Working as a robotics engineer had always been my dream. Then I finally began living that dream. Many years studying had all been worth it. I was working along with leading experts, expanding my knowledge even more. I even got my own work station! My life's goal was to make bionic limbs and better artificial organs. It was also my wish to make these affordable to all who need them.
That is not to say I didn't know how to work on normal machinery. I could do almost anything I set my mind too. That does not make me sound very humble, but I really did take pride in my work. Although, I must admit that my work sometimes did get the better of me at times. Heck, I even forgot to eat. But at the end of the day, I got to go home and relax by watching ponies.
That's right, you heard me. Ponies.
I jumped on the MLP FIM bandwagon a year or two ago. I will never regret it. I really loved the show for it's colorful cast of characters and it's values. The idea that friendship reigns supreme just really got to me. The show always found a way to make me smile, even after the roughest day. I never hid the the fact I was a brony from anyone, but that did not mean I stood on my roof and shouted to the heavens "Oh sweet merciful Celestia! Derpy spoke!!"
Ehem, pardon me for that.
Anyway, I was at work late at night finishing some schematics and cleaning up my station. I practically lived in that workshop. I had my computer on with some brony music tracks playing. The song playing was the "Smile Song" remixed by The Living Tombstone. A personal favorite of mine. The typography animation accompanying it was by NoPonyZone. Everyone else had gone home for the weekend. I heard a rapping on my door.
Well almost everyone.
"Who is it?" I said. I knew perfectly well who it was. In walked Russel. He was a great friend of mine, but he can be a bit overbearing at times. Russel would be the human equivalent of Pinkie Pie with a lot of Twilight Sparkle thrown in as well. He was pure genius. He worked in the department next to mine which deals with spacial science. You know, wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff.
He comes in with an even wider smile than he usual has, which is saying a lot. "Hey Bubs! How are you?" he asked in his cheery voice. Bubs was his nickname for me. My real name is Bubba. "Hey Russ, I am good. How about yourself?" I responded. "Fantastic! I have an something amazing to show..." Russel was about about to say something, but then he looked at my computer monitor. "Oh cool! Is that Tombstone's remix?" He asked.
He is so easily distracted, but then again, so was I.
"It is indeed, but didn't you say you had something to show me?" I asked, knowing I had to get him back on track. I was happy to have someone who liked the show as much as I did. He scrunched his eyebrows and looked at me in a confused manner. "Huh? Hmmm... Oh Yeah!" He looked like he was ready to jump out of his skin he was so excited. "Follow me!" He said tugging at my arm. "Alright! Just a sec." I told him.
I went and grabbed my tool belt. I don't know why I did, just a force of habit I suppose. It used to belong to my dad. I also grabbed my keys to close up shop, once I realized it was almost 1 am. I shut down my computer and the lights. We left out my station door. I closed the door and went to lock it. I put the key in the lock and saw my MLP key chain. My mother gave it to me about a year ago.
She was the sweetest woman in the world. When she found out I liked the show she just accepted it like that. She thought it was a little odd but she was ok with it. I even remember her saying, "It doesn't bother me Bubba, it is just a part of who you are. I like who you are." She sure knew to pull at the heart strings. One time she commented, "It must be like those shows "Adventure Zim" or "Invader Time" that are so popular with young people these days." I never had the heart to correct her.
She passed away about 4 months ago.
My dad had already passed 4 years ago. If he knew about me being a brony, it wouldn't have bothered him either. He was a pretty eccentric guy. I found myself staring at that key chain a lot. It was one of the last things my mother gave me.
"C'mon! Let get going....hey. Bubba are you ok?" my friend asked me, suddenly less as enthusiastic than before.
That snapped me out of my trance. He never calls me Bubba unless he is worried. I realized I was staring at my key chain, which were still in the lock of door knob. I wiped my eyes. I was tearing up. "Yeah. I am ok." I said as I locked the door and grabbed my keys. "You sure?" asked Russ. "Yeah. Hey! Let's go check out that thing you wanted to show me!" I said in a happy tune. Russ smiled again and lead the way.
We entered his personal work station. To the average person, his work space was a disastrous mess. To Russ and those closest to him(i.e. me), it was organized chaos. Remind you of any purple maned unicorn we know? There were tools, wires, nuts, bolts, and circuit boards everywhere. Don't get me started on the sticky notes.
There was something very large underneath a fabric cover. It was taller than I was. Russ stood by the covered object barely containing himself. "Ready?" he said excitedly. "Have at it." I responded. Russ jumped in place and pulled the cover off in one clean swoop. There, right in front of me stood...
I had know idea what I was looking at.
"Well?" my friend said expectantly. "Uhh... Russ? What is that?!" I said. It looked like something straight out of science fiction. It looked like a Stargate, only smaller and made out of metal. There were wires sticking out here and there. Whatever it was, it was most likely a just prototype. "Well Bubs, I will tell you." Russ said walking in a leisurely manner. I set my keys on a tray on the bench next to me.
"Better yet, let me show you!" he said. He then started hitting switches on an external controller. I could hear a hum coming from his contraption. Once he had done that he had another controller in front of him with a big red button. "Russ, What is that?!?" I jarred. I have seen that look in his eyes before. He has done something extraordinary, for better or worse. I was about to find out.
"Oh it's nothing special, IT'S JUST MY WORMHOLE GENERATOR!!!" Russ yelled as he hit the button.
The machine instantly came to life and a white vortex formed in front of me. It was beautiful. "I always wanted to say that!" He said, giggling like a school girl. "Russ! You actually did it?! You said the department had given this idea up before it could even get approved by the heads!" I said. I could not believe my eyes.
"Well they gave up, I on the other hand, did not." Russ said. "I also knew you were the only one I could show this to without worrying about getting shut down by the heads" he said. "But I thought they said it couldn't be done?" I asked him. He gave me a look. "Really? C'mon Bubs, you got to know me better than that!" he said in a sarcastic tone. I looked at him and smiled. "Yeah, your right. I never doubted you once." I told him. "But Russ, how did you manage to build this thing without anyone else in the department noticing?" I asked.
"Well I just built individual pieces, then I had those pieces ready to be put together and dismantled as necessary. Heck, I could take this thing apart, clean it, and put it back together in a hour." He said with pride. "You amaze me Russ." I said. He looked at me and said "If it came down to it Bubs, you could have built this in half the time I did. You are the real robotics expert here. I just play around with quantum mechanics and wormholes."
"So does it work?!' I asked excitedly. Russ' face suddenly grew red as he was trying to choose the right words to say. "Well.....yes...and... well...no." he said a little embarrassed. I gave him a questioning look. "Here, let me demonstrate." He said as he took one of his pens, an MLP pen out of all of things. I could see Pinkie Pie on it. He stood to the side of the wormhole and threw the pen into the vortex. It disappeared instantly.
"It definitely works, but the problem is I don't know where or heck, even when any of the stuff I threw in goes." He said a little bit defeated. "Wait, you threw other stuff in there?" I asked raising an eyebrow. Russ' face was even redder. "Well... yeah. I threw in a Twix bar, a pack of Juicy Fruit gum and a Take-Out menu from that Chinese restaurant we like to order from." He said while looking at the ground.
"Anything by accident? I asked. "Well.... yes....I was getting the gum out of my pocket to throw in and I...well...sorta kinda...threw my...cellphone...in..." He said barely audibly. I just stared at him. His face might as well had been a tomato. "My phone carrier is charging me for roaming..." He said. Russ could barely keep a straight face. I felt it slipping as well.
We both lost it.
I have never laughed so hard in my life. I was crying I was laughing so hard. Russ was doubled over whooping. He knew how get you when you least expect it, even if it wasn't on purpose. He was walking toward me to give me a high five, when something happened. It almost seemed like slow motion. He slipped on a bolt that was lying on the ground. His hand was outstretched as he fell. The hand made contact with the side of tray on the bench. I saw something whiz through the air.
My keys with my mother's key chain were heading toward the generator.
Poof!
They disappeared as soon as it made contact with the wormhole.
We both just sort of stood there. Well, I stood there, Russ was lying on the ground with a look on his face like he committed a crime against humanity. He knew about my key chain and how much it meant to me. He looked like he was about to bawl his eyes out. I felt like doing the same.
"Bubba....I am so sorry...." he said.
I lost for words. I knew it wasn't his fault, but I felt so many emotions Anger. Sadness. I felt defeated. Then I snapped. "God Dammit!!" I yelled, kicking the bench. The bench was bolted down. Not my brightest idea. The pain snapped me out of my fit of rage. I saw my friend there, weeping. The look of guilt on his face was unbearable. I suddenly felt very sad. I made my friend feel horrible. I did the only thing I could think of.
I picked him off the ground and gave him a hug.
"It's okay Russ." I told him. "But Bubba...." Russ said choking up. "It is ok" I repeated. I did not feel ok, but this was not his fault. It could of happened to anyone.
Well, anyone with a wormhole generator.
"But Bubs," Russ said. I could tell he was starting to calm down a bit. "that was the key chain your mother gave you. It means the world to you!" He said. Russ was right. It did mean the world to me. I kept those keys wherever I went, just so that I would not lose them. I got so distracted by that machine I set my keys down in an unstable spot.
This was MY fault.
"I will get over it in time Russ." I said. I sat down on the bench and put my head in my hands. I started thinking about my mother and my father. All of the happy and the sad memories started flooding in. My parents were good people. Sometimes I forgot how much I missed them. I began crying again.
Then it happened.
The wormhole started to make a weird sound and sparks flew out of the machine. There was a bright flash. When I could see again, I looked toward the white vortex. It wasn't white anymore.
It was pink.
"Russ, You told me that wormholes do different things based on what color they are. What does pink mean?!" I asked him. He had a look of confusion on his face like no other. " I have no idea! Modern science has found white, red, orange, even blue! In my life worth working with these things, I have never heard of a pink vortex!" Russ yelled, trying to be heard over the noise of the vortex.
Then the pink wormhole started pulling things in.
It started off by just pulling the loose nuts and bolts off of the floor and tables. Then it started pulling the chairs. Russ looked at me and screamed, "HOLD ONTO SOMETHING!!" I didn't skip a beat. We both grabbed onto the bench that was bolted down. I could feel the machine start to pull me in. "You need to shut off the machine Russ!" I yelled, now being suspended in the air, holding on to the bench for dear life. "I can't Bubs! The control is on the the table over there. If either of us let go to go grab it now we will get sucked in!" He screamed.
As if to prove his point the vortex swallowed the remote control.
"Now what?!" I yelled, feeling my grip lose to the force of the swirling pink vortex. "If we wait long enough the wormhole will collapse in on itself! This should last no longer than another 20 seconds! Just hold on!" Russ screamed. I did not think I could last another 10 seconds. The pull of the machine was so great I was hanging on by my fingertips. I could hold on no longer. My hands gave up on me. They let go. This was the end.
Then I felt a hand firmly grab my arm.
"Don't you dare leave me here!" Russ yelled. I knew he could not hold on much longer either. He was holding onto the bench with one hand. I was quite a bit stronger than Russ. He was maintaining hold of the bench and me by pure willpower. The machine started to make a low ominous hum.
"Hold on just a bit longer! The vortex is about to collapse!" He told me. I actually think he was telling himself that. His hand was sweating and he was losing grip. He could not hold on any longer. My hand slipped though his grasp.
I was hurtling into pink vortex.
The last thing I saw was the look of utter distraught on Russ' face. I will never forget it.
Unknown to me, As soon as I disappeared into the wormhole, the entire machine collapsed on itself and got sucked into the vortex. Then the wormhole just vanished. It was like nothing was ever there.
...
I was going though a swirling pink tunnel. It was so vivid I could hardly look at anything without squinting. I saw a light toward what I thought was the end of the vortex. It was coming at me fast. It was too bright, I closed my eyes. I went unconscious.
When I started coming to, I realized I was on my back. It hurt like hell. It would have been too painful to get up so I stayed where I was. I tried opening my eyes but they did not want to seem to open. I took a breath. It seemed at least wherever, or better yet, whenever I went had oxygen. I decided the best course of action was to open eyes. Easier said than done. I finally got my eyes open and was blinded by the bright light. I couldn't make out anything, only silhouettes. I could see shapes of buildings, trees, and clouds. I could hear talking. People! There must have been people there! But then I heard it was not regular chatter. It was murmuring and whispering.
Then there was a silhouette over me.
I tried to focus but could not seem to make out what was above me. Whatever it was, it was alive. Then it spoke. "Oh My Gosh! Hello!" The dark shape said to me. I knew that voice. Why did I know that voice? I could not quite place it. I have heard it before. I put all my effort into focusing on what was above me. What I saw...
A LOT of pink.
"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! You are new here aren't you? Welcome to Ponyville! Oh! I have to get started right away on your welcoming party! I would ask what you like, but I am not sure if you even talk! I don't even know what you are. But you must like parties! Everyone likes parties! You probably like balloons too huh? I better go get....." Pinkie's onslaught of welcoming slowly drifted off as everything went black.
I passed out.
Author's Note
Thanks everyone! Chapter 2 will be out as soon as possible. Each chapter will have a cover image on my deviantart page. I will post links in this area for the upcoming chapters covers. Feel free to send me a message anytime. Thanks!
