Fractured

Nathan's journey through the portal was one of strange curiosities. As he blinked his eyes multiple times in an attempt to clear the stinging sensation he felt upon entering, he noted a strange metallic taste in his mouth but shrugged it off, instead focusing on the black void he felt himself flying through, having the sense of inertia strain against his body.

Despite the feeling of inertia, however, he seemed incapable of feeling much of his other senses. Numb almost. He could only assume the sights behind based of limited hearing and the flash of light behind his eyelids. As growls, squawks, and what sounded like language passed, he noticed an ever-present ticking noise. Despite the impossible to ignore feeling that he knew it from somewhere, he was unable to place it and finally gave up, choosing to instead focus on the myriad of noises assaulting his ears. As noise after noise passed, he noticed a trend between the flashing lights and the noises.

As he went further along, it seemed his speed was increasing, force constricting his chest and causing him to yearn for oxygen, despite the strange sensation of not breathing and suffering no ill effects from the lack of the familiar life-giving element. Accompanying the increase in speed was of course an increase in how the flashes sped by and the shortness of the audio from what he was passing. Strangely, however, instead of simply passing through snippets of the noises as he'd expected, it seemed they were increasing in speed, so the low growls of some sort of predator began to seem similar to the sound of a guinea pig or similar rodent.

As the acceleration continued for an indeterminable amount of time, the voices in his skull began commentating.

We're likely entering some state of insanity, you know.

Not everything has to be complicated! We're just trying to stay sane in this crazy mess!

Crazy? Hardly, fascinating is more like it. That reminds me, where did that one voice go?

The voices went silent for a moment, and Nathan noted that the voices and flashes were becoming impossible to comprehend as they increased to the point where light was constant and the sound was a muted high pitch. Finally, the emotional voice spoke once more.

I think he passed on. I think his time was done.

And with that, it all stopped. The acceleration, the noises, the lights, and everything else. Suddenly, Nathan regained control of his senses and felt himself laying on a familiar surface. A comfortable surface. As the sudden onset of amnesia played with his mind, he forced his eyes to open, despite the feeling of weight holding them closed. Blinking a few times to adjust, he found himself staring at a brilliant night sky. Sitting up, he discovered he was suited in a classy tuxedo, complete with a midnight blue tie. Looking around, he felt as if there was something notably different in this scene from what he was struggling to remember.

Looking at the ground, it finally registered. He was inside a large dancing hall that seemed to stretch on for an eternity to his front and back. To his left and right he could see the fanciful tapestries and stained glass windows decorating what would otherwise have been a marble wall. His mind seemed to recognize the similarities between the scene he must have seen earlier and where he was at the moment, but did not enlighten him as to the other details of the memory. Giving up exasperatedly, he noted that the room, or whatever it could be called, was solely lit by the full moon and stars above. Standing, the voices saw fit to throw in their opinions.

Must be far from a city. Light pollution would ruin the view.

Can't you just enjoy a beautiful sky like we used to? Remember those late nights studying in college?

This memory Nathan could remember. Long nights sitting in his dorm poring over scientific notes and algorithms, working to get his degree so he could get his life moving. Thinking of his fiance, but also feeling guilty as he looked out his window and at the night sky above, hoping beyond hope to reach those brilliant lights, but knowing it would be impossible. Regardless, he would spend indeterminable amounts of time watching the sky before finally giving in, resigned to his fate. And every time, he would pull through, and silently thank the stars for providing the help he needed.

Shaking the memories away and the pain they brought, he focused on his surroundings. Standing, he stood awkwardly in the utter silence, uncomfortable with this type of loneliness, without even the jabber of the voices to accompany him. It seemed they were as stricken as he was. After another eternity of silence, however, he heard it.

There. There it is again. Footsteps?

As they grew louder, he recognized the soft footsteps as those of a woman. Realizing it was coming from behind him, he turned, and was absolutely stunned.

Standing before him was a pale beauty. Almost glowing in the light of the night sky, she closed the distance between them and stood only several feet away, giving a wave and a smile as if she had no troubles. Smiling with an energy he hadn't felt for years, he returned her gesture in kind, mentally grimacing as the voice he had nicknamed 'The Prick' toned in.

Say hello, stupid!

For once however, Nathan was not in the mood, mustering all the force he could behind it, he gave a mental shout and drowned out the cries of the other voices as his own voice reverberated around his skull.

If you know what to do, then why don't you take control for once, asshole? If not, SHUT THE HELL UP!

The response was immediate. The fog in his mind and the restrictions in placed vanished as the voices quieted and appeared to leave him, rendering him capable of complete bodily control once more. But it was too late, as it seemed.

Even as he reached out and stepped forward to reach the woman, whom he know realized was dressed as if for a ball, she began backing away, frowning. As she finally began to turn around and walk away, he felt an unearthly cold seep into him, freezing him in place. As the pain receptors in his body screamed at him as he attempted movement, he once more began to lose control of himself, the voices clamoring in glee or displeasure at his misfortune. As they drowned out his thoughts, his primal instincts took over and he lost control, just as the dark void swallowed up first the sky, then the room, and finally him, crushing him in-between unimaginable forces as he sensed himself exiting the hell in which he was entrapped.

Nathan awoke to the mutterings of a crowd and the burning of almost every part of his body simultaneously. The excruciating pain served to only further the animal instincts of his body. As his senses returned and his thoughts dimmed, he began making observations.

Voices. English. Running. Four feet hitting ground. Must be two people. Suit still intact. Mostly. Must escape. Must evaluate surroundings. Must survive.

Cracking open an eye slightly as he continued to take in shallow breaths, he noted a deluge of colors surrounding him. Despite being unable to make out definite shapes, it was not what interested him. What interested him was the gray blur in what appeared to be the grass he was laying on next to him. Despite the jam, he knew he could possibly threaten whatever forces surrounded him at the present. Surreptitiously testing the joints of his arm under the guise of a slow shift in movement, he decided it was time to make a move.

As his eyes bolted open, Nathan performed a move he would likely normally break a bone attempting to do. Jumping to his feet, he snatched the rifle mid jump and pointed it at one of the equine figures he now realized he was surrounded by. Standing there for a moment, staring back at the crowd of what he described as ponies, the realization hit his mind.

Equines. Ponies. Talking ponies.

Suddenly, the equine he was pointing his gun at stepped forward. Noting her light purple coat and matching purple and pink mane, he stood stunned as she spoke directly to him.

"Well, it appears you are awake. Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, and welcome to Equestria."

To which his response was only the collapse of his legs as the burning pain of his nerves took the chance to override his fried nervous system and send him into a state of unconsciousness. Before it all faded, however, two voices cut through the abyss.

That could have gone better.

I agree.