“Finally, after 10 years I’ve finished it!” i laugh and sit in my chair, exhausted. I’m Doctor Wilkins, Samuel Cross. I’m 28 years old, a theoretical physics and engineering major at Harvard University. I spent the last 10 years of my life planning and perfecting my greatest creation: The Holopoint! Well, it’s a working name…..Shut up.

Just them, my coworker Steven walks in. “Sam, you did it? Did I hear you right?”

“Yes! I’ve finally done it. The Holopoint is complete!”

“...You need to get a better name for that thing.”

“.........Shut up. Now hurry up and get the television! Test tape 18. Hurry up!”

He rushes out of the room and gathers the equipment. I smile and hold up the holopoint in excitement. I specifically designed it to look eerily similar to the Portal Gun from Portal 2, but with a lense in the front and right sides.

Steven wheels in the T.V. and plugs it in. It hums to life. He places the tape into the player, and a looping image of an apple appears on screen. “Stand back.” I flick on the Holopoint, and it whirrs softly. I fire at the T.V., and a bright orange beam hits the apple seemingly through the television. The lens on the side fires a small blue laser and briskly moves back and forth like a 3D printer. As the apple on screen vanishes, a real life apple is being created from the blue beam. “Incredible! It works!”

I keep the Holopoint steady until the apple on screen is gone. I release the trigger and look over. There’s a perfectly normal apple just sitting on the floor now. I set the Holopoint down and grab the apple.

“It’s real! It feels like a fresh apple!” I take a bite and beam. “It’s perfectly normal as well! Now, for the testing.”

For the next hour, Steven and I test the skin density, weight, height, width, and buoyancy of the apple. Perfect in every sense! Then, we set it in our patented Age machine, a machine designed to age anything in it by years per second.

“This apple should be dust in about two seconds.” I state before turning the box on. We watch for the two seconds, then five, then fifteen, then thirty. It was still there.

“Check diagnostics. It is still working, right?” He checks the readings. “Perfectly. The apple isn’t aging. It isn’t even browning at all!”

I had to sit down, taking the glasses off my face and running my hands through my long, brown hair.

“We created a way to make produce last forever! This is incredible!”

“We have to destroy it….”

“What!? Sam, are you crazy?! We’ll be rich from this!”

“Think about it, Steve. A machine that can pull anything from television into the real world that can’t age. In the wrong hands, this could be really bad.”

“Oh, God….You’re right….Just the thought of having another Hitler…..or Stalin…..or Bin Laden! We need to destroy it.”

“Alright, Steve. Head home. I’ll take care of it.” He nods, pats my shoulder, and leaves. I sigh and hug the Holopoint gently. My life’s work. My entire family savings. My legacy. I can't destroy it. I’d lose everything.

“What do I do? I’ll have to hide this. I can’t just destroy my life’s work. Ugh, I need a break.” I set the Holopoint on my lap and flick the T.V. on to a cartoon I used to love years ago: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I know, it’s girly, but that show got dark sometimes. And the characters were all loveable and fun to get to know. I’d love to know Twilight, and...no, not this again. You are not going to let this show consume your life ag-

So after the entire first 4 seasons, I start to doze off. It was around 2:30 in the morning or so. I suddenly hear an odd buzz from one of my computers and look over. It’s sparking and shooting electricity.

“God damn it, the circuits fried again.” I start to get up when a bolt of electricity strikes the battery plate on the Holopoint. It starts vibrating and powering up aggressively. “Nononono…” I try desperately to turn it off, but there’s a bright flash of blue, and then...darkness.

When I come to, I’m sitting on a grassy field in the middle of nowhere, the Holopoint in my lap. “What...happened?” I stand up and dust off my lab coat. “Did the Holopoint teleport me?” I look up at the sky, and notice instantly that the moon was a lot closer than it should be. Too close.

“Uuh….Where the fuck am I….?” I look around, and notice a clearing in some trees towards what looks like a…..No…..it can’t be. Is that…..Fluttershy’s cottage? Oh, shit. I got sent into the T.V!? It works both ways?! I laugh loudly and whoop and holler. “It works both ways! I’m a genius! Oh, fuck, I’m stuck here. This universe doesn’t have television or electricity…..” I sigh. “Well, I’ll just need to invent television….and electricity…..again….Fuck, who am I kidding. The repercussions could be catastrophic! I need to get some kind of shelter set up where I can work away from any residents. If they see me, their universe could collapse in on itself!”

I strap the Holopoint to my back and head into the trees. I pull out my pocket knife and flick it open. “I know these woods. And I’m not about to get my ass killed by some chicken snake.” I go in a few meters before I reach a familiar hut. “Zecora. It has to be Zecora. Shit….Maybe just a peek….” I make my way around to the front and peek in the front window. Wait, that’s not Zecora. That’s a woman. A human woman. In a brown loincloth and makeshift bra.

“What...the….fuck….” I decide to nope my way out of there and head towards the clearing again. “Great, so this isn’t the My Little Pony universe, this is some sort of hybrid human universe. I really need to test this thing more…” As I get back to the clearing, I hear a soft gasp. A familiar gasp. Shit…. I start making a run towards the trees again. I didn’t even look back to who it was, but I knew instantly: Fluttershy.

Listen, normally I’d be okay, but I haven’t talked to anyone but Steven and my grandma in the last 10 years. And my grandma passed 6 years ago. My social skills and nerve are lacking. I keep running until I think I got away, then I finally stop and pant heavily. “I think...I lost her….She saw me….fuck, she saw me….This is really bad….” I make my way up a tree, really struggling to use muscles that I hadn’t used in years. I sit on a branch and try to relax. “Just sleep here, and you’ll figure it out in the morning…” I yawn and start to doze off again.

Author's Note

Thank you for taking time to read my story. I know, it's pretty shit. But this is my first attempt. Any criticism is welcome, but please no hate. Writing is difficult.