The year is 2028. It's the middle of an overcast March. I've be alive on Earth for approximately thirty years and three months. I was on a leisurely stroll in the middle of a moderate rainstorm. The droplets pelted my hoodie with a deathly cold. I'm not exactly sure what I was thinking at the time. I tended to let my mind wander when I wasn't working. Nothing else could really be heard aside from the rain and my footsteps. Most people would be amazed I could see anything since I usually kept my hair over my eyes. I don't even know how long I was walking when I finally saw her; the pony with a coat as white as snow and wings reminiscent of a traditional angel. I wasn't really shocked or surprised, but not for the reasons you might think. I'd assumed at some point in my life I would develop into a functioning schizophrenic, meaning even if auditory and/or visual hallucinations became a regular part of my life, I could recognize them as such and ignore them. This was the point when I thought my mind had finally relented and given in to the partial psychosis. The thing that stunned me was how quickly I recognized who it was; a creation of mine I developed sometime in October of 2013, when I was only 15 years old. I'd written stories about her and her family a few times when I was between 17 and 19, and seeing her didn't feel that strange because she'd been part of my life for a while. As you can you can imagine, my expression remained unchanged. There was something on my mind though; what should I do? It wasn't very likely she was real, but there were times in my life when I felt extremely whimsical, and this was one of them. When I reached out in an attempt to touch her coat, my hand was stopped from touching the ground like I expected.

"Probably a somatosensation trick," I reasoned.

To further test my theory, I checked for a pulse. There was one. For a sensory anomaly of the brain, this was beginning to seem unusually realistic. There was only one thing left I could really try. Her heart and lungs were functioning, so there was no immediate need for resuscitation as far as I could tell. There were also no external wounds. It was almost like she was in a deep, peaceful sleep. That's when I saw the look on her face. There wasn't any pain or discomfort in it. There was a genuine feeling of warmth and tenderness emitted. Out of options, I lifted her onto my back. Ten years ago, it would've been much harder to do that, but just before I turned 20, I made the decision to increase my strength in case I ever needed it for physical labor. it really paid off in the long run. She was light as a feather.

My home was a small place. There was one room for each basic necessity, and a living area for gaming, music, and television. After placing her in my bed, I left the room for a while to listen to a little bit of metal. I didn't know how long she would be out, so I chose something a little longer; an old katatonia album if I remember right. The blend of a dim day and the general mood was enough to knock me out cold too. She would probably be gone when I woke up anyway.

Atmospheric woke up about two hours after I found her. I could only imagine the feelings she was experiencing. She must've been afraid though. When I woke up, she was standing near the couch.

"Woah! Holy crap!"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you," she said to me sweetly.

"It's okay. That just startled me. I thought you would be gone by the time I woke up."

"Did you want me to leave?"

"No, that's not what I meant. I thought you were just a trick of the mind or something. You're the only sentient pony I've ever met."

"I don't know where I am. Can you tell me?"

"Sure. You're on planet Earth. This is where human beings live."

"Human beings!?"

"Let me guess; you've only heard about them in stories, right?"

"How did you know?"

"It's a little tough to explain. For now let's just call it multiverse theory. It basically means there are an infinite number of universes. I know about your universe because it's one I created."

"You created my universe?"

"I'll prove it. I know you have a husband, two biological children, and an interest in heavy metal, right?"

"That's about the size of it."

"You don't seem all that shocked."

"Appearances can be deceiving. My husband tried to commit suicide when we were younger. I can accept just about anything."

"I know why he survived."

"You do!?"

"You and him are my original creations. Everything you know and are came from my head."

"So you're some kind of god?"

"Hah! That's a good one. I can't live anywhere near that long."

"I'm still lost."

"I don't have a computer, so I can't really show you what I mean. I developed you for years as a mental image. Your husband and kids are the same. If you look closer at me, who do I remind you of?"

"Wait..."

I parted my hair and placed it behind my ears, revealing my stonewashed eyes.

"You're him in human form?"

"Not exactly. I made him to be smarter and stronger than I was. It took a long time before I changed my tune and did something about it."

"So he was the ideal version of what you wanted to be..."

"Bingo. That's the answer to the million dollar, or in your case, million bit, question."

Atmospheric pushed back her mane with an open-mouthed and focused stare. Her disbelief and near disgust were beginning to show.

"So you're telling me my whole life's been a lie that you controlled?"

I dropped my act and stopped trying to be funny after that point.

"Look, I know you probably have a lot of questions, so let's start small, okay? Even I don't know why you're here."

Atmospheric took a seat next to me and held her eyes in what I assumed was discomfort tinged with despair.

"That's about everything. I created you in October 15 years ago. I was going through a lot at the time, so I wanted something I could pour my positive feelings into."

"I don't get why, though. Why me?"

"You know how Harmonic was really troubled early on in his life? I didn't have much of a solid support structure. Suicide was on my mind all the time, so that's why I made him the way I did. You were his hope; my way of coping with the negative emotions I was dealing with by countering them with better ones."

"How much like him are you?"

"Well, our physical appearances are obviously different, what with my longer hair and extra strips of clothing, but the jackets and hoodies you guys always wear are based on stuff I'm into. It's the personality though where I think we most strongly resemble each other. I was pretty selfish as a kid, but the more introspection I did, the more I realized I didn't need stuff to be content. It's a classic man on the mountain story. That's why I live here, so I can record music and live my life peacefully."

"So that's it then? Everything we built was because of you?"

"Yeah. Pretty disheartening, I know."

"Don't say that. It's not your fault. You were just trying to help yourself without hurting anybody. I get it. It's just really hard for me to process."

"I don't blame you. I lived my whole life thinking I would snap at a moment's notice and just go completely out of my mind. What you're hearing right now would mess with anybody."

"I'm scared."

I rose from my seat on the couch and held her front hooves together. It was the best thing I could think to do.

"Listen to me. It's gonna' be okay. There's always a solution to a problem. We just have to find out what the problem is before we can solve it."

Atmospheric wiped the tears forming in her eyes away.

"You voice is gentle, just like his."

"Don't cry anymore, alright?"

She nodded. Her smile was weak, but there was some truth to it.

"Mm."