendor sails through the wind towards you, the aroma of the hotdogs he's advertising enticing you, smelling like ambrosia. Your stomach rumbles in confirmation of your hunger and you start in the direction of the vendor. The man turns to you and grins, his furry mustache curling up with his lips. He holds out a hotdog, your favorite condiments already on it; you don't remember ever placing your order. Your hand goes into your pocket and you realize you have no-
Money.
Oh thank God there it is. You pull out your wallet and hand the money to the man, who places the dog in your hand.
You toss the wrapper in the trash, take a few steps then pause. Wait, didn't you just order that hotdog? Why are you throwing away the wrapper already? You turn back to the trash can and you taste the lingering remains of the food, and your stomach is no longer a pit. You shrug and turn back the way you were walking, shading your eyes in the afternoon sun. You dislike the summer and its heat. In fact, you honestly prefer the-
Rain.
it brings.
Wait, when did it start raining? There was a glaringly clear sky not five seconds ago. You won't complain though, as you tilt your face up and let the droplets splash on your skin.
Rain. Rain showers.
You cry out and claps your hands to your forehead as you are struck with a pounding headache, a nail being pounded into your skull. you try to cover your ears as you hear a piercing ringing, fingers digging into your scalp, information suddenly pouring into your head with an endless flow.
Rain showers. Thunder showers. Rain comes from the sky. What else comes from the sky? Sunlight, birds, bird crap, lightning, balls can be tossed through the air; Rocks as well. Meteors are rocks.
Meteors.
Your mind centers on that one word and everything goes to hell.
Meteor Shower.
People are pointing into the sky and staring; you crane your head to get a glimpse of what is so riveting. The clouds begin to brighten, certain areas almost glowing, and a giant fireball suddenly hurtles through the gray barrier. First the woman form the earlier couple screams. The man wraps his arms around her and hugs her close. Everyone is frozen, watching as the meteor crashes into a building, collapsing it on the couple.
There is a moment of silence.
Then screaming.
You stand and stare as people rush past you, pushing and shoving, as more fireballs crash into the ground, the buildings, cars, people. One thought sticks in your mind: Did you do this?
As you watch the meteors tear more holes in the clouds, exposing not sky, but space, endless and vast, a dark pit waiting to swallow you. The meteors came from there, didn't they? Not the sky.
You feel another headache coming and that is when your feet kick into action. You leap over burning wreckage, stumbles over the lower half of someone's body, barely stopping your falling but finding the upper half. You push up and run, but only make a few steps before falling again, the pain too great.
Meteors. Star. Planets. Nebulae. Black holes. Wormholes. Orbit. The Sun. A Red Giant. A Blue Dwarf. Celestial Bodies of the unknown.
Again you mind fixates on one of the last words and unlocks another memory, another thought process.
Celestial. Celestia. Princess Celestia. Horses. Horses? No... Ponies... Equestrian sports with ponies.
Equestria.
You are blinded by a pure white light and your hands move from your ears to your eyes and you feel on fire, burning from the inside out, your body is... changing. You cry out in pain and then there is nothing.
... You are not unconscious, you are awake. But you do not hear anything. Not the screams of the people, not the buildings and car crunching and falling. You see nothing, not the void of space nor the person in two parts. You taste nothing, not even the hotdog you had just eaten. You feel nothing, not the scrape on your palm from when you stumbled.
Only your mind is there, and one word is repeated over and over.
Equestria. Equestria. Equestria. Equestria.
EQUESTRIA!