We Broke the Universe

Princess Celestia had never seen anything like it in all her years as ruler of Equestria. The previous night, seemingly out of nowhere, a number of meteors plummeted to the ground, scattering all over Equestria. She had sent a group of Royal Guards to investigate one that had landed near Canterlot, hoping to discover what had caused such a sudden occurrence. But when her guards returned, they were carrying the unconscious body of a strange pony.

“Who is that?” asked the Princess, “Was he hit by the meteor?”

“No, your Highness, we believe he was the meteor,” said the head pony. “We found him lying in the crater, unconscious. There was no sign of anything else hitting the ground.”

“Take him to the interrogation room,” ordered Celestia. “I want to have some words with him.”

“Yes, your Majesty,” responded the guard as he and the other guards took the strange pony to the prison for questioning.

Zack awoke on a cold floor in a small room. The room was square, and the walls were smooth steel. A door in the corner, also of steel, was the only thing in the room besides a large mirror on one wall.

“Oh… My head…” Zack moaned, reaching for his head to try and sooth the headache he woke up with. But when he tried to move his fingers, he was shocked to find he had none. In fact, he did not have a hand, but a hoof.

“What… in the world…” Zack asked himself, curiously examining the hoof that had replaced his hand. As he looked over the hoof, flame-orange hair fell into his eyes, making him sweep it away.

“Wait, my hair isn’t orange. And it isn’t that long.” Zack said, suddenly realizing that having hooves wasn’t the only thing amiss. He looked around the room and spotted the large mirror on the wall, quickly racing over to it. He stood frozen as his jaw dropped.

A steel grey pony stared back at him.

“There’s no way…” Zack said in disbelief, seeing it as impossible for him to be a pony. He quickly examined himself and found the reflection did not lie. He was a steel grey unicorn with a flame-orange mane. He also had strange orange swirls decorating his body. His tail was short and straight, as was his mane. He noticed, however, that he was lacking a cutie mark.

“Well, that’s strange,” Zack thought aloud, thinking that lacking a cutie mark was somehow stranger than being turned into a pony. “Wait a minute,” Zack uttered, “This must be a dream. So all I need to do is wake up.” Zack began slapping, pinching, and suffocating himself trying to wake up, but to no avail. He sighed and at that moment the steel door opened and two other ponies, dressed in armor, entered the room.

“Oh… Hello…” Zack said cautiously, examining the armor the two guards were wearing. He was sure he had seen it before, but he couldn’t remember exactly where. As he tried to place where he had seen the armor, a large, white pony with a flowing multi-colored mane entered the room, making the two guards bow at her presence.

“Princess Celestia…” Zack said disbelievingly, shocked that the first pony he met was the princess herself.
“Yes, I am Princess Celestia of Equestria.” The Princess said in a royal, but sweet voice. “And who are you?”

“My name is Zack,” Zack answered.

“Hmm… Zack… That’s a strange name.” Celestia said curiously, “Where are you from?”

“I…” Zack said before realizing the Princess would not understand where he was from. He started thinking of what he could tell her when she interrupted his thought.

“Are you alright?” She asked, concerned.

“Yes, I’m fine. I just have a headache, that’s all.” Zack said, thinking he could blame not knowing where he was from on amnesia.

“Ok, so may I know where you’re from?” she asked a second time.

“I… I don’t know…” Zack said, hoping she would buy his act.

“You don’t know where you’re from?” Celestia asked confusedly.

“I don’t remember much of anything…” Zack continued, “I remember waking up in here, but I can’t remember anything before that.”

“But you knew your name, and mine.” Celestia pointed out.

“Crap, has she caught me?” he thought “Better play the safe route…if this could even be called one.”
Zack responded, “Well, you’re pretty hard to forget, what with you being the princess and all.”

“True, but I suppose your memory isn’t completely gone then, is it?”

“No, I suppose not.” He replied before going back to thinking. “I suppose amnesia’s as good an excuse as any for this scenario.”

“Good, then do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

“I’ll answer as best as I can.” Zack said, careful not to screw up his plan.

“Alright then,” Celestia started, “Where did the meteors come from?”

“Meteors?” Zack asked, truly perplexed. “I don’t remember any meteors.”

“Well, my guards found you lying in the crater of one. They believe that you fell from the sky, but I told them that that’s just nonsense.” Celestia said with a chuckle. “So tell me, did you fall from the sky as my men claim?”

“I think so,” Zack said, “I remember falling just before going unconscious.”

“Alright, next question then,” She said.

“Either she is completely oblivious or just trying to troll me. Either way, at the moment she seems to not be suspicious. Kind of wish Luna was here, though…she could sort of kind of relate to the situation I am in…Okay, maybe not, but still…” He thought before a thought occurred to him.

“Wait,” Zack said suddenly, “Were there any other meteors?”

“Yes. There were quite a few. You were the closest to Canterlot so I dispatched my guards to investigate. The closest one after you landed near Ponyville, and the third closest appears to have landed somewhere in the Everfree Forest.” Celestia answered. “Why? Are those meteors ponies as well?”

“They may be…” Zack said, before pausing to collect his thoughts. “Could those two be Adam and Will? If they are, then at least I am not alone in this situation. Maybe-”. Zack continued thinking until he realized that the princess was still there.

“Oh, I’m sorry… I was sort of lost in thought,” Zack apologized before contemplating his options. After a few seconds, he chose the best. “Is there any way I might leave for Ponyville? I’d like to investigate the other meteors.”

“I was just about to suggest that. But I’d like you to meet my star pupil first. She will be leaving soon to oversee preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville, and should prove to be quite useful to you if you wish to find out about the other meteors.”
Zack’s thoughts began racing with this new realization. “Wait…I was flung into THIS part of the timeline? I guess that explains the absence of Luna…for now at least. Well, this is going to be weird yet awesome to live out in pers…erm, pony. But that can only mean only one thing…”
“Okay,” Zack finally said, “What’s her name?”

“Twilight Sparkle.”

“Time to embrace social awkwardness…now where did I put my jar of patience...” He thought with a mild sigh.