//------------------------------// // For Science! // Story: Multiversal Voyage // by King Ice //------------------------------// Universe 10328 Pinkie groaned as she attempted to stand up only to fall back on her butt. She. Was. In. Pain. As if she had fallen off a roof. And she knew how that felt because it had already happened to her. Three times, actually. But to be fair, all those happened because she attempted to do the impossible, every prankster’s dream… Prank themselves. She was still thinking about how to prank herself, but she was close! She could feel it! More importantly… Where was she? She blinked several times as she managed to successfully open her eyes and inspect her surroundings. She was… In Ponyville. Oh! That weird stone thingy must have thrown her out of the window or something! All she had to do was return to the Castle of Friendship and see if the others were fine! “You okay, there, Pinkie?” A female pegasus interrupted her thoughts, a pegasus she immediately recognized: Heavy Breeze! “It looks like you had a pretty bad fall,” “I’m extra okay! No worries!” Pinkie jumped up and landed on her hooves, only to nearly lose her balance and collapse on the spot. Her head hurt, too. Maybe a concussion? Eh. She’ll be fine. “Well, whatever you say! Wouldn’t want one of our best protectors to not be at their best!” Breeze exclaimed before flying away, making Pinkie raise one of her eyebrows. Since when did Breeze call her a protector? She was sure no one ever called her that before. But she shrugged it off, then walked away in the direction of Twilight’s castle. “Hey, Pinkie!” “Hey to you, too!” She replied joyfully while waving at the pony that greeted her. “Pinkie! Hi!” “High hoof!” The pink earth pony responded as she high-hoofed the other earth pony that greeted her. “Loved your pancakes yesterday, Pinkie, bestie! It rhymes, too!” A pegasus shouted eagerly as they passed by. “Thanks! And you’re my bestie, too!” Pinie waved and didn’t even question the fact that she didn’t even make any pancakes yesterday that the pegasus could compliment. “Look, Pinkie! Isn’t my smile getting better?!” A delighted earth pony called out to her while smiling so wide you could see all their teeth. “You betcha! Nearly bigger than mine!” Pinkie retorted happily. “That’s what he said!” Another pony interjected as they passed by. “Good one!” Pinkie Pie laughed as she high-hoofed them, too. “Oh! Nice tattoos, Pinkie!” Another pony complimented her. “Thanks!” She answered while trotting forward.  Everyone greeted her like she was their best friend in the world. And she did the same to them. Which was exactly her daily routine, so that was nothing out of the ordinary. Although… there was something strange… She hadn’t seen a single unicorn! And the last pony she had seen should have been one! But instead, he looked exactly like an earth pony! Did he lose his horn? Now that she thought about it… She didn’t have any tattoos either, so what was he talking about? That was when she noticed that none of the ponies she came across had any cutie marks! Her heart skipped a beat as she hastily retrieved a pair of binoculars seemingly from thin air and looked for Twilight’s castle… But it was nowhere to be seen. The pink earth pony wasn’t able to hold back her gasp, then everything clicked. “The stone Twilight found was actually a magic thingy that can transport us to other universes and I’ve landed in a universe where magic doesn’t exist while the others are separated in even weirder universes like Dashie in a universe where Tirek won and Applejack in a universe where she’s filthy rich!” Pinkie Pie shouted so fast no one would be able to understand her, then turned to face an invisible camera. “No correlation with the pony, Filthy Rich,” She added in a whisper, then panted heavily as if she was close to having a panic attack, only to immediately stop and breathe in relief. “Well, that makes a ton of sense! I was almost worried, there,” She laughed to herself as she wiped the sweat off her forehead. Shouldn’t she be worried at least a little bit? “No siree!” She replied eagerly before looking around in confusion. “How am I supposed to go home?” She asked out loud while scratching the back of her head. Don’t ask me! I’m only the narrator! Still, her confusion was expected. She was stranded in a whole different universe (if her instincts were right) and had no way of going back because she simply had no knowledge of magic! Could she find the stone here, too, and use it to go back? Would it even exist if magic didn’t in this world? Eh, she was probably wrong about this world having no magic anyway! It was silly to think about! How would the sun move without any magic? Ah! It wouldn’t! And it was definitely moving right now! Or was it? She stared at the sun intently, as if engaged in a fierce staring contest with the celestial body, determined to detect even the slightest hint of movement. The intense gaze made her feel as if her eyes were about to melt, but she persisted, unwilling to let go. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she believed she witnessed a minuscule shift, an inch perhaps. At least she thought it moved an inch or maybe her eyes actually got damaged from that… Suddenly, something poked her in the side, making her wince in pain as she looked at her butt to see a dart protruding from it. “Hey! That’s not… Nice…” She mumbled weakly before collapsing, falling asleep nearly instantly. The last thing Pinkie felt as the world faded into darkness was being dragged on the ground by something cold with an unyielding grip around her neck. The pink earth pony groggily opened her mouth as she groaned tiredly, then attempted to stand up, only to fail. She swiftly opened her eyes in panic before looking down and checking her hooves. She was strapped to a steel table with straps that seemed even tougher than the table itself. Looking up, she was tempted to cover her eyes as she realized she was in a beam of light, making her unable to see anything but shadows beyond the edge of the table. She blinked a few times until her eyes adjusted a bit and allowed her to see a bit further. Fortunately, she didn’t need to focus much since a few more lights began blinking. It seemed she was in some kind of laboratory straight out of a comic book! “Anypony here? Is it a surprise welcome party? Because you really outdid yourself with the surprise factor!” Pinkie sniggered joyfully until pounding footsteps made the ground shake. “A party? Hardly,” A familiar voice replied as the footsteps got closer and closer. Finally managing to pinpoint where they were coming from, Pinkie looked up to see someone climbing down the walls from above. The voice was familiar because it belonged to someone she knew very well: Twilight Sparkle! However, she was much different from the one she knew. This Twilight had no horn or wings. She also had a lab coat and glasses. The most shocking aspect of her was also the fact that 8 mechanical tentacles seemed to be coming out of her back. The scariest part about them was the claws at their end, which looked like they allowed Twilight to easily climb up and down the walls. “Twilight!” Pinkie exclaimed happily, reassured now that she knew that it was one of her friends. “Yes, yes, you know my name! It doesn’t sound like you fear it, though! Very stupid. And also stupid of you to turn into one of my friends, changeling,” The lab Twilight replied while shaking her head. “You could have been sneakier, you know?” “What? I’m not a changeling! Besides, they’re the good guys, now!” Pinkie retorted in confusion as Twilight scoffed. “Do you think I’m an idiot? Still… There is something strange about you…” Twilight mumbled while moving her face closer to Pinkie’s, narrowing her eyes as she studied her face. “No matter how many analyses I make, I just can’t find any proof that you are a changeling!” “Because I’m not, silly! I come from a parallel world!” Pinkie responded excitedly as Twilight didn’t seem to react in any way. Instead, she used her mechanical arms to move around the room some more, looking at various screens out of Pinkie’s field of view. The pink pony did notice that her fellow earth pony still haven’t stepped foot on the floor even once. “If I had a bit every time I heard that excuse… Well, I would have two bits, which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice,” The lavender pony chuckled as she lowered herself near Pinkie’s level again. “But it’s true! I’m super friends with you! And we saved Equestria more times than I can count! And beat bad guys, too! Then you became an alicorn! Then we had an alicorn party! And flash forward to earlier, a magical stone crashed in Equestria, then my Twilight did something to it and I got here! See? Pretty easy to understand, right?” Pinkie wiggled her eyebrows as Twilight rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. Magic doesn’t exist, unlike what Trixie Lulamoon will try to tell you,” “Oh, yeah? Then how come pegasi fly?” Pinkie asked in a challenging tone as Twilight deadpanned. “With their wings, duh!” “Okay… Well, who moves the sun and the moon?” Pinkie inquired further as the lavender unicorn paused, then burst out laughing. “What kind of question is that? Oh, this is hilarious! The sun doesn’t move, dummy! Equus does! Equus is located in the sun’s orbit because of the sun’s powerful gravitational pull. As Equus moves in its orbit, it also rotates on its axis, causing day and night. The combination of Equus’ rotation and its orbital motion around the Sun creates a cycle of days, months, and years. The moon follows the same principle by rotating around Equus. That is something even children know!” Twilight explained while shaking her head in amusement. “Well. That is stupid!” Pinkie commented as Twilight sighed. “Onto more serious matters… There is one thing that keeps me from getting rid of you. I’m not actually completely positive that you are a changeling,” “See? I told you!” Pinkie proudly stated while Twilight huffed. “That doesn’t mean I believe any of your nonsense, and it might actually be worse for you,” Twilight snickered before approaching the party pony. “The changelings’ anatomy allows them to shift their bodies as they please, down to their bones. You could say that their original form is actually that of a blob or a bag of meat due to its malleability. Because of that, when they replicate someone, they become identical. You could cut them open and you would see no differences with the pony they have changed into,” Twilight started saying as Pinkie fought the urge to fall asleep. She didn’t want a biology lesson! Yet another difference with her world since changelings used magic to turn into someone else. Not whatever Twilight was explaining. “Meaning you cannot make any tests based on appearance to discover a changeling. However, you are clearly not identical to Pinkie Pie. First of all, you have the same amount of fat, but your bones are thinner. You have those strange tattoos on the sides of your flank,” Twilight stated as one of her claws poked Pinkie in her foreleg, then moved to grab her skull. “Your cranium is also a bit larger. Ironically, your brain is smaller,” She snickered as her claws let go of the party pony. “Hey! That’s not nice! I’m a big brain!” Pinkie argued offendedly, then huffed. “And you act a lot like Pinkie, too! Which makes me think that you are perhaps not a changeling. Spike! What are the results!” Twilight asked with a yell as a claw with a red glowing lens in its center came out of one of the walls. “Blood results: negative. Brain waves: negative. Body also refused to process a piece of meat. Likely scenarios: not a changeling, allergy, stomach problems. Subject also seems to have heavy addiction to sugar, which is highly toxic to changelings,” The claw replied while a holographic screen appeared out of its lens, showing it to Twilight. “Spike?” Pinkie muttered, which was totally ignored by the other pony and the individual claw. “Ah! It’s a robot!” She shouted… And was ignored again. “The exact same results as earlier. You are not a changeling. So… What are you?” Twilight inquired while swiftly walking around Pinkie’s strapped form with the help of her claws, making loud clanking sounds with every step. “Some kind of defective clone? Or maybe you’re a hidden twin… Her evil twin! Or an advanced bio-droid made to look like Pinkie,” She added excitedly as Pinkie shook her head while smiling. “Nope! I’m from another world! But being a robot would be really cool!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed while laughing. “What is this?” She pointed with her snout at a random object in the room. “Why, a particle accelerator, of course!” Twilight happily answered. “And this?” She pointed at something else. “The Harmotron 4000!” “Oh, oh! And this?” “That’s a coffee machine… Powered by a nuclear reactor!” “Awesome! Even if I don’t know what that is!” Pinkie laughed while the second pony was swiftly nodding. “You are so fascinating! I can’t wait to study you!” Twilight said excitedly as one of her claws adjusted her glasses. “Study me? You can’t study me, silly! You can’t study ponies! You’re supposed to study books! Come on, you’re supposed to be the smart one, Twilight,” Pinkie snickered, making the lavender unicorn chuckle. “It seems you don’t get it. That’s okay! I’ll put it in a way you can understand!” Twilight smiled widely as she used her claws to climb on the wall. She had moved with those mechanical arms so fast that she almost seemed like a gross bug, which nearly made Pinkie gag. “With a song!” The lavender pony shouted as she pulled several levers, turning on music. “I love songs!” Pinkie wanted to clap her hooves, but considering she was strapped to a table, she was unlikely to succeed. Time for my introduction! I am Twilight Sparkle, the most brilliant scientist in Equestria And former apprentice of Chancellor IX Celestia But most of all known as the Master of Destruction! “Just kidding! But I wouldn’t mind if someone called me that,” Twilight giggled as she hung from the wall with the help of four of her claws, then pointed one of the others at Spike. “Your turn, Spike!” The robot made a sound akin to a sigh before nodding. Created for the sole purpose of serving If I had a soul, I would think that’s a bit unnerving But I’m an A.I., so who the hell is gonna ask my opinion? The name’s Spike, which stands for Smooth Popular Irresistible Kickass Enigmatic Spike sang in a robotic voice, which sounded like it was adjusted to make the best voice possible for singing, but held nearly no emotions. “Actually, S.P.I.K.E stands for “Super Processing Intelligent and Knowledgeable Entity”, but shush,” Twilight whispered to one of her cameras, then sang again. Enough playing! On this operating table, you will be staying To study you, I will take out your brain Although there’s not much I will gain Twilight laughed again and Pinkie just knew she was referring to the size of her brain again! She was so offended that she missed the part where Twilight said she would cut out her brain. But first! There need to be more experiments! And this time, nothing as simple as taking your measurements Maybe we’ll try some dissections See how your body reacts to one or two injections Twilight happily sang as she ran around her lab with the help of her claws, which moved a few things out of the way to show various experiments of hers. There were many tanks filled with green liquid and creatures in them. Thankfully, none of them were ponies, but the state they were in wasn’t really reassuring. Some were missing limbs, others were missing heads. One was clearly a bunny, which seemed to have mutated into a pony-sized meat-eating monster. There was also some kind of tall hairless monkey (which kinda looked like a pony she knew) with four arms. Now I know I sound crazy But I’m simply a respectful mad scientist Would you rather have one that’s lazy? “If you still don’t get it, time for the refrain!” Twilight shouted as she landed with her tentacles on the wall facing Pinkie. To study you, I will take out your brain Although there’s not much I will gain Maybe we’ll try some dissections See how your body reacts to one or two injections You’ve probably noticed, But I love experimentation! There is nothing greater than scientific gratification At least, this is what I’ve been told Ever since I was small Now behold! Twilight jumped and landed right in front of Pinkie, her tentacle claws slamming against the ground and the table, holding it in place as the lavender pony showed off two of the metallic appendages. Electrification Decapitation Radiation Experimentation! She finished excitedly as all of her claws suddenly turned into different tools, one of them being a circular saw. “I-Isn’t that a bit too close, Twilight?” Pinkie chuckled nervously while the saw was dangerously approaching her head. “Remain calm and everything will be okay! This is for science!” Twilight exclaimed, ready to cut the pony until she suddenly stopped. “Twilight!” Someone shouted in annoyance, making Twilight’s tentacles turn back into claws. Pinkie breathed out in relief as the sounds of ponies rapidly approaching stopped the lavender pony in her tracks. The doors of the lab were slammed open as several ponies came in, all of which Pinkie recognized! They were her friends! There was even a version of her! Except they had no cutie marks and Rarity was an earth pony. “Girls? What are you doing down there? And why did you take the stairs?” She inquired in confusion. “Because the elevator’s broken again,” Rarity replied as the other Pinkie ran past her until she stopped in front of the original Pinkie. “Oh, hey! I didn’t know I had a twin sister!” No magic Pinkie greeted her double strapped on the table. “Hi!” Pinkie greeted her back. “The real question is what are you doing here? We were supposed to have a double date with Rarity and AJ! Don’t tell me you’re making clones again!” Rainbow Dash stomped the floor in annoyance as she noticed the second Pinkie Pie. “Don’t you remember what happened last time?” “Oh, come on! It’s not like we never dealt with that much collateral damage before! I’m not making clones anyway! This is different,” Twilight argued stubbornly as the blue pegasus rolled her eyes. “H-Hey! Wait a second… Did you say… Double date?” Pinkie, the one still strapped on the table, asked with her legs shaking. The other ponies looked at one another, mostly hesitant if they should answer since they didn’t even know what kind of experiment she was. However, Twilight did not seem to care much about answering or not while she pouted. “Uhm, yeah?” Rainbow replied while putting a foreleg over Twilight’s shoulder. Meanwhile, Rarity was awfully close to Applejack, which didn’t go unnoticed by the second party pony. Finally, after several long seconds, Pinkie put two and two together while staring at the two pairs. She couldn’t stop herself from screaming.