"Rainbow! Quit nappin' and get back to work!"
"Oh, come on, AJ! I just cleared that entire row!"
Glaring at the pegasus, Applejack barked out a quick retort. "And while you were doing that, me an' P-Surprise cleared an entire grove!"
Gulping, Rainbow looked behind the irate farmer. Sure enough, the other of the two groves scheduled for harvesting that day was already clear.
"Uh...I'm only one pony?" The excuse was a flimsy one at best, and her hesitant tone made it clear that Rainbow didn't believe it would work herself.
"Ah seem to recall somethin' bout you sayin' you'd be faster than ten?"
Rainbow winced.
"...Ok, maybe that was an exaggeration. Besides, I'm not on my A-game today...everything's been pretty weird today, ya know?"
Applejack sighed. "Ah know." Wordlessly, the pair turned to look at an oblivious pink pony, who was happily zipping around trees and bucking all the apples they contained into pre-placed baskets. Every now and again, Big Mac would come along with his wagon, load up the filled baskets, and haul them back to the barn for storage. Applejack sighed again. It had been a weird day alright. First, Pinkie had announced she literally had voices in her head, and if that wasn't enough a pinkie-sense doozy had struck soon after.
Personally, AJ reckoned the doozy was Pinkie's little revelation, but the pony in question was adamant it was something else. In any case, nothing else of note had happened that morning, eventually resulting in the group splitting up. When Applejack had started heading back to Sweet Apple Acres, She had invited Pinkie...and Pinkamena...and Surprise...boy that was going to be confusing...She had invited the...trio to come along, in an attempt to get to know the two personalities. The sooner she got used to this, the better, she reckoned. Rainbow had invited herself along, and so they had left the library together, leaving behind the others.
When they had reached the farm, they had gone inside and had a round of cider to relax. There had been a bit of conversation, which only really went over the facts AJ already knew:
1. Pinkie had 'multiple personalities', which essentially meant there were three minds living in the same body.
2. This wasn't harmful to anypony involved. In fact, from what little she had seen of 'Pinkamena', it seemed they were actually helping her keep her head on straight(ish).
3. This had been kept a secret due to some sort of bad experience in the past, and Twilight had only recently found out by accident.
Soon after that, AJ had needed to get started on her work for the day. Her friends had volunteered to help, and so here they were. As they watched, Pinkie- or was it Surprise?- finished the last row of her assigned patch, did a little celebratory jig, and trotted towards the pair.
"All done!" she beamed.
"Thanks, uh...Pinkie?"
"Yeah? What is it?" asked Pinkie cocking her head to one side.
"Uh, nothin', ah was just checkin' to, er, see who ah was...talkin' to..." she said, rather awkwardly.
Pinkie giggled at Applejack's explanation. "It's ok!" she beamed.
"Actually, that's a good point. I know Pinkamena's got that weird hair-floppy thing, but how do you tell the difference between you and Surprise, Pinkie?" asked Rainbow. Applejack's ears perked up. This was something she wanted to know as well.
"Well, I'm me and she's Surprise, silly! I know who I am, and I'm not Surprise, because I'm Pinkie Pie!"
"...Riiight...." Rainbow facehoofed. "Pinkie, I meant how can WE tell the difference?"
"Oh! Well, you should have said, because you said you and not I, but not me I you I because I was saying what you said from you point of view. Ok, SO I'm Pinkie-" without warning, the pink pony slumped. But, before Applejack had a chance to react, she had bounced back up. "And I'm Surprise. Can you tell the difference now?"
"Uh...no." said Rainbow, rather bluntly.
"Oh...How 'bout now?"
"No."
"What about now? Can you tell the difference now?"
Rainbow groaned. "No!"
This went on for quite a while.
"...And this one's a intermediate-level book, slightly complicated but there's a decent synopsis in chapter eighteen...Oh, and you'll probably need these two as well, to understand the background details of the area..."
Rarity eyed the growing stack of books in front of her. She had wanted to know more about Pinkie's condition, but this...this was an entire course in psychology! It would take her months to get though them all, and Twilight wasn't even finished yet!
"Um...Twilight, darling?"
"Yes Rarity?" replied Twilight absent-mindedly, searching the shelves for 'Mechanics of the Mind: Volume 6'.
"I think I've got enough books here for a..." Rarity trailed off, seeing Twilight turn around with the largest book yet in her telekinesis. The look on her friend's face was enough to finally snap Twilight out of her daydream-like state. She took in the stack of books beside Rarity, and realised for the first time that she was going a little overboard. Well, more than a bit- the stack in question was higher than the pony it was intended for.
"Whoa...Oh, er, sorry Rarity...I guess I got a little carried away there, huh?"
"Er...yes, quite." said Rarity. "I don't suppose there's a few here I could cope without?"
A few minutes later, and the pile of books had been practically cut in half. There was still a large amount of reading to be done, but at least this was more manageable. From somewhere close by, Spike's voice came calling: "Twiiiliight! Letter from the Princess!"
"In here, Spike!" Twilight called back. Soon after, the baby dragon entered the room and handed her the scroll. "Wonder what it's about? I can't think of anything..." wondered Twilight as her magic unfurled the scroll, Rarity and Spike looking on in mild interest. As she scanned the page though, this curiosity soon gave way to horror. Eyes wide, she looked around in horror.
"It's...It's...I'vegottafindPinkiequick!" And with that, she teleported away, leaving behind a very concerned, and rather confused, pair of friends.
On the whole, Sweet Apple Acres was a calm and peaceful place. Very little that happened was in any way strange, just the way Applejack liked it. She, Rainbow and Pinkie were relaxing, taking a break after a fair few hours of solid hard work. The farmyard was very peaceful...for about five minutes. Then a panicking princess teleported in with some rather terrible news. Things like that tend to ruin the mood. The trio shot to their hooves at the sight of Twilight in such a state, and trotted over in alarm.
"What is it, Twilight? What's wrong?" asked Pinkie, fearful of the reply.
With a grim face, Twilight wordlessly levitated her letter into Pinkie's hooves. Pinkie began to read:
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
It is with a heavy heart that I inform you of concerning events which transpired earlier today. This morning, a unicorn by the name of Neuron Probe escaped from the prison HMP Everfree, and was last seen heading into the Everfree forest. This does not concern you directly, but this is a very personal matter for your friend Pinkie Pie. I am unsure how much she has told you of her past, and I will not disclose details for fear that I would inadvertently reveal secrets she does not wish told, but know that her last encounter with this stallion ended in his arrest. I fear that he may seek vengeance against her. As such, I ask you to notify Pinkie Pie IMMEDIATELY, and to support her through this troubled time.
Also, I am sending a contingent of the royal guard to Ponyville. As the bearer of the element of laughter, a threat against Pinkie is also a matter of national security. They will be as unobtrusive as possible, but will keep a close eye on things. Their primary duties are to provide an escort for Pinkie, and also to search the surrounding area for the fugitive. I hope this will not prove too disruptive. I know that you and your friends are entirely capable of defending yourselves, but deploying guard is protocol for situations like this- I must ensure the safety of the bearers. Please, try and get Pinkie to open up about her past, if she hasn't done so already, to both you and the other bearers. It will make things a lot clearer for you.
Your friend and mentor always,
Celestia
P.S. As soon as I am able, I will try to visit Ponyville myself. Also, I will see if my sister can visit Pinkie in her dreams tonight.
Within the first line, Pinkie was shaking badly. Each word only served to push her deeper into hysterics. At some point, the letter fell from her hooves as she stared into space. All around her, spectres of the past began creeping in. The memories of long, sleepless nights came rushing back. The sounds of machines whirring, hooves on tiles, and that voice. That terrible, cold, uncaring voice. The medication, the tests, the therapy, all of it came rushing back. Now darkness was swallowing her up, pulling her back into the nightmares of years past. The nightmares that had returned. There was a brief sense of something hitting her on the back, something solid and large, but the feeling was numb and hazy. Somepony close by was screaming.
Just before she sank completely into oblivion, Pinkie realised it was her.
Darkness. It surrounded her completely. She tried to move, but found herself immobile. A light snapped on. It lit up her surroundings in a dim light, allowing for a view of the machinery surrounding her. She knew this place. She screamed.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Hold still now, Ms Pie" The words themselves were polite, but the voice spat them like acid. She struggled. The thick leather straps around her limbs tightened, pinning her to the metal table.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
The scream echoed, but received no response. The impassive face of her tormentor loomed unexpectedly into her vision, a hoof reaching for the lever...
And then the good doctor found himself punted into the air by a strong pair of hooves. He shot upwards at impossible speeds. A scream of rage was snatched from his lips as he was then ploughed back into the ground, rammed by a charging pegasus. As his body dissolved into nothing, Pinkamena sighed in relief, and started undoing Pinkie's bonds.
"Come on. He can't hurt you. This is just a bad dream." She said, in an attempt to comfort her scared friend. She worked briskly, and the straps soon fell away, disappearing soon after. However, Pinkie refused to let herself be consoled in the face of this new horror.
"But he's out there again!" Pinkie screamed back. "He's going to take me away again!" Pinkamena stood there calmly, barely batting an eyelid and the gale-like blast of Pinkie's terrified voice. She countered it with her own, calm tone.
"Not gonna happen, Pinkie. We've got help this time. He'll be found before he gets anywhere near here."
"He's in a forest that's really dangerous and full of monsters, and if you think about it he's pretty likely to be eaten up by a big old manticore!" added Surprise, coming in to land. She acted as happy as ever, but the cheerfulness in her voice was muted, betraying her own worry. Her yellow mane was semi-deflated, much like Pinkie's. Pinkamena flashed a grateful look at Surprise. Pinkie took another shuddering breath, fighting down the by now familiar sense of panic that was becoming so common recently. Sensing the slight shift in Pinkie's mood, Pinkamena pressed further.
"We've got friends, the Princesses and a ton of royal guards on our side. Heck, Surprise is right as well- The Everfree's gonna chew him up if he stays in there for too long. And if he leaves the forest, he'll just be spotted and rounded up faster than a rainboom. We're going to be fine, Pinkie. I know this is a shock, I'm a little scared too, but we're safe. You can relax."
The look in Pinkie's eyes told her she was close. Just a little more. But what could...an idea popped into Pinkamena's head, and she grinned.
"I pinkie promise that that creep isn't getting anywhere near us." A couple of gestures sealed the promise, and a group hug followed shortly after. Around them, the last remnants of the nightmare collapsed into a calm white mist. Then the trio started floating up and up, rising up into consciousness... Pinkie opened her eyes, and found herself in her bed at Sugarcube Corner, looking up at the ceiling. Turning her head, her blue eyes were greeted with the sight of Twilight sitting in a wooden chair, reading something. Beside her, in another chair, Rarity was also reading, a hefty-looking book hovering in front of her. Applejack was pacing nervously near the foot of the bed. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were...not here. Huh. Wonder where they were...oh! Maybe they went to Zecora's to get some medicine for her? That would make sense. She did kinda pass out. Come to think of it, why did they always go to Zecora for treating illnesses? There was a perfectly good medical centre in town, after all. Plus, doctors gave out lollipops. The last time Zecora had been in contact with delicious sugary snacks, she had been taking Nightmare Moon's tribute on Nightmare Night, which was the exact opposite. Thief! What did they do with all those sweets anyway? Princess Luna hadn't been around to eat it, being on the moon and all. Or maybe Princess Celestia had sent it all to her in a care package! Oh wow, that must have been awesome. But it was wasted on such a meanie-pants like Nightmare Moon. Couldn't they have sent her apples instead, and let the foals keep all their goodies? How much did a package to the moon cost, anyway? It must be a lot of bits.
Further musings were interrupted by a certain librarian noticing Pinkie's open eyes. "She's awake!" gasped Twilight. Almost immediately, the bed was crowded by Pinkie's understandably concerned friends, voicing various questions about her well-being.
"Uh...Pinkie?"
"Yes Applejack?" replied Pinkie cheerfully, getting out of bed.
"Are you all right, sugarcube? Ah mean, that was an awful big shock for yeh...and an awful lotta screamin'..."
"Yikes...we should probably reconsider that no psychiatrists rule..."winced Pinkamena
"I'm ok now! Pinkamena and Surprise beat up dream-doctor, and real doctor's not getting anywhere near me!" Pinkie shrugged off that little issue, shoving it away for the time being. There would be plenty of time to sort that out later.
Everypony present gave a sigh of relief at Pinkie's declaration, even if they were a little confused by the 'dream-doctor' part. "I'm glad you're alright, Pinkie. You gave us quite a shock there." smiled Twilight.
"Yes, we were. Quite understandable though, knowing a monster like that is on the loose." added Rarity.
"Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy went to see Zecora, to try and get some medicine to wake you up. You've been out for hours." said Twilight.
"I knew it!" cheered Pinkie loudly, startling her friends. Sherlock Pie strikes again!
"Oh oh oh! Ask about the care package!"
"Oh yeah! Twilight?"
"Yes Pinkie?"
"How much does a care package to the moon cost?"
"...What?"
Love it
Hmmm, gotta say, I never thought of Nightmare Moon receiving care packages during her stay on the moon. I LIKE IT!
lol that ending
i hope you get the next one up pretty soon. nejoying this so far.
considering this is a world of magical beings the rule are more loose. you can have it that such a thing is possible. you could even go so far as to say that pinkie has three souls inside of her as well. it is a world of magic. it follows different rules.
Who needs a doctor? We have Zecora, she's cooler than a doctor.
Awesome. Moar please.
5228498 I meant Deadpool's regeneration and combat abilities, also she doesn't normally where the Mare Do Well costume. One final thing, I don't consider Pinkie Sense a super power, more of an innate ability.
move down a line, and break up this paragraph. It's massve.
_________
separate by a line each.
_________
move down a line.
____________
complicated
____________
Yay this fics alive!
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Her medicine is also arguably more effective than standard treatments*. She can grow back chipped teeth! I know I'd go to Zecora first for my medical needs.
Which raises a point.. AJ should ask Zecora about fixing Granny Smith's hip.
*Well, from Earth and Pegasus ponies at least. I suppose highly skilled unicorn doctors could feasible match or beat her.
Head-canon accepted. This is now a thing that happened, repeatedly, for a thousand years.
Pinkie, you of all beings should know that candy makes everybeing feel better while apples just make an angry being feel angrier at the sender. If it weren't for the candy sent to her all those years you would have had to just re-banish Nightmare Moon instead of returning her to her former self.
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But not cooler than "the doctor."
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I figured the candy was given to the injured fillies and colts who couldn't go trick or treating because of illnesses and the like . Like, a donation to the hospital. That way they don't feel too left out.
Dream sharing: Couldn't tell you for sure, but it sounds plausible.
Am I the only one here who's genuinely worried about the fact that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy went to Zecora's, which is located in the Everfree Forest, right where the doctor is hiding? If anything, there should be a roadblock between Ponyville and the Everfree Forest, so this evil doctor won't be able to simply squeeze into town. Possibly add a scouting squad to spot the perp as soon as possible as well. Killing evil by its' root is much better than yanking its' branches one by one.
More!
I love how you ended it
5228572 If Zecora really wanted to, she could probably become the towns head doctor. She may not have a medical license, but she know's her stuff.
She could even become a house call doctor. She doesn't exactly need a medical team, she's good enough as is.
Zecora has a lot of potential, style, mystical know how, and medical smarts.
It's awesome seeing Pinkamena being helpful in a pony story instead of being a monster.
I eagerly await the next chapter.
5228629 lol. That doesn't count. He's no ordinary doctor.
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She's an herbalist, I doubt she knows how to perform surgeries or use the medical equipments doctors are required to. Not to mention how to perform many other things doctors do. I doubt she even wants to.
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But he is a doctor. And he could do normal doctor things... sort of. He could never be a normal doctor, he just has the skill and potential for it.
Loving this. This describes psychological horror that I only wish I could pull off. And I know how you feel on the homework thing. /) Keep writing whenever you have the chance, though. We're counting on you, but I for one don't want you to overwork yourself.
Well, now this was exciting, finally done, now I have to congratulate you.
Now to the matter at hand, Neuron Probe's probably gonna have a plan, and it's probably going to be a good one, since he is intelligent enough to be a doctor, and at the same time Mad enough to experiment like that on Pinkie, so that would mean it would most likely involve his expertise in medicine and psychology (I presume) to his advantage, that would mean the mane six and the princesses are in for a pickle (Not the good tasty ones, the kind of pickle that is left in the back of the fridge for god knows how long, sitting there, and your too scared to trow it out because it's probably has some unknown infectious disease because you didn't close the jar correctly, and the stench it would create is horrifyingly putrid, and you just close the lid a little bit more so that the you can't smell it, but it always finds a way to get out of the jar and... where was I going with this again?), so I will patiently wait for the moment my inbox gets an email notifying me that "Pinkie Personalities by drebom has updated", and that will be a very good moment indeed.
Well this was quite the rant.
5228768 That's true. Can't change the facts of, life? A man can dream though.
Ooooo! Things are getting exciting! I hope Pinkie Pie will be okay. I wonder if he'll get his
handshooves on her? Hmmmmm... Can't wait for more!Loved the update! I DO hope the doc gets the crap kicked out of him
Neuron Probe reminds me a lot of the nazi scientists from WWII, the ones with no concept of ethics. They did some truly horrific things in the name of science, and this guy would feel right at home with those psychopaths. Thing is, Pinkie Pie is a national hero who's friends with everyone. If he so much as touches a hair on her head, there will be a lot of pissed off ponies. The hate from us bronies alone should be enough to turn him to ash in seconds! Now, where did I put that dimension hopping spell? Theres gonna be tartarus to pay for this, doctor.
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Yes.
5229202 Could you possibly elaborate on that?
5229224 It means that all those comments pretty much sum up my opinion
5229233 Oh. I... Um.... Well.... Hmm... I don't know how to respond.
Ah! I'm caught up! No more to read! Primary objective lost! Abort abort abort!
I am liking how this story is moving forward. You've had me tearing up since ch 3. Good job.
I have to compliment you on doing Pinkie Pie well. There's none of that annoying fourth wall breaking but a character that follows her own internal logic which leads to funny situations and questions that seem to make no sense out of context but within her internals makes perfect sense. In other words, you make good jokes following Pinkie logic.
Hmm.. Maybe Rarity could make a reversible bandanna for Pinkie? Surprise's colors on one side, Pinkie's on the other? Then she could just flip it around to let her friends know who's in charge.
And they need to re-open the Mirror Pool! Make him try to find the right Pinkie amongst all the psychotic doubles.
I bet care packages to the moon are pretty expensive. Especially when filled with whatever it is those three would send...
5229078 I can try a Slipspace rupture, but there's no guaruntees that YOUR gear will survive. My Mantis will, though.
With me in it. Hehehehehehe... Dat doc is fuuuuuucked.
Great chapter! This story remains awesome, as always!
slightly complicate but there's a decent synopsis
"Oh oh oh! Ask about the care package!
""...What?"
1. Complicated.
2. Forgot your closing quotation mark.
3. Remigrate your quotation mark to the previous sentence.
Let's face it, Pinkie is going to be in for a rough ride in this story and she's going to meet the doctor sooner or later otherwise there would be not much story to go on... I'm scared for Pinkie...
heres an idea, some where along the way, something triggers pinkie to get another perso. then its epual (but then again the the cover art wouldn't make much sense)
So, did Twilight fill everypony in on what the good doctor had done to Pinkie Pie?
I would like to answer Supprize's question of how much a care package to the moon would cost. I will be making a few assumptions based on things I have seen in the show. In summation, it would take 180 bits per pony who gave up some candy to send a Care package of all the candy given to the moon.
Assumptions made to acquire the data to answer the question:
1. Teleproting things to the moon is very hard. See the Elements of Harmony being required to banish Nightmear moon, and as the comics show Nightmear was trapped on the surface of the moon, not metaphysicaly but in a little city thing. Therefore a moon landing is required to deliver any goods tot he moon. (Because lasso walking tot he moon is beyond retarded.)
2. Ponies know about space and have a space program. In numerous episodes in schools on chalkboards you see an illustration which resembles a planetary orbit and an accompanying equation which is a way to calculate the speed you need to orbit at a given altitude.
3. In a Manhatten Episode which includes what appears to be a radio telescope. The only real use for a radio telescope is searching for exoplanets, this basically means that the Pony verse is heliocentric and operates like our own. Therefore we can assume the Standard Model of Physics applies.
4. We can assume that Equiss (or whatever you call the planer Equestria is on) has gravity equal to Earths. Using the 8 foot candy cane as a scale we can determine that falling objects fall at a rate of 9.78 m/s².
5. While there is no real proof, I am assuming that a space agency exists, and has already developed a vehicle capable of reaching Luna's Moon. Or I would need to add trillions of dollars to the cost for R&D, construction, and the like.
6. The buying power of 1 bit is equal to .25 USD. Why? The old slang for a quarter is a bit. I imagine that if the currency was more important we would see 4 bits to a buck.
Reasoning of how I derive the answer:
The total cost for a lunar landing that uses a launch vehicle's full capacity (versus flying a smaller mission as secondary payload) is now between $100 million and $200 million. The range of cost is fairly large because the primary cost of sending an object into space is based on it's mass. The more mass an object (or group of objects) has means more fuel is needed to get the payload into orbit. Once in orbit only a fraction of the vehicle's total fuel is needed to reach a moon in a stable orbit.
Based on the average cost per kilogram in order to get a 1 kilogram care package into orbit would cost ~4048 bits.
Now given the approximate size and average mass of the offering candy seen in the Nightmare Night episode the care package from Ponyville alone is about 9 kilos. So Ponyville's offering alone would cost 36,433 bits to send into orbit. Now thanks to one realy nerdy guy we know that the population of Ponyville measures between 3400 and 4300 individuals. Assuming Ponyville is a typical sample of population distribution we can ignore the elderly who are not participating in the holiday. We can assume that the 9 kilos are generated by ~2000 ponies.
This means that for Nightmare Night, if every participating pony gives up the same amount of candy the cost to send it as a care package to Luna is 164 bits per pony who makes an offering. If we round that number to 180 bits per offering we could easily also pay for the fuel to get the package from orbit to the moon and get the vehicle back to Equiss.
Awesome update! You've really got me on the edge of my seat, because when that bastard tries to make his move I'm gonna be panicking just about as much as Pinkie did! Keep up the good work!
Those last lines were great.
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Fixed! thanks for catching those typos.
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Pinkie gave everyone the basic details back in chapter 7. Although she did gloss over Probe's experiments a bit, they weren't played down, just described more vaguely than in the version Twilight heard. It would be hard to do otherwise, seeing as how important Probe is to the story. Of course, Pinkie's reaction to the news here does make it clear what sort of pony Probe is as well.
5230108 Wow. I honestly wasn't expecting anyone to come up with a proper answer...this is just amazing. Thanks!
ew, made a pinkie promise on something outside of her control. while it helped in the situation, I foresee this coming back to bite them.
5230484 Well see, I am basically the Space Core from Portal 2 on Riddilin. I noticed you uploaded this while I was playing Kerbal Space Program after making a real rocket motor (I do amateur rocketry). Sooooo I kind had the answer just pop into my head.
Now lets get this candy to Our Lady of the Moon!
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*Didn't know about tomatoes
*Knew about platypi (Platipuses?)
*Didn't know about caterpillar
Don't you love nature?
It's interesting, but I honestly wonder what the "good doctor" could possibly hope to accomplish, he's got an injured leg, with no medical support in sight, in the middle of the Everfree, most likely a hotspot for disease and infection. gunning after one of the most important people in Equestria, bar the princesses, with no facilities, no resources and no hench-ponies, and they know he's coming, and he is now one of Equestria's most wanted.
You don't need to be a tactical genius to know that this isn't going to work.
Quite honestly he's got as much of a chance as a Snowman in hell.
Not That I mind this, because I want to see him fail completely. Sometimes there's nothing more satisfying then a well executed anti-climax in a comedy, to see all that tension build up like a balloon, ready to pop, only for someone let go of the neck and watch it shoot off deflating. There can be nothing more enjoyable.
Too bad that's probably not gonna happen is it?
Never-the-less keep up the good work!
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Ooo, I like the bandana idea!