Synthetic Solution

In Equestria, the mutations that occurred there created the disfigured abominations to nature called “ghouls”. While a not so flattering name to the unfortunate, it is an accurate name. Victims of the process “ghoulification” have absorbed an ungodly amount of radiation at some point in their life. Their hair starts to fall out, their skin flakes, and the next thing you know they look like a poorly crafted zombie from very old and very horrible horror films.

That is also an accurate name, as ghouls have a very unique ability that baffles many to this day. Their mutation not only causes them to become hideous creatures that none would want to have in bed with them (unless they are necrophiliacs, which these days are becoming more common) it also gives them the ability of very loose immortality.

They may still die from say, a shot to the head, however ghouls have acquired an innate ability to absorb radiation without any adverse effects. In fact, it heals them. If they somehow manage to survive a horrible mauling of their face, a soak in radiation can cover up that nasty gash like acne cream on zits. Albeit leaving nasty scar tissue, but that doesn't matter as they are already suitably hideous so no one really minds.

This is in Equestria. In the City, there are different kinds of ghouls. Due to the strange bombs that in no way resembled the ones used on Equestria, the ghouls of this small archipelago have received instead a nasty conglomerate of plant matter and themselves. They still retain their horrible hideousness, just that they now have a few thorned roots for self defense and sometimes half their face is a pretty sunflower.

For Onyx’s case, the ghoul that is attempting its damnedest to get into the room he is in has several green and brown roots growing out of the side of its head, and its limbs are replaced with thick green tentacles. Except for his left hind leg, which is rotten and its odor reminds Onyx of long dead roadkill that was pissed on by a skunk, hugged by a homeless pony, and left in an abandoned sewage plant.

It wasn't a pleasant smell.

Onyx was having a really bad time.

The smell was one thing, but being screamed at by something straight out of his own nightmares was a bit much for him. If he had any choice of his predicament he would probably have chosen to sit by a nice, relaxing, and wonderfully mundane fire sipping on some cocoa on a chilly night. Not being harassed by a plant creature that looks vaguely like a pony in the basement of a dilapidated building.

Still, he’s got to do something about it. He won’t stand for it, not for a second.

So, Onyx starts to scream at the creature in fear. He scrambles to the wall nearest to him as he stares at the monster biting at thin air in the crack of the door, doing its very best to squeeze as much of its head in as possible.

He doesn’t know what to do. The door seems to be holding the creature for the time being, but Onyx is not sure for how long that will last. The door is old and covered in moss, and the creature seems to be strong enough to break through the decayed steel. He has to think of something, and quick. He’s going to have to kill it.

But with what?

There’s no guns in here, let alone anything that can be used as a weapon. Unless Onyx wanted to bludgeon the creature with the orb he found, there’s no much else. Unless…

Onyx is struck with an idea. It’s made of plants, right? Then burn it.

If there is anything Onyx remembers, it’s how to start fires. He studied magic once in his life before, most definitely. This one stuck with him for whatever reason. Onyx gets back up onto his hooves and begins to focus on his horn, causing it to vibrate gently. He wills the air around his horn to vibrate as well, heating it up. Suddenly, the air just at the tip of his horn combusts into a small and quite embarrassingly small flame. If there were any ponies around, Onyx would surely be humiliated. Still, it was enough… probably.

Onyx floats the small flame over to the raving mutant, and tosses the flame right onto its face. The creature screams as the flames hit its face, and for a moment it seemed to work.

But the flame dies out, leaving nothing but a scorch mark on its face.

Dammit.

Onyx is out of ideas. How in the world can fire not kill this thing? It’s made out of goddess damned plants! Probably one of the most flammable materials in the world! Even a small flame like that should be able to send that thing into a fiery inferno!

Onyx sighs, defeated. There’s nothing he can do. He’s going to die in here, eaten alive by this monster, and no one is going to know anything about it. No one is going to remember him. They’re probably all dead anyway. 150 years in the future, at least according to that play put on by those golden ghosts. No one lives that long, so Onyx just guesses this is the universe trying to keep a balance or something.

Onyx looks over at the pod he came out of. “Damn good use you were.” Onyx mumbles at it. If the pod had emotions, it would probably feel like shit from that comment. He takes comfort from that. Onyx then looks over at the spasming rubber pipes firing out blasts of cold nitrogen. He doesn't remember nitrogen being part of the machine, but it certainly looks like it (even if it is just a gas).

Onyx’s ears perk up. He slowly looks over at the creature, now halfway through the doorway and attempting to squeeze the rest of it through. He’s got an idea. Onyx scrambles over towards the pipe, and wrestles it down with his body. He can feel it resisting underneath his weight, but Onyx manages to slide it into an angle towards the creature. Just as he gets it into position, the creature bursts through the final chunks of steel and wastes no time sprinting full speed at its prey. Onyx pulls up on the pipe, and sprays the nitrogen right into the creatures face.

The sheer force of the blast knocks the creature backward into the wall. The plant part of its face shatters into ice shards from the impact, which instantly froze from the cold gas. It barely lets out a scream as it slides down the wall, completely dead.

Onyx’s heart is beating hard. Excitement of this length was something he feels he is never going to get used to. He climbs off of the pipe and, cautiously, approaches the fruits of his labor on the other side of the room. He examines the reanimated corpse with curiosity. What could have created such a creature? The combination of plant and pony sends shivers down Onyx’s spine, images in his head thinking up what such a transformation would feel like. He forces the thought out of his head, and looks at the creatures face.

Immediately, Onyx recognizes (what is left of) the creature’s face. The ghost from that light show he saw earlier… This monster looks like White Collar.

“You never made it out, huh?” Onyx mumbles over the corpse. He can feel his stomach catching up to him as the odor finally registers once again, making Onyx heave violently to the side. He decides the best course of action would be to leave the room immediately. Onyx runs out of the room and into the hallway, through the door the creature broke down.

Out in the hallway, the ambiance is about the same as the room Onyx was originally in. Plants dominate the floor, walls, roof, and everything in between. Flickers of light bounce around Onyx as the orb he carries in his shirt pocket begins to glow once more. Golden shadows of ponies walk along to and fro around him, some phasing through the fauna in the walls, presumably entering rooms now no longer accessible.

All this gives Onyx a sense of surrealism. This couldn't be real. To Onyx, it almost feels like a dream and he’s along for the ride. Their faces are featureless, lost forever. It's almost saddening for Onyx as they all go about their (very terrifying) lives. He's not sure anymore what is truly going on around him, for all he knows it is the orb he carries. Onyx pulls out the orb from his pocket, and examines it. The runes on its surface are intricate and extremely detailed. They circle around the orb as their lights dance about, but to Onyx the dancing lights make him feel uneasy. Something about it doesn't seem as tranquil is it wants to seem.

His thoughts are cut short as he hears a yell down the hallway. It's not hellish, like the creature he dealt with. No, it's... normal. Is it another pony?! Onyx shoves the orb back into his pocket, desperate for someone to talk to and understand what the hell is going on here. Hopefully they know. Onyx swerves down hallways, turning left and right and stops short as he nears a dead end, towards a hole in the wall with a large box hanging precariously inside on a piston. Directly in front of it, a pony with a hood over their head has a knife in their mouth, which is now hilt deep within another creature similar to the one Onyx had a run in with. Blood seeps from a wound in the creature's neck, however the blood appears to be a bright green instead of the accustomed red that Onyx sure remembers heaving out of his mouth.

The unknown pony with the knife yanks the weapon free from the neck of the creature, and slides it into a sheathe attached closely to his face on his shoulder. Is it a he? Onyx is not sure, however something strikes him about the pony's appearance. It's body is not a solid color, but completely white with black stripes covering some of his(?) body. That... that can't be right. No pony looks like that. The creature looks up at Onyx briefly, makes a short gasp in surprise, and immediately retreats into the large box in the wall. It hits a button somewhere out of his sight, and to Onyx's surprise the box is pushed upward by the piston, leaving Onyx alone once again.

This was getting annoying.

"Hey, wait!" Onyx cries out, but no reply comes. Damn it all! Pony or not, it was as close as he was going to get to someone to talk to. A thought hits Onyx. Could that thing even talk to him? Was it just some kind of mutated creature, like these monsters, just less profound? He could not tell. The only thing he got from that thing was a deep sense of paranoia and nostalgia at the same time. Some deep seeded memory stirs within Onyx, annoying him further with its inability to surface. Angrily, he stomps over to the hole in the wall, and shouts up it. "Where do you think you're going?!"

No response. Onyx knew that would happen, but he did it just to let off some steam by yelling loudly. Unfortunately, due to his lack of speaking over an estimate of 150 years, he strains his voice painfully causing him to go into a violent coughing fit and almost tumbling into the dark unknown below in the hole in the wall. Onyx gets a glimpse of the shaft as he gets his balance in shape. Along the walls of the shaft, visible cogs stick out of the sides, rusted from age yet from the looks of it have been in use for a while recently. Some of them even seem to have been crudely repaired with duct tape, strings of thread and strangely enough a rubber duck. Onyx ponders the duck with curiosity, but shakes his head. Now's not the time.

Having no other option as all paths are blocked by heavy and very intimidating vines, Onyx examines a panel next to the hole. Only three buttons are on it, along with a slot reserved for some kind of key. Probably maintenance. Two lights are at the top in their designated corners, one glowing green and the other dead and black. No light is coming out of it. Each button has a number next to it. "1 - 2 - 3" The "1" button is lit up. Onyx, drawn to the light like a moth to a glowing zap trap, presses it with a hoof. The piston in the shaft makes a horrible roar, and Onyx yells out in panic from the activation of the piston. By the time Onyx realizes that the piston is indeed not a horrible mutant creature come to eat his soul, the box he saw earlier descends into view, stopping short of falling into the abyss.

It's an elevator. Onyx's subconscious says to him.

Oh. thought Onyx himself, dumbfounded.

"Oh." Onyx says out loud, and slaps his forehead with a hoof. When he does, he finds that he just hit something extremely sharp on his forehead. While Onyx sucks on the blood of his hoof and whimpers in pain, he crosses his eyes and looks up at the object attached to his face. Right. He almost forgot. Unicorn. Onyx has felt tired and almost drunk from exhaustion ever since he fought that monster. He needs to find a place to rest, soon. You would think all that time asleep in that pod would give me enough... Onyx steps into the elevator, and hits the "1" button. Find that thing first. Then sleep. Good plan. Yeah.

As soon as the door opens, Onyx completes all of his objectives immediately. Reason being is that the moment the door opens a large and very fast staff hits him right across the head, knocking him unconscious. As the lights in his eyes fade away, Onyx looks up at his assailant, the same striped pony from earlier. It speaks, however its words sound far off and almost silent. "Sweet dreams."

Yeah. That's a girl.

And with that, Onyx goes under.