How did Pinikie get her powers of sight, understanding and of course the ability to break the fourth wall? Well before Pinkie arrived in Ponyville she ran into a Doctor, a pool of magical engery, and a massive revelation of where she belongs.
Pinkie has been dying to set off on her own for ages now and travel beyond the party-free lifestyle of the rock farm. Equipped with nothing but a few bits and belongings and a joyous spirit she sets out for the first time into the big wide world...Only for her to run into Equestria's number one quack and mad scientist, Dr. Von Goul, whose been looking for a test subject for his latest experiment, the Fourth Pool.
The Fourth Pool is rumored to be able to give one who bathes in its waters the power of unimaginable sight and ability, that is if you don't self-combust or melt into a puddle instead.
Can Pinkie Pie handle the ancient magic of the pool? and can Dr, Von Goul handle Pinkie if she can? And how did Pinkie manage to find her way to Ponyville? Let's find out.
The cover art belongs to the talented John Joseco (johnjoseco)
The day was getting late as Celestia finally began her rounds of setting the sun, the last rays of light casting long fingered shadows upon the open land. The last vestiges of daylight combined together to create an illusion of a fireball blazing across the sky, illuminating everything it touched, in this case the main highway that ran throughout Equestria.
Usually there was quite a bit of traffic upon the highway even at such late hours, but today it was deserted. Not a single pony or wagon in sight, that is until…
“Aaaaaaannnnnnddddddd off I go to places unknown, far away from what was my home, but if i go with a hop and skip, I’m sure I can get there quick…”
The sound of joyous singing carried across the beaten path as a bright pink colored pony with much frolic pranced her way along, hopping and skipping as she she sung her hearts content for the whole world to hear.
Pinkie pie was in a glorious mood today, happy to be finally on her way to make a new life in the wide world. Light on her feet, she skipped along not seemingly having a care in the world.
Like most ponies she wore no clothes, the only thing she carried was her sunny smile and a small pair of saddle bags. The first one was full of personal belongings, while the other contained the small pile of bits she had been saving her entire life.
It had been almost liberating for her to sell her personal rock collection to her fellow sisters, in an effort to get a few more bits. She had never really found such hobbies interesting, but did them out of respect for her families traditions and to fit in with their expectations.
She could still remember the look on her sisters faces as she revealed her collection of quartz, pyrite, geodes, and jade fragments to them. It was only beaten i surprise by the look that followed soon after, when she told them she was willing to sell them. They had thought she had gone truly nuts, but she had done it anyway. Now she had a bit more to add to her life savings, not a lot but a sure start for a young pony naive to the demands of the vast world.
Her minuscule fiances and belongings aside, nothing could put a damper on her spirits for, for the first time she was able to see the great expanse of the outside world.
Now she was far from the confines of the dull and grey lifestyle of growing up on a rock farm. She planned to use this new found freedom to it’s best ability, for she wanted to see the world, and eventually find her own place somewhere in it.
Even if it meant she had to find a new life away from the kindhearted but simple lifestyle of her parents and her trio of polar opposite sisters. Whether it be cool and humorous Maude, shy and timid Marble, or ambitious yet quick tempered Limestone.
None of them had the same drive that Pinkie did, and while she loved them all dearly, they were fully content to eek out their modest existence around rocks.
However, ever since she had first seen that rainbow beam shooting through the sky as a young filly pushing boulders, she had planned a more exciting future for herself. As she hopped down the road she continued to sing, ignoring the shrinking light of day and the lack of company.
“Weeelllll here I come be it night or day, and nothing is gonna stand in my way, I have good faith that things will turn out all right, and I'll find somewhere where they’ll hold me tight. So I’ll search and search no matter what, to fulfill the destiny tattooed on my butt!”
She continued on like this for a ways, glancing at her flank every now and then to admire her cutie-mark in the silver moonlight. The cutie-mark of colored balloons was Pinkie’s pride and joy, the physical embodiment of her passion, and what set her primarily apart from the rest of her family. Her future and her destiny all displayed in one mark on her flank. Her sisters had never seemed to notice or care about theirs, but hers had always fascinated her.
She could still remember the desires, the dying of hay to turn it into confetti, using stocking as makeshift balloons, cutting up curtains for streamers, and clearing out the pantry to bake cakes and pies. Pinkie loved it all, she adored the idea of bringing joy and laughter to others.
The pie family however, had not been that impressed by her desire to throw parties and bring laughter and general physical expressions of joy. Turning her eyes back to the road, Pinkie pie stopped singing, trying to come up with new lyrics for her song, and failing miserably.
Sometimes she wished she could have the kind of mind that could not only figure out great song lyrics but also comprehend deeper meanings behind most of the thoughts going through her head…might save her a lot of time and bits in the future.
As she moved on her way it was now well past sunset and Luna's moon now shown down upon her, the lunar rays of the full moon taking over for their sister sun in illuminating the road.Despite her cheerful disposition the pink pony was starting to feel the chill of the night air. Her keen eyes began scanning the road ahead looking for somewhere she could comfortably bed down for the night.
Luckily she did not have far to go before the outline of a set of structures began to loom in her sight. As she got closer the blurry shape began to become more into focus until the signs of a collection of huts besides a large building stood before her. The huts were small wooden shacks, not too run down and looked big enough to house one or two ponies. They were painted an ugly brown and had silver numbered horse shoes across the front doors.
While the huts barley stood out on the open road, the building itself was very imposing, looking more and more like some sort of community hall as she grew closer. Two stories tall, painted bright green, with a platform porch and several red painted pillars connecting the upper and lower half of the building. Hanging from a pole above the front porch lay a wooden sign with gold embodied letters across it reading, the Guzzling Mare. Pinkie hopped her way past the huts and up the steps of the porch till she stood in front of the swinging bar doors, the sound of a grand piano playing, singing and partying goings on resounding inside. With a confident determination and bright smile, Pinkie pushed her way through the bar doors and entered the Inn.
“Wuh? Huh?”
Pinkie woke up groggily, her eyes desperately trying to open but a crushing feeling of sleep kept them at half lid. Her entire body felt weak and tired which for her was relatively unheard of.
“Oh boy, that must have been one heck of a party,” she thought out loud.
She tried to wipe her eyes only to find that she could not move at all. Looking down at herself Pinkie gave a meep of surprise to see she was lying face up on a metal gurney, the gurney itself standing upright in the middle of the room. Two sets of heavy straps lay across her body, one across her hind legs and the other across her forelegs and chest, holding her fast to the metal frame. A third thinner strap was wrapped around her head keeping her from extending her neck or turning her head too far.
Standing in both of the corners she was facing stood two large flood light lamps which were burning bright. So much so that the light nearly blinded her, making her either squint or try to keep them shut instead. As she lay there tired and restrained she began to try and piece together exactly how she ended up trussed up like a packaged birthday cake. The last thing she remembered doing, was leaping through the doors of the Guzzling Mare, only to immediately black out, the smell of soft lilacs with a hint of minty freshness clear in her nose.
As consciousness slowly returned to her, she became more aware of her surroundings. Despite the lamps in her face, she could still see enough to realize she was still definitely inside the Inn. However, unlike most Inns she had heard of, the entire room was empty of anything one would expect to find in an inn. No chairs or tables, no piano, or more importantly guests. Instead there was just chrome colored flooring which was a high contrast to the inns wooden exterior. The lights were too bright for her to make out what else occupied the room with her, but she did notice the jukebox beside the front doors, the sounds of a piano and goings on of a bustling inn, ringing from inside it.
“Ah awake i see,” came a cold ghoulish voice from beyond her sight, the presence of someone else in the room washing over Pinkie like a cold gust of air.
The clopping of hooves across linoleum filled her ears until a shadowy form walked up beside her. The figure just far enough out of her peripherals that she could not make them out, but not far enough that she could not pinpoint their presence.
A grey colored hoof with silver metal bracelets touched her forehead, the cold metal meting her warm flesh delivered a mixed feeling of hot and cold to her forehead. She shivered at the touch, giving a loud whimper so different from her usual sunny cheer. That bright excited energy that she had become known for, began to cloud at the touch of this dark unknown pony. She was greatly unnerved by the creepy voice and the fact she apparently had been drugged and tied up for Celestia only knows what.
“shhhhh…shhhh there, there my dear…” came the voice in response to her loud whimper.
The hoof wiped her forehead, taking off the sheen of sweat that had developed from a combination of her worry and the heat from the lamps.
“You must have quite a few questions?”
Pinkie didn’t answer him right away, trying instead to actually figure out what she could possibly say to have this obvious-psycho-pony let her go. The unknown pony seemed to grow impatient with her silence and brought himself more fully into view, blocking the light from one of the lamps as he stood in front of it.
She was right when she thought he sounded like a ghoul, as the unicorn before her was unattractively thin, and lanky, not enough for him to be confused with the living dead (or living impaired she could never remember which) but not far off.
His entire demeanor could be summed up as hampered dull grey, from his gravel stained fur to his mane and tail colored a sparkling silver. It was visually unpleasant at how his body matched the chrome flooring perfectly. The tip of his horn had been coated with a metal tip, while the rest of the bone was pure white. His stature also appeared to follow a lax motif as he didn’t even bother to try and hold himself up straight, practically slouching even while standing.
He was wearing some sort of see through lab coat and a black harness about his chest. She managed to make out under the see through lab coat his cutie-mark. While the stallion before her looked like something out of the Weird Sister's Limits magazine, his cutie-mark was more fit of a nightmare, displaying a horrifying needle on a parchment banner with a lightning bolt across. The harness had this strange cutie-mark embroidered upon the front of it as well. Both his front hooves also sported a pair of silver metallic bracelets, which extending upwards, coiling around his legs like metal gloves.
The only thing that set him apart from being a living embodiment of the floor was his eyes. The two orbs that seemed so trained at catching her own, making her cringe while also drawing her attention to the seemingly permanent sneer on his face. Unlike the rest of his dull and bland appearance, he sported a pair of bright red eyes. Fiery rubies that stared at her from muddy grey eye sockets…dark bags buried under his eyes, as if he hadn’t had any sleep in days.
“My name is Doctor Von Goul, I am one of Equestria's greatest scientists, and you my dear…are my newest test subject,” his voice was chilly and smooth, all contrasted by his eyes, which were burning bright.
Pinkie gulped before she found the strength to reply, “S-Subject f-for w-what?”
His unpleasant sneer curled into an even more unpleasant smile, making her grimace as she feared his answer.
Doctor Von Goul walked around her a bit more until he was fully in front of her. His eyes were now definitely unavoidable has he seemed to try and stare deep into her soul. “Let’s just say i have been needing a special subject for this most important test…and you my dear are it.”
He lifted both hooves up on either side of her strapped down head, and began to push the gurney (which it seemed had wheels) backwards. They moved past another set of doors at the back of the room and began passing through a a short corridor before arriving in some sort of back room. “I have been tracking your energy signature for months now,” he continued. “I even had to spend a fortune to rent out this blasted roach infested shack for a week. Just to make sure I could get you alone.”
Pinkie didn’t exactly understand what he was talking about. “My energy what now?”
Von Goul had little patience for the young mare’s ignorance, “Energy signature!” he snarled. “All ponies be they alicorn, unicorn, pegasus, or earth based, have unique magical energy signatures. Their own brand of life magic.”
He continued passing around her, pacing like her father used to in his study when the rain seasons came and washed out the best rocks. He was lecturing her like one might lecture a student and not a test subject for experimental methods.
“Life magic is what connects us all to Equestria itself, whereas alicorns and unicorns can physically access it through their horns, and pegasus use it to power their gift of flight, earth ponies are notorious for storing it up inside themselves. Most go through their entire lives without realizing the reservoir of power inside them.”
“And you…help them activate this power?” Pinkie asked with some hesitation, not taking her eyes of that dangerous metal tipped horn waving about her face.
“Heh heh heh, in a manner of speaking,” grinned the pale unicorn, his sneer having evolved now to show some teeth.
Pinkie did not like the sound of that at all, and she liked the look on his face even less.
“Now i have how should i say, analyzed my fair share of earth ponies, but none of them ever showed the kind of energy signature you give off.”
He started to examine her with his horn, poking her softly albeit gratuitously.
“What is your name girl?” he asked irritably. “For record purposes,” he quickly added.
She debated whether or not to reply but then decided not cooperating wasn’t going to get her any more answers…or any less tied up at at this creeps mercy.
“The names Pinkie Pie, of the Pie family,” she said with mirthful pride.
“Pinkie…Pie…? Really?” He replied in disbelief. “I mean it sounds like they really must have mined their imagination for that one huh?”
“Yep, that’s my parents for ya, geniuses at naming things,” she smiled as she saw the look of surprise lingering on his ghastly face. “Pinkie Pie is the name and don’t wear it out Ghoully”
“It’s Von Goul, not Ghoully…that's what my mother used to called me and I absolutely, HATED IT!” he bellowed at her, poking his horn now at her chest and neck.
“Hey watch the horn, watch the horn there stabbie,” cried Pinkie indignantly.
“Oh shut up, you’re safe. I’m merely scanning your energy signature with my horn.”
“You’re scanning me?”
“That’s what i said brat,” he growled, his horn starting to glow bright orange as he began to pass it across her body. “I’ve imbued my horn with a spell of my own design to help me sense, track, and analyze magical life energy, and the signatures it leaves in ponies.”
“And what you’re saying is that, my signature is bigger, brighter, and more awesome then anyone else?”
Von Goul smirked at that, “Oh yes indeed,” he said. “So unique and powerful that for the last few months, not a day has gone by without the throbbing of my horn giving me a massive splitting headache and constant migraines.”
“Oops, sorry about that…” Pinkie added sheepishly.
“Not all my dear,” he replied coldly.
At this point his horn’s orange hue began to flash yellow and green, “ah there we are, for you see, i have waited a long time to find such a powerful signature such as this, all life magic is virile, but yours, just has something about it…more pep, more…something, and that is intriguing.”
She raised an eyebrow at that, her fear being replaced slowly by disgust. She was now just hoping the weirdo was going to behave himself.
“You see my dear Pinkie Pie, I have been studying Equestrian energy signatures for years now, as well as the properties and applications of unicorn magic. Despite all my numerous findings and extensive research, however, I have yet to truly scrape the surface, hence the need to test out one of my greatest findings ever…the effects of the Fourth Pool.”
Pinkie didn’t know what to make of that, but her interest had been piqued and so why not roll with it?
“Fourth what?” she asked innocently.
The Doctor snapped his attention away from his horn and back onto her, giving her one of his signature cold stares. “The Fourth Pool…one of eight magical Pools scattered all over Equestria. Each has it’s own unique set of magical properties and serve as the last wells, you might say, of ancient Equestrian magic?” The bony grey stallion began to pace back and forth before Pinkie, his excitement over their topic of discussion beginning to grow.
“This particular pool that I have found is the fourth of that line.”
“The Fourth Pool?” stated Pinkie quizzically, “That sounds really dumb, I mean why not call it something that sounds better…like the Fourth Wall?”
The Doctor stamped his hoof, his eyes blazing and his horn glowing bright orange in rage.
“No, no no no, it’s not called the Fourth Wall,” he screeched. "It is called the Fourth Pool. it is literally a pool of liquid magic!”
Pinkie just rolled her eyes as she lamented, “If you say so Doc.”
The Doctor smiled at that confusing Pinkie’s brush off as acceptance. Dropping the magical build up around his horn, he stood down his aggressive stance and calmed the inferno that had previously engulfed his corneas.
“The only problem is, all previous test subjects were unable to touch let alone bathe in the water without…disastrous results.”
At that pinkie popped her head up, great alarm written across her face, “w-what k-kind of results?”
Von Goul began with little pause or restraint to list off the numerous afflictions and side effects, in great detail, each one more horrifying and scarring then the last.
“…That one took a great deal of drain cleaner to get out of all the cracks, and required the use of several wet mops…and don’t get me started on how much I had to pay for proper waste disposal drains, but I think I saved quite a bit for when…”
“Enough! Oh sweet Celestia ENOUGH I CAN’T HEAR ANY MORE OF THIS!” Cried Pinkie struggling like a mad mare against her bonds.
This alarmed Von Goul who frantically rushed to her side and tried to apply his weight to help hold her down. Being a near stick figure with the muscle tone of a twig however, was proving to be beyond it’s share of difficulty.
“Calm down calm down Dammit! I know now what was wrong before…their energy signatures were not strong enough to meld with the magical energy of the pool. Their bodies could not handle the strain, or the power. However, you with your unique and…vibrant signature should be more than enough to survive…maybe…perhaps…fifty fifty chance at least.”
Pinkie scoffed at the idea, “Why for the love of sweet apple pie would I agree to that chance?”
The Doctor laughed, “Hahahahahaahaha, because first off, you have no say in the matter, and secondly because the Fourth Pool is rumored to contain the ability to give the one who bathes in it, the power to see beyond all thought, time, and space…” He shifted closer to her making sure her entire focus was on what he was promising. “Abilities to sense the future, to see beyond sight, to understand all that the universe holds dear…well that or it’ll just drive you into complete insanity, but that is what these tests are for.”
“So you think I could get the power to see beyond all reality?” she inquired genuinely interested herself.
“Yes,…or turn you completely mad…I just want to be up front with that total possibility,” he replied.
“You pinkie promise?” she demanded now, her eyes glaring cake cutters at the skeletal pony before her.
“What?”
“Pinkie promise, it means you cross your heart and hope never to lie, or else.”
“Yeah I’m not doing that, like I said this is non-negotiable you’re going to test it no matter what. I just give the powers option cause it usually involves less struggling.”
Pinkie had to think for a minute before shrugging her shoulders as much as she could, “Eh fair enough.”
“Before you are ready to meet the Fourth Pool testing phase however, i must see exactly what your limits are and taste your magical energy when it’s ripest.”
Pinkie couldn’t help but draw a blank at that, at least several of those words would get you shot in the Pie neighborhood.
“When you say taste, you mean in terms of quantifiable testing and qualitative research right?” She asked with a glimmer of hope in her voice and facial features, big eyes wide and bulging like a puppy dog.
“No,” he replied, his eyes glowing and his smile wide.
Pinkie had lost all track of all time in this living nightmare. Her daily routine since being captured by this psycho doctor, had been an unending series of tests and displays of physical endurance. Von Goul had been putting her through more strenuous activity then she had ever done back home on the farm. Luckily however, her childhood of moving rocks and boulders had helped to give her some much needed strength. She desperately needed it right now just to keep her moving let alone able to keep up with the doctors rigorous tests.
Whenever she failed to comply with his wishes or failed a test from exhaustion, he would shock her with his horn. It sometimes took several shocks in quick succession from the metal tipped horn to keep her awake.
One of his favorite tests was to make her run on a magical treadmill for hours, hooked up to a series of flashing machines and strange devices that hummed with magical energy. Her only incentive to go on being a slice of carrot cake dangling on a plate in front of her. She could never really reach it try hard as she might, mainly because she was fighting against the direction of the treadmill, but the reward was cake, so she had to try.
Next he would have her try to see how long she could hold her breath under water, his horn pulsing with orange magic as he used it to force her head back into the tub for the fifth time that day. She was getting better though; she only had to be resuscitated two times less than yesterday. Finally in the daily routine came a series of injections which needed to have her strapped back down on the metal gurney.
Once again the skeletal doctor used his fancy smelling gas to knock her unconscious, with her waking up once more tied down. While she was strapped down he brought over a tray of needles of varying lengths each one filled with different colored liquids. He applied the first set of injections not caring at her bursts of obvious discomfort, before going to wherever he went after he was done with her. Leaving her alone. It was just as well he was gone for she now started to hallucinate and feel stranger than she ever had before.
Up became down, down became up, sometimes she felt like her blood was molten lava, other times she couldn’t stop laughing as her entire body lit up like someone was tickling every part of her with a massive feather. She would then suffer through hours upon hours of mixed responses. Sometimes she was freezing cold, suffering frantic seizures, nearly barfing out the meager handful of oats she was given every morning, or experiencing unimaginable pain as several of the injections nearly burned her very mind to a crisp. Mercy was usually with her, for after a few hours of that, experience she would pass out. Of course only to wake up the next day for another round of tests, injections, abstract boredom, all at the hooves of a pony she knew nothing about other than he was a bit crazy.
When she woke up that day however, she decided she was going to do something different. Her Unicorn tormentor was a strict (and seriously boring) behavioral stallion. He always followed the same routine every morning. Today however, She was going to take control of the routine for herself. As the ghoulish doctor prepped her for the treadmill unfastening the straps of the gurney, she made her move as soon as the straps snapped off.
She placed one of her pink hooves over his nearest metal clad one, enjoying the buzz that only comes from the feelings of a male pony touching a girl for the first time in his life (Remember folks, moms and family don’t count). When she gazed up at his red eyes she smiled to see the two orbs were opened wide while the usual intimidating red irises, had shrunken to the size of a pea.
“Not that this stuff isn’t…fun or er-anything, but are you sure there isn’t anything else we could be doing?” She asked innocently, making sure to pout her bottom lip, and give him the seductive shoulder dip and an alluring smile.
The grey unicorn gulped nervously, before lighting his horn up bright orange. Pinkie prepared for the feeling of getting blasted by unicorn magic, only for nothing to happen. As she looked over at him, she noticed that he was using his magic to remove the metal brace on his leg. Bare grayish fur now meeting her solid pink.
“Soft…and warm,” he whispered. “I had almost forgotten the touch of another…willingly.”
Pinkie’s eyes lit up with hope at that, perhaps she would be getting out of this intact and alive after all?
“So, does that mean you’re going to let me go now?” She asked.
The grayish Unicorn smiled at her, leaning in very close till their noses were practically touching.
“…No,” he stated, right before his horn lit up and his orange magic engulfed her, forcibly pinning her hooves to her sides, levitating her as well, above the ground.
“Darrrrrrnnnniiiitttt!” She wailed, as he dragged her over to the treadmill, shoving her onto of it and cranking it up for her. As she cantered in place, she looked at him with narrowed eyes, watching as he monitored her progress on one of his machines and looked over a parchment read-out.
“Whatcha ya doing over there?” She inquired, noticing begrudgingly that her stamina had improved from the days of running on this stupid thing.
“Quiet!” snarled the unicorn, never breaking gaze with the parchment in his for-hooves.
“So I take it you don’t meet many ponies huh?”
“I said quiet girl! I’m not interested in such small talk.”
“Oh realllllllly…”she beamed. “Then what was all that about not feeling anothers' touch in such a loooonnnnggggg time?”
The grey unicorn blushed and bashfully hung his head, “t-t-that’s none of your concern,” he stammered
Pinkie seeing she had hit a nerve smiled as she pried even further, “Oh come on a…handsome, stallion like you?”
“You’re patronizing me…”he stated, glaring at her. “Do you think I always looked like this?”
Pinkie never stopped trotting but the grin she had been wearing died down at that, her eyes looking quizzically at him.
For whatever reason the unicorn continued. “You see ever since I was a young colt, I was intrigued by how our world works, where our magic comes from, what it is fully capable of. I swore I would spend my life working to find out those answers. Such dedication takes time, energy, and of course bits, lots of bits, so much so that it is hard to pay for assistants.” Von Goul began to come closer to the treadmill his gaze bland, as if he was a thousand miles away. "With no assistants or willingly test subjects, one has to do with what they can, so I used myself to test my experiments. My eyes used to be green, can you believe that? Green like grass, but a pigment changing spell gone awry saw the end of that…I used to have muscle tone and proper stature as well, but while I was exploring the possibility of shrinking spells, well you can see what happened.”
Pinkie nodded her head towards the metal tipped horn, her fluffy pink mane bobbing up and down with her body as she trotted along. “And your horn?”
The stallion looked away. “Did you know that unicorns horns are basically just bones? Tough bones but still bones…I was trying a bone strengthen spell when it backfired and it caused an opposite effect. The tip of my horn was made brittle and weak, I had to do something to keep it from snapping off…losing your horn, means you lose your magic, you lose your ability to manipulate life magic, I couldn’t allow that.”
The unicorn came up beside her turning off the treadmill and preparing to lead her to the tub once more. “After all of that I couldn’t risk anymore backfires, I had to find others to test my experiments on, and when you don’t mind your subjects being unwilling, there’s plenty of volunteers to choose from.”
“Fascinating,” snorted Pinkie.
It was several more days of this painstaking routine over and over before finally one morning she awoke to find herself strapped in a new position. She was crammed in some sort tube like structure hovering off the ground, being pinned like this was starting to give her legs and back a serious ache. Von Goul trotted around below her, checking machines, pulling switches ad humming to himself (Pinkie was proud to note it was one of the songs she hummed to him during their test). The melody not surprisingly was annoyingly catchy.
“So what’s up doc?”
“…ha-ha-ha, as if that wasn’t funny the first fifty times you said it,” he mockingly growled at her.
“Just keeping you entertained…” countered Pinkie sarcastically.
“Oh don’t worry pink pain in my rear end, you’ve got plenty of entertainment left to offer me,” he snickered. “Today is the day, we start Fourth Pool trials.”
Pinkie grew silent at that, her mind starting to panic with the possibilities of what might happen to her.
“HA! Knew that would shut you up…prepare yourself my little pony.”
Pinkie struggled a bit in the restraints, “So how is this going to work?” She asked.
The grey Unicorn smiled, “Our tests have given you the stamina to withstand the power of the water, the injections have accustomed your body to different kinds of magical effects, and our waterboarding sessions have allowed you to hold your breath and cool while submerged. So what’s going to happen is, I’m going to drop you right into a vat filled with water from the Fourth Pool, then see what happens.”
“Oh,” Pinkie mumbled. “Is that all?”
The other stallion nodded his head, “In truth it doesn’t sound very scientific I agree. However, one thing about experimental research is, sometimes you just have to…drop right in, and see what happens.”
Pinkie gave a loud groan, “Really and you complain about my bad jokes?”
Von Goul glared at her before lighting up his horn, creaking sounds of gears and pulleys echoing throughout the silent room, as a trap door in the floor opened up. Inside the the hole was a square tube ten feet long and five feet wide of blue liquid, what looked like water except for the mass of purple bubbles fizzling inside it.
Pinkie gulped as she felt the tube she was in begin to lower as well, the newly opened floor panel goring closer and closer. Her eyes growing wide and her fur beginning to sweat as she grimaced and began pulling once more at the straps holding her down.
“Umm are you sure there aren’t anymore tests we can do? Or better yet, we could just forget this and grab some cake instead huh?” She began to beg frantically, afraid of what the strange waters would do to her.
“Unfortunately there are no more tests to be had,” he lamented, shutting down her hopes. “Your magical energy is strong, your body is strong and soon we will see if it’s compatible with the energy of the pool, and if so, then a whole new world of tests can begin, if not… I’ll just find someone else.”
Not very inspired by such confidence, Pinkie gulped and rolled her eyes, cringing as the tube slowly began to enter the vat, the water fizzling and bubbling at the introduction of metal to the viscous liquid.
“The first time I introduced a pony to the pool, they literally exploded upon contact,” Von Goul stated watching intently. “It was quite an experience to witness, and made me focus more on choosing subjects with strong energy signatures.”Coming closer and staring right into her eyes he halted the tube before Pinkie’s hooves began to enter the water. “My dear Pinkie Pie, this is for science, this is for knowledge, so if there is any kind of major discomfort or serious pain…be sure to scream very loud,” he smirked before cutting off his horn’s magic and dropping her straight into the vat, the top of her tube encasing replacing the opened floor tile.
Pinkie had never felt such a rush of energy in her body before in her life, it shot up from her hooves through her spine and into her head, her fur buzzing and poofing out to the extreme. The waters didn’t feel hot or cold, in fact it didn’t feel like she was in water at all. Everything was swirling and buzzing, her fur crackling, her nerves shot and her nerve endings numb as if they couldn’t figure out what kind of response they should be giving. She was holding her breath, eyes scrunched shut, only able to wonder how long she would be in this tube before she had to breathe. Opening her eyes she was surprised at what she saw. Outside the water looked normal aside from the purple bubbles, the view from inside however, was quite different. Everything was blurry and sparkling, colors of every kind caught her eyes, she tried to move and felt her body go almost sluggish, as if everything was slowed down to a fraction of time. She could see so many colors, she could even see inside those colors, to the very particles themselves. Pinkie could even see through those particles and gaze unlike any other pony before her, at the very crystalline structures of the matter of all of creation.
Her mind was blown open by everything she was seeing and feeling, her entire body lit up like a christmas tree, surprised as she could see a pink aurora glowing about her body. She realized after a few more moments of this that what she was seeing was her life signature. The energy that the grey unicorn needed a spell to see was now laid open before her eyes. Looking down at herself, she could see pink and purple and blue coiling about her body and radiating energy outwards. The blue and purple energy she realized was the pools energy signature mixing with her own, the feelings beyond anything she had ever thought possible. It was like souls mixing together, it was powerful and intimate, but also very strange. The strangeness was evident especially since she realized she had stopped holding her breath ages ago. The strain on her lungs had just been too much to hold it any longer, and yet here she could breathe fine. It was as if the water itself filtered the air for her, or maybe the bubbles made it possible for her to breathe, either way the feeling of breathing under water was as alarming as it was fascinating.
Her brain was also trying to sort though the energy and sparks that was filtering through it, as the water surrounded her entirely, it’s energy mixing with hers. The feeling of energy moving across and through the synapses of her brain was unbelievable. It’s power flowing through her felt like a million back scratches or party streamers trailing through he fur, but in this case it was her head. She suddenly got flashes of strange things: visions, faces, ponies she had never seen before, monsters and creatures beyond imagining. She didn’t just see them now, she could feel them: the intimate contact of fur upon fur, of hugs, of pain both emotional and physical, feelings of excitement, of joy. Flashes of cakes, pastries and a colorful shop filled with ponies young and old, of all colors and breeds greeted her new sight.
There was something else though that stood out to her; a group of mares, sitting together while eating cake and drinking milkshakes and laughing together. Pinkie could see herself among them. She knew their names, knew their faces though she had never met them before, never seem them, but she knew them. She was just not able to put her hoof down on exactly where she knew them from.
When she woke up she was back in the darkly lit room that had been her home for how long she couldn’t tell. A very familiar and unwelcome face peering down at her.
“This is amazing, a complete bonding of the waters properties into your very body… if these readings are correct, you’ve been supercharged by the pools magical energy.”
Von Goul was very excited, chattering to himself as he began wiring her up with sensors, returning to his parchment read out to analyze the recorded data.
“How do you feel Pinkie?” he asked abruptly, in his excitement tangling an entire roll of parchment about his chest and hooves.
“F-f-fine,” she stammered, still feeling something big brewing in her body, every nerve she had on end, and her brain feeling like it was popping like popcorn.
“Well, you survived. I was hoping you would. Now we can start testing to see exactly what effects the pool has left on you.”
Pinkie looked over at him her eyes wide, “but…but this is not where I’m supposed to be…” she sounded so confused, but her mind was intently focused on one place. That small goody filled corner of heaven. With her sitting there with five other ponies together, laughing, having fun, and just being together.
Those mares, who were they? They seemed so friendly, so familiar to her, almost like they were family. She knew deep down that for some reason she loved them, but she didn’t even know their names. The harder and the more she concentrated on it, the more she could feel the build up of energy in her very blood grow.
Visions began to flash through her mind, the first of a blue winged Pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail. From her Pinkie could sense a unwavering sense of loyalty albeit lack of charm, seeing the Pegasus zooming through the skies trailing a massive rainbow trail behind her wake.
<"R-Rainbow Dash…"> The name appearing in her mind as soon as she visualized the cyan colored pegasus. The next vision she encountered was of another pony. She was a tough orange mare with lovely blonde hair and a wide brimmed brown hat, evoking inside her a strong sense of honesty and motherly compassion. AppleJack.
The next was a white prissy looking Unicorn with a purple mane and fancy blue dragon scale dress, despite the fact she looked like she was high on herself, she carried with her a sense of generosity and style…Rarity…She tried shutting her eyes, and in response the visions came flashing even faster and faster across her mind. The same faces and now names repeated over and over, the names themselves began echoing in her head again and again.
Now there was a timid looking yellow pegasus mare with pink mane, but she did not fly. Instead she walked upon the ground. She was surrounded by all sorts of creatures and animals, every one of them looking up at her as she radiated kindness, and understanding, sweet sweet Fluttershy.
Lastly there came a purple unicorn mare, her horn leaking energy and a young reptile like creature of what appeared to be a dragon beside her, and from this mare pinkie felt a familiar and excited twang of happiness, she was friends with this mare, and this mare’s friendship meant more to her than anything else…Twilight…Sparkle.
Their faces and names flashed and screamed inside her head, again and again, repeating the images and the visions over and over. Energy filled her body as her heart kept pounding, the sound of it thumped harder and harder, the energy from the pool penetrating it and making it beat faster and faster. From the visions of the five mares came a new sensation, every time one of them appeared to her they glowed with an aurora similar to the one she saw in herself in the pool. Magical energy peeling off of their shapes and mingling together, purple, orange, blue, rainbow, yellow and pink, colors and auroras of great power swirling about her eyes and her mind.
From outside her head, Von Goul looked in shock at the readings coming across the feedback, he couldn’t understand it, it almost looked as if there were multiple energy singers appearing from inside her. “This is impossible, no pony can have more than one energy signature…but you have multiple unique signatures radiating from your body, this is unheard of!”
Pinkie just opened her eyes at his exclamation, no longer caring about the ghoul doctor, she could feel the conflicting energy pooling inside of her, mixing together growing in intensity, and growing in magnitude. She began to spark and twinkle as the energy started leaking from her body in massive spurts, the machines she was hooked up to lighting up, some starting to spark and nearly explode from the overload of energy.
Von Goul couldn’t believe his eyes, fear and excitement gripping his heart as he stared wide eyed at the pink mare before him. Her body seizing up as flashes of magical energy exploded from her. Each seizure seemingly charging up an energy burst before it pulsated outwards, overloading his equipment and making his own fur stand on end. The doctor stepped backwards noticing the strain on his equipment, the devices fit near to exploding.
"This is impossible! The energy it’s super charging everything, it’s overloading the equipment! You have to control it girl, control it!” he screamed at her.
Pinkie however, was beyond caring about controlling it she just wanted to fully understand what it was she was seeing. What were these visions saying? what was their purpose? Who were these mares and where is this place she saw so clearly in her mind located. The build up of power was now at it’s crescendo, all the forces inside her primed, all they needed was a match to set the keg alight.
As she lay there, magical energy exploding out from her, the most powerful energy still growing inside, she sifted through the visions in her head, the names, the places… searching. She passed through mountains and holes, passing by horrendous looking creatures and a gangling scrawny troll like thing caressing a golden ring…<"nope not here she thought">.
Now she was flying through the stars and space, passing through some sort of large metallic moon (no not a moon, some sort of station, in space) beside flying contraptions that shot beams of light into some sort of small opening no bigger than a wamprat (whatever in Celestia’s name that was). Not here either it seemed.
She traveled through massive cities, with buildings and towers reaching into the clouds and strange two legged creatures, pink skinned like her fur walking about their day. She went through some sort of black like box with a bright screen, and found herself gazing at large boards of pictures, pictures of her, picture of other ponies, all in some order of events, and those same two legged beings, drawing her. Arranging the pictures and and showing others who drew on pads of paper.
From there she entered some sort of small cramped apartment room, one of those creatures huddled over some sort of box with a window, typing as if he was using a fancy new typewriter, his brows scrunched in concentration, his eyes bleary from lack of sleep, and a gaggle of books and folders labeled, homework stacked everywhere untouched.
Finally she came back to Equestria, recognizing the landmarks she was seeing from old maps her father kept in his study. Zooming past the fields and streams, the Ever-Free Forrest, the palace at Canterlot and down it’s waterfall into a bright colored valley.
From there it was a short skip and a leap until she was standing right in the center of a quaint little village right in front of the little store crammed full of pastries and cakes.
One word entered her head, one word stuck with her, promising a future, a life, and all hopes for a fun-filled tomorrow…
Ponyville.
It was then that the keg ignited.
Van Goul gave a shriek of dismay as the pink mare seemingly exploded, magical energy of every color and with great intensity enveloping the entire room. His equipment exploded and his fur was badly singed, his eyes wide and startled burned with the ferocity of the magic swirling around him. He tried to raise a magical shield from his horn only to have his energy dissipated and assimilated into the swirl of colors engulfing his body. The energy burned right into his Irises and into his mind, lighting up his brain and body with supercharged energy that felt as if he was being fried like an egg.
The explosion carried on past him him, the grey unicorn absorbed into the wave of energy, which then smashed into the walls of the Inn. The energy was being contained like a balloon fit to burst, the build up growing and growing bottling like a cork, until with a creak and groan the Guzzling Mare, creaked one last time and exploded.
Blowing sky high the release of power shot a fountain of magical energy that extended to the sky. It was like a powerful tornado as it spun and cascaded throughout the dark sky, before it dissipated. Returning to the ground, to the air, or further into the night and on to the stars.
Among the wreckage of the inn, lay Pinkie Pie, just lying there starring into the night sky. She couldn’t remember anything of what she had seen in the visions. Her mind having returned to normal, the feelings of multiple kinds of energy had also dissipated from her body. The last thing she remembered seeing was Von Goul getting engulfed in energy then only bright colors, a loud bang and a creaking groan, then nothing but the black night starring back at her. The stars were twinkling as if winking to her about some unheard cosmic joke. Getting up she began to shift through the debris, looking for the only thing she needs to continue on her way. As if by magic something nagged at her to look to the right hand corner of the wreck-age, so she trotted over and used a hoof to paw at the debris. There she found her saddlebags still intact wiggling herself underneath them, positioning them on her back she got up and started on her way. A flickering thought went to the grey unicorn and if he might be alright, but Pinkie couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming drive to keep moving. She assumed Von Goul was alright seeing as she didn’t seem to see or smell charred pony anywhere.
As she continued on her way down the highway, finally glad to be back on track, a nagging feeling began to grow in her head. It was a strange feeling, like a guided hoof pushing her towards the direction it wanted to go, the feeling turning into a need, a yearn to head west. Her tail fizzed and upon reflection of the fact she couldn’t seem to get the feeling to leave her, she decided she should listen to her instincts. Turning west she headed down the road hopping and skipping, not really knowing where she was going. Only one name kept popping into her head, one goal, one destination…a place that all her instincts told her where she could have a new life, a future, a new family…one word, one place, one name…
Ponyville.
A mile away, in the middle of a clearing filled with debris from the destroyed Inn, was a massive pile of charred woods and beams. With a great heave the pile exploded outwards as a very ragged grey unicorn staggered out from under it. His coat was gone, burned off; the harness on his chest was charbroiled, and his fur was either singed or blackened. Entire patches were missing where they had been burned off, part of his ear missing thanks to chunk of metal that had shot through it. He staggered to his for-hooves, his strength leaving him, his throat felt on fire, his body burned and ached. His research was gone, his equipment in shambles if not completely destroyed, and his greatest test subject had fled.
Worst of all was, he could no longer see, his eyes had taken the full brunt of the magical explosion. Nothing but bright colors swirled in his vision, even when he closed his eyes all he saw was flashing spectrum's of light. The once blazing red irises now poetically bright party pink. But it had worked, the energy of the Fourth Pool had bonded to the pink pony, and she had managed to store it, wield it and expel it…different energy signatures could mean only one thing, there were others with her kind of strength out there, those energies had not been the mare’s alone.
He would find her again, he would find his greatest achievement and he would do whatever it takes to learn the mysteries of the powers she now possessed, even if he had to cut her open to do it.
But first he needed to figure out how he was going to find his way out of here.
