A/N: well here we are again, I have the next chapter right here, hope you enjoy.
Wonders of Science: chapter 3: an awkward awakening and introductions
After the explosion in the lab, all the scientists met in the meeting room, a few floors up, all of them arguing what to do, how to rebuild the machine, and make sure that it wouldn't malfunction again, but forgetting the key problem, one of their scientists has gone missing.
Drake and the General were forced to listen to their arguing, until finally, the General had had enough, he stood up and slammed his fists on the table silencing them all, they all turned and looked at him, and quietly sat down, and waited for him to start.
"You're all acting like children; we are forgetting our biggest problem, Professor Richards has gone missing, our scanners can't pick him up anywhere on the globe, but that also means that we can't get in touch with him, and he might be in danger, what we need to do, is rebuild the machine and find a way to get him back, before it's too late, how long will it take to get the machine up and running" he said, all the scientists began to talk amongst themselves.
Then one of them turned to him, "it might take a few weeks, maybe a few months, it all depends on how many resources we have" he said, the General turned to him, "don't worry about the resources, just make sure you can get that machine up and running, as soon as possible, this meeting is over" he said as they all made their way out of the room, except for Drake, who sat in his seat, the General turned to him.
"Well get him back, I won't leave a man behind, I never have, and I hope I never will, we'll get him back" he said looking at him, Drake took a deep breath, and looked up at him.
"That's not the problem, how are we going to tell his family, I know they won't take it well" he said with a sad look on his face.
The General took a deep breath as well, and began walking out of the room, "well find a way to break it to them as easily as possible" he said as he walked out of the room.
Drake sat in his seat for a few minutes, and then walked out of the room as well.
(Unknown location)
The last thing, Nathan remembered was passing out in what seemed like a forest, and that strange group of creatures that came to him, he passed out after that, but he knew he must have regained consciousness at certain points, because he seemed to remember being placed on what felt like a stretcher.
He remembered bright lights flashing overhead, as he was wheeled away to god know's where, but he remembered the sound of voices, to many to count, but they spoke like any other human being, but from the silhouettes he saw in the forest, that couldn't be true, he had no time to think, because he slipped back into unconsciousness.
(Later…)
Nathan came too, but he could not see, aside from a very bright light, he tried to raise his arm to shield his eyes, but he could not move his arm, he was too weak, he just stared into the bright light, squinting his eyes, and slowly but surely, his vision focused, and he found himself, looking straight into a light fixture.
This confused him, he did his best to sit up, but fell to the bed with a pained groan, he felt an agonizingly painful burn in his side, and fell to the bed, just as he tried again, he heard voices approaching, he decided to act quickly, and he dropped his head down, and closed his eyes pretending to be asleep.
Just as he did, he heard a door open, and multiple sounds, which he thought was footsteps, but he didn't dare open his eyes, and let whatever took him, know that he was awake; as the voices got closer he could make out what they were saying.
"see Princess, I told you, I've never see anything like this before, do you know what it is?" a young female voice said, he tried his best to keep his eyes shut, even though his curiosity, was killing him, he then heard a much older female voice, a much slower and calmer.
"indeed, this is an interesting discovery, I'm glad you told me about this, this is very serious, when he wakes, bring him to Canterlot, I will speak with him, and find out what this is all about" she said as he heard steps walking away, "yes Princess" came the same younger voice, and then he heard more pairs of footsteps departing, but the voices remained loud enough for him to hear.
"What are we going to do, Twilight?" came a calmer voice, he heard a heavy sigh, "well, take it to see the Princess when it wakes, but for now, I'll stay here, and when it wakes up, I will give a yell, you girls go home, it's been a rough day, for all of us" the voice said, and then that was accompanied by departing footsteps, he then heard a sigh, and the sound of a person, sitting on a couch.
He finally dared to open his eyes, but only a crack, the first thing he saw was what resembled a hospital room, he looked up, and saw multiple machines, and wires that led to his arm, he looked at them with a confused look, to his surprise this looked just like a regular hospital, this race must be very advanced.
He tried to sit up, and after taking some time, he finally fully sat up, and looked at his arms, he saw the tubes feeding some kind of liquid, he reached down, and slowly began to pull each of them out, as he did he cringed, and eventually pulled all of them out, and threw them to the side.
He looked up and saw a normal looking room, like any other hospital, he began looking all around the room, his head was still foggy, he brought his hands up to his head, and began rubbing, but only adding to the pain, he couldn't help but let out a groan.
Just as he did, he heard a gasp, come from his side, and footsteps approaching and a scared voice speak up, "um, excuse me, are…are you alright?" said a voice that actually soothed him, he looked up and around the room, trying to find the source of the voice. He saw nothing in his line of site, but he thought it would be rude if he didn't answer.
"Um, yeah, I guess I am, but I feel really light headed, where am I?" he asked, he heard a sigh of relief, and began looking around the room more hurriedly, to find the speaker.
"Thank Celestia, I thought we were going to lose you" he heard the voice say, as he looked down and saw what appeared to be a horse, but with a purple coat, his eyes widened in surprise and in fear, he raised a shaky finger, "did…you just talk to me?" he said in a confused voice, the horse looked at him with a confused eye, and nodded her head, "yes, I did, you were in really bad condition" the pony said, his eyes grew wide, and he let out a scream.
"Holy shit! Talking horse!" he said as he began scrambling back in the bed, only to reach the edge, and fell straight off, and hit the floor hard, on his wounded side, he let out a painful scream, as he placed his hand on his side, and rubbed it, he heard the sound of hurried footsteps, and saw the purple colored pony rush up to him, with a panicked look on her face.
The sight of her, made him scramble back, despite the pain, he raised his hand up, "s-stay away from me, whatever you are!" he said as he felt his back press against the bed side table.
The purple pony took a step closer, "sir, are you alright?" she asked concerned, extending out a hoof, this only made his try to scoot back further, "I said stay back" he said, trying to get her to leave, "it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you, my name is Twilight, I'm here to help, there's nothing to fear, what's your name?" she asked in a kind, calm voice, Nathan looked at her extended hoof, his breathing had calmed, and he looked at her.
He could tell by her face, that she meant no harm, but a part of him said that he could trust this pony, he knew it might not have been the smartest choice, but he grabbed her hoof, and helped himself up, when he was fully standing, he was much taller than her, she was up to his thigh, she smiled at him.
"What are you, if you don't mind me asking?" he said in a confused and still cautious tone, she seemed a bit confused by his question, but answered none the less, "I'm a pony, but the question is, what are you, I've never seen a creature like you before, what's your name?" she asked, with a very curious look on her face.
"Um…I'm a human, and my name is Nathan Richards, it's…nice to meet you, where am I?" he asked looking around again, "You're in the kingdom of Equestria, the best place there is to live, wow…this is really weird, first contact with an unknown creature, this is great!" she said excited, he gave a nervous smile, "I guess that makes both of us, wait…" he said looking down at her.
"Where did you say we were?" he asked curious, she looked up at him confused, "I said, we were in the kingdom of Equestria, ruled by our beloved Princess Celestia and Princess Luna" she said in a proud tone, he thought about it for a moment.
"And you said you've never seen a human before?" he said looking down at her, she shook her head, he thought about it for a moment, and then his eyes widened in shock, and a wide smile spread across his face, "YES! It worked, the machine worked, I can't believe it, and it actually worked!" he shouted loudly, Twilight just watched him laugh, still very confused, but intrigued.
"Sorry to interrupt, but what machine worked, where are you from, how did you get here?" she asked even more curious, he stopped his cheering and calmed down, to explain to her, he knelt down to her level, "well, you see, where I come from, I'm a scientist, I was working with other scientists, on trying to open a doorway to an alternate dimension, I thought something went wrong, but it turns out, it really worked" he said almost getting overly excited.
Twilight eyes lit up, "you're a scientist, so am I, that explains what happened, the Princess is going to love this, before you woke up, the Princess told me and my friends to bring you to her, when you woke, she can supply any more answers you may have, speaking of which, let me get my friends, I'm sure they would love to meet you, be right back, and you might want to change, we found those bags with you, they seem to be filled with clothing" she said as she ran out of the room.
When she said that, he realized that he was still in his hospital gown, he groaned and walked over to, his duffle bags, they seemed to be in great shape, he zipped one open, and saw all the fresh clothes he had packed, the others was filled with all his equipment, but he would worry about that later, he changed clothes, careful not to disturb the bandage around his side, he cringed as he slipped on a shirt, and took a deep breath.
He sat on the edge of the bed, and rummaged through the other bag, and brought out the communicator, to his disappointment, he saw that it was barely working, it would take some time, to get it fixed, but he decided to bring out the recorder, and brought it close up to his mouth, and pressed the record button, he had no idea, what to say, but he just winged it.
He pressed the record button, and spoke, "this is the audio log of Professor Richards, day one after the initial test, it turns out the machine worked, I am no longer on the Planet Earth, I have yet to find out more about this place, I will keep a detailed log on my discoveries, and report every time I have discovered something" he said as he let go of the button, and placed the recorder in the bag, just in time for the door to open, and the same purple pony to come in, quickly followed by five other pony creatures, all of them had different color fur, and strange marks on their hips.
All of them seemed to be giving him strange looks, except for the one he met earlier, after they all stepped in, he stood up and faced them, while Twilight gave him a smile.
"Girls, this is Nathan, he's a human, the first ever to be in Equestria, isn't this exciting, these are my friends" she said with an excited smile, gesturing to the first pony, a mare with an orange coat, and a blonde mane and tail, while wearing a cowboy hat.
"this is my friend, Applejack, the most honest and hard-working pony you will ever meet" she said, and Applejack turned to him, with a smile, "howdy, partner" she said in a southern accent, then Twilight turned to another one of her friends, a mare with a solid white coat, and a purple mane and tail, "this is my friend Rarity, the most generous pony ever" she said with a smile, the white coated mare walked up, "hello dear, my your sense of fashion, is…interesting" she said looking at his attire.
He looked down, and gave a slight chuckle, "believe me, if I knew I was going to meet an advanced race such as yourselves, I would have worn something classier" he said with a smile, just then a cyan colored pony, flew up in his face, her mane was made of all sorts of colors, like a rainbow.
"so you're a human huh, not as impressive as I would have thought, I thought you would be cooler" she said floating in mid-air, just by her tone of voice, Nathan had a feeling, that she would be annoying in the future, but rather than counter that, he knew it wouldn't make the best first impressions.
"Well, my kind are very different from your, as you could imagine, and you must be Rainbow Dash" he said, catching her off guard, "but…how did you-"she said but was cut off, but Nathan.
"I must have regained consciousness every now and then, and I heard your name, so I assumed it was yours, and it looks like I'm right" he said with a smug smile, Rainbow Dash gave a defeated sigh, and floated back to her friends, just as Twilight turned to last two friends, and gesturing towards an overly-excited pink pony, who seemed to be bouncing in place.
"This is my friend Pinkie Pie, probably the most fun pony in the kingdom" she said with a slight chuckle, the pink mare bounced over to him, her bouncing was almost high enough to reach his face, "hi, as my friend Twilight told you, I'm Pinkie Pie, and I love to throw parties" she said, Nathan couldn't help but give out a small chuckle, at her hyperactivity.
Then, Twilight turned to the last pony, a mare with a yellow coat, and a bright pink mane, she seemed to be hiding behind, her mane slightly, as if she was shy.
"And, this is my friend Fluttershy; she's the kindest pony you will ever meet" she said proudly, she seemed to be whispering something, it sounded like a greeting, but it was too quiet.
After, she finished introducing her friends; it became silent in the room, until Nathan spoke up.
"Well, it's an honor to meet all of you, this is extremely exciting for me, but I believe you said that you were told to take me to your Princess, if I remember" he said, and then Twilight remembered, as she was caught up in the moment, "oh yes, she did want us to bring you to her, we'll need to get to the train station, we'll take a short cut, around the town, so we don't arouse any suspicion, if you will come with us" she said as they all made their way out of the hospital.
A/N: well, that was really interesting, what things does Celestia have in store, for our human friend, find out next time, and see you all then.