The Shimmering Truth

Pinkie Pie was bored. Beyond bored. Walking for seemingly hours, was NOT FUN, at all. Yet, things got interesting when they arrived...

Teeming with excitement, Pinkie Pie stared at some sort of thin metal plate, spanning across the entrance to an enormous, whatever-it-was-made-out-of sphere! "Now what?" She asked the other Pinkie.

She didn't know how. What a surprise. With a sigh, the native Pinkie said bluntly, "Walk onto it. Ill meet you there soon."

Pinkie grinned sheepishly. They approached the metal plate, and pinkie stepped on it. Simply put, her face also stepped on it. Getting up and better onto the plate, Pinkie rubbed her nose. She wasn't used to walking normal. After recovering from her trip, Pinkie Pie started galloping around, jumping, singing, and having all the fun that she could, in an effort to make up for her earlier boredome.

Pinkie, the other Pinkie, gazed at the sight. This mare was strange. Deciding to end the show, she glared at Pinkie. "Stop."

"Why? It's so funnn!!" Pinkie punctuated this with a giant leap into the air.

The other Pinkie rolled her eyes. Snatching a hoof, Pinkie more or less dragged her reflection into this safe zone's entrance.

Passing two similar looking guards, the Pinkies entered the sphere. Pinkie gazed across it in awe. It was a town! It looked just like a normal  town in Equestria surprisingly. "Ooooooh my gosh! When I get back, I'm going to tell Twilight all about this! She would probably make the funnest faces at this world's... What was that word? Psychics? No... Physics? That sounds wrong. Anyway, WHOO HOO!!" Pinkie danced and stomped her hooves.

Wait... This filly knew where she was from? That surprised her. She hadn't expected the pink ball of energy to remember how to eat. "So, where are you from?" She inquired, hoping for a real answer.

"Ponyville! How about you?"

That name... It seemed familiar but she couldn't remember. "I'm from the Estates."

"Where's that?"

"It's where they handle scientific matters. The main scientific organization, more so known as the research team, have their headquarters there."

Pinkie, gave her a confused look. "Is it a big lab?"

"Sort of. They deal with barriers, duplication machines, the rare dimensional problem, and pretty much anything else related to science."

"Barriers? Duplication machines? Dimensional problems?"

This Pinkie Pie was unbearable! Deciding she couldn't get around it, she gave in. "Plain and simple, barriers hold cities together. If it breaks, the city falls. You see the orb around this city? That, is a barrier."

Pinkie looked up again and saw the stuff surrounding the city that she saw before. So THAT'S what that was! A barrier! It looked like glass, but it had a slight green tint to it. It was probably magic.

"Duplication machines, duplicate things. It creates a mirror image of an object, then brings it into existence. You shouldn't worry yourself about it. They would never let the likes of you near one."

"Dimensional problems, I'm not quite sure about. What I've been told is this: Sometimes, portals form between dimensions. It is up to the research team to close those portals before they cause any problems. Usually nothing too severe happens."

This seemed strange to Pinkie. "What are other dimensions like? Is this a new dimension? Is Equestria a dimension?

This didn't sit well with Pinkie. Her reflection was acting strange. She became suspicious. "Where is Equestria?"

Pinkie thought for a moment, then remembered the play her and her friends had put on in Canterlot. Before Equestria was founded, there was... Oh yeah! Pinkie didn't remember exactly, but had a general idea. "It's next to some cold, windy places."

Cold? WIND!? Pinkie suddenly realized where Ponyville was. It all made sense! Equestria was a dimension she had read about, and it had air! In that dimension, things could freeze and melt, and evaporate with a thing called heat. Here, things stayed the way they were. Water was water. Ice didn't exist. She had also read about some things heat could make. Bombs, and fire, which were both used for bad deeds.

Pinkie backed away from the dimensional trespasser whom she had thought was her reflection. "Your... Your a monster!" She spat out!

Pinkie gasped. What had she done? She had never been so mean to herself before! "I am not!" She defended.

"Oh but you are. I know your violent ways! Get away from me, you sick, sick brute!"

This had to be a misunderstanding! The other Pinkie galloped off, and the Equestrian Pinkie followed. She ran to the edge of the platform, and asked the guard there for something. He nodded, and other Pinkie got in some type of elevator.

Pinkie Pie approached the guard, who put his weapon across the entrance to the elevator. "Let me go there too!"

"Can't do ma'am. I have orders to stop you."

What was wrong with this guard!? "Let me in the elevator!" Pinkie yelled at the guard.

He gave her a puzzled look. "The elevator is that way ma'am." He pointed his hoof to a similar looking machine, that went down instead of this one's up.

Pinkie shook her head. "Whatever this is, I need to use it!"

The guard lost some control over his temper. "You leave now or I call for back up, to take you away. Got it?" He started down at Pinkie, who cowered under his icy gaze.

"O... Okay. I'll go now." Pinkie started sadly waking off towards the elevator. She might as well see and explore this place while she could.

Pinkie Pie got Twilight to let her use the library for research. Minus a few hundred details. She said she wanted to know a little about Equestria. A little was a huge understatement, but Twilight took the bait with only a few suspicious glances. Then, she hit the books.

This Pinkie Pie was a reflection of the other one back in the Estates. She was a spy dubbed by the research team. Her job was to explore any unknown dimensions, and report back her findings. Mostly she was supposed to focus on finding out about the portal that had opened between the two worlds.

Pinkie had other plans however. She was sick and tired of being the research team's pawn. Always sent into any dimension, not knowing anything about it. She had to admit, it was entertaining, but never the less dangerous.

Equestrian physics were weird. It seemed it was much harder to balance. Unlike home, where you could walk on another ponies' hooves without needing any other sort of balance. Pinkie had a feeling that if she tried that here, she would topple into the other pony and fall.

It showed that she wasn't used to Equestria's gravity also. Everywhere she attempted to go, she was crashing into things and tripping. She was used to having 2 opposite directions of gravity. The one you weren't in, slightly pulled on you, helping you keep your balance.

There were no reflection ponies in this place. She thought she saw one earlier, but it disappeared after she passed a store window. It was probably just her imagination. She couldn't help but feel the slightest bit lonely. There was nopony like her in this would, she was... Unique. Such a word was rare in her world, and never meant actually one of a kind. It mostly refereed to a pair of reflections, not a single pony.

Then there was the food. Pinkie realized she shouldn't be dwelling on this topic, as there was gourmet food back home, it was just extremely expensive. These ponies had an advantage however, air. It seemed to be able to help crops grow much better. Her dimension hadn't had air since...

She shook her head. No, she shouldn't be distracting herself like this. She had research to do.

Pinkie Pie got in the metallic elevator. She pressed the down button, and suddenly she was falling faster than any elevator she had ever seen! It made a whirring noise as it descended. The carpet seemed to be metal. Little metallic fibers stuck out of it. Not much else was out of the ordinary.  The 3 walls were just metal plates, but the 4'th wall looked like a... Screen?

The elevator stopped, and a door opened to reveal what might have passed for a normal town back in Equestria. Except, there weren't any happy ponies strolling down the streets! They looked... Sad. Pinkie frowned. Why was this town so depressed?

Pinkie walked to a store with a picture of a cow on it. Something was wrong however... It didn't have a nose! She walked in the store, and a bell chimed. The cashier was to the left, with rows of food lining the shelves to the right. All the food looked old, and gross.

Pinkie went up to the counter and asked, "Why doesn't that cow outside have a nose? Did you glue it? Why?

The cashier gave her a hateful look. "Tell your friends that this joke isn't funny. I'm sick of those kids annoying me at work.

"What kids?"

"You know the Barley brothers? Always making pranks? You've never... Wait.... GET OUT OF MY SHOP I'M BUSY, and don't play dumb!"

"Okay, fine. Sheesh." That was weird.

Passing a row of houses, Pinkie came to another shop. She didn't see it, but this one read "Tavern". Walking in, she noticed 4 ponies bantering about something to the back of the shop, 2 were at a long table having a drink, and a unicorn was behind the counter counting bits. She also noticed another pony sleeping at a booth.  Hm. Walking over to the bar tender, she asked, "can I get a drink?"

The pony smirked. "This isn't your average tea filly, it's got more of a kick then straight poison!"

What? What did he mean? "I just want a drink, not a kick. Why would you be kicking anypony? Poison can't kick, can it?

The bar tender burst into copious amounts of laughter. After he calmed down, he grabbed a glass and filled it with a brown liquid, handing it over to Pinkie. "Here filly, have one. On the house!" He shared an evil grin with a pegasus who had picked up on the conversation.

Pinkie grabbed the glass with her hooves, and not having had a drink in a while, took a rather large swig.

"Pinkie Pie, are you still reading?" Twilight walked in on Pinkie, practically buried in books. "You look tired. You should get some sleep."

Pinkie looked up from her book. "Let me just finish this chapter!"

"Come on Pinkie, you'll just start another one." Twilight was seriously concerned. Pinkie Pie of all ponies, reading for 6 hours straight, about what she would call, 'Boring history'? Something had to be going on, and Twilight had to find out. For the sake of her friend, she was going to help her through this.

Pinkie rolled her eyes, then closed the book and got up, tiptoeing past the other books strewn across the library's floor. Getting to the door, she said "Okay Twilight. Thank you for letting me use your books."

That reaction was unexpected, but, Twilight nodded. "Good night Pinkie, sweet dreams."

Pinkie Pie went out the door, and was greeted by the cool night air. She had to admit, temperature was cool. She feared extreme heat however, and hoped she would never come across that.

This was the time to start her 'amnesia' plan. It was a simple plan, convince all the ponies that the mirror pool had lasting effects, and she had developed amnesia, along with a personality change. She wouldn't need to learn to smile after all.

Turning back, Pinkie inquired, "Where do I live again?

Twilight gasped. "You don't remember?"

"No..." Pinkie murmured, a fake expression of embarrassment and confusion crossing her face.

That did it. There was definitely something wrong with Pinkie. Twilight smiled comfortingly, followed by, "You live at Sugarcube Corner, I'll walk you there." Later, she would take Pinkie to the doctors,  but for now, she needed rest.

Pinkie felt a jolt go through her body. The bar tender raised an eyebrow at her. "Impressive" he said.

Pinkie's eyes dilated, and she toppled over.

"I take that back. Still brave however."

Pinkie blinked. Her vision was blurry, and everything was muffled. It felt like she was laying on pins.

As soon as she regained her grasp on reality, it was immediately torn away, as she realized she was still in the mirror dimension.  She knew this, because the hospital room she was in, had no lighting, which seemed to be trending. She could see perfectly however. Hm.

Pinkie glanced over to her left, to see a strange machine and a window, looking out over a park where foals could play while they waited for their parents. To her right, was a door, and some shelves stocked with official looking papers and magazines. She couldn't read any of the titles, as the magazines have been messily strewn about.

After a few moments of staring silently, she couldn't help it anymore. She started humming to break the silence. She knew better than to move. If she had broken her leg or something, that would be hazardous.

Why was her leg broken though? It didn't hurt. Was it actually broken? She took the chance, and sat up. Nothing hurt, no broken bones, nothing! So why was she in the hospital? All she remembered was taking a drink of this nice pony's apple juice, then it feat like her whole body was being electrocuted. No burn marks. Huh.

She heard the door open, and another pony walk in. It was an earth pony stallion, with light red eyes, a red/dark tan coat, and a  light brown main, with really dark brown streaks, that looked close to black. He awkwardly looked at a clipboard that was in his mouth, then set it on one of the shelves.

"Miss... Pinkie Pie, I presume? I'm here to check on you."

He looked at her questioningly. Pinkie was still in a slight daze from when she woke up. She snapped out of it, and nodded. "Mmhm! Who are you? Why am I here What's wrong with me?"

The nurse smirked. "I am Terran Asher. You ingested a large amount of alcohol, and passed out. When the ambulance came, you were breathing heavily and had both hooves over your eyes, even while unconscious. There shouldn't be any lasting effects, only a severe dizziness when you stand up. This should go away in about one or two  hours, then your free to go!" He said cheerily.

Pinkie sighed. "What can I do?"

"Well," he said, motioning to the shelf by the door, "You could read any one of those. There's not much selection I admit, but some are pretty interesting."

Pinkie felt embarrassed. She had already forgotten about those. "Alright. Thank you!"

Terran left, leaving Pinkie alone in the room. She looked over at the shelf, and sat up on the hospital's white sheets. She grabbed one of the magazines and flipped to a random page:

"The Research Team has developed a new oxygen shot that lasts for 12 years! Order yours today!"

Just an ad. Pinkie wondered though, what was an oxygen shot? Finding an actual article, she continued reading:

"A shocking new story had been recovered about the great loss! After piecing the priceless pages together, scientists discovered that it was a journal! One specific page stood out."

The article had a picture of a old page, with numbers that looked like dates, and scribbled writing, which read:

"457-25(211)

Today we mourn over the loss of our captain. He was sent into the electric dimension, only to find out that none of his rubber worked! Everything in that dimension became conductors, even former insulators were electrocuted!

459-25(211)

The shields around this wretched dimension's portal are falling! Ponies who got too close would be in for a shock, literally. We are just hoping the electric fields don't tamper with our machinery."

This last entry seemed to be written out in quite a hurry:

"461-25(211)

The shields have been destroyed! arcs of electricity are exploding from the dimensional portal! Mom and dad I love you and wish you the best. I'm going in. I'm going to attempt to close the portal. Goodbye."

Pinkie stared at the page for a minute, then went back to the article below the journal entries.

"This log of events was found in the wreckage of an old scientific faculty. A brave pony died trying to save us, and it was not in vain. After his death lives his legend. However, the portal did not close without difficulties. The research team speculated that heat existed in the electric dimension. He activated an experimental "bomb" inside. normally, nothing would happen, but in that dimension, the bomb heated up, and caused a great force to be unleashed, destroying the portal... And him. Scientists call this an explosion."

Pinkie thought for a moment. No heat? She had just thought these ponies had great air conditioning, but then she realized she had never felt cold since she got here either. Strange. She continued reading:

"The 'explosion' caused enormous amounts of electricity to be released, frying all of our electrical equipment. With the safe zone barriers malfunctioning, all the air, and all the ponies currently outside, were sucked into the void. Ever since then, scientists have been developing oxygen shots. Your body would be injected with concentrated oxygen, but in a way that was regulated, and slowly released over large amounts of time."

So THAT'S what an oxygen shot was! Pinkie realized something, and reread a certain paragraph. No air!? Then she remembered not seeing a sun, or any lights since she got here! No light either!!?! Things were starting to make less and less sense.

Pinkie jumped off the bed over to the window. Outside, it looked perfectly normal! How could that be?

Pinkie's pondering was interrupted by the world spinning around her, and she lost her balance. She lay on the rippling floor, about ready to throw up. OR DOWN! NOTHING HERE MADE ANY SENSE!!

Terran came galloping in, and nearly broke the door down, and in bewilderment, saw Pinkie on the floor. He hurriedly helped her onto the bed. "What happened!?" He asked frantically

Pinkie, still drunk with dizziness, looked up at him and smiled. Then giggled and blushed. He was cute!

She didn't know he was a shape shifter! His face contorted in impossible ways. "Are you a magician?" She asked merrily, yet oblivious.

"What?" Terran asked. "No I'm not a magician. I wish I was, but are you alright?"

Terran hadn't been working here for long, and some of the more experienced staff warned him not to get too attached to a patient, as there was a possibility that they could die, and he would have to deal with the heartache. Despite this, he was still a little worried. Terran... Liked.. this pony.

"Hello? Can you hear me?" He looked down at the groggy Pinkie Pie, who slowly seemed to be regaining her sanity. She nodded, sending a sigh of relief through Terran.

"I'm glad." He smiled at her, marveling at how adorable she... "Work first Ter." He mumbled, chastising himself. Looking down, Pinkie had a tear rolling down her check.

"What's the matter?" He asked, now worried again.

She looked down, and sniffed. She didn't want this pony to run off too. She missed her friends, and didn't want to lose any new ones.

He looked down at her. "Please tell me?" He asked, becoming more serious.

"You'll hate me, and I don't want to lose anymore friends." Pinkie said slightly depressed.

Wha? "I won't hate you, I promise. How did you lose your friends?"

"Pinkie promise?" She looked up at him pleadingly.

"Um... Yeah Pinkie, I promise."

"I guess that counts..." Taking a deep breath, she started explaining. Rather quickly actually.

Terran was surprised, but he listened intently, trying to understand what she was saying.

"And that's how I got here!" Pinkie sighed, finally finished reciting the events.

Terran was stunned. She was from Equestria!? The alleged hidden dimension!?? She would prove valuable in the search to find the portal! He was sympathetic too. "Its  okay, I'll help you find your way home." The others would kill him if they heard that!

She smiled gratefully, and relieved. "So you don't think I'm a monster?"

"Of course not! It's just a myth that heated dimensions utilize it in hurtful ways. A myth that I don't believe."

Pinkie sighed, even more relieved. "Thank you. Thank you for not running away."

He decided not to ask.

"Can you help me?" Pinkie asked, "I have a headache. Your dimension is confusing."

He smiled again. "Sure Pinkie. What do you want to know?"

"How can we see, and hear? Why can't we smell? Why don't cows have noses? What is a void, and why do ponies walk across it? How do they walk? How do they balance? Why is the food so bad? Why is there so much metal everywhere?"

Taking a deep breath, Terran started. "I studied your dimension for a little bit, so I'll try to help, but I don't know everything. Us ponies are... Was it psychics? Whatever your dimension called them. Our eyes don't really see, it's our mind that sees. It doesn't need light. This is the same with sound. We don't need ears, or air to hear. We still have ears and eyes, because our bodies dont realize they're useless. Mind over matter eh?"

"We can't smell, because of the lack of air. Our brains don't consider smell very important, so we can't. Cows, along with some other animals, have been genetically altered, to produce more milk, and other things. No nose is just a side effect."

"The void, is pretty much infinite nothingness. We used to have technology beyond what he have now, but the Fulgar dimension changed that. It was a place filled with electricity.  It fried all our equipment. Included, was our teleporters. They rarely short out, and teleport two reflections somewhere random. Sometimes, they are teleported into a complex, which is pretty much another word for the void, except inside a complex, an invisible energy field generates between two reflections. This is what they walk on, well not really. They walk on each other, but it's the energy that propells them forward. Sometimes highly trained  ponies enter complexes to deliver mail."

"As you might not have noticed," he leaned sideways. "It is very easy to keep your balance. There are 2 gravitational fields here. Well, 2 planes of existence,  but it is mostly just referred to as gravity. In Equestria, it would probably be referred to as a mirror effect of some sort. You can switch between gravity, which is why cities have an upside down counterpart. The field you're not in however, still slightly effects you, pulling you up a little, which allows for great balancing acts."

"Our economy is suffering after our equipment shut down, so most of the food you find will be C-grade rations. Machines were made to promote plant growth, but they were also wiped. The metal, has just been recycled, as fixing everything that was broken would take longer than just remaking then from old plans. You stumbled upon our dimension during a depression.

He smiled warmly, and Pinkie seemed to be attempting to figure this all out. "Thanks!" She said, eyes drooping. "I'm tired. Can I sleep?"

He snickered. "Of course you can. If you think of any more questions, you can ask me in the morning." [Hint hint, readers.]

"Good night." Terran said, turning.

"Good night Terran." Pinkie murmured, already half asleep.

He shut the door and smiled. She really was adorable. Then he quickly reminded himself, work comes first.