The After

by Pvt_Muffins

Rating: everyone
Tags: Mystery, Slice of Life, Alternate Universe, Drama
Length: 19202

A pony who does not know her name wakes up in a strange place, before a Doctor slowly reveals to her the truth of where, and why, she is there.

My parents used to tell me, pretty often too—"Don't live in a fantasy world. Don't be so obsessed and consumed with what you love that it consumes you, and you can't see what's right in front of you."
The greatest irony, of all our lives, is that now, what's right in front of us is that fantasy, but not in anyway I, or anyone else, could have possibly imagined.
Cliché right?

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2016-05-13 01:00:01 UTC

Chapter One: The Arrival

Chapter One: The Arrival

The pony’s eyes flared up as the darkness vanished.

The Arrival blinked repeatedly, her mind blank, her vision filled with white, light now appearing to her as if for the first time.

It took the sleepyhead a moment to comprehend she wasn’t actually paralyzed. Her eyes quickly adjusted; attentive even whereas seconds before they had been blinded.

What she saw was nothing different than before: a white space.
Still, she could tell that the whiteness she was looking at was not a some kind of screen placed over her eyes. It was the ceiling.

The mare glanced down quickly, realizing her body was tucked under a fluffy, blue blanket. It didn’t take her very long to figure out that she was lying in bed, and a comfy bed at that.

She craned her head away from the purple pillow, slowly raising her back up against the wall for a closer look at her surroundings, her view filled with the contours of her rectangular-shaped room, the walls completely painted in white, where her bed sat tucked away into the left corner.

On her right side up ahead of her, there was a window, angled in such a way that she could see sunbeams pouring out of it, but not what was outside. Meanwhile, a small chandelier competed feebly in illumination.

Except for an empty, black chair on the wall furthest away from her, the room was spotless and void of any other furniture besides the bed.

Facing her, she noticed how uncanny it looked, as if somepony was supposed to be sitting in it, waiting for her to awake. Its black color stuck out like a sore hoof in the stinging white room.

Yet it was at that point that the awakening pony noticed the biggest detail of all; something that changed the world around her dramatically.

On the wall opposite to the window, there happened to be a carved, brown, wooden door.

And it was open.

That was all there was to see, and the perplexed mare grew more than a bit frightened by her mysterious setting as she asked herself…

Where am I?

It was the the first thing she’d thought since waking up.

She pulled the sheets over her body and hid beneath them, feeling as if the walls were closing in on her.

“Hello?” she popped her head from underneath, the faint echo bouncing around to nopony but herself.

She waited, her ears folding backwards discouragedly, but there was no response.

Closing her eyes, she tried to retrace her hoofsteps, wishing she could remember how she’d gotten here.

However, the more she tried, the more she realized she couldn't recall anything. Her mind was blank. She wasn’t just missing an answer for how she’d arrived here. She was missing everything.

She had no memory of going to bed, no hazy recollection of dreaming beforehoof, and no recognition of the room. In fact, there was absolutely nothing that she could construct leading up to her awakening.

Certain words and generic actions came to mind when she concentrated on them, but unfortunately, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t remember anything else, and even more alarming, she couldn’t remember anypony else.

Growing ever more frightened, she called out once more, “Hello? Is anypony there?”

Silence.

Everything remained eerily quiet. The only noise in the room was the sound of own shallow breathing.

Then, without warning a loud whistle pierced the air.

“Ahh!” The pony nearly jumped out of her bed, scrambling to get underneath the sheets again.

The pony closed her eyes and shivered with fright beneath the covers until she realized: Wait a second, she thought, I know that sound.

Cautiously, she poked her head out of her homemade cocoon, the blanket wrapped tightly around her chin and body as if it were a shield. She peered towards the window; the most-likely source of the whistle.

She stood frozen for a moment, until she heard the same whistle, softer and sweeter this time. It prompted her to investigate, giving her courage against her numbering fear.

Reluctantly, the the mare peeled her safety net off of her with a hoof. She looked down to make sure the ground was safe, before slowly and gently putting her hooves down, one at a time, until she was safely and securely standing on all fours.

She expected to feel drowsy, fatigued, or tired, but oddly enough, once she was stably on her hooves, she discovered that she was none of these things.

There came another whistle, slightly different this time, followed by another.

While still conscious of the unknown danger, she slowly drifted toward the glass opening in the wall, the whistles getting louder the closer she got. Bright light flooded her eyes.

Aaaahhh… she winced quietly, the light momentarily stinging as she fluttered her eyelids, until she had adjusted enough to make out the shape of a large maple tree. Now that her vision was clear, she found herself staring at the tree, and it seemed as if the surrounding tree stared back. The base of the large brown maple was surrounded in grass at the edge of a long green field, and sitting directly across from the tree, was a brick wall that obscured everything beyond it. Yet there was nothing extraordinary, and she couldn’t see a source for the noise anywhere.

"Hmm…" she hummed, wondering where the sound had originated from.

Suddenly, three blazes of color rushed past her before landing on the tree’s branches as they simultaneously let out an enormous chorus of chirps with such ferocity that it sent the pony flying backwards in surprise.

"Owwah!" she cried in mid-air, just in time before her head smacked onto the floor and her back came along.

Seeing stars, she waited a moment for the initial shock and pain to subdue.

After a few quick breaths, she stopped. “Owwww,” she muttered to herself, recovering from the fall as she rubbed her head. Once the irritation left her body, she shook her head at how silly she was to react so startledly. Gently, she rolled back onto her hooves, letting the dizziness ease out of her, before she looked out the window once again.

Still chirping, but with less intensity, the birds confirmed her suspicions.

Indeed, the ‘colors’ she had seen before, were actually three jays. One red, one blue, and one green.

Suddenly, something on her back began to itch with sensation, and whatever it was, she could feel it aching with pain from the fall.

She looked backwards to see what it might be.

Then her jaw dropped.

Standing at attention and flapping as if they had a mind of their own, were two fully-feathered, butterscotch colored wings.

“Oh my!” she spurted, suddenly acknowledging the appendages, flapping them uncontrollably in surprise. She spun around two times in an almost involuntary urge to chase them, her shadow twirling into a mess, before she tripped and collapsed down onto her rump.
Now it was her head that was twirling.

Gaining her senses again, she panted a few times, then shook her head rapidly, trying to shake of her dizziness, but only succeeding in making her surprise worse when a portion of her mane fell in front her face as she reacted with a high-pitched, “Eeeek!”

She blew the hair away, almost obnoxiously, discovering that it was a light shade of pink. This was hardly as big a deal compared to the fact that she had wings, and the fact that she hadn’t known about them until now.

It took her awhile to work up the courage to look over her shoulder once more, staring at her newly revealed body parts as they rested at her side.

As looked, something else caught her eye.

Covering her body was a green hospital gown; two holes cut in it for both her wings, and another hole for the pink and flowing tail she didn’t know she had; the same color as her mane.

She scanned the article of clothing, finding a loosely tied string around her waist. Touching her own shoulder, she feel its smooth silkiness, yet her heart was overcome by dread. Somehow, she had overlooked both the clothes on her body, and her body itself, until now

The-pony-now-made-pegasus sat back up, inspecting her hooves. Analysis revealed nothing out of the ordinary.

She was starting to feel silly about everything. So far all she’d managed to do was find a couple of birds, fall of her back, and somehow have forgotten everything.

That was until all of her newfound realizations culminated into one question that hit her with full force.

“Who am I?” she asked herself out loud.

Nopony answered her, as it occurred to her with stinging sincerity that she didn’t even know her own name.

The only response she received came from above her, in the form of another whistle.

The pony’s attention turned back towards the trio outside.

“Well…” she wondered what to say, “Hello birdies!” she greeted, almost automatically. “How are you doing today?”

Of course, none of them replied back.

The mare reconsidered herself.

“Wait,” she put a hoof under her chin and stared down.

Why did I do that?

She looked back up at the birds and noticed that one of the birds, the red jay, was staring back at her with intriguing curiosity, and soon, the other had two joined-in, until all of them were looking at her with their full attention.

Despite understanding she wouldn’t get an intelligent response, the strange pair of eyes made her feel the need to ask them another, although awkwardly, “D-D-do y-you-u know where we are?”

The blue jay cocked its head, stared into her eyes for a few seconds, then flew off beyond sight of the unfortunate pony, the other two following swiftly behind.

She sighed, rubbing a hoof on the window. Her only company had abandoned her.

“Well… goodbye then.”

Still confused, but no longer as fearful, the nameless mare arched back to the open door, with more questions than answers.

Beyond the door there was a short hallway, which lead into a much larger and much more colorful room than her own. She tried to analyze it, but found she couldn’t distinguish anything within. The colors and objects were just a blurry, unfamiliar haze.

Walking towards the exit of her room, the sound of her hoofsteps on the unfamiliar white floor made her evermore unsure of what awaited her. She had hoped somepony would come to her and explain, well—everything.

She stopped in her tracks just as she was about to leave her room, standing in the doorway with one hoof in the door and the other in the hallway.

M-m-ma-maybe…

She stuttered, even in her thoughts.

Maybe I should just stay here? Somepony’s bound to come to check up on me, right?

She looked back at the chair. It had to have been placed in her room for a reason.

While staring back into the interior, she thought about the intense mystery of the place, from the unexplainable bed she had woken up, to the empty grass field outside her room.

Indecision creeped into her, making her feel more and more scared by the second.

Looking back one last time, she gulped, realizing there might be no other choice than to leave.

Unable to bear the anxiety building up inside her, she closed her eyes. A surge of courage rushed through her, and she jumped forward and into the air, opening her eyes to see herself on the other side.

She proceed forward, congratulating herself with confidence and a determined face.

Gazing along the corridor, she noticed that by contrast to before, the walls surrounding her were painted with a bright orange hue, with red, purple, blue, and white paint-curves flowing over the background decoratively, giving the room a feeling of creativity and liveliness.

Already, the hallway was coming to an end. In its wake, the visitor entered into an area too large for her to comprehend all at once, but before she could grasp everything around her, a voice interrupted her as if out of thin-air.

“Hello!”

“Ah!” The newcomer blurted out in surprise, so distracted by the wondrous setting that she didn’t even notice the pony sitting right in front of her.

Not visible from the hallway but scooted just to the right, lying on top of a large, red, sofa-type of chair, was the smiling face of a purple pony, her forehooves crossed over each other as if she had been expecting the mare.

The intruder gathered herself embarrassingly, unlike the purple stranger before her, who appeared as if everything was normal. She wore a white lab coat, with a few pens and pencils in her front pocket. The attire matched her black pants that ended at her hind hooves, the outfit altogether almost completely covering her body except for her neck and head.

Floating to the side of her, was a sparkling, transparent clipboard, made of a substance completely unrecognizable to the confused pony.

“Hello,” The figure repeated, “I’m Doctor Fineshine Star.” she introduced herself in a friendly voice as she stood up, before saying something the mare would never forgot.

“Good evening, and Welcome to The After.”

Chapter Two: Episode Day

Chapter Two: Episode Day

“Wake up! Wake up!” The young foal shouted, nudging at his relative’s bed.

“Argghhhuuhhh.” came a groan, turning around to face away from her nephew’s nuzzling shoves.

“Wake up Auntie Sweetie, it’s Episode Day!” A light-yellow, blue-haired foal shouted.

“C’mon!” Kid complained, poking her in the back for the last time. “If we don't’ go now we may not see the whole thing!”
Sweetie Belle mumbled almost incoherently, “We always see the whole thing…”

Pulling a yellow blanket over her body tighter, she rolled over on one side to avoid getting poked in the ribs again, accidentally falling out of her bed with a dazzled “Ahh!”

Getting up, her mind was now fully awake as she blinked frantically, the foal size bed she decided to sleep in clearly to small for her.

“Good, you're up!” Kid rushed to the door excitedly, “Now c’mon or we’re going to miss it!” Kid zoomed out of the room and clattered down the stairs, leaving the door wide open.

Sweetie rubbed her head, throwing the tangled sheets back onto the bed with her magic. Stretching one hoof and then the other, Sweetie Belle prepared for the day ahead of her. She recalled that today would be the second premier Kid had seen in his entire life.

Well, She yawned as she thought, I guess I can’t blame him for being excited.

In fact, she was surprised to see that Kid hadn’t done even more planning in the morning then he did last night. She looked upon his mess of a room, which was normally kept perfectly tidy.

Crayons were sprawled over the bed, the walls were covered with paper notes with arbitrary scribbles of hoofwriting that vaguely resembled schedules, and hero figurines sat knocked-over in miscellaneous piles everywhere.

“Heh-heh.” she smiled, looking over the extent of his “school research”, as he’d claimed the noise was last night.

He is a good kid.

Although she did love the little fella, she hoped today he won’t be too out of hand, recalling the headaches she’d had before.

But she had been a child once, and she smiled at his ambition, and his notes that were sprawled everywhere.

Sweetie looked at the clock on the wall.

8:30. She read. Good. That gives us three and a half hours.

She looked away. Something in the wall caught her attention. The windows were closed. Sweetie-Belle thought about it. She carefully stepped over the toys and papers scattered over the floor, and came to the double panels of the window seal. Pushing on the two wooden doors, she felt the cool draft greet her from the world outside. Her view was filled thatched roofs and soft streets, birds rushing past her vision to accompany the clear sky, the landscape below bright and cheery in the middle of springtime.

“Good morning, Ponyville!” she shouted, leaning out the window-seal.

Despite she knew that was not its real name, it was a custom for her to call it that in this house.

* * *

Kid’s family home was not an original house from MultiQuestria’s first days, but it was built in the classic Ponyvillian style, making it unrecognizable from the other houses in their neighborhood, both old and new. It wasn’t until the tiny sprawl reached New Plane, across from the river, that the architecture began to change.

The house was painted a vibrant yellow and purple that only failed to cover every inch of the walls when they were interrupted by its sparkling glass windows. Shaped like a pyramid atop a cube, the house’s roof was curved on all four-sides, gradually becoming slimmer as it jutted into the air, forming a spiral that merged together at the peak by a golden ball. Attached to the ball, a slightly tattered flag waved in the summer breeze.

Taking a bite out of the house's square-shape, was a small, boxed garden, where daisies and roses grew among gnome decorations, resting in the fresh dirt. On the opposite corner of the house there was a patio that extended from the corner’s walls, marking a two-window section of the house which had been modified to form a small accessory shop that blended right into the sidewalk.

Together, Rarity had been maintaining this shop for a little over a year now.
And while everything on the outside appeared cozy, Kid knew that it was the inside that really mattered, for it was the place where he and his family could call home, and it was a home he loved.

* * *

Rushing into the kitchen while hopping up and down, Kid grinned wildly as he took a seat at the kitchen high stool table for what he hoped would be a short-lived breakfast.

Kid heard the unmistakable yawn of both his parents from atop the stairway, blocked from his vision by the kitchen ceiling. There was the sound of a door closing from atop the stairway, confirming Sweetie Belle was getting ready.

“Good morning Rarity!” Kid overheard Sweetie address his Mom from beyond his sight.
Sweetie added, “Good morning Scarf.”

“Why, good morning Sweetie Belle!” The voice of Rarity greeted with joy, “It’s so good to see you! How are you? Oh, It’s been ages! How was your trip? You arrived so late we haven’t even seen you until now!” she protested as she gave her a hug.

“Good point,” Scarf agreed, “We didn’t even hear you come in.”

“Aaaaaahhhh,” Sweetie Belle yawned again, breaking the hug. “I’m sorry. I arrived so late last night because finally, I took the train.” she explained with a twinge of pride.

“You didn’t jump this time?” Scarf asked, somewhat surprised, still waking up.

“Nope!” She walked over to give Scarf a hug as well.
Kid began to stomp his hoof irritably on the bar of his stool, wishing they’d hurry up already and come downstairs.

“Oh, the city was soooo beautiful at night, you should have seen it!” The voice of his sister went on, “Anyway, when I got here, everyone, well, almost everyone,” she rolled her eyes, “was asleep, and I didn’t want to wake you.”

“You could have woken us up!” Rarity protested indignantly in a loving-sort-of way.

“Agh!” Kid let out a frustrated groan, hopping back off his kitchen stool and out into the hallway space.

“Can we have breakfast already?” He said hollered up into the stairs, interrupting their conversation. All three heads of his relatives turned to see him.

“I really, reallywant to get there early!” Kid pleaded impatiently.

There was a moment of hesitation. Sweetie Belle frowned at his impoliteness. Scarf and Rarity looked at each other. After a moment, they both sighed.

“Oh, alright” Rarity gave in, “but not before we get decently dressed first!” she turned hoof and departing back into her room as Scarf followed.

“Be down in a moment Kid!” He yelled to let his son know before he disappeared beyond the door to his room.

Somewhat disappointed and annoyed at her nephew's antics, Sweetie Belle climbed down the stairs with a frown. She tried to remember to keep it upside down.

“Geez, it’s not like we have to be the first ones at the square.” she joked, trying to make a point.

“But if we don’t leave now, we’re going to be the last!” Kid sassed, before darting back into the kitchen.

Sweetie Belle couldn’t help but grin. She shrugged off her annoyance as she wondered what she would tell Rarity and Scarf about her trip.

Walking into the kitchen, Sweetie pondered if she should make her family breakfast, as a surprised. She watched as Kid pulled open the silverware drawer with some difficulty.

“Hmmph—So, how about pancakes for breakfast today?” she suggested to Kid.

“That sounds great!” He replied, not stopping to look at her.

Sweetie was glad to have hit common ground.

“But I’ll think I’ll have cereal—not enough time.” Kid added a second later, grabbing a spoon between his teeth and closing the drawer. He ran back over to the table and set the spoon down.

Sweetie Belle’s frowned at the anticlimactic answer. She brushed it off and turned her attention to the cupboards.

Lining the walls near the fridge, were rows of wooden cupboards. Sweetie Belle walked over to one and opened it. Inside, there was a plethora of items to choose from: packaged bread-loafs, bags of apples, boxes of oatmeal, jars of peanut-butter, sticks of celery, cans of soup, containers of potatoes, and syreat, all neatly organized upon racks and shelves.

Sweetie Belle glanced over the selection until she came upon the bag of apples and the box of oatmeal.

“Oooh.” she raised her eyebrows happily and floated the selections out from the cupboards, closing the small doors behind her.

Meanwhile, as Sweetie made her choice, Kid traversed to the sink and skillfully grabbed a sparkling clean bowl from out of the dish rack with his mouth. He was too short to reach where the bowls were kept, and without magic, he would have to climb onto a stool to get to them.

Sweetie-Belle observed this interaction with with some surprise, standing still to avoid getting run-over by Kid’s constant running around.

If he’s making his own breakfast, he must really be eager to go, she thought.

Kid clambered onto the fridge door and looked up to the top of it, the bowl still in his mouth.

“Phant Sweteh?” Kid muffled.

“Kid, take the bowl of out your mouth!” Sweetie ordered, amused and annoyed at the same time as she magically removed the bowl and set it on the table near his spoon.

Ripping a paper towel from the paper-towel holder, Sweetie cleaned the bit of salvia off the bowl, then let the used paper find itself into the nearby trashcan, all without moving.

“Now, what was that?” Sweetie Belle asked her nephew.

“Aunt Sweetie, can you please help me get the Frostings box?” he recited politely, pointing to the top of the fridge.

Sweetie looked to what he meant, a wheat cereal topped lightly with something that tasted like sugar but wasn’t actually sugar, synthetically-made to prevent ponies from having an unhealthy diet.

“Sure thing,” she responded, floating the decorated box of blue and red onto the table without looking at it, “since you asked so nicely.”

“Thank you.” Kid cheered, then rushed over to the table once more.

Sweetie Belle ignored him and smiled to herself as she opened the fridge door, taking out a cup of yogurt, before closing the door and emerging with her completed breakfast.

Sweetie Belle turned back around and nearly collided with Kid, who stopped just short of catastrophe.

“Geez.” Sweetie said, her eyes wider.

“Sorry,” he muttered, standing still.

Sweetie Belle stepped out of the way and walked past him, allowing Kid to fill her spot.

A moment later, his parent’s emerged into the Kitchen, fully clothed.

Buttoned up along beneath her belly and chest, Rarity wore three-folds of the same pomegranate dress, along with an olive drab and navy blue scarf.

Contrary to his name, Scarf, did not wear a scarf. Instead, he had a white suit on him that ended at his waist and neck with a kite-shaped collar, with silver buttons at his cuffs across from his tan slacks.

Approaching the table, Scarf thought to himself, “Of course that box was put up there for a reason.” He giggled quietly, before taking up a spot at the table, while Rarity proceeded straight to the counter.

Now that Kid had assembled three-fourths of the ingredients for his cereal, the only thing he needed now was the milk.

The refrigerator handle was the shape of a semi-circle, perfect for a pony’s hooves to slid into and open. Another pair, lower than the main set, had been suctioned-cupped onto the fridge so that Kid could reach them.

He grabbed the handles and pulled on the door, the cool air trapped inside washing over his face. Once he found what he was looking for, he stood up on two hooves and took it out, carefully balancing the heavy item between the palm and side of his hooves, trying to maintain his balance.

Sagging under the weight of the jug, he used one of his two hooves to close the refrigerator door and proceed towards the table.

He bit his lip as he walked over. When he finally came to the tablecloths edge, he attempted the impossible task of lifting the jug up to the surface, which he fell about a foot short of.

Rarity watched him struggle and offered him help. “Here, let me get that dear.” she said as she lifted the jug out Kid’s hooves with her magic.

“Thank you.” Kid huffed, able to stand on all fours now that the weight was relieved from him.

“You’re very welcome.” Rarity replied, walking away.

Once the milk was on the table, Kid hopped back up onto his stool and. poured himself a bowl of the flakey goodness. He grabbed the handle of the milk-jug, also designed for pony hooves, and poured himself a bowl. Now that he had finished making his meal, he began to scoop up the flakes greedily with his spoon.

From out of the corner of Kid’s eye, he saw his mom open the cupboards beneath the counter with her magic.

Sweetie Belle looked up from the bowl of otas she had been munching on.

“Sis, what are you doing?” she asked Rarity with curiosity.

“Why, making pancakes of course!” Rarity replied with enthusiasm.

Suddenly, a spectacle of materials: eggs, oats, cottage cheese, vanilla, cinnamon, blueberries, baking powder, a pan, and a spatula, flew out into the air.

Rarity lit the stove of with a few clicks of a dial as she began to arrange the tremendous assortment of glowing items into a neat arrangement near the stove.

As soon as Kid saw this he reacted with protest, “But Mom, that’s gonna take for-ever!”

Sweetie Belle couldn’t help but release a tiny moan when she heard this as she rubbed her head, “That’s why I didn’t do it…” she mumbled.

Scarf couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Oh well,” he teased his son, “I’m sure we’ll still be able see the last half of it.”

The cruel joke set Kid’s face lit ablaze with worry. He looked back at his Dad, but Scarf starting talking to Sweetie before he could say anything

“So, did they finally install those new…” Scarf searched for any term to create a phony conversation, “…streetlights, in Oakville?”

Kid tried to regain Scarf’s attention, “But Dad!”

Sweetie Belle saw the look on Scarf’s face and played right along with the joke.

“Oh, uh, yeah! They’re supppper nice.”

Neither one of them seemed to notice Kid’s real distress.

Rarity continued about her work, humming to the popping of the lids of the canisters of baking powder and cottage cheese.
Slowly.

Feeling hopeless, Kid hopped off his stool. He trotted over to Rarity, and with one large gulp of air he cried, “MOMMMM!”

Scarf and Sweetie stopped mid-sentence and there was a tremendous pause in the room, as Rarity immediately stopped what she was doing.

Kid grew pale.

Turning around to face him, Rarity’s face grew into an unnatural scowl which she steered Kid’s direction, looking down on him.

With extreme disapproval in her eyes towering over him, Kid wished he could suck back the breath he’d used to shout.

“Are you yelling at me, dear?” Rarity punctuated, word-for-word.

The paleness in Kid’s face became colored was he cheeks flushed red. “I-I… I’m sorry.” he stuttered, almost a whisper.

Rarity continued to stare Kid down, her piercing gaze furthering his guilt.

Even Sweetie felt scared, nopony saying a word.

Then, to everyone’s surprise, Rarity inexplicably burst out laughing.

Gripped by magic, the once methodically arranged objects rushed off the table and into the air. The cabinet and fridge door flung open, everything swiftly flying back into their places before all the doors except the refrigerator's closed with one great big thunk!

“Gotcha!” Rarity exclaimed with glee.

Kid’s jaw dropped.

So did Sweetie Belle’s.

“I knew you were going to throw a fit when you saw me making pancakes!” she let-on.

From the refrigerator Rarity revealed a blender full of golden-yellow liquid, “So I made the batter yesterday while you were up all last night, ‘studying’.” she squinted her eyes and scrunched her muzzle at Kid as if she were making hoof-quotation marks with her face.

Kid turned around to the table at the peering eyes of Scarf and Sweetie. Scarf, who knew full well about the prank, grinned from ear-to-ear, and Sweetie-Belle, who didn’t, goofed up as she tried to suppress her joy.

“Whhhaat?” Kid pleaded innocently, his cheeks growing hotter with embarrassment.

Sweetie Belle and Scarf exploded with laughter.

Kid was silent as Rarity joined the other two.

When the laughter finally died down, Kid hopped back onto his stool and waited, painfully.

Rarity popped the top of the blender open with a hoof, using her magic to pour the batter onto the pan.

Kid worried. Of course it wouldn’t take as long as making pancakes from start-to-finish, but it would still take some time.

Soon, he had finished his cereal, draining the remaining milk in gulps until he had scraped the bowl clean, setting it down with mild satisfaction against his larger humiliation.

Rarity went back to humming as the batter heated itself into pancakes on the stove. “Would you like one Kid darling?” She asked from the counter, Her tone reversed from before.

“No thanks.” Kid almost mumbled, a little hurt by being singled out, his bowl of milk and cereal drained, a little white mustache of milk remaining on his muzzle.

Sweetie-Belle giggled, “You’ve got something there.” she pointed out.

Kid tried to understand what she meant, until he noticed, wiping it away with his hoof, and instead of getting mad at his sister, he smiled at his own silliness, doing his best to cheer up.

After a minute, the pancakes were ready, and three plates of golden deliciousness were served with syrup.

“Alright, let’s eat!” proclaimed Scarf.

Digging in with anticipation, the three adults began talking again, without Kid. Just because he was the most excited pony among them, that didn’t mean Sweetie-Belle, Rarity, and Scarf weren’t just as eager to get out there for the big show.
Without a pancake-plate, Kid sat bored with an empty bowl, looking down into his own messy reflection, his asparagus-green eyes peering back at him.

“Did you hear about…” Kid heard bits and pieces of conversation in the background

“Yes! It was magnificent!” He heard his mom reply.

Kid thought to himself, the excitement slightly dying within him.

He knew what to say.

"I'm sorry Mom,” he apologized, “it's just... I'm just so excited!" He was being honest.

“That’s good dear,” His mother replied, “We’re excited too.”

“Mmmph-hmmp!” Scarf added with a mouth full of pancake.

“It’s just good not to be too excited.” she explained.

Kid waited to see if she’d say anything more.

When she didn’t, he sighed, “Alright.” he tried his best to be patient.

Yet, as Kid sat there, waiting, he couldn’t help but tap the table anxiously, hoping for the other three to hurry up, despite they looked like they intended to enjoy their meal.

Kid remembered to put his bowl away, hoping the process would go quicker that way. It was as if the *tick-tock* of the clock was in his head, and all other noise, like their conversation, was drowned out.

Despite this, if they left now, they’d be an hour earlier than usual.
Finally, the three of them finished eating. Scarf took a napkin from the center of the table and wiped his lips, complimenting his wife, “Thank you, dear Rarity, for that marvelous display of culinary craftsmanship!”

“Why, you’re quite welcome Scarf!” She leaned over from and kissed him on the cheek.

Scarf leaned over and kissed her back, this time on the mouth as the two completed each other.

Kid saw this and made a gagging motion to his Aunt, which made her laugh.

Once they finished, Kid returned to his eager phase, “Can we go now?”

“Oh, I suppose.” Rarity ceded, breaking away.

Rarity, Scarf, and Sweetie-Bell took their plates, the unicorns with their horns and Scarf in his hooves, while the syrup floated back into its cupboard and the plates headed back into the sink.

Kid exited the kitchen and walked through the dining room, which his family only used during dinner. He stood next to the the back door, practically shaking with impatience.

Eventually, his family came to him, and he motioned for them to open the door.

Scarf looked at his son with a smile, before he tugged on the handle, allowing Kid to run out of it like a marathon runner, turning around only to wait for his family.

“C’mon!” He shouted, “Let’s Buzzle!”

Inside, Scarf gestured for Rarity to take the first step, “M’lady,” He said, horribly impersonating a British accent.

“Thank you love.” she nodded, leading the way out, Sweetie-Belle following behind her.

As the last one out, Scarf pulled the door shut with his teeth. He turned around, smiling at the outside world, feeling the air sprinkle on him.

Surrounding their house were three other houses, much like their own, Each was built in a style that was supposed to reflect the “Original Ponyville”, but each was unique.

Despite being arranged in a grid manner, the four houses were spacious enough not to feel cramped, but close enough to feel like neighbors, and following the square ally that was their “street”, was a clear line of sight going east, all the way down to river, and the beginning of New Plane.

From where Scarf was, he couldn't see the rest of the city surrounding them. But if he headed just a few blocks down, they would find themselves on the pathway to Buzzle Square, which lead south before it eventually meet northeast along the Old Wall's former path, before curving back up towards the center of town.

Trotting outside the house, Rarity and Sweetie-Belle prepared to don their other names.

Rarity would become Casopal Illuminator, and Sweetie-Belle would become Kaylee Flowertower.

Meanwhile, Kid would remain Kid, and he was also remaining a steady mile ahead of them, constantly turning around and motioning back at them to hurry up.

* * *

Halfway into their walk, the four of them passed the famous mural. A historic moment had been captured in the painting, and had stood for over a decade and a half to commemorate the famous incident, but now, Kid’s family walked by it with little mind, but the smell of chlorine reminded them that on the other side of the mural, was a public pool.

Running, Kid continued to gain speed, going by so fast he flashed into the next style-zone.

Slowly, Casopal, Flowertower, and Scarf, shifted from one art-style into the next, where the square’s dominating “Clover” style took over their appearance. However, since their lenses were embedded into their eyesight, they didn’t see the conversion.

Except for Kid. He liked to brag sometimes that he didn’t need lenses.

Some thought it was his ability as an Afterborne to not get dizzy, nauseous, or confused when he looked out upon the mosaic of different ponies and all their countless number of appearances. Some ponies at his school were jealous. Other mystified.

But Kid just thought it was cool.

* * *

Combined, the thousand wavering silks created an enormous breeze which rushed over the carrier’s heads in any direction the flag-poles stirred.

Constantly folding over themselves like an art gallery underwater, the lines, curves, and shapes of the bolded fabrics were distorted by the ripples of air, being pulled from one side to the other as they twirled in endless figure-eight patterns, moving too fast to be seen.
In a literal sense, Buzzle Square was actually more of a rectangle, closed on all three sides save for the southern entrance, where two long walls were connected by a short one, creating a caved exposure. The buildings that formed the square extended to the right and left of the entry, and inviting them in, two giant, shining emblems of the moon and the sun garnished the building’s sides.

It was called Buzzle Square, because on each Episode Day, it buzzed with excitement, and any ear listening in the vicinity would have heard it; the enormous net of scattered, excited conversations occasionally pierced by giddy outbursts of laughter and joy that lofted through the air.

Gleaming water sprouted out for the the facets of a gray marble fountain beneath the hooves of a stone pony, forever frozen in a ballerina pose on the tip of a marble ball.

Lining the square were tall, elegant lamp posts, along with rows of paper lanterns that hung from one wall to the other, decorations hanging from their strings. At night, these lights would illuminate the square, one with electricity, the other with fire.

The restaurants, storefronts, and cafés operated like an indoor and outdoor market, spilling their concrete patios out into the square, disrupting the soft grass beneath everypony’s hooves but for good reason.

Episode Day Café, was just one of these places. The venue had to be booked typically weeks in advance for a table.

With their tails facing a section of solid brick wall, merchants stood under the patterned cloth roofs of their stands.

Tiny popping kernels crackled in the heat of a popcorn machine, surrounded by the smell of hot butter. The stand was operated by two ponies, one a butterscotch yellow mare with a cutie-mark of three popcorn kernels.

Assorted fruit in buckets piled up to the vendor's head looked about ready to spill onto the floor.

The bright, flashy pages of magazines, which ran prediction stories, sold rapidly to newcomers as they arrived.

Amongst the many many standing hooves and heads of the ponies was a small group that found a place to sit, but not from exhaustion.

Within the southeast division of the square, a set of yellow, wooden benches bent under the over-occupying weight, fifteen ponies who chuckled as they competed to fit everypony onto a spot.

The identical representations of a singular bench, repeated itself five times to form a wide “U”.

Inscribed onto a small golden plaque in the ground, was a short title, indicating that these were not merely benches, but a small monument, and the title read: Lyra’s benches.

A mare ran straight into the mouth of the U and sent herself flying on top of her friends. She posed as she landed on their laps with a hoof behind her head, bent up in the air as she flashed a smile to an invisible camera with an invisible rose in her cheeks and said, “Paint me like your french mares.”

The ponies she was sitting on laughed.

“Julenia,” one of them quipped, “you already were.”

All of them laughed again.

Meanwhile, as the ponies laughed and waited anxiously in their spots, more and more ponies came closer and closer to the cooling shadow of the Gazebo.

The original facade of the Gazebo had been preserved right into the two walls it was connected to, and surrounding each one of its three-stories, was a curved railing that followed completely around the structure. Bulging out of the larger wall, the tower created a semi-circular rotunda where a short ascension of stairs lead up to a platform that served as the entryway to the historic Friendship Mall.

The peak of the tower rose above the Mall’s roof, forming the building’s highest visible point from down below. Raised high in the air on the peak, and waving proudly in the subtle breeze, was the flag above all flags: the symbol of The Union.

But the ponies did not gather together here for the sake of staring at the building.

Lumbering in ginarmounity, the five gray frames were still as vivid from within the square, from as far as Perspective Hill.

Elevated at the same height in a row, the Televisions faced the crowd at three angles, two of them embedded on both sides of the Gazebo, while the other three clinged to the Tower’s side, forming a semi-hexagonal shape around the shaft which obscuring the entire second-floor, like a giant nut fastened around a bolt that was dug into the cultural heart of Multiquestria.

Producing high-energy melodies of music that could hardly be heard of the crowd’s blaring, the cinematic movie theatre stood still in magnificence, each screen projecting different images of background art: from a picturesque setting of a pink tree on a cliff, to the portrait of a pony wearing a monocle, to a scene of a party hosted on a beach. They were reminders of the many places, and people, that they consisted of, slowly fading from one picture to the other.

Perched above these screen and the many admiring heads, the warped, wooden boards of the roof were polished, but unequally curved at spots here and there, worn down by the test of time.

The boards lifted him like podium of a triumphant athlete. Marking Hoof could feel, without touching it, the power in the curvature of the dome behind him, goosebumps running over his body as if it were stretching himself out before the crowd in praise, while he allowed the guilty sensation of euphoria to wash over him, standing above everypony.

But he kept his posture humbled, his eyes, bright with observation under his bushy eyebrows, smiled with faint outwardness.

He turned to the face standing next to his, its owner facing directly towards the crowd with unwavering attention, refusing to appear as anything less, than a statue, focused entirely on those below her.

Despite there was nothing secret to be said, Marking leaned forward slightly, whispering with a saint like respect, “I will never forget this day,”

The figure turned her head slightly toward him, her ear pointed at him.

“This is the first time since it has ended.”

With her lips pursed into a resting smile that matched her eyes, she nodded meekly, the dark shadow of her jaw outlined by the hundred dotted ponies beneath her.

Meanwhile, those standing next to her remained silent, patiently waiting, for the first bell to ring.

* * *

Separating the space between The North and Northwest Walls like an artery to the heart, The Northwest Entrance was unusual in that, instead of putting newcomers at the beginning of the square, furthest away from the screens, and the action, this entrance was actually the closest to them, leading directly into the far-left corner of Buzzle Square, like a contender’s entry into a stadium.

Submerged within a secluded circle of space in the hallway-like channel, was the ever-famous Garden of Statues.

Within the heart of the garden, a massive stone figure stood upon a circular podium as long as seven ponies standing tail-to-tail, its face shining towards the heavens as it lifted a declaring hoof high in the air, its body stretching beyond the height of the rooftops and becoming twice as tall as the buildings themselves.

The wondrous gleam of sunlight reflected in its glass eyes, which could only be seen from atop the second floor balcony.

Planting his hoof on the basin, Globetrotter looked upwards toward the sky, trying to see the top of the monument, and straining his neck in the process.

He bathed in wonder and amazement. While looking upward, he slowly moved his hooves into the same pose as the statue.

In the short dirt road they’d come down, they’d already passed the other statues.

Charlotte, The Blindfolder, and The Children’s Tribute, all captured in perfect likeness, the people whose memory retold the history of Multiquestria.

Earlier, out of the corner of his eye, Globetrotter saw a particular Draconequus raise his claws in the air and yawn loudly, before freezing in a sing-song pose.

The two ponies following him broke out in giggles.

“Pretty cool ain’t it?” The voice of a gray and brownish colt said from behind him.

Globetrotter barely heard him. His mind was too mesmerized as he tried to impersonate the colossal figure.

“But hey—”

The voice of his friend startled Globetrotter back into focus, peeling away from the cold stone surface to turn his attention towards him.

“Huh? What is it?” His spoke quietly, still in awe.

“The others will be waiting on us if we stand around any longer, so let’s get going, ok?” Mountain Powers suggested.

“Alright” He agreed shaking off the spell, “Sounds good.”

Floating past the two of them were other ponies, every one of them heading towards the action and surrounding the two friends as if they were two rocks in a stream.

Globetrotter hurried up to meet his friend, who was already a ways ahead of him, his view expanding to see what had excited him ever since he’d first come to Buzzle Square—the presentation.

The two walls, narrow when compared to what he was walking into, disappeared from his vision as his eyes feasted upon the expanse of space in front of him.

“And here we are!” Powers shouted.

If every color could be poured into a bottle and then poured back out again, Buzzle Square would be where that bottle had been spilt.

There was not a singular gap in the crowd through which Globetrotter could see the other wall. The package of ponies stood shoulder-to-shoulder, the shadows of the flags passing over their faces.

Because they could not carry the flags in their hooves without standing up all the time, many of the ponies found creative ways to prop them up otherwise.

Some of them wore hats with straps around their chin, each with tiny little motors, or magic, that spun the lightweight, wooden sticks in a circular pattern, carrying the flags high into the air, far above the wearer’s heads.
Others simply used flags they could hold in one hoof, stuck in a black, bowl-like basin that allowed the flag to move, without falling out or leaning too much where it could bump into another pony.

But the open-space was an illusion.

Of course, The Northwest Entrance did not simply allow anypony to cut in front of the crowd and be the nearest to the main event. Although, some newcomers who’d never visited the Square thought they could get away with it, just because the entranced looked the closest to the front on a map.

Separating them and the front-stage, was a bubble of glass, so clean it looked like air, but when Globetrotter went up to touch it, he was stopped by the solid barrier.

Globetrotter could see, just inches away from his face, the bright outlines, sharp hairstyles, and unique cutie-marks of the moving, talkative group of equines. Some beamed with joy, others frowned, but out of seriousness or unhappiness it was hard to tell, while meanwhile, others grimaced at the recounting of a stories, and still others batted their eyelashes romantically at one another.

Glancing over the crowd, Globetrotter reflected to himself. We don’t look like we’re supposed to on that screen. He smiled.

Leading them away from the crowd, the pathway turned into a glass tunnel adjacent to the activity, the mere glass barrier the only thing separating the open and lofty, from the absolutely jam-packed.

To join in the festivities, the two of them would have to backtrack, walking away from the Tower.

Mountain Powers shook his head in the direction of the exit. “C’mon.” He urged.

The two began to pace away from the glass bubble, passing by shops and exhibits at their side, the pungent aromas of a bakery and perfume store inviting them to look inside.

Yet for now, they paced on, barely giving the shops mind as Globetrotter briefly glanced into their empty interiors.

The tunnel’s roof above them was paved with windows to the sky. Passing the last store on their way towards freedom, the two of them could hear the roar of the crowd getting louder, and louder, and more real.

Globetrotter’s hair began to tingle with excitement, almost as charged-up as his friend.

They had nearly made it to the large archway opening.

Globetrotter could smell the fresh air, filled with the scents of popcorn and flowers, when suddenly, a massive wave of wind and sound blew across the crowd with a whoosh!

As soon as they heard it, Mountain Powers and Globetrotter felt of pulse of adrenaline rush across them, making them nearly break into a run—just in time to see a V-shaped pattern of rainbow-trailed fliers shoot across the open sky out of the corner of their eyes.

The two of them stopped in their tracks, their eyes pointed upward, following the aerial-runners until they disappeared out of sight.

They looked at each other, before exchanging grins.

It was almost too-perfect. Just as they had arrived.

The Legion of Dashes had marked the First Bell.

Over a loudspeaker, a familiar voice echoed over the crowd, “Welcome!” It shouted. “To the Sixth Season!”

The crowd thundered in approval.

Globetrotter took his first step through the entrance, beneath the stone archway above him, and his senses became overwhelmed. There was too much too see, too much to smell, to much to feel, all at once.

The light of the sun shone over him, and his smile grew wider as the scene grew more vivid, his vision scanning over the crowd, which although thick, did not begin until about another meter.

Then he looked straight ahead of him.

His eyes wandered into a group of creatures as black as shadows.

The mingling band of hundreds of dark-colored creatures blocked sight of all else.

Pockmarked with holes everywhere, their bodies resembled a distorted version of a pony’s, but uniquely different. They had the same bright shades of hair, and whenever their eyes happened to glance over Globetrotter, paying him little mind, he could see they were still the gleaming eyes of a pony, with bright irises and dazzling pupils.

But their entirely black coats carried no trace of a cutie-mark, and protruding from their mouth distinctly, were pairs of sharp, elongated fangs, their ivory surface sparkling in the sun.

Mountain Powers nudged Globetrotter in the shoulder, “Hey—I guess the changeling invasion came early, huh?” He joked.

“Yeah.” He agreed, racking his brain to find more humor in the sentence then he heard, hesitantly adding a moment later, “Do you know any of them?”

Mountain Powers scanned the crowd, standing on the tips of his hooves, and leaning his head like a pony looking around a corner.

“Nope.” came his short reply.

“Ah.” Globetrotter said, standing still.

His head began to wander with his mind as he looked at the ponies surrounding the changelings, wondering who else had come to the party, when he was suddenly stung with a flash of light shining at him.

He used his hooves to shield his eyes from the image, just able to make out the bright yellow surface the sun must have been reflecting from.

The flash disappeared when the object blinding him turned away, ceasing the reflection, until Globetrotter was finally able to see what it was.

A banana suit.

And standing in the banana suit, was the body of a tall, shining white alicorn, with the neck of a pencil and a horn just as exaggerated.

Her cutie-mark consisted of seven yellow branches around two yellow and orange circles that formed the image of a sun, and her long, pink and blue flowing hair floated in the wind like it was alive.

Wearing a ludicrously happy grin, she whispered something to her companion standing next to her, a broad creature with long legs and a pair of horns, nodding its head in the tall pony’s direction as if he was agreeing with whatever she was saying.

By comparison, one looked much wiser than the other.

An antler pony, Globetrotter thought, interesting, skipping over the fact that the pony wearing the banana suit was indeed a Celestia.

He’d been in The After long enough to have seen weirder.

Powers looked back and forth between these interactions and Globetrotter, before cracking a grin, “C’mon man, we can’t stare at everypony. ”

Globetrotter’s attention once again returned to Powers, and he nodded his head, “Right.”

Powers started to cut through the crowd, motioning for Globetrotter to follow.

“Make sure to keep an eye out!” he shouted above the increasing chatter.

A few steps behind, Globetrotter shouted back, “Alright!”

Looking in every single direction for their group, Globetrotter slowly followed behind in Mountain Powers’s path, whose confident strides moved aside the sea of chatting mouths and peculiar ponies with polite respect.

As he was walking, something large and cold suddenly slide past Globetrotter’s hooves, and moved past him.

Globetrotter’s forehoof shot of the ground in a startled pause as he inhaled sharply, as if he had almost slid off the edge of a cliff.

Scanning frantically to see what it was, he was only able to catch sight of a scaly green tail before it disappeared into the thick underbelly of the crowd.

He stopped for a moment and stared off into space, his heart beating quicker than usual. After he had taken a few breaths, he reassured himself, “That was probably just a Gummy.”

“Keep up!”

Globetrotter was brought back into focus when he heard Powers shout with giddy impatience as he continued forward, oblivious to the creature but somehow aware his friend was lagging behind.

Shaking it off, Globetrotter sped forward, apologizing to the ponies he nearly ran into. Soon, he had caught back up to Powers, trapped behind his lead in the confining crowd.

Remembering his advice, Globetrotter began to scan the premises as the two of them slowly drifted in the direction of The Northeast Wall. He saw no sign of his friends.

There was a small robotic pony with green eyes.

A frowning pink mare with razor-sharp straightened hair.

A marshmallow white pony with a strange black symbol of four spokes painted over a heart symbol for a cutie-mark.

They were talking together.

Globetrotter looked to the other side.

This time he spotted a pony with a different type of tail then most. A mermaid tail. Next to her, a brown, diplomatic-looking mare laughed as their third companion, a red and white pony wearing a cap with a red plus sign on it, cracked a joke Globetrotter couldn’t hear.

Still not the ponies they were looking for.

He passed these two groups and found a third, more complex and even stranger. The first two ponies among them were normal enough: a white and blue colt, standing tall and proud, and a pink, purple and white-striped alicorn wearing a small golden crown.

Then he saw a deer.

Then the body of a pony, towering over the rest on eight black, fuzzy legs.

Then an upright pillow. With a face.

And a horn.

Who was talking to them.

They were all having a jolly good time.

But still, these were not the ponies Globetrotter or Mountain Powers were trying to find.

“There!” Mountain Powers suddenly stopped in his tracks and pointed through an opening between a group of griffons, the leader of whom wore a slick black top hat, and leaned up on shiny black cane.

Looking away, Globetrotter tried to ask, “Wh—?” before he accidentally walked right into Mountain Powers backside.

Stumbling, Powers turned around, unaffected, and helped his friend up.

“There!” he pointed with his free hoof for Globetrotter to see.

Standing next to the vendors, the six familiar collage of faces were no exception from the eclecticism that surrounded them, talking amongst themselves, their cheeks bright and full of animation.

One of them, a grey-bodied, white-haired pegasus, accidentally looked in their direction, making eye contact. The question of recognition registred in her eyes for a moment, and then, jaw-dropping, she shouted, “It’s them!”

Five other ponies turned to see who she was referring too, and when their sets of multi-colored eyes drew upon them, an unspoken feeling of elation crossed them.

Mountain Powers stood-up on his hind-hooves and shouted, “Brothers!” opening his body like he was about to give everypony a hug.
Globetrotter countered, “Sisters!”

The two and the five ran over to meet each other, forcing a gap between the group of griffons.

The dandy top-hat griffon stood aside, looked at them for a moment and then paid them no mind.

Chatter flared up immediately.

Oh, How have you been…? Look at you! You look so… Waffle!... You two finally decided to join the party, eh?… It’s so good to see you again, we were just…

Once the rush of reconnecting wore off, a colt unicorn named Talent was finally able to ask them, “Where have you two been? We’ve been looking out for you all afternoon!”

Powers began to answer, “Globetrotter wanted to stop by the statutes—”

“Again.” Globetrotter interrupted as he smiled, bashing himself.

“Annnnd we used the Northwest Entrance.” His friend finished.

“Oh, I see.” Talent understood, “Yes, that would certainly explain it.”

Shadycaves came over from the center of the group to stand by Globetrotter’s side.

When Globetrotter had first met Shadycaves, he was under the assumption that she was just any ordinary pegasus. Then he noticed something different. Her complexion was pale, her ears were split at three-ends and unusually fluffy, and when she opened her mouth to speak, he could distinctly see two pairs of fangs sticking out where her top molars would be.
She was a Bat-Pony.

“What’s new scaredy cat?” she slid over to his side and said in an accent-free voice, laying a hoof over his back with a friendly squeeze, flashing him a smile.

Globetrotter pretended not to be embarrassed, wondering if she had somehow seen him earlier in the alligator incident.

“Oh, just about everything, huh-huh,” he laughed awkwardly, “you know, Episode Day!” He tried to accent his enthusiasm, fearing he come off flat, only adding to the slight redness in his cheeks.

“Gregory!”

Suddenly, a great blue mass of fur leapt through the air and tackled Globetrotter in a bear-hug, slipping away from Shadycaves grasp as he exchanged into Kate Kerfuffle’s.

Without time to react, Globetrotter found himself on the ground, the thick coat like being suffocated under a rug. A second later, he was lifted into the air with two brushy, elephant-like hooves.

“Agg-g-h!” he choked, trying to speak.

Finally, Kerfuffle let go. She took a step back.

Bending his head down in recovery and coughing, Globetrotter took seven large gulps of air before he felt able to squeak out, “Hell-l-lo… K-ka-kate.”

When he looked back up, Kate was wearing a small, quiet grin, as if nothing had happened, on a face that looked as innocent as a puppy-dog’s.

Without saying another word, she stood there in front of him, her eyes, wide and unblinking, stared into Globetrotter’s.

Shadycaves tried very hard to suppress a giggle.

“Um…” Unsure how to respond, his irritation was replaced with confusion.

Then, without a murmur, Kerfuffle gently raised her hoof in the air, then brought it to Globetrotter’s nose.

Globetrotter looked cross-eyed at the hoof.

“Boop!” she made a cartoonish sound-effect as she pressed lightly on Globetrotter’s muzzle.

Kerfuffle brought her hoof back to the ground and it rested there.

“O-O-Ok.” Globetrotter blushed, not sure what had just happened.

“Mhem.” Kate gave him a cute little nod, before walking away.

Globetrotter furrowed his eyebrows as he watched her leaved and attempted to understand what had just happened.

Shadycaves burst out laughing, releasing what she’d been holding in earlier, “That is sooooo Kerfuffle!” she wiped away a tear.

Globetrotter shook his shoulders , “Alright.” he tried to remember what he was doing, “So…”

“Don’t get too close you two.” Interrupted a voice.

The two of them turned towards the speaker’s direction, only to find, towering over them, was the mad-scientist grin of Dark-Ish, whose fangs shined like Shadycaves’s, except for that in his mouth, every tooth was as sharpened as a spike.

Equally as pointy on him were the blood-red triangles that covered his pure black coat like zebra stripes, the same color as his demonic red eyes.

Curling out from his head were two horns, cracks running along them, giving them appearance of having been broken, and to make matters worse, his cutie-mark was some kind of cross between a skull and something that vaguely resembled a mushroom-cloud explosion, like a villain gone wrong.

The ridiculously tall effigy scratched his head with a hoof, ruffling up his spiky but somehow messy gray hair that ran along the sides of his face like waterfalls.

In any other context, he might have been terrifying.

But he smiled, like everyone else did around him—and no one seemed to mind in the least.

“Well, ah, um—hello, Dark-Ish. Ha-How are you d-doing today?” Globetrotter craned his neck upward to see his face.

“Fantastic!” Dark-Ish replied characteristically sarcastic, “How is your little day going?

“Nice. We saw,” he looked at Shadycaves, who was already staring at him, “I-I-I mean I saw,” he corrected himself “the garden on our way.”

Dark-Ish tilted his head sideways, giving them a one-eyed look.

“Is it just me or do I smell flowers?”

“F-F-Flowers?” Globetrotter asked.

“Flowers of young love.” Dark-Ish quipped.

Shadycaves burst out laughing with varying low and high-pitched squeaks.

“Uh, well, uh, I-I don’t think so.” Globetrotter stammeringly defended himself.

Shadycaves piped down to speak, still high-pitched, “Oh stop teasing him Darky.”

“No, no. It’s ok.” Globetrotter protested for himself. “I’m n-not sure what you mean, but uhhh… w-what h-have you been up to?” he said, lamely trying to change the subject.

“Oh well—” Dark-Ish let him as he sighed with fake exhaustion and unexpectedly dropped to the floor and rolled onto his back, his horns digging a hole in the grass as he came down.

Now Shadycaves and Globetrotter where the ones staring down at him.

“I started to assemble a little board-game to sell today for my stand, but I put decided to put it away—just so I could be with you guys!” his tone floated in between sincerity and sarcasm.

“Did you really Darky?” Shadycaves continued to use the nickname, “Can we see it?” she asked, bubblegum suddenly inflating through her lips despite Globetrotter hadn’t seen her her chewing any or pulling any out from a packet.

Sneaky. He thought.

Dark-Ish’s eyes shifted from one side to the other as he considered the proposition.

The bubble popped while they waited. Shadycaves chewed it back up and spit the wad out.

“Of course!” Dark-Ish sprang back up in a flash, fake doubt erased from his face.

He stood there, unmoving, his hoof lifted into the air like a tree branch.

“Well, where is it?” Globetrotter finally asked.

“Right here!” Dark-Ish announced as a black-colored mist of magic floated around even blacker leather-like bag that resembled a doctor’s antiqued briefcase, silver-rods piercing its curved, gothic-looking top.

The bag folded open with a click as Dark-Ish undid the latch with one of his fangs.

“I like your style.” Shadycaves complimented him.

“Why thank you!” he replied.

Dark-Ish set the bag down using his Magic, and from the depths of the briefcase, lifted a thick brown slab of wood.

Neither Shadycaves nor Globetrotter could see any markings on it whatsoever.

Dark-Ish slowly floated the board in Globetrotter’s direction, then stopped mid-air before him.

Globetrotter looked back and forth between the board and Dark-Ish without saying a word, hesitant to touch it.

“Go on.” Dark-Ish tempted.

Globetrotter held out a cautious hoof, but as he reached out to grab it, Dark-Ish swiped the board away to Shadycaves’s side.

“Ladies first!” he teased.

“Sweet.” Shadycaves picked up the board with one hoof as she started throwing it up and down and catching it on her hoof like a cup and ball game.

Globetrotter made a frown and put his tongue in his cheek, wondering what else should he have expected Dark-Ish to do.

Gently, she set the plank onto the grass on top of Dark-Ish’s pockmarks.

Crouching down and onto her belly, Shadycaves inspected it thoroughly as Globetrotter watched, awkwardly standing there.

Shadycaves’s slipped it over and looked at the other side.

“Dark-Ish.” Shadycaves smirked. “This is a just a piece of wood.”

“Exactly!” Dark-Ish shouted jubilantly, “You flip it like a coin, and if the sun is shining on the side it lands on, you win! You see, everyone’s a winner! Ha-Ha!” He laughed to himself.

Shadycaves started giggling at just how unbelievably dumb his entire joke had been.
Globetrotter started off to space, barely grinning while Dark-Ish brought himself to tears.

“Wait, wait, wait,” he began, accidentally taking the bait, “What happens if it’s not sunny out?” he asked half-serious.

“W-W-What?” Dark-Ish hardly heard him over his own laugher.

“Who wins if its not sunny out?” Globetrotter challenged him.

“What?” Dark-Ish seemed offended, “On my shift? Never!” he laughed again.

Just as they spoke a passing cloud started drifting over the sun.

“Oh look.” Dark-Ish pointed upward like an arrow.

Shadycaves glanced between Globetrotter fell into the trap and was blinded staring straight into the sun.

“Ah!” he blinked and rubbed his eyes with a hoof.

Dark-Ish seemed absolutely fine glaring right into the ball of light.

“How dare Cloudy Nine schedule this on this dearly ceremonial day!” He complained without a hint of seriousness, still grinning from his laughter as he spoke.

A few seconds later, the cloud had passed, diverting its course.

“That’s more like it.” Dark-Ish said, still looking into the sun.

Shadycave giggled, once again putting hoof around Globetrotter’s back as his vision recovered.

Dark-Ish’s head snapped back to look at the two of them. He grinned his last before he turned to leave, acting inconspicuously as if nothing had ever happened.

“See you around.” He alluded, walking away with another laugh, taking his bag, and his board, with him.

Globetrotter’s face screwed up as he watched for the second time today, one of his group come and go without explanation.

Then again, his mind wandered, everypony’s being theirself.

“Well—” he turned to Shadycaves, “Were you planning on doing anything in the square?”

Shadycave’s flapped her wings twice, then let go of him. “Oh, why not?” she said playfully.

Meanwhile, as Dark-Ish trotted over to the other side of their group, he came just in time to see Mountain Powers with Talent, and Kate, listening intently to a quiet, petit voice that lightly asked, “So, was everything alright?”

The voice’s owner was Blushing Bells, a pony with light blue, straight hair, a lavender coat, and a cutiemark of three silver bells and two curling green vines. Of all of the, she was the most reserved pony in their hebdomad.

“Oh absolutely! This is more than alright! This is going to be a grand fiesta!” Mountain Powers responded, twice as loud.

“I think what she means to ask you is how was the trip here?” Talent, a hoof in his vest pocket, took out his silver pocket-watch.

“Great! Perfect!” Powers kept on, “Everything but the kitchen sink!” It was almost as if he wasn’t listening.

“W-Wel-l-ll I’m sure you can buy one if you want.” Blushing Bells added, petting her hair nervously.

Talent tuned out for a second and clicked his watch open with his magic. 10:57. He read. The second bell was about to ring in three minutes.

“Oh my!” He explained.

“What what?” Kerfuffle asked.

“Huh?” Blushing Bells stopped brushing when she heard Kerfuffle speak.

“There’s only three minutes until the second bell rings. Ponies if you want to get anything we better do it now!”
Hardly any time had passed before suddenly, everypony’s ears were ringing with the sound of the second bell, which meant that there was only an hour left before the spectacle began.

In their rush to greet each other, Globetrotter, nor anypony for that manner, had even thought about what the episode would be like: they had totally skipped talk of predictions, news, and the most important thing of all—the baby.

But now all that theatric rush returned back into them with a passion.
Globetrotter hoped it would be a premier to remember. He did his best to forget his embarrassment and awkwardness. Putting it aside, he was ready to have the time of his life.

* * *

If Kid didn’t know any better, he’d probably would have assumed that the small, black empty pathway that lead over to the grass hill continued on into nothing more but an empty park space.

But Kid knew better.

That’s why, even paces ahead of his family, he kept increasing his speed.

Casopal watched him go, climbing further up the lumpy, green mounds.

When he reached the top of the hill, triumphant, he stopped, and stared downward, as if he had discovered a long-lost golden city.

Watching him, Casopal’s lips formed a smile.

Together, the six pairs of their hooves made gentle, rhythmic taps on the black pavement as the three of them strolled in leisure.

The fresh air hung over the clean, wide, and empty streets. Surrounding them everywhere, were neighborhood houses, yet devoid of neighborhood activity.

From the paved main street, several dirt side-streets branched off.

Windows of the houses gazed at them like translucent eyes, their windows open, and miniature gardens hanging over the side of their railings.

Rarity could only see one pony in the whole neighborhood, quietly pulling a cart of oranges in the opposite direction of them.

Waving to them to them as they passed each other, she greeted them with a friendly, “Good morning.”

“Good morning!” The three of them chimed, waving back.

The pony walked on by and the three of them continued in silence.

“Ohmygosh—canyoubelieveit? It’salreadyepisodeday!” Something shouted, horns, streamers, and confetti blazing everywhere.

Flowertower and Scarf nearly jumped backwards in surprise.

Casopal started laughing. It was good to see a familiar face.

Like her name, Candy Cotton was sweet, bright, and full of sugar, her pink, light and puff hair curling out like whipped frosting.

“No Candy, despite all my creative efforts I just cannot believe it is Episode Day.” Casopal quipped.

Flowertower and Scarf exhaled as if they had avoided a rolling boulder.

“Y’know, you could have let us known you were coming today.” Flowertower smiled with easing nerves.

“Yes, but where’s the fun in that, silly?” Candy giggled, before turning to Cosopal, “Oh! Oh! Where’s Kid?”

“He’s up ahead of us by about a-gazillion blocks.” Scarf exaggerated, pointing to Kid, who waved frantically for them to come closer.

Candy waved back to him, her hoof moving so fast that it became a noodly pink blur.

Casopal knew Candy would be here.

She always was.

She lived just two houses away from where they were, and it was impossible to think that Candy would go to Buzzle Square alone.

It was their tradition to go together, and Flowertower already knew full well in her heart that Candy would be here today.

With Candy absorbed into their group, the four of them paced themselves towards Kid, while meanwhile Candy hopped up and down like a spring, passing by the field house on the road before they entered the clear and vast space of the Park of Hills.

Getting closer to Perspective Hill, Casopal had a thought. “Last one to Kid is a Rotten Pony!” breaking out into a gallop.

“Hey, no fair!” Candy shouted behind her.

Flowertower and Scarf started running, the four of them kicking up dust in their path.

Within seconds, the four of them climbed to the top of the grassy slope.

As soon as Kid saw Candy, his ears perked up and his eyes shining with excitement, “You made it!”

“Of course!” Candy exclaimed, “I’d never let my favorite foal go their second season premiere without me!”

Flowertower giggled as she watched Candy and Kid play Patty-Cake.

She turned backwards to look at the houses one more time, their roofs now at her eye-level. The sprawl was only broken by little pockets of space set between them for shops, parks, and ponds.

Then she turned around, making eye-contact with Scarf. He looked back at her and smiled silently. The two of them glanced at the goof-balls, unexpectedly watching as Candy hoisted Kid onto her back.

“Woah! Hey!” Kid protested.

Casopal laughed again. Taking a step forward, her eyes wandered over the slope of the hill, and like rolling snowballs, she could not avoid finding hundreds of picnic blankets, baskets, and ponies everywhere.
The hill beneath them was a wide, slow-sloping range, that gradually rolled into the ground, where it met gently with the rest of Buzzle Square, far below them. She could see the tiny wavering squares above the kaleidoscopic blips. The noise below them drew her closer, like a magnet.

Hearing it automatically refreshed Kid’s energy.

“C’mon! Let’s go!” He said for the thousandth time, tugging at Candy’s ears.

“Hold on there Rolly Foal-y!” Candy said with Kid still on her back.

“Alrighty then!” Casopal said. “Who's ready to go?”

“Oh! ME-ME-ME-ME-ME!” Kid responded on Candy’s shoulders, using her head as a podium.

“Well let’s go then!” Scarf announced, proceeding forward and downward.

Without thinking Candy shouted, "Race you to the bottom!" And began setting-off, knocking Kid down onto her back and holding on helplessly.

"Idon'tthinkthat’ssosafe!" Rarity and Scarf shouted in unison with parenting instincts.

Flowertower grimaced, watching in Terror as Candy passed, dodged, and avoided pony-after-pony, nearly clipping someone’s basket as she rushed down the hill with a daredevil smile.

Even in her own wind-tunnel, Candy found time to wave to sompeony, “OhheySummerDeskshow’sitgoing?” Her words rushed out like hot-air out of a balloon.

“Oh Hi Candy!” The pony named Summer Desks waved back, already gesturing at an empty space.

Kid’s eyes violently shook up and down as he fought against the current that pulled his hair as backwards like leaves in a breeze.

He held onto Candy’s neck, barely able to keep his grip; mere moments from the bottom.

Casopal, Scarf, and Flowertower were still on-top of the hill, nervously waiting to see how their dangerous ride would end.

Candy had picked up so much momentum that she couldn’t stop herself. She was barrelling down into the flattening ground, passing through a needle opening in a wall of lawn-chairs and umbrellas, her body propelled into the open space between Perspective Hill and the crowded square.

“Watch out!” Kid yelled over the wind in his face, biting his teeth as he braced for impact.

Hearing the cry, the group of figures they were about to ram into turned around, their eyes widening at what was about to happen.

“Slow down!” one of them cried.

“I can’t!” Candy cried back desperately trying to brake but losing to gravity.

The stranger’s frantically tried to step aside, but it was too late.

The two flying companions toppled into somebody and were partially cushioned in the crash.

“Ouch.” Sweetie-Belle commented from atop the hill.

The three of them came running-down after them.

* * *

Kid felt a slight pain in his head. He’d fallen off Candy and landed on the ground.

He blinked a couple of times and when his vision came back to him, he recognized that the eyes staring down at him were far higher up then the eyes of a pony.

“Are you OK?” A group of hands reached down to offer assistance.

Chapter Three: Explanation Station

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.