The After

Chapter Three: Explanation Station

For a moment, The Arrival was mesmerized.

The pegasus went mute. She had no idea what to say. All she could manage to do was stare at the friendly pony’s appearance.

The stranger had a purple body and purple eyes. In fact, the only thing about her that wasn’t purple was her mane, composed of a dark blue hue where two varied stripes of light rosy pink and violet sat besides her horn.

Her observer did a double take.

She looked once more, and her eyes had not lied. The pony sitting in front of her had a horn.

The pegasus wasn’t sure she had this horn herself, but considering she failed to noticed her own wings, she tapped her head quickly, confirming there was nothing there.

“Um, h-h-hello-o.” she replied nervously, quickly putting her hoof down while the doctor offered the non-unicorn her own, smiling, as the pegasus returned the gesture with another blank stare.

“Aren’t you going to shake my hoof?” The official-looking figure asked politely.

“Oh!” the pegasus exclaimed, “I’m sorry.” she apologized, donating her left hoof, which was taken and wrapped around the unicorn’s in a warm hoofshake.

“As I’ve said before, I’m Doctor Fineshine Star.”

The doctor smoothly broke off the hoofshake.

“But you can call me Fineshine.”

“Oh… that’s nice.” the pegasus commented, her wings collapsed tightly into her body as she looked down to the ground with embarrassment, not saying a word further.

The uncomfortable silence dawned on both mares.

The newcomer didn’t want to say anything. She didn’t even know what to think. So she waited, holding on for the longest possible time she could, hoping that something would break the building tension. But even though she was barely looking back at the Doctor, she could tell Fineshine seemed to be expecting something from her.

The nameless mare broke. Her shoulders dropped as she backed away, squeaking out, “I-I d-don’t know who I am.”

Fineshine looked at her, tilting her head.

“Well,” she suggested lightheartedly, “does the name, Fluttershy, sound familiar to you?” Yet when Fineshine asked this, her voice was so confident that it was not a question, but an answer.

The pony who didn’t know her name thought about it, and within moments, the dots clicked.

“Yes!” she sprang up in amazement, suddenly growing louder, “Yes, yes it does!”

Fluttershy felt relieved of a great burden. She didn’t know how she knew her name was Fluttershy, but she knew it had to be true, and at that very moment the confidence she had that it was true felt impossible to break.

“Yes, that’s my name! I’m Fluttershy. My name is Fluttershy!”

A wave of excitement passed over her, before she breathed a sigh of joyful relief. “Oh—thank you for helping me remember my name. I-I-I don’t know what I’d do without it. I mean, I-I don’t know how I could forget it, but—” she rushed on, excited, “Thank you.” she repeated, nodding with sincerity.

“Your welcome!” Fineshine seemed glad to help, “Answering questions is what I’m here for!” she chirped with hint of pride.

Until that moment, Fluttershy had been to mesmerized by the pony in front of her to notice her surroundings, shyly looking straight ahead. But then, with a helpless sense of curiosity, moved her head, and became absorbed in the great magnitude of space around her, its vastness unfolding before her like a giant map in front of her eyes.

The wall furthest away from her was actually a hollow series of alcoves, the massive archway entrances leading into a patio before an area of a lush and thriving garden, paths snaking beyond the green forestry into mystery.

Fluttershy could feel the cool breeze drafting through the entryways, the distinct aroma of springtime air and flowers carrying all throughout the room, despite Fluttershy wasn’t sure she’d ever smelled flowers before.

To the right of her, the hallway ended at a wall that was large enough to fit six times the length of the previous room. However, to the left of Fluttershy, there was a whole stream of space that seemed to go on endlessly out of sight, except that there was an end, but it was far enough away from her that she couldn’t make out any distinction of what might be there, an exit, or a trapping enclosure of wall. An unseen source of sun was cast light at the perfect angle through the arched entrances, creating a striped pattern of diagonal shadows growing outward from the white beams.

Meanwhile, behind her were more hallways, similar to the one she’d emerged from, leading further into the depths of the building.
Fluttershy began to spin around in-place, gazing at everything, marveling over the ornate, bright colors surrounding her. Chairs were lined in rows across the middle of the hallway similar to Fineshine’s, and alternating every other chair, were circular tables with flower filled vases sitting atop them. Cushioned sofas lined the walls. Similarly, sitting across the sofas on the opposite end, were tables where large silver pots with translucent middle-sections, showing their contents to be water submerged in an ice bath, shined in the light. Adjacent to the pots were glass cups stacked in rows.

“W-w-w…” Fluttershy trailed off with astonishment, gazing up at the ceiling high above, adorned below by yellow and pink chandeliers. “W-Where am I?”

“This,” Fineshine gestured all around with delight, “is Explanation Station, a fantastic place of wonder and curiosity!” She praised, “In this building alone, we have hundreds of rooms containing almost anything you could possibly think of: bedrooms, ballrooms, classrooms, game rooms, conference rooms, cafeterias, offices, gardens, cafés, restaurants, rivers, arcades, gyms—” she took a deep breath, “even farmhouses!” she proclaimed in excitement.

“And—” Fineshine grinned with gusto, “the largest public library in all of The After!” she listed this last item with additional glee. “All in one place.”

“It’s so big!” Fluttershy stopped spinning, ending her dreamy distraction, unaware that Fineshine was speaking again.

“Yes, we take pride in our hugeness.” Fineshine said, grinning.

Fluttershy continued to stare into space, eventually coming back to the realization that she had no clue where she was, or what to say. The conversation had died. Fluttershy retracted, butterflies flying back into her stomach, and the uncomfortable silence dawned on both mares.

Then, as if looking for some kind of instructions, Fineshine began flipping page after page of the papers on her clipboard like a flipbook, concentrating as she stuck her tongue out.

Fluttershy stared at the clipboard, until she noticed the purple glow that surrounded it, the same color as the aura around Finesehine’s horn, and in the same moment she realized all at once that Fineshine wasn’t holding the board up with her hooves.

“Oh my!” Fluttershy reacted, “Y-y-you can do that?”

“Do what?” Fineshine glanced up, uncertain what she meant.

Fluttershy’s eyes lit up again, “That.” she pointed at her horn and then at the clipboard with a look of awe.

Fineshine thought about her statement for a second. “Oh.” she realized, touching her horn, “yes, That.” she laughed playfully, “Yes, all unicorns have magical powers.” she said, right before the clipboard disappeared with a poof!

“Unicorns?” Fluttershy asked, feeling lost.

“One of the three branches of ponies. There are Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies.” Fineshine clarified, looking over Fluttershy’s befuddled appearance.

“I am a Unicorn, you see.” Fineshine tilted her head so that her horn was facing Fluttershy as she demonstrated its glow. “I can move objects and use magic to bring things to me, or make them disappear.”

“Oh, what pony am I?” Fluttershy pondered, worried.

“You are a Pegasus, plural: Pegasi. As you might have noticed, you have wings.”

Fluttershy looked back at the feathers of her two flexible fliers, flapping them twice as a weird sensation of unfamiliarity passed over her, as if she only acquired them yesterday.

“You can use those to fly.” Fineshine’s voice lifted.

“I can?” Fluttershy seemed very surprised, then reactive, “Oh, well, I guess that makes sense," suddenly very embarrassed at how obvious this should have been to her.

It was clear to Fineshine that Fluttershy did not know very much, yet that was nothing unexpected to her.

“There are also Earth Ponies,” Fineshine added, “Who have neither a horn or wings. Those are the three branches of ponies.”

“Ah.” Fluttershy said, retracting, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know there was more than one kind of pony.” she confessed.

“Oh no,” Fineshine corrected her with a cheering tone, “You don’t have to be sorry. It’s perfectly natural for you to have questions about all this. After all, you’re probably wondering how I knew your name?”

“Y-y-yes.” Fluttershy omitted, surprised, acting like her mind had been read. “Yes I was.”

The expression on Fineshine’s face, although she tried to hid it, made it seem as if the answer was obvious, but what she said was: “Well, everypony has a name. Even if you don’t remember your name you still have one, but usually it’s something you would forget when you wake up. I only know your name because—” she lingered for a moment, “ ‘Fluttershy’ is a very common name.”

Fluttershy’s eyebrows pressed together, “So… other ponies have the same name as me?” she asked.

“Yes, quite a lot actually.” Fineshine told her, pausing a moment before adding, “But they don’t always call themselves Fluttershy.

Fluttershy puckered her forehead, thinking of something, “So—if you’re a doctor… ” Fluttershy began, “does that make this a hospital? Oh!” she yelped, her face contorting into worry, “Does that mean somepony’s hurt? Am I sick?” she asked anxiously. Yet when Fluttershy viewed her surroundings once more, she found no indication that this was a hospital. If anything, it looked more like a hotel.

“No, no, no.” Fineshine assured, amusingly shaking her head at Fluttershy’s misunderstanding. “Not at all. We’re different kinds of Doctors than that. We don’t poke ponies with sticks or measure their heart rate. Well, unless we need to.” Fineshine giggled, when she thought of something else, “Speaking of which, I should ask; are you feeling any bit hungry? Thirsty? Would you like some water?” Fineshine smiled again, clearly trying to be as kind as she could possibly be.

Fluttershy’s attention snapped back to the purple mare.

“Oh.” she muttered, “I’m sorry, I… um—” Fluttershy became caught up in her own apology, “Uh, yes, I would like that very much, if that’s okay.” she nodded, unsure if she actually wanted water, but unable to refuse such a polite offer.

On cue, Fineshine floated a cup into the spigot of one of the many silver pots Fluttershy had seen earlier, as she watched a stream of perfectly clear and cold tube of water flow into the cup.

Using her power, Fineshine managed to quickly float the glass over to Fluttershy without spilling a drop.

“Oh!” Fluttershy yipped as the glass appeared at her side, astounded.

Fineshine cast another spell, and the glass remained in its place, floating without the magical glow of her horn to levitate it.

“It’ll follow you now. Just tip it over whenever you want a drink.” Fineshine informed her courteously.

“T-th-thank you.” Fluttershy said, showing her appreciation.

“My pleasure.” Her doctor responded.

Fluttershy respectfully sat down to take a drink, holding the glass with both her hooves. When she was finished, she wondered what to do with the glass, unable to stand up without letting go of it.

“Just drop it.” Fineshine said. “You’ll see.”

Fluttershy was doubtful. She found it hard to believe that if she let go the glass wouldn’t help but drop and smash into dozens of tiny pieces.

“Go on.” Fineshine assured her.

Fluttershy winced, slowly letting the cup slip, preparing for it to fall. She let go with her last hoof and waited for the drop, but to her amazement, the glass stayed right where it was.

“Wow!” she uttered, intrigued not only by her newfound surroundings, but by this newfound pony.

To test the validity of what Fineshine had said about the glass following her, Fluttershy moved to the side just slightly, still sitting down.

Like a magnet the glass readjusted its position.

Moving to the other side, she watched the glass float over to match her, and getting up with amusement, she walked away, and in reaction, the glass followed. Captivated, she walked the other way, yet the glass still remained by her side, obeying her like a puppy-dog to a command.

Fluttershy giggled and tried to cover it with a hoof. “He-he-heh. It does follow me.”

“Of course.” Fineshine replied with ease, glad to see her patient easing up, before looking down the hallway in both directions, “Would you like to take a walk with me?” she unexpectedly suggested.

Fluttershy gazed down the long stretch of corridor Fineshine was indicating. A pang of dread rushed into her heart. The longer she stared into the depths of the hall, the farther it appeared to grow away from her.

She thought about saying no, but in retrospect, she didn’t feel she had much of a choice. She tried to swallow some of her fear and agreed with a weak, “Oh-oh-oh-ok, that sounds nice.”

Fineshine smiled once more, her purple eyes beaming. She motioned with her head to follow in her lead, pointing a hoof down the hallway to the left of them.

Fluttershy reluctantly began trotting forward.

“We can leave your water back here. It’ll be fine.” she reminded Fluttershy of the magical glass floating next to her, which she had already forgotten about.

Using Fineshine’s powers, the glass found itself back to the table, where a separate glow of magic opened the lid to the pot, the remaining water in the glass animatedly turned white and spun around and around until it became it’s own little cloud, which floated out and away, across the room, and past the arches, where it disappeared in a path floating towards the sky.

Not a drop was left remaining inside the glass before it returned clean and clear, stacked back on top with the other cups, perfectly clean.

“Wow.” Fluttershy let out the quietest hint of admiration, truly amazed.

“C’mon, this way.” Fineshine encouraged, talking to the lead.

Fluttershy, afraid of being left behind, quickly caught up to her; staying close.

Slowly, the two of them began walking away from the room Fluttershy had began this day in, crossing over the shadows of the columns in stride. Fluttershy couldn't resist the temptation, and she looked back once more.

“So I’m sorry, but I still haven’t answered what must be your biggest question yet. You’re probably wondering how you got here, correct?” Fineshine spoke through Fluttershy’s memory-trance as they walked.

“I—” Fluttershy turned her head back forward, momentarily taken aback, wondering if this pony could read her mind. “Uh, Yes. I was.” she replied politely.

“Well, first, to begin to help you understand any of these things, you're going to need to know some basic information.” Fineshine began, “You see, everypony gets here the same way. One day, they wake up, and suddenly, they find themselves here, no matter where they remember coming from, and what life they remember having lived. This is why, everything up until now, is called, ‘The Before’, and everything after, happens in—well—The After.” Fineshine snickered, fairly sure she had made the joke a hundred times by now.

“Although,” Fineshine added quickly before Fluttershy could say anything, “whereas some ponies have many memories, you only have one, that lasted a few seconds. That was your Before.

“What memory?” Fluttershy gawked.

“Well, you don’t remember this memory on-purpose. You will remember it soon, but until now, we’ve made you forget it, because for you to understand why you have the memory you do, you first have to understand what The After is. Only then will your memory make sense, and so will all of this. So, like I said, this is The After, which is the general name given to where you are when talking about everything here.” she elaborated, and Fluttershy tried to process. “But, to be more specific, you’re in the city of Multiquestria, which just so happens to be the oldest city in all of of The After.”

Fluttershy looked again at her surroundings rapidly.

“A city?” she asked. “This is a city?”

From where Fluttershy stood, there was no clear indication that where she was now was a city or anywhere else. From what Fluttershy had seen, the outside was only enclosures of garden, and green fields, like the one outside her room.

“Yes, and a large one too.” Fineshine replied.
Fluttershy’s internal anxiety suddenly leaped up, right before Fineshine assured her, “But don't fret, it's not what you might think it is,” as if she had the ability to read her mind.

“It may be big, but ponies are still nice here. The city itself is more like a big-town, or a large village really. It once was a small town called Ponyville…” Fineshine sighed, almost unnoticeable, “but it wasn’t the only one.”

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked.

“The town you’re in now was once called Ponyville, but so were all the other towns around it. Eventually, these towns merged into one, called Multiquestria, and over the course of sixteen years, it grew much, much bigger, and it’s been growing ever since.” Fineshine narrated the small history lesson with a hint of nostalgia, her lab-coat hanging on her to remind Fluttershy that she was a doctor, and a doctor probably wouldn’t make up lies.

But, the problem was, this was so sudden, and so ridiculously hard to believe.

“Sixteen years?” Fluttershy asked, in disbelief about the dating. It sounded simultaneously far too young and far too old at the same time. “Is that how long I’ve been here?” she trembled at the terrifying notion that somehow, sixteen years of her whole life had slipped her by.

“No, silly." Fineshine chuckled colorfully, “You haven’t even been here for sixteen minutes!” she laughed.

Although Fluttershy didn’t seem to catch on to the humor, Fineshine stopped to become slightly more serious. “But yes, The After has been here for sixteen years, that is true.”

After a considerable moment of walking in silence, Fineshine remembered to say something very important.

“Although, I know you don’t know me, I need you to understand that I would never lie to you. When you have a question, please ask.”

Fluttershy knew she had questions, but there were so many, she didn’t even know where to begin. They continued walking, while Fluttershy’s thoughts remained stuck, searching for a place to begin. Then her thoughts came loose, and it struck her.

“Well, um, if you don’t mind,” she started cautiously, as Fineshine craned her neck to give Fluttershy her full attention, “could you please tell me, why’s it called, ‘The After?’ ”

Fineshine sighed, but smiled all the same. She halted their short-lived walk, making Fluttershy pause as well. They had advanced half-way down the hallway, the same distance from where they had started as to the other end of the hall. They found themselves sitting in the angled shadow of column closest to them, another garden, and another path sitting underneath the arch it helped form.

“There is a reason this place is called The After, and it is a very specific reason, but…” Fineshine took a deliberate pause, “I need you to listen to me very, very closely. What I’m about to tell you is extremely important, but trust me, it won’t make sense right away.”

“O-Ok.” Fluttershy sucked in air, preparing to hear the news, the pace of her heart quickening, “I’m ready.” she affirmed determinedly, against her larger doubt.

“Alright, good.”

Fineshine relaxed as she prepared mentally for her patient's reaction to the news she was about to give her, breathing calmly. “So...”

“The Eternal truth, behind all the truth there is in The After, is that The After is a universal place, where all ponies, and others, come to, once their story has ended.”

Fineshine paused, trying to let that sink in. Fluttershy had heard everything, but her ears felt deaf, failing to understand any of what Fineshine had meant.

The doctor went on, “The reason it’s called The After, is because for every pony, it is the place where they live after their story has ended.”

Fluttershy swore to herself she wasn’t going to say anything, that she would only listen, but she couldn’t help it.

“You’re right.” Fluttershy giggled, still confused, “I d-don’t understand.”

“Well, that’s O.K. You shouldn’t, not right away.” Fineshine switched tactics, “You see, the one thing everypony shares in common in the After, is that every single pony here has a story.” Fineshine said is in a tone of devot respect. “However, each pony’s story is different from one another’s, sometimes by a little, sometimes by a lot.”

“So when I say everypony has a story, I mean that I have a story, and you have a story.”

“I do?” Fluttershy said, as if she’d been granted some powerful and mysterious item.

“Yes.” Fineshine confirmed. “But when I say the word, story, what I mean is anything that describes or shows an event, or series of events, to an outside observer. A story does not simply mean only things that are written down. A story can be told with pictures, with sounds, and with words. It doesn’t matter how the stories are told, only that they involve, well, usually involve,” Fineshine corrected herself, “ponies, whose lives are written in these stories. We say that these stories are what make us ponies alive.”

Fineshine slowed down even further, trying to make each word as clear as the next. “The other thing every pony shares in common here, is that, despite we all have different stories, our stories usually involve the same ponies, mention the same events, and occur in similar, if not the exact same place, and the reason for this is because we were all inspired to be made by one story; the same story.” Fineshine empathized with no higher possible amount of importance.

“I-I th-thought you just said we all had different stories?” one of Fluttershy’s eyebrows raised while the other one lowered, her mouth curled up.

“We do. We do have different stories,” Fineshine moved to the side, slowly walking in front of Fluttershy in a semi-circular path, until she was out of the shadow, “but, and I know this is complicated to understand, our different stories, which are indeed separate, are derived from one larger, more important story. Without it, none of us would be here.” Fineshine’s smile lessened slightly as she again shifted into a look of respect, as if she were looking at some deity behind Fluttershy that wasn’t there. “And we call this one story, ‘The Source’,” Fineshine paused, almost involuntarily, “because it is the source of all things in The After. Please, keep this in mind.”

“I-I-I will.” Fluttershy stammered, suddenly finding herself making a promise.

Fineshine closed her eyes, then opened them, as if renewed, “And the name of ‘The Source’ source, is ‘My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic’.”

Fluttershy’s eyes became unblinking circles and her mouth became a straight line. She stared at Fineshine mutely, then raised a hoof.
Fineshine’s smile lightened up again as she turned her attention towards Fluttershy, who took it as a cue.

“I’m s-sorry,” she started, “b-b-but I’m-m confused. What you’re saying sounds…” she searched for the right word, “like it has to be true, but I don’t know what it m-m-means. What’s, ‘My Little Pony’?” she nervously began to twirl her hair in her hoof. “And why is the pony little? And whose pony is it?” she stopped twirling. “Oh, am I the little pony?” she guessed cutely.

Fineshine began to laugh, not loudly, but filled with joy, “D-don’t wo-wo—” Fineshine’s laughter stuttered her words, “Worry. Ahem.” She cleared her throat, the smile on her face even brighter. “The pony doesn’t belong to anyone, and it's not a real pony, only the name of the s-s-s,”she giggled again, trying hard to control her face, “s-source. You’re not the little pony, and neither is anypony else.”

“Oh.” Fluttershy punctuated the air, “Ok.”

Fluttershy stopped talking, and glanced more at the ground then at Fineshine, waiting to hear what she would say next, as Fineshine waited to see if Fluttershy had anything more to say.

“Annyyyyyway,” Fineshine picked up, “ ‘My Little Pony’, as it’s known in short, is a type of story we call a, ‘television show’. To explain,” Fineshine pushed in her glasses nerdily, “a television show is a specific program which plays upon a television, in the typical form of moving pictures accompanied by sound, as defined by the Recollected Universal Dictionary of New Plane.” Fineshine recited, “In other words, it’s a type of story you watch with your eyes, and when you watch it, the pictures you see move really, really quickly, and make it look like the things are there which are actually just on a flat surface. A television, on the other hoof, is the device which contains the surface that a television shows play on. We have many in The After, but they aren’t entirely necessary to show you The Source.”
Fluttershy grasped half of what Fineshine had said. “Ok.” she finally puttered out, then heistitated. “B-b-but-t…” she trialed off, then looked away nervoulsly.

“Yes?” Fineshine leaned in.

“B-but what’s this story, or-or ‘Source’, whichever it is—” Fluttershy couldn't make out the difference between which name sounded more appropriate, “have to do with me?”

“Well”, Fineshine leaned back, grinning once more, with the same enthusiasm as a stagehand about to pull open the curtains of a grand musical, “why don’t I just show you?” Fineshine poorly suppressed a dorky giggle at her own pun, and then, with one flicker of her horn, the hallway exploded into color.

Suddenly, encircling them everywhere, there were images of ponies talking, laughing, dancing, running, fighting.

Fluttershy’s gaw gaped slightly, and her eyes sparkled with tiny reflections, “Woah!” she gasped, quiet and loud and the the same time.
The scenes bounced around Fluttershy’s eyes, overwhelming her, the motion of the different events they portrayed becoming giant pink and purple waves that moved on the inside, but whose edges remained frozen in place.

Fluttershy tried to find one pony among the hundreds before her that she recognized, but she saw none, and she had to pivot around to be able to see all of them.

Yet, Unbeknownst to her, Fineshine was only giving Fluttershy half of the real picture. Every movie that the two of them saw, Fineshine had selected from the recess of a chasm of other clips of the show. What she revealed, would be just as important as what she omitted, which, Fineshine understood, was a lot.

Through the flickering rapidness of the changing scenes and the glaring brightness of the moving bodies, Fluttershy could make out that the muzzles and tails of the ponies in one screen where the same muzzles and tails in the next one. And the next one. And the next one, until she the realization dawned upon her. The fifty or so ponies before her were mostly of the same ponies, over and over again.

In the glimpses of six different screens alone, there was an identical cyan and rainbow-colored pegasus who seemed to be perpetually soaring through the sky in each of her different renditions, leaving an identical colored rainbow-trail blazing behind her.
Scattered nearby her screens, the rectangular windows of the rainbow flier, were separate screens of what looked like a projection of a studio. There was a cordial, ecstatic white mare who kept her purple hair and curls well-curled as she brought a pair of scissors to a piece of fabric using the same unicorn magic as Fineshine, and falling into place like a mosaic to complete one section of the wall, were three other scenes of a pink pony, constantly rushing around with such force that her swirly head of hair and tail seemed to shake with the energy of a caffeine-rush.

Fluttershy turned away from the wall, rubbing her eyes. Even then, in the slits of her vision, she could catch glimpses of a repeated field of an apple orchard, where an orange mare wearing a dusty brown hat charged her forehooves into the trunk of a tree, causing a swarm of apples to rain out from beneath its branches.

Blinking from her own rubbing, Fluttershy rotated a whole 180 degrees in the other direction, but she couldn’t escape the sight of them, looking the same on the second wall as on the first.

Then, in the mid-right section, one of the frames suspended her attention. Inside, a young foal danced and sung around a grass clearing, surrounded by squirrels, birds, bees, and butterflies, all gathering around her.

“Wait a minute…” Fluttershy thought out loud, glancing rapidly between her own hooves and the picturized pony before her.

She squinted “Is that—?” she gazed harder, than her breath was inhaled into a high-pitched gasp. She put a hoof over her mouth.

Fineshine stood by her side and examined the captivating image, pretending to ignore her revelation.

“Ah yes!” she said, watching the scenes of the singular movie change with incredible pace.

Fineshine cast another spell, and remaining pictures around them disappeared like popping bubbles.

“This is a perfect specimen to examine!” she smiled, looking directly into the film’s heart.

“I-It-it-it can’t-t be… that’s me!” Fluttershy declared, her hoof shooting out involuntarily and pointing at her younger, mirrored version of herself.

Fineshine did not act surprised. In fact, Fluttershy’s reaction seemed to be exactly what she was expecting to hear, but a moment of silence was taken before she responded.

“Well… ” without warning, Fineshine illuminated her horn, “she does look like you” and suddenly, the picture took on a life of it’s own through music.

Fluttershy jumped back.

“♪—I’d have come here sooner, and never leave!—♪” The words, although a bit squeakier than Fluttershy’s voice, emanated out as if from her own mouth, yet her lips were sealed.

“♪— Yes, I love ev-er-ythiiiiing!♪” Fluttershy’s filly version trilled for five seconds, before the crescendo reached its peak. Fineshine forced the video off abruptly, but Fluttershy could still catch a glimpse of the next frame as her younger self reacted to a large blast in the sky behind her, before the image was gone altogether, and she was left starting a blank wall, shocked and mesmerized.

The reflection of the colorful movement ceased to be in Fluttershy’s trembling eyes. Her head grew hot, and see tried to speak, “Wh-wh-what?” she began to hyperventilate, “What?” she wheezed, her lungs gulping for air, then spewing it out again like she was drowning. Fluttershy closed her eyes and let a nerve of pain travel up into her head and then pass away as she grimaced, biting her teeth.

“I know. I know.” Fineshine nodded, her tone changing drastically. “I know exactly how you’re feeling right now.”

Fineshine said this, despite the fact that what Fluttershy was feeling right now, was as if she were swallowing a hot stone, fighting to get her words through the vacuum for air, and shakily, bringing them past her lips.

“Wh-what w-was that? Wh-h-huh-huh—” her throat fell back into the dry sucking for air.

“Breath. Breath.” Fineshine came inches away from Fluttershy, and with a careful stretch, placed her hoof on Fluttershy’s chest in the center of her beating breaths, then placed her other hoof around Fluttershy’s ear and onto her back.

Fluttershy’s chest heaved up and down painfully for fifteen seconds, and her tongue continued to dry up as she started into the ground, fighting back the formation of tears in her eyelids while Fineshine’s comforting touch gradually easing the panic in her lungs, despite Fluttershy still had it in her head.

She coughed and choked, “What?” Fluttershy repeated in a coarse whisper, the moisture in her throat from the glass of water she’d drank had disappeared, as her hair falling in front of her face untidily.

“Here, you should sit down.” Fineshine suggested, moving her hoof from Fluttershy’s chest to help lower Fluttershy’s already wobbling hooves to the ground like a friend helping to take another into the water of a river, only to have Fluttershy bury her head in her hooves and hair, lying down on her belly.

Laying with her, Fineshine kept one hoof on her back as she felt her back lower up and down softly, the cycle soon picking up when she could tell Fluttershy had begun a hushed bout of sobbing, the only other sound in the hallway being the sound of a distance breeze, coming from elsewhere.

At last, Fluttershy rose from her nested mat of pink hair and hooves to look at Fineshine through blurry, tearful vision, only to ask, “W-Why-y don’t I not remember that?”

As sincerely as possible, Fineshine looked into Fluttershy’s eyes, seeing how they were chalk-full of tears.

“Here,” Fineshine cast a magic spell, and from out of nowhere, a large box of tissues appeared, levitating in front of Fluttershy.

Having lost her smile awhile ago, but not quite frowning, Fineshine didn’t say anything; taking a tissue from the box in a separate glow of magic, and delicately, brought it to her face, lightly drying the tears on her eye and her cheek, then repeating with the other eye.
Fluttershy nearly teared up more at the gesture.

“Th-thank you.” she said; voice raspy.

Fineshine’s lips curled up again silently, nodding. She placed the box in front of Fluttershy, before she took a tissue and blew her nose. Fineshine took both discarded tissues and, in a flare of magic, burned them with her purple glow, so that they left no ash.
Inside, Fineshine felt, for the hundredth time in her career, a feeling of deep remorse pass through her as she opened her mouth to speak again, with a voice as gentle as she could make it.

“You don’t remember singing that song, and you shouldn’t. The pony you were watching, looked just like you, almost down to the very last detail.”

Fluttershy nodded meekly.

“But, In the most basic way I can explain it…” Fineshine began, slowly, “The pony that you were seeing was not you. Rather, you are a nearly identical copy of her, not perfectly alike, but extremely similar. This is because, both you and me are supposed to be ponies from the Source. Do you remember what I said? Everypony has a story, but everypony’s story comes from The Source. What you were watching was The Source. Every one of those clips was from the show, ‘My Little Pony.’ You and me, we are the ponies we are, because we are meant to be the same ponies from it, That is why is it really called The Source.”

Fluttershy’s mouth seemed to lash out: “I—” but she did not know what to say. Her lips trembled, and before she could say anything more, more hot tears ran down from her cheeks.

Fineshine gently set a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder, sitting down beside her.

Fluttershy hid in a headful of floor. It was half a minute before she could speak again, sobs rattling her body like a cage.

Fineshine remained quiet, letting the pegasus feel her emotions, her exhaustion, without interference.

Then, carefully laying a hoof over Fluttershy’s back, Fineshine whispered, soft as the breeze, “It’s going to be alright. In the end, everything is going to be alright.

Drained, her forehead hot and painful, Fluttershy began to dry up.

Fineshine watched her, “I know, I know, it’s hard. It's so hard.”

A deep sob came out of Fluttershy’s hair, now being used as a mask to cover her face.

“But that’s why I’m here for you. It's why we’re all here for you.”

* * *

Nothing had moved.

Fluttershy stood perfectly still. She had given up all hope of understanding at this point, and now she only waited for Fineshine to speak again, or for her wake up from this horrible nightmare, and be brought back to wherever her home was.

But nothing happened, and the two ponies stood there in the all-consuming silence.

Fluttershy’s jaw creaked open. Her mouth was dry and parched. The water she’d draken from earlier had totally evaporated.

“ I... I-I d-d-don’t—” she whispered.

“ I know,” Fineshine stepped-in, “it’s a lot to take in. But please, don’t believe you have to understand this all at once. I assure you, everything will be explained with enough time.”

Fineshine waited deliberately before she spoke again, “I hope you’ll come to like it here.” she said, trying to be comforting with the message.

“ But none of this makes any sens—!”

Fluttershy raised her voice to a shout, when all of the sudden, her yell was broken by somepony else’s, coming from behind them calling out, “Fluttershy! Fluttershy!”

Both Fluttershy and Fineshine swiveled around as quick as ponily possible to see the source of the noise.

Fluttershy thought there was no way she could be shocked anymore, but the figure running towards them proved her wrong.

Approaching her at full gallop was a pony, wearing the same green hospital gown that she wore. Despite this similarity, Fluttershy instantly saw that three things were wrong about her appearance.

First off, she did not look like her surroundings, or any bit like the two of them. She did look like a pony, yes, but every detail and color about her was… off. Her body appeared completely different than that of Fineshine and Fluttershy’s. Her hooves where lankier, her neck was extended, and her eyes were much bigger, twinkling even from where Fluttershy stood.

Secondly, despite she appeared completely different in style, she looked like Fineshine.

In fact, she looked exactly like Fineshine.

She had the same two stripes in her hair, the same horn, the same purple coat covering her, and she had the same purple eyes, right down to her white irises. Everything about her and Fineshine was exactly the same except for the third thing:

Unlike Fineshine, this pony had a horn, and a pair of wings.