Endangered

Nothingness.

Well, it seemed like nothingness until I opened my eyes, which I regretted. I groaned as I pushed myself off of the amalgamation of papers below me. My face had been lying on a book about Equestrian history and under it, there were my papers from my work. I decided to instead make a truck instead of just an engine as I gave permission for scientists to look at my truck in detail. Which means they will take it apart slowly piece by piece for research.

They have done just that for the past few weeks. I guided them with dismantling when they wanted to study the material compositions of certain components. Most of the researchers were astounded by the technology.

I lied back in the wooden chair and rubbed my eyes. "Ugh, what time is it?" I said to nobody as I looked down at my watch. It was 12:09 pm. Man, how long was I up last night, I thought as I pinched my eyes once more. My desk was littered with papers and coffee stains. I really needed a coaster. The rectangular object in packaging my mom gave me on the day I got abducted was sitting on the edge of the furnishing, unscathed amongst the chaotic flurry that is my workspace.

I grasped the brown parcel in my hand. The material was stuck like glue to the object. It was packed tight. At first glance, it would seem that there was a cassette wrapped in it. That's what I remember mom telling me anyways. Did she tell me it was a cassette? This uncertainty grew. Then again, it all seems vivid like a dream. The past few months of my life seem like a dream oddly enough. Maybe I'm just still waking up? Dismissing the idea, I turned my view to more important things.

I forced the chair to part with my body as I meandered myself to get breakfast. Well, it was lunch really. Guards patrolled and sometimes guarded the length halls of the castle. I phased through the light as it wandered onto the carpet from the sun.

Making it to the dining hall, it seemed lunch was being served. Well, it was brunch for me at this point with my everything unready for the day.

"How long did you stay awake?" perked up a voice from the table.

I came behind a dining chair and pulled it out. "I don't really know, Celestia. I think I can start working on my truck though."
There was silence for an ample amount of time. I looked over to Celestia who was looking at me with slight worry.

"What?" I asked plainly.

She sighed "That's good, Ray... But you do know that you are appointed to see the Doctor today, right?"

I stared at her with one of my arms stopped mid-way to reaching towards some of the stuff to cobble together a meal of some kind. "No."

"You have got about 20 minutes." She stared blankly.

At that second I grabbed a plain piece of bread and practically fell off the chair I inhabited. Stumbling on my own feet like a newborn child, I darted out of the hall and tried my best to get prepared.

Sprinting down the halls, my feet abruptly landed outside the door of the physician. It had a frosted glass window and a more human look to it than the other doors I had seen so far in my time in Equestria apart from the ones in the medical wing. It had a label, F.Scavenger.

With no time to lose, I grasped the metal handle and entered. "Doctor Scavenger?" A desk lay in front of me as I slowly stepped into the room. On it a folder and some papers. A plant stayed silent in the corner of the office as I peered around at the rest of the space. Nothing else really captivating, a door to another room, a picture, things that would be expected in a place like this.

"Doctor?" I asked again as I took a few more tentative feet into the room. I placed one hand on the edge of the desk and leaned over it and tried to peer through the identical door to my left.

The glass was also frosted. The only detail I got out of that was it was light in there as well. Maybe even a window was in there like this room. I removed my hand from the desk and took a few steps back. I pulled my cap forward and folded my arms.

As I tapped my sneakers on the hard floor, I drove my attention to the picture to the right of me. It was of a landscape of rolling hills, probably to calm the Doctor. Now thinking about it, what was Mr.Scavenger a Doctor of? I had assumed up until this point that he specialized in medical studies.

I was running late since I got in his office. I grasped the handle of the door and let myself in.

The faint sound of scribbling could be heard nearby as I scanned the room. There were a few things to note like filing cabinets, various undefinable instruments of science and a desk where a being was positioned, quickly inscribing away at some notes.

The first thing I noticed about him was he was wearing a lab coat. They looked bipedal but I couldn't really make out what species from here."Doctor Scavenger?"

This abrupt voice startled him as he visibly jumped and swiveled around to face me. "Y-you startled me there." He had red scales and wore a pair of rectangular glasses. It seemed like he was a dragon I had read about. There seemed to be a species of dragons in a society and some had more in common with mythical dragons. However, the wings seemed absent. There are two types of dragon in Equestria, one being massive ones that hoard everything they come into contact with while the other being more akin to humans. "So you must be the human?" He inquired.

"Yea-"

He cut me off. "Excellent!" he cried. He jumped onto his clawed feet and ran over to me with a mixture of papers in his claw-hands? Claws. "Hmm, average body type from definition..." The dragon proceeded to check my body. "Maybe a little on the scrawny side."

This is gonna be kinda tedious.

"So that concludes pretty much everything with the physical now as well."

I was standing in the middle of the room. He had tested me with several apparatus which I couldn't decipher the functions of. "So we're done now, Doc?" I pushed my hands into the pockets of my new pants. Rarity gave me some after she took some measurements of me a few weeks ago. I was really grateful for something different to wear.

"Not yet. From what you've told Celestia, you have no magic in your world?" Scavenger asked.

Looks like I wasn't done after all. I pulled my hands out of my pockets again. "Not that I know of. I don't exactly know or not though." He pushed his glasses up at this.

"Well on Equus and in Equestria especially, all creatures have a form of magic inside them. It's hard to define. It's like your soul but you can live without it." I've seen magic before but this is all new to me. I had no idea there might be some form of magic inside me.

Following on, I added, "Does that mean I might have magic?"

"Maybe." He replied unveiled a cloak from what seemed to me like a computer from the 50s. Wires and cables led to another machine which looked minimal compared to the computer. The other contraption itself had what looked like a space to walk into with two pillars of metal shooting above my height. He continued to set up the machines, leaving me in utter questioning of the clunky heaps of metal still. A transparent, blue crystal-like object with metallic pieces attached to the ends slotted into the machine with a clunk. The Doctor flicked a few switches and it all whirred to life.

I tentatively stepped up closer to the machine. "What does this do exactly?"

"It uses the magical energy of this crystal here to scan you for essences present in your matter."

Reading on magic, I pretty much was gonna scan me for magic. "Neat." I still had other queries. "Is it safe by any chance?"

"Well..." He started to slow down his pace. "I am unsure whether it will have any long-term negative effects... or even negative effects for that matter... However, I can say it works." He sheepishly smiled at me. It was kind of disheartening.

I sighed as I took off my cap and placed it onto a nearby table among other various components. "Let's get this over with," I stated while turning back to face him.

"Right!" he said with a little excitement as he started to operate the computer. "Step into the machine." I walked over onto the pad before me with a mix of intrigue and worry for my safety. "This will just take a second."

The machine started to light up like a Christmas tree as it whirred a monstrous tone. It shuddered a little, clanking its own folds of metal in the process of turning on. "Was it supposed to do that?"

"Yeah." He paused "Did, I mention it's still a prototype?" He had turned his head over to me once more, I could still see him through the large opening on the other side, facing the computer.

"I mean, I kinda got that part from that you are unsure of any negative effects." He had a blank face still as he now stared at a clipboard.

Was it me or did the surroundings, seem a little more blue-er "Now do NOT leave until I say you can... Unless you want to get your internal organs emulsified."

"WAIT, WHAT!?"

He pressed a button on the console of the computer "Here we go!" he bellowed excitedly. Everything seemed to be in a dark blue aura. It wasn't like the magic ponies used, it was clearer and felt funny.

You've either: Killed yourself or taken part in a needless experiment that also kills you.

Apart from my internal regrets, the scan was going well. Nothing was going wrong, the computer was printing results. It was printing something at least, not that I could tell from where I was standing.

"A-are you sure this isn't gonna kill me?" I asked with a nervous stutter. He was busy writing stuff onto a clipboard.

He looked up. "No. Just... try to stand still," advising in a more frustrated tone. I stopped my shuffling and stood in place. Time passed and with a few button presses, the aura dissipated like fire.

I looked around at the machine and shuffled my feet a little. "You may step out of the scanner," the Doctor ordered. I did just that. I Immediately felt like all the energy had been taken out of me.

I stumbled on my feet and started to lose my balance. The Doctor grabbed my arm, "I suspected this would occur..."

"What did you do, Doc?" I couldn't give enough energy to be angry. He sat me down onto a chair to rest. I didn't feel faint. Just like I had nothing in me to give. "Oh man..."

"It seems to me that you have so little magic inside you, that after the scan, it was all expelled from your body... He looked down at the coherent coats of paper dabbed across the computer. "Not to worry though. Humans produce magic with extreme haste, so you should be your normal self by the evening," fixing his eyes on me sitting in a chair with my head down as if I was feeling sick.

I jerked my drained body to face him. "Woohoo," I said in a sarcastic mutter. Some Doctor this is...

My shoes were slowly padding their way across the halls. I was still somewhat incomplete from that scan. He only estimated what the machine did to me as he never had a human subject use it before. He told me to come back if there were any unwarranted side effects apart from the drowsiness and that I would be notified of the results. The time for them to get to me was not guaranteed to be fast.

I passed by a large door to an outdoors section of the Castle. It looked like the gardens. I haven't really been there before. I wanted to try to do some work but I still felt exhausted, at least I could still stand.

Deciding I wanted to have a look around, I moved into the sun. It was a bright day with it being actually quite warm for a march day. there was barely any wind today.

I followed the path, my shoes softly crackling on the narrow lane. There were a few statues with well-cut grass everywhere. I came upon a fountain in the sparse trees. It led four ways, including the way I came from in a cross formation. The paths leading away from it winded to their destinations.

I chose the one that looked like it led away from the building.

A patch of more dense trees was now ahead of me, slowly swaying in the liquid wind. I walked up to it and put a hand to one of them on its bark.

It was slightly cold to the touch, though nothing was really perfect at this time of the year. I stared at it admiring it. It seemed to be pretty old I would have thought. I sat down toward the light, placing my back against its stable trunk. As a kid, I used to do this. I liked nature. If I was feeling sad or just wanted to be around the natural world, I would just sit down, let it pass as I appreciated it for what it was.

I kind of needed this for a while. With me being trapped in another world and it essentially impossible to get me back to Earth by magical means, I was stuck here. I sighed at this.

Nature was a way of escapism from my reality. The reality of me maybe never even seeing my world again. I looked at the rolling clouds. How they were moving above me with ease.

I pulled my cap down and started to drift away into the black.

My view was obstructed by a computer that looked like it was from the early 90s. The desk looked uninteresting, plain plastic like the computer. The chair too. There was barely text on the monitor.

I studied the room around me, there was a door. It seemed to be protected by a keypad on the wall near it. The glow of the computer screen barely showed its existence.

"Where on Earth am I?" I verbally pondered.

I sat down at the desk and looked at the screen.

What are you doing here?

The words seemed an almost sickly color with the only movement present being the flash of the vertical light indicating where I was typing.

I wasn't sure on what to type. Maybe I needed to have a specific command?

help

Answer the question.

"What the hell is this?" I again questioned.

Maybe if I answered it like a human being.

I don't know.

You know why.

"Creepy," I said, shuffling to be a little more comfortable.

Who are you?

What are you doing here?

And I was back here again. I reached up placing my finger on the button. I pushed down. Everything went black, there was now no light in the room.

My finger was still on the button. I pressed down again, nothing was there. My hand just moved through where the computer once was.

"Wha?"

I tried to push myself out of my seat but there was nothing there.

"Ray."

"Who's there? What's going on?" I replied to the muffled voice, trying to be as collected as I could while what felt like floating through a black void.

"Ray." It sounded like Celestia.

I waved my limbs in the nothingness. I didn't even feel like I was falling. "Celestia? I may need your assistance..." I was trying to contain my fears as I drifted in the darkness.

"Ray!"

"Raymond!" Celestia's voice bellowed toward me.

"Alright, Alright. I'm up!" I grabbed my cap and pushed it up against my head. Celestia was standing above me. "What's up?"

"We have matters to discuss... and also its dinner." Her tone was annoyed. I heaved my body up and peered up to her. On the note of time, it looked like the sun was starting to set. I must have been asleep for longer than I expected.

"Cool," I responded while rubbing my the bride of my nose.

She spoke neutrally, "Why are you sleeping outside?"

"Thought I needed a little break." She smiled at this. I believe she thought the same.

"You have been staying up late, working." She started to stare across the garden. "Speaking of work, I examined your plans and I believe our society has the knowledge to make the parts for it."

She turned her gaze toward me. "It is your wish to have assistance in this task."

I was silent for a moment and diverted my eyes away yo the surroundings. She has asked me this multiple times in the past. I always gave it a little bit of a thought when it came around. I moved my eyes up to face her's, "No."

"As you wish." She seemed as though to think for a second. She may have been doubting my skills. When your mom is a mechanic who teaches you a thing or two, you'd think you would have a basic grasp on some areas. "Luna is waiting for us in the dining hall."

"Well, I don't think Luna would appreciate her favorite human being" I exaggerated by pointed a thumb at myself. This gained a chuckled out of Celestia. We began to make our way to our destination.

I was sitting in a comfortable armchair of purple as Luna sat comfortably in their respective seats. There was a fire, spitting its flames erratically as it faintly cackled in the background of our conversation.

"I guess that makes sense... Though I find it quite hard to believe that some ponies still think you have control over the sun and the moon. But you know some humans think the world is flat."

"I cannot say its any different in our society either," Celestia responded. She had somehow convinced me to take the rest of the day off with them. They have some spare time in the late afternoon on a Sunday to do whatever they wanted. I don't usually socialize with Luna and Celestia either, with them often being busy. "What do you believe in?"

This came as a surprise to me, "Broad question." I looked into the mug of coffee laying in my hands, the black, liquid energy stared back up to me. "I don't really believe that the world is flat for starters..." I hadn't given this much thought in the past. "You know, I'm not really a Christian. I'm agnostic. And now I believe in aliens, not that I didn't before anyways." I had already explained most religions to them and researchers so they understood what I was talking about.

"Intriguing," Celestia stared at me expectantly.

"You could say that... But you know what's pretty cool? Talking to two thousands of years old creatures in a whole other world." I thought about this revelation however various times in the past and I were right, it was pretty cool. "And on top of that, I am working for them and sharing technology far above their own."

"How do you feel about this?" Luna inquired as she sat on a couch facing the fireplace. I rarely come into this room, mainly as I have nobody to really use it with.

"Frankly amazing. I am the first human of my society to do this sorta thing," I gave them a smile. "Anyways, I've got a question for you now." They both looked at me for me to continue. "Could you tell me more about the elements of harmony, I haven't found much material about them except for the fact that they are ponies themselves." I still retained a slight smirk as always.

The sisters looked at each other, it was like they had an entire discussion with that stare. They then looked back at me. "Alright," she sighed. " I suppose I can tell you in a bit more detail about them seeing as you have given us many sciences and agreed to even build an automobile for us."

"The elements of harmony were six artifacts with immense magical power, it is the magic of harmony. The most powerful magic known to Ponydom. They are now embedded in the tree of harmony to stop the Everfree Forest growing and destroying Equestria," I nodded to show my understanding. "The main six embody these elements."

"Supernatural artifacts?" I gulped down the rest of my coffee.

"Indeed, they have been used many times in the past to resolve conflicts in the midst of anarchy." I started to stare back into the mug again.

"I don't think there's anything like that back on Earth." I put the mug on the table beside my chair with it being empty. "If there was, bad things could have happened..." I was thinking about all the dictators and corruption back home. I guess this place was better that way.

Celestia and Luna were silent like they knew exactly what I meant. It was getting late, though I still felt a little depleted from the scan earlier. A neutral expression was engraved onto everyone's faces. "I think... I'm gonna hit the hay or something. This coffee is gonna keep me up for a while. See you tomorrow."

They had experienced tyrants throughout history which no human has ever faced. What they may have seen in me and my species in the past is conflict. It's only human to get into conflict, however. What worried me was their response as I walked out of the room; neutral gazes and almost complete silence. "One last question." Celestia was still looking at me with a mug enveloped in her magic.

"Shoot," I turned my body sideways to see her.

"What is war like on your world?"

I mentally grimaced about this answer. "Brutal but... there is no other option at the moment."

She sipped the edge of her mug tentatively and spoke, "See you tomorrow." She was staring at the fireplace.

I slowly walked away, Celestia was never like this. She always had a friendly and knowing look to her it was absent at the end of the conversation for an extended period of time. Anyways, it was kind of weird how she came and found me herself and didn't send a guard to find me. I decided to sleep on it, it was predicted I would still be like this no matter what I did apart from pass on the time.