Chapter 1: Shocking, Isn't It?
I'd always believed that the impossible could be possible. I'd always believed that there were aliens out there, or some weird deformed creatures lying at the bottom of the oceans waiting to come up. I'd always believed that the government would decide to lower taxes. I'd always believed. But that's where it stopped. Belief. Nothing more, nothing less.
Belief doesn't imply truth, but it can certainly lead to it. At one point, I believed I could take apart a fully operational computer and rebuild it again, flawless. I believed. Of course, I was wrong, as the computer had somehow short-circuited and I was unable to fix it. Now it sits gathering dust until I decide to try again. Rather, if I get to try again. It was during this period of time that something extraordinary happened.
But let me make a short history explaining who I am, or, was.
I'm Curtis. I would tell you exactly who I am, but that part of me doesn't exist anymore. So my old first name is all you'll get. I lived in Southern California, in a nice part of town. Actually, it wasn't particularly nice to my eyes. I always saw how it could be improved, and it wouldn't even be all that difficult. I lived in the only two-level house on the street, up to four blocks in either direction. My father was a fantastic carpenter, and had remodeled the house. It was a fun place, usually. It was recently, however, where my family began to find me an odd sort of character. I met a few people, who got me interested into a few strange things. Of course, they weren't strange at all to me. I was introduced to Doctor Who, which I instantly fell in love with. I actually believe that nothing better could ever be produced on television. Some time later, I met a fine young man, who introduced me to the Brony fandom. At first, like the typical story, I resented the idea. But I slowly adopted the ideas of what it could be like. During this time, I hated cartoons. Never watched them, thought them immature. Sure, every once in a while something oddly intriguing would show up and I'd join my sisters in watching it, but really, the only animated things that I watched at that time were known as Anime. Another fantastic friend introduced me to that, which I instantly adopted as an adult version of cartoons. Being fifteen years old at the time, I was particularly obsessed with it. Eventually the obsession died down and I was just another fan.
But back to my Brony friend. I saw his shirts, talked to him about the show, tried to understand what it was all about, why it was becoming popular. My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Interesting title. I watched a few episodes and decided over a period of ten minutes that I wanted to join this fandom and be a part of the group. As it turned out, multiple friends of mine actually watched the show, but had yet to tell me such.
My friend and I got along fine, he started up the United Bronies club at our High School, and I officially grew into the show. This was last summer. It's been approximately a year since I became a Brony. I did the usual thing, I discovered shipping, I read the fan-written stories, I watched the fan-made animations, and dreamed of meeting all the famous Bronies out there.
So now let's go to the present. You know a little bit about me. Now I'll tell you my story.
I was enjoying some quiet time, listening to fan-made pony music, and the urge came upon me to once again tinker with the computer that I had taken apart several weeks before. I pulled out the screwdrivers, the pocketknife, the box of pieces, and started messing with it again. I pulled out the small metal box, the power supply, from the rest of the equipment. I had yet to open this particular piece.
On the outside was a bright yellow sticker.
WARNING: DANGEROUS VOLTAGES INSIDE, DO NOT OPEN.
Beside that was a small image of an electrical shock, whatever that looks like. Either way, I was a daredevil, so I removed the three screws holding the cover in place. Slowly, very slowly, I slid the metal sheet off and looked inside. I carefully lifted up the fan box, and unplugged it from the rest, and set it aside. Now, underneath that, was an array of copper wires and little metal bits that I can't even begin to describe, much less understand. Colorful wires jumped from one place to the next, holding things down, running power to the battery and to the rest of the computer, had it been working. But, taken apart, computers generally don't work. Generally.
What I was unaware of was the fact that, even if the computer has been off and not in use for months, some pieces still hold an electric charge. Like a fool, I didn't look up the information on the internet, or consult a few of my amazingly smart friends.
I managed to remove a few wires, a bright green one first, then a blue one. Then a black wire, which ran from the inside to the outside and to the rest of the computer. After I pulled that one out though, I was presented with a small bit of metal. It seemed stuck, but of course, I didn't see the tiny screw that was holding it down. I pulled a bit, and it didn't come loose. I pulled harder, being as careful as I could, but still unable to pry it loose, and still not noticing the tiny screw. Finally, I performed the biggest mistake of my life.
I placed a flat-head screwdriver underneath one side, in an attempt to pry it up. The metal started to bend, so I thought eventually I could just break it out and remove the security later. But, suddenly, my hand slipped. The screwdriver jerked, and collided with a copper wire, which, little did I know, had held an electric charge all these months. Like an idiot, again, I was holding the metal part of the screwdriver.
When the tool hit the copper, a little tiny spark appeared, and then the most wrenching shock I had ever felt jolted through me, my vision turned black, and I felt nothing more.
Chapter 2: Like a Blundering Fool
For those of you have never experienced it, unconsciousness, as some seem to think, isn't anything like falling asleep. Many people think that you just go, and suddenly you're out. They are most definitely wrong. Passing out, you can actually feel yourself slipping away, the world fades in and out of color, your vision darkens, and the one thing you don't feel is hitting the floor. Rather, the one time it happened to me, the concrete. No, it isn't painful, yes, you can feel it.
Now that we've cleared the facts about unconsciousness, time to get back to what happened. I saw absolutely nothing, but heard a good many things. Most of it was noises like machinery, and what I thought was voices, all I could understand was gibberish. Thinking back on the electrical shock I had experienced, I figured, with that much voltage going through my body, I had to be dead. But for some reason, I could feel things. Maybe I had been sent to a hospital. This would be the typical reaction to electrical shock. But that much voltage shouldn't have just shocked me, I should have been electrocuted, to death. So how was I still alive? I tried to lift my arms but they felt all fuzzy, all numb. I also felt two hard lumps underneath my back. Something soft was covering most of my body, and my head felt heavy on one side and weightless on the other. I could feel small pricks in my skin, and almost had a heart attack. If I fear anything in this or any world, it's needles. I despise the devilish little things. Painful, irritating, small, little mutants. Like spiders. I hate spiders too.
So, I was in a hospital. Or in a coma and I only thought I was in a hospital. I hate hospitals. Cold, sterile, white, thin-aired places of pure air and the lack of smell but anti-depressants and hypodermic tools. Most of which I could hear and smell now. But... my sense of smell seemed enhanced. I assumed this was because I had yet to open my eyes, not even knowing whether or not I could. I was relying on my ears and nose to tell me what was happening. I heard footsteps, several feet away. Then a door creaked open, probably the one to my room.
An ear-piercing shriek rifled through my head. The door slammed shut and the footsteps hurried away.
If I was able to move, I would have held my hands against my ears. I had a fair guess that the screamer was female. Generally, women tend to have higher-pitched shouts and screams. Fast footsteps, maybe two pairs, or more, and then the door slammed open and crashed against the wall. I heard a gasp, and the footsteps moved closer to my resting place. Something flat, hard, and warm touched my forehead, then my neck, and then a small metal circle, presumably a stethoscope, pressed against my chest. My heartbeat seemed normal, from what I could tell. Then a female voice spoke.
“He's alive.”
You don't say... I thought.
“Who is he?”
Well, I'm in your bloody hospital, you think you'd already know?
“I don't know. I've never seen him before.”
That voice. That voice. It rang in my ears like something of a dream, like something out of a living wonder. My thoughts were, maybe it just sounded like her, but wasn't really her.
Then another voice.
“I've seen these sorts of things, random folks just showing up places without any explanation. The normal idea that we had was that a teleportation device had incorrect coordinates, but this doesn't seem to be the case. He's in a hospital bed, strapped down, sedative pumping into him. This is not normal.”
I knew this second voice. I knew it immediately. But I couldn't tell myself who I thought it was. I might depress myself when I found out I'm wrong. I kept listening, giving no notion that I could hear.
“So what should we do?”
“Not sure. Can you wake him up?”
“I wouldn't. He should wake up on his own. With the sedative he's got, he could harm himself if he's conscious before it wears off.”
So...Am I not really awake? Is this lucid dreaming?
“Can you find out who he is?”
“No, not without a name. But...one form of identification is the Cutie Mark--”
BAM. I stopped listening and kicked my brain into hyper-drive. Cutie Mark? What state-instituted hospital in America looks for a Cutie Mark? That's a...pony thing...
Holy. Freaking. Crap. I'm right. I'm absolutely right. How could I not be? The familiar voices, the reference to the marks on ponies...
No doubt.
I'm in Equestria. There could be no possible other explanation! I had died and re-awoken in Equestria! This...this is absolutely fantastic! The things I could do here! I started to process everything this could mean, but then I felt the needle in my arm go could and a swift pump of sedative pushed me totally out of consciousness.
Lucid dreaming. I don't really think it's possible. By trial and error, I really don't believe that it can be done. Some people claim they can, but me, nah, don't think so. Random thoughts and images sprung up around my head during my artificial sleep. The ponies, the show, the episodes, random lines, bits and pieces of meaningless nonsense that only I could understand.
Upon waking, my head throbbed. I was able to move a little bit, and I could open my eyes. A white pony with a nurse's hat on, with a red cross on her flank, and pink-ish red hair sat next to the bed, staring at a clipboard with several sheets of paper on it.
Nurse Redheart. Suspicion confirmed. Hospital, in Equestria. Redheart didn't look at me. So... now that I'm here, what am I supposed to do? I thought.
A few minutes passed in silence. Redheart looked up. “Ah, you're awake. Finally. Now who the hell are you?”
Not the exact first question I was expecting...
Now I'm faced with a problem. They want to know who I am, but I can't go around using my name. But...
I could feel my body now. The numbness was gone. My legs were thicker all the way down, and my arms seemed more firm and a bit rough. I had no fingers. Lovely.
So not only am I in a hospital in Equestria, I'm a pony. Awesome. So they want a name.
Well, as I'm a pony, I can't give them my human name. But back in the world, I had an OC, or, Original Character. Hmm...
Redheart moved closer and glared at me. “Sir. What is your name?”
I stared back. I had a single name in mind. Two words.
I waited for something that indicated I shouldn't speak. It didn't come. So I said it.
“I'm Shadow Knight.”
“Is that your name, or who you think you are?”
I blinked. What the hell am I supposed to say to that?
“I'm pretty sure I know who I am, Redheart.”
“Excuse me, it's NURSE Redheart. I am not a petty underling. And--” she stopped. She gave me a funny look. “How do you know who I am?” she looked me straight through the eyes and gave me the most undeniably questioning look I have ever seen.
Great. So here's me, in Equestria, knowing absolutely everything there is to know about the place, and nobody can know. So what am I supposed to do when questioned?
“Lucky guess?” Yeah. Right.
“Shadow Knight, if that is your real name, that is the lamest excuse I have ever heard for anything in my life. Again. How do you know who I am?”
I was saved from answering. A knock at the door interrupted her. I adjusted my head on the pillow. The awkward lumps under my back were starting to get irritating. I wondered what they were.
“Is he awake?” Said a a sickly sweet voice that pierced through my head like a spearhead. A purple pony walked through the door. Not just any purple pony. THE purple magic wonder, Twilight Sparkle herself. I just sort of lay there, like an idiot, staring. It seemed so weird, actually meeting this pony. Then I thought, Princess. Is she a princess? I couldn't see her wings, but then my vision was a bit blurry, and if she had them folded back, they might be difficult to see from my angle. Anyways, she walked in and gave me a funny look, like I was the strangest thing she'd ever seen, and I know she's seen some weird stuff.
“Did he tell you who he was?” Twilight Sparkle asked Nurse Redheart.
“He said his name was Shadow Knight, but I don't think that's all. He's suspicious. He knew my name...”
“Well, your name is printed on your medical attire...”
Thanks for the cover, Twilight, I thought. Somehow I had missed the printed lettering on her hat.
Redheart glared at me, then dropped her clipboard and left the room.
Now it was Twilight's turn. As the door slammed shut behind Redheart, Twilight moved faster than I had thought possible for her. Her face was instantly above mine, I felt my eyes go wide, and Twilight frowned. “How did you get here?”
“Uh...”
“Answer. The. Question.”
Honestly, I had no idea how I got here. So what was I supposed to say? I was never good at coming up with witty things to answer questions, and I didn't have any sort of truth to tell her. So...is honesty the best policy?
“I have no idea.”
“Liar.”
Guess not. “Well, I really don't.” I said. “I thought I'd be dead, but now I'm here and I have no idea what the hell happened.”
Twilight Sparkle gave me a funny look, then turned away. I saw her sides, which were covered by wide wings. Princess Twilight Sparkle. How pleasant. Her cutie mark was barely visible behind the wing feathers. She stood silent for a moment,
then turned back around. “Where are you from?” she demanded.
“Uh...” How do I answer a question when the question relates to information to a world she knows nothing about? How do I explain trans-dimensional shifts, or time travel, or space travel, or time and space travel? I can't. So...would she believe me even if I said where I was really from? “Do you want the truth, or something you can believe?” I asked her.
“Why wouldn't I believe the truth?” Her purple eyes glittered with curiosity and now a wariness that I hadn't seen in a long time.
“Trust me on that.”
Twilight's eyes narrowed. “I can't trust you! I have no idea who you are, I don't know if you're absolutely insane, I don't know where in Equestria you came from--”
I cut her off. “That's the thing.”
“What...what is?”
“I'm not from Equestria.”
