Simulated Pain

Days had passed, and it was the day of the simulation.

All students were funneled into the train to Canterlot, ready to experience the most revolutionary technology to ever grace Equestria. They were going to be apart of history, and they had that opportunity thanks to the Terra Colonies. Getting the technology over world-borders wasn't easy, but it was done.

Ian sat in his cell, as usual, however he knew what the day was. He knew what was about to happen, and he could only feel anger and sadness, combined together in a strange harmony. He hated knowing that he knew what was going to happen, and that he was powerless to do anything about it. Strangely, he blamed himself for some of it. After all, he was one of the reasons that the trade relations between both worlds existed.

If he had been more cautionary, none of this would have happened.

The door to his cell opened slowly, white hooves standing on the other side. It was Shining Armor, dressed in his armor as usual, though it had undergone some recent changes that Ian could notice. Polished to a shine, and a darker purple added onto the armor. Ian stared at him, his eyes unmoving, and his expression blank.

"What."

Shining Armor closed the door behind himself, walking towards him. His expression was stern, and looked of anger.

"What." Ian asked again.

"Why are you so against the simulations?"

The question was not what Ian had expected. He had told Celestia and him countless times why he despised the Simulation technology. "I've already told you multiple times. It's dangerou-"

"What made you think that way?"

"What?"

Shining Armor shook his head. "What the buck happened to you to get you to hate it so much?"

Ian stared at him, his face a little confused still. After all this time, he had only told snippets of what happened to him during his own experience in the simulations. Nobody had asked, and he had never thought it necessary to explain it to anyone as nobody was going to listen. But, now, he had someone willing to listen.

Ian shook his head. "Take a seat." He said, pointing at the chair over to the table. Shining Armor slowly made his way to it, before hopping up on it, and sitting. Ian shook his head once more, and sighed. "It's not a story of a fun time. Don't expect to smile."

TERRA COLONIES UNITED LABS

"All of you, I'm very thankful that you have volunteered for this position. I know that this is unknown and scary, but you're going to make history. More so than any other human on this planet has so far. You're the pioneers into this new age. Good luck."

That was the speech the head scientist gave before sending Ian and twenty others into the simulations. Ian looked up at the top of his pressure chamber, watching it slowly close, before locking once fully closed. The next thing he remembered was a flash of light, though strangely, it wasn't blinding to his eyes.

Moments later, he was in a pure white void wearing the same clothes he had on. The simulation wasn't programmed with anything, so this was simply a test. The scientists working on it called it 'The Sandbox.' It was an area that they could, essentially summon anything from the real world into the simulation, and do what they wished with it. Do you want to drive that new car? You could. Want to shoot a gun? You could. The potential was limitless in the sandbox.

Upon turning around, he noticed that the other people were also there, wearing their same clothing. They all looked at eachother, amazed by what they were seeing. Not one of them said a word to eachother before testing out their sandbox abilities. Some of them summoned cars into existence, while some summoned food.

Ian simply watched in wonderment at the others, before trying it out for himself.

Shaving Cream.

A can of shaving cream appeared in his hand. It was the first thing he thought of as he was recently thinking about shaving, and with being in this simulated world, he could test out infinite amounts of styles without the repercussions of it being permanent for weeks.

Razor.

Not a moment later, a big object formed in his hand. An object, that was definitely not a razor.

Instead, it was a large knife, serrated on its edges. It was colored with a dark crimson splatter, and looked menacing. Ian stared at it, a little confused on why it formed in his hands and not a razor. This must be a bug. Well, new technology didn't come without its fair share of problems. Though, the few seconds he spent in thought, a high-pitched scream echoed throughout the void.

Ian instantly turned his heads toward the sound. What he saw wasn't something he intended to witness.

Black tentacles protruded from the ground, from the sides, and from above, and began to grab people. A woman's legs were already tore off, blood pouring from her open-half. She wasn't dead though, and Ian knew she could feel the pain as if it were real life. The tentacles targeted others, wrapping around them, or stabbing through them with ease, though not 'killing' them. Whatever it was, it wasn't killing them.

It was torturing the subjects on purpose.

If you weren't 'killed' in the simulation, you wouldn't get pulled out. However, stress-levels and panic will cause the heartbeat to increase in speed, causing the scientists to likely force them out of their pods. They'd still all be able to get out, but with the added bonus of trauma.

Ian felt something grab at his arm, to which he responded quickly by slicing the knife towards the tentacle. It disconnected the tentacle, and a low demonic rumble sounded through the white void. Though, his friends were not exactly able to get any weapons in time.

"IAN!"

Ian turned towards a known friend of his, Jake, who was being pulled up into the air at an impossible height.

Ian stared in horror. "SUMMON SOMETHING- ANYTHING!"

"I CA-" Jake's voice died out in a muffled gurgle, blood pouring from the foggy heights above. Jake was no longer in sight, and was gone. Within a couple of seconds, everything went terribly wrong. Did the scientists program this into the tech? Was this a part of the simulation they didn't tell anybody about?

Ian remembered feeling a piercing pain shoot through his left shoulder. His head whipped to it, to see a black tentacle had punctured through his shoulder like butter. He sliced his knife towards it, cutting it off, but the pain was already there. It was so painful that once the tentacle had retracted, he fell to the floor. Tears had instantly welled up in his eyes, and he stared at the white abyss below him.

What was going on?

A few seconds later, he felt his two bottom legs rip from the rest of his body. He remembered staring at the floor, the pain so intense that he couldn't get anything out. The feeling of his muscles and his bones being ripped straight from the rest of his body would stay with him forever.

Another tentacle pierced through his other shoulder, before another pierced straight through his neck.

Yet he still wasn't considered 'dead' in the simulation. It was torturing them all, forcing them into pain beyond comprehension, and keeping them there. Ian couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, and he certainly couldn't move. He was unable to do anything as more of those black tentacles stabbed into each part of his body.

And within an instant, he was back in the real world.

He jumped forward, and was pulled out of the pressure chamber. He grabbed at his throat, trying to take as many deep breaths as possible. He could see the real world again, but an overlay of that white abyss stayed. Black tentacles pierced through the walls of the laboratory, and the scientists were being massacred.

"Ian- IAN!" He could hear a yell in his ear, but he ignored it. A tentacle came flying towards him, and he sliced at it with his knife, cutting it into two pieces. Another low rumble was heard, and he could feel the building begin to collapse on top of himself. A big, concrete block had fallen right on top of him, knocking him out, or killing him. Either way, he wasn't in pain.

Two days later.

Scientists and doctors had told Ian what happened when he was pulled out of the pressure chamber. That he put his hands at his throat, choking himself, before looking around frantically at the scientists that surrounded him. They told him that he began swinging at the air, with nothing in his hands, before collapsing onto the floor.

They had told him that when he was pulled out of the pressure chamber, he was hallucinating.

He was kept inside the hospital room for a couple weeks as the doctors were unsure if he was able to be okay being sent back into society. Ian later learned that he was one of the lucky ones, and in fact, the only lucky one during the simulation tests.

The others never recovered from their hallucinations.

It was a terrible situation, and yet he came out on top. Only him. He didn't feel special in any way, despite the doctors telling him he was the lucky one. He didn't want to be the lucky one. Why did he get to be free of pain, while his friends and colleagues had to suffer through that trauma everyday, constantly?

Assisted Suicide was even talked about during a convention on the technology.

They were planning on putting those people down. Like they were dogs, or feral cats. Like they were nothing, and that treatment just couldn't be afforded. Yet, Ian couldn't imagine a better solution. Atleast in political ways. There was no way they were going public with the news, and they certainly weren't going to get extra funding to find a treatment for them. They were considered waste.

And yet, Ian was considered a marvel.

Ian stared at the floor, Shining Armor unmoving from his position at the table. Now that he talked about it, he remembered why he didn't want to talk about it. He re-lived it in his head once again, and he could still remember each second of that traumatic day as if he were experiencing it at that moment.

Shining stood from the table. "I'm sorry that happened to you."

"Hmph. Don't act like you care."

"I do, but you were one of the first to get tested. They've had plenty of time with that technology, and they've got it into working order. Despite your hatred towards it, you were the first step in getting it fixed. Now it's usable. The Terra Colonies would never give us something defective."

"Why not?" Ian asked.

"It'd be damning. Relations would tank instantly, and more than likely a war would come out of it. Killing students is low."

"That's pretty funny, considering you're the one killing them. And, a war with the colonies? You'd be dead." Ian said with a laugh, though there was no humor in his words or voice.

"Why's that?"

"The colonies are more technologically advanced than you. While magic might have limitations, technology is nearly limitless. They have weaponry that could annihilate the entirety of Canterlot within an instant, and it'd cost them a fraction of their current defense spending costs."

Shining smirked. "That sounds fake."

"Keep believing that until you see it. Oh, wait, you'd be gone so fast your shadow will be burned into the ground."

Shining shook his head, turning his head towards the door. He slowly walked towards it, his magic opening the door with a heavy swing. "I'm sure that they've told you and their citizens about things like that, but there's no possible way in a weapon such as that. It'd be too destructive to ever use-"

BAM!

Ian had knocked Shining Armor out with a chair.