I was awake, but it had been a while. I don't think I'd slept in three days. The plastic muzzle's straps had cut into my cheeks, wearing down my fur. At least a week had passed, or that's what I assumed. Hunger became my only telling sign. The therapists stopped visiting; Dr. Test Chambers had more than likely put a stop to that.

The shadows that had tormented me in the first couple of days stopped bothering me. I assumed they'd gotten bored, though I realized I was personifying them too much. They didn't exist, only figments of my imagination.

Turning my head to one side, I inhaled deeply. God, I needed a bath. I hadn't been able to lick myself clean for a week. The pungent odor permeated and settled around me once I became aware of it. I wrinkled my nose and tried my best to ignore it.

I missed Grim more than ever. Sometimes, I'd stare at the door and wait for him to burst in to rescue me, but he never did. In my infinite downtime, I started imagining a life together.

I'd come home from a long day of whatever it is kids do, and he'd be there to greet me. Possibly with a home-cooked meal, though the mental image of Grim wearing an apron over a stove made me smile at its absurdity. I'd talk about my day all excited-like, with a smile befitting a child my age. He'd smile back and say how nice that sounded.

If there was anyone I'd want to end up with, it was Grim. He was the only thing that could pass for a father figure in my experiences that I knew about. I hoped he was doing okay.

Grim Reminder, my dad. The idea felt foreign though comforting at the same time. I thought forward to perhaps introducing him to a potential girlfriend, or him seeing me off to university. Maybe I’d change my name to Grey Reminder, or Grim Nick, however naming conventions worked in Equestria.

My happy thoughts were rudely interrupted when a familiar waste of space and oxygen entered my cell. Dr. Test Chambers stood a metre and a half away from me. His lackey, Iron Hoof, stood in the hall outside the door.

“Ready for your testing?” He asked, not looking for an answer. “We've got a big project we're doing today, Subject Seven-Nine-Seven-Nine.”

Too tired and exhausted to argue or fight back, I stared back at him, waiting for him to turn and leave for me to follow.

The doctor guided me down the hallway, while Iron Hoof flanked me. The overhead fluorescent lights flickered ever so slightly every thirty seconds.

I was nervous, of course. Who knows what I was being led towards? The flickering of the lights only added to my discomfort. But onwards I trudged, determined to make a fool out of the doctor. I would no longer flinch or be scared of him, something that was easier to mentally preach than put into practice.

By the time we reached the end of the hall my little legs were aching. No sympathy was to be found in the current company, however.

Dr. Test Chambers entered the very last room and motioned for me to enter after. I peeked at the words beside the entranceway, though I could only make out ‘ASCEND–’.

Hesitant to enter, I received a shove from behind by Iron Hoof, causing me to stumble unevenly in the straight jacket. Once I had regained my balance, I looked up to see a monstrosity of a machine that took up the majority of the space within the room.

It was a bulky and imposing device, made up of dozens of large segments of stark white metal. Unlike the clinical white of the walls I was accustomed to, this machine had a chilling bone-white hue, with hints of metallic gray peeking through the fading paint job. The individual metal sections were slotted together to create a towering white structure that almost reached the ceiling. It spread out wide too, leaving very little floor space; two ponies could walk abreast between the wall and the machine, but it would be a tight squeeze. The white behemoth was covered in all manner of lights and meters, though they were most dense towards the bottom front. Screens adorned the area near a large gap in the metal segments, along with an assortment of dials, buttons, and knobs.

Through the gap in the metal was a small opening, just enough space to access a brutal metal chair. The chair seemed old and battered, but sturdy nonetheless. There were hoofrests for the forelegs, and protrusions at the bottom for rear legs to rest against. Forcefully, I imagined, as there were thick leather belts all over the chair to keep the occupant in place—even around the headrest. The chair was an uninviting spectacle, surrounded on all sides by blank white metal and the edges tinged by rust. At least, I hoped the reddish coloring was caused by rust.

Above the chair, suspended by a solid rod of metal, was some type of arm. The arm itself was unremarkable, simply another white piece of metal fixed to the pole above by an axle. On the end of the arm, however, was a large lamp. It appeared to be held to the arm by a hinge, no doubt allowing it to swivel down in front of whoever was seated in the chair. The lamp was large, twice as large as even Iron Hoof's head, with multiple rows of small bulbs housed inside. More akin to a floodlight than a desk lamp, it would dominate the vision of anyone who was seated before it.

Before I could voice any opposing opinion, I was forcibly placed and secured in the chair. My straight jacket was loosened, offering me a brief feeling of freedom before it was quenched when the straps of the chair tightened around my fetlocks. My heartbeat quickened; I had no idea what this machine's purpose was, but I was frightened all the same.

Dr. Test Chambers was halfway through a monologue while he paced back and forth in front of me. My attention only turned to the doctor near the end of his spiel.

“-and together you will help us discover the secrets of alicorns, most importantly, their immortality.”

He was more crazy than I originally thought.

The arm of the machine spun around in front of me, with an almost ultraviolet light facing me. It was bright and blinding.

The doctor looked to Iron Hoof, who manned the controls, “Run it.”

With a nod of a reply, Iron Hoof pulled down a lever, and the arm began to spin around me. Slow at first, it picked up speed fast. The light quickly blurred before all I saw were horizontal lines of light.

Something was happening to me; my very brain felt stretched. I couldn't move anymore, and my head slumped to the side.

***

Tentatively, I opened my eyes. The sight before me left me in shock and awe. An infinitely dark plane was before me, thick heavy fog covered what could have been called the floor. Said floor was wet. Each step caused ripples that flowed outward. A crack of thunder followed by red lightning made me practically jump out of my skin.

I kept walking in the direction I assumed to be forward. The flashes of red lightning lit my way, the only source of light around. For several minutes, I walked aimlessly without seeing anything in the distance.

Several rectangular sources of light caught my attention. When I got closer to them I found them to be floating television screens constantly showing static.

“Weird,” I noted to myself.

“Thou art not of our progeny,” an ethereal voice stated from the void.

A sudden face close to my own made me shout in fright and drop to the wet floor. She was, in no other describable words, a goddess. She was a towering, spectral being of immense proportions. She emanated an ethereal aura, her mane ablaze with dark red flames that danced with an eerie glow. Two sets of massive angelic wings adorned her back, while a sharp pointed horn jutted from her head. Her coat, a radiant white, shimmered with a celestial light that seemed to bend reality itself. The only visible part of her cutie mark was half an ink quill. Her eyes, deep pools of ancient wisdom, gleamed with an otherworldly brilliance, instilling a primal fear within me. In her presence, I felt small and insignificant, unable to comprehend the true extent of her existence. She was not just a mare; she was a terrifying force of nature, a being beyond mortal understanding, whose very presence inspired both awe and terror in equal measure.

"Nor hast thou claim to a place herein. Attend well, outsider, for the most grievous of consequences shalt befall thee upon thy return.”

***

Pushed out of the hidden realm at breakneck speeds I shuddered awake back in the chair, still strapped into it.

A scrubbed-up attendant checked my vitals. They must have come in to assist after I went out.
“Sir, her heartbeat is elevated and her pupils are dilated,” they said, turning in the direction of the doctor.

“No matter.” He didn’t even look up. “The subject is responding as expected. Put it back in.”

Terrified at the prospect of going back, I tried to flail about.

“No!” I cried out in panic. “She said not to!”

The machine’s arm had already started spinning.

I tried shaking myself around but the restraints were too tight.

“She…said…not…to.” My words got weaker and weaker as the machine arm sped up and the light blinded me again.

***

I stepped hesitantly into the dimly lit plane of existence, my heart pounding with apprehension. Despite the Goddess’ ominous warning echoing in my mind, I found myself back in this dreaded place against my will.

As I turned around to face the plane’s beginning, a bone-chilling presence swept over me, freezing me in place. Suddenly, with a deafening roar, She materialized right in front of me, her towering figure looming over me like an ancient, wrathful deity.

Before I could react, her piercing eyes bore into mine, and she bellowed, "Begone!" The force of her command was like a physical blow, knocking me off my feet and hurling me back into the waking world from whence I came. The terror of her sudden appearance and thunderous voice echoed in my mind, leaving me shaken to the core.

***

My consciousness came back to me slowly, though my vision was impaired and everything felt fuzzy. As I felt the first tremors ripple through my body, my muscles tensed uncontrollably, and my vision blurred into a chaotic whirlwind of colors and shapes.

“Oh Celestia, she’s seizing,” my swiveled ears made out.

“Pull the plug,” the Doctor’s voice commanded. That was the last thing I heard before everything went dark.

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait folks, life got in the way. Plus I moved to another state, taken a while to get settled.