Chapters MLP Laboratories- Freak Show
The head
(MLP Laboratories the Outbreak Level 21/22)
Twilight Sparkle frowned. Yet another strange dream.
Everything was green. Tiny bubbles appeared and disappeared randomly in front of her face. She thought she was hearing the ocean. Twilight had never been to the shore before, but she remembered how her father had once told her to press her ear against an big, colorful shell when she had been a filly. It was probably a false memory, an implant, but it was still strangely soothing.
"If you listen carefully, you can hear the waves, Twilight. The memory of the sea."
Of course by now Twilight knew that this was just a ponytale. You couldn't trap the ocean in an empty shell.
Or a jar.
Was this a jar?
And more importantly, was this even a dream?
The young pony honestly couldn't tell. Everything seemed so unreal...
We are floating, she thought, we are all floating down here...
She was so tired.
Have to focus.
-
This unicorn pony certainly was a fascinating specimen.
The young researcher looked into the microscope again. He had never seen brain cells mutate at a ratio like this. If he and his colleagues were right, they had stumbled on the biotechnological equivalent of a goldmine. This brain alone compensated Them for all the losses suffered through the collapse of the 'Ponyville'-sector...
He turned around to check on the head. It was floating in a jar full of nutrients, connected to several cables and pipes.
The eyes were closed. It almost looked like she was sleeping.
"You're a pretty one, aren't you... A cute little freak show..."
The researcher grinned. One thing was sure: This pony wouldn't give Them any more trouble. Which was a good thing, too. She and her little friends had been surprisingly feisty. Not feisty enough, of course. The mere thought of a bioconstruct outsmarting its creators was preposterous.
Now her smart little head was floating in a jar. Was it still alive? Of course- at least in a way. This unicorn's brain was too precious to be simply plucked apart. Still, for this little pony, the adventure was over. Lights out.
He nodded at the guard who was standing next to the door. The man nodded back.
Just two men working late at night.
-
Something bothered the guard, however. A tiny noise coming from a desk on the other side of the lab. The scientist didn't seem to notice, but it was driving the guard insane.
Finally, he gave up. He left his post at the door and went looking for the source of the annoyance. It sounded like someone was scribbling frantically on a piece of paper. But he and the researcher were the only ones supposed to be here at this hour. And the guard didn't see anyone else. Yet the noise was there.
Mice? That was highly unlikely, considering how sterile this place was.
The noises were emanating from the top drawer of a desk. So it was something tiny. Maybe they did have vermin after all.
He pulled it open.
At first, his brain was unable to process what he was seeing.
It was a piece of paper with a pen on top. Only that the pen was moving on its own. Writing a message.
Ghosts are real , was all the guard was able to think before he was knocked unconscious by the back of his own rifle.
-
The scientist was completely lost in his work. He didn't see the guard fall and being dragged behind the desk, even though his peripheral vision might have allowed him to notice the movement. He didn't hear anything because of his earplugs.
He only noticed that things had gone terribly wrong after something had poked him in the back.
He flinched and turned around, frustrated by the prospect of having to interrupt his research.
What he saw was the guard's rifle floating in the air, pointing directly at his head.
Then he heard an all too familiar sound. The gun was cocked.
The man didn't dare to move. He had already peed his pants.
The gun came closer until it was gently touching his cheek.
The scientist started to whimper.
The rifle started poking him again. Apparently he was supposed to turn around and look at his desk.
And sure enough, a piece of paper came flying across the room, landing right in front of him.
Due to the circumstances, it took him a while to decipher the note.
-
My name is Twilight Sparkle.
I know what you have done to me.
You will die unless you do exactly what I tell you.
First of all, you will have to fix this.
I know you can do it. The rest of me must be around here somewhere.
Don't try anything funny.
I am watching you.
I am watching you through my eyes, and even through your own.
I can see everything.
Sincerely yours,
Twilight Sparkle
The researcher looked at the ponyhead floating in that jar. It had opened its feakishly large eyes now. Looking at him.
He knew they should have removed the horn.
MLP Laboratories- Freak Show
beastmaster
(MLP Laboratories the Outbreak Level 16/17)
"Fluttershy... There you are."
Twilight Sparkle had found the pegasus in the ruins of her former home. What Fluttershy once used to think of as her cottage had actually been the entry to a set of smaller laboratories which had practiced animal testing. Now she was standing amidst the broken glass and the lifeless robot arms, staring into the darkness.
"Why have you come here all by yourself? We were worried about you."
"...There is still one left."
"One of the animals?"
Most of the smaller creatures had perished since the cataclysm, but Fluttershy had managed to save some of them, and they were currently sharing the improvised shelters with the ponies. The question about the future of the "non-pony" creatures had been one of the many subjects of discord during the last hours -no pun intended. A great number of ponies seemed to think that leaving them to die was the only option, since the ponies could not afford to waste any efforts on anything else but their own survival. As much as Twilight hated to admit it, this was by far the most rational option.
But what would become of Fluttershy? Under normal circumstances, she would never have abandoned her animal friends. Now her entire world was lying in ruins, including her own psyche. Could she even survive another blow? Pinkie Pie and Spike had told Twilight about the horrible things that had happened to their pegasus friend- not the least being the gruesome death of her rabbit Angel - and how they had finally decided to use plasmids to restore her brain. The Fluttershy in front of her was a patchwork of traumas and mutations, and it was all but certain whether this patchwork was viable.
-
It was very dark in here. Twilight's light-spell illuminated little more than a tiny strip on Fluttershy's flank, since the pegasus was standing outside the light cone. Somehow, Twilight didn't feel like coming any closer.
"Fluttershy?"
"...Shhh. It's coming."
Now Twilight heard it as well. Further away in the direction in which Fluttershy was looking, there were horrid, sloshing noises. And they were coming closer.
Then there was the sound of breaking glass.
"W-what is this?"
"...It's almost here. Please step back, Twilight. And be very quiet, it doesn't have eyes, but it can hear you."
Her hooves obeyed, ignoring the half-baked protests of her brain.
The creature started to roar, and the ground under Twilight's hooves was vibrating. A chunk of slime landed in front of her, and tiny drops of the same substance were sprinkled all over her body.
"...Hush now. I'm here."
To her boundless horror, Twilight saw how a great mass of slime- it happened too fast for her to tell whether it was a claw, a tentacle or something completely different - rose from the shadows and grabbed Fluttershy's head, pulling her into the darkness.
"Fluttershy!"
The creature replied to her cry with a bone-shaking howl, rushing towards her position.
The creature's head appeared in the light cone. At least Twilight thought it might have been its head, but there wasn't really a proper term to describe it.
In the very same moment, two yellow hooves rose from the creature's semi-fluid flesh, reached forward, sunk back in- and then there was a cracking sound, like a breaking branch.
-
The monster fell to the ground, its slimy flesh rapidly dissolving, leaving behind a surprisingly delicate, bird-like skeleton. Fluttershy stepped out of the puddle.
"Y-you killed it."
"...It was nothing but pain. It had been waiting for me for a long time."
Fluttershy walked towards the exit.
"...There is nothing left now. Will you walk back to the shelter with me?"
Twilight shook off her terror and awe.
"Sure. Fluttershy... are you alright?"
"...No."
And that was the truth. It would have to do for now.
-
Twilight noticed that Fluttershy was wearing a necklace, a gruesome talisman. It was a plastic string with two white bunny ears, swinging back and forth as she walked.
The unicorn pony shuddered.
MLP Laboratories- Freak Show
pony melt
(MLP Laboratories the Outbreak Level 0)
Carrot Top was looking into the mirror. She frowned.
Her mane was green. Of course it was. It had always been.
Right?
Sure.
"Green is my color...", she said. But her voice didn't sound very convincing to her.
-
"Orange", she said. She didn't know why she said it, but something about her reflection in the mirror this morning... Well yes, her mane was orange. Obviously. Her natural color. She had not dyed it.
Later, when she was meeting up with her friends on Ponyville's market place, she almost asked them whether they had noticed any recent changes in her appearance, especially concerning her hair color. But that would have been silly, right?
-
When she woke up the following day, her scalp and her lower back were itching again. Well, nothing unusual. It must have been this new shampoo she was using. Yes, and that probably also explained the changes... shifts! the slight shifts in hair color and texture.
The earth pony discovered quite a few hairs sticking to her pillow when she climbed out of bed. Nothing unusual either. Hair fell off at some point. Most natural thing in the world.
It was green hair, of course. Perhaps it looked a little greener than yesterday, but the color itself had not changed.
Ugh. Her legs felt a little shaky. So it was one of these days. No problem. It looked like Ponyville's pegasus ponies had staged a rainstorm, so she really had no other choice than to stay home, wrapped in a nice, warm blanket, drinking hot chocolate.
She sniffed, and something dropped from her nose right into her drink. Ewww. So maybe she was getting a little sick after all. No hard work, no shopping trips for this filly, at least for today. Another rainy day she would stay indoors, reading magazines.
-
Arrrgh! The sun!
She hissed.
Why was it so bright today? Carrot Top was sweating like a horse. Even looking outside her window made her sick to her stomach, seeing the other ponies run around under the blazing sun. And oh, her head hurt so much. Her entire body felt sticky, and she noticed that she was leaving behind tiny, gooey puddles wherever she walked. There was no way she was going outside today. What this pony girl needed was a nice, cold shower.
Bad idea. Now her nose was running again. And her eyes. There were so many hairs sticking to the towel. And there was the sweat again.
Also, she was hungry, but the very thought of food made her feel even worse. Her throat was thick with slime, she wouldn't have been able to swallow even one bit. Conveniently, she had already run out of supplies. Say... how many days had she been at home anyway? Her hair was orange again, so it must have been Tuesday already. Never mind how she knew that.
Maybe she should ask her friends for help.
Ugh. Friends. Talking ponies. Ponies talking to her HEAD. How horrible was that?
-
Something was missing. She didn't know what withdrawal was, but she was starting to show the symptoms. She found herself digging aimlessly through her belongings, not even knowing what she was looking for.
-
Carrot Top was lurking around in her little house, leaving trails of slime everywhere. She didn't even want to do anything anymore. Just lurk around in the shadows... and moan. She was pretty sure she couldn't do anything else now. She couldn't even think straight.
What was happening to her?
She had caught a cold. A very nasty cold. But it would go away. Colds always did. No need to go to a doctor. Colds come two days, stay two days, go two days, that's what her mum used to say.
Now there were teeth dropping out of her mouth.
Oh Celestia...
Carrot Top was crying. She used to be so pretty. And now... now...
There were red, glowing eyes in the darkness. Watching her. Indifferent to her suffering. Waiting.
What day was this? Her mane was green. What was left of it, anyhow.
-
"Did you find the subject?"
"Dude, it's all over the place. That sorry little thing didn't even last a week."
The two remote-controlled drones were hovering through the structure. There was rotting, dissolving flesh everywhere. They were able to locate several organs that still seemed to be in good shape, ready to be recycled.
"We need to be sure there is nothing alive left in here."
"Come on! Nothing can live without... you know... All the things that are supposed to be attached to you."
"We need hard evidence that the experiment was a success."
"Hard evidence? Good luck with that. I'll just scoop up some of that slime..."
"There we go. Have a look at that."
In one corner of the room, there was a blank pony-skull lying in a puddle. There was a single, green hair still attached to it.
-
Many weeks later, after the collapse of the Ponyville-sector.
Spike gulped.
This was it. Everypony was staring at him, listening carefully to every little breath that came out of his snout, turning their large, muscular ears towards him, the openings of their auditory canals gaping like little, hungry mouths. Finally, he got their full attention.
And he was scared. Being of a shy nature is no problem as long as no one is paying attention to you. You are free to rant and gloat and even to make huge public announcements when you know no one is actually paying attention to you. But now...
"For Pete's sake, dragon-boy, spill yah beans already!"
"W-well... Okay then. Listen, girls... We have a huge problem..."
"You don't say! The ponies are cold, hungry, scared, and we have no idea where to go, so we lurk around in this rubble, leading the ponies around in circles..."
"NO! Ahem, no. These are big problems, sure. But I'm afraid we have an even bigger one..."
"Now that's just peachy."
"Mind to tell us what this problem is, Spike?"
"How to put this delicately..."
"Well?"
"Body Melt."
"What?"
"You heard me. I'm sorry, but that's how it is. You see, I didn't really think about this when there were so many other things going on..."
"Get to the point! You're freaking us out."
"Ponies are unstable. You have no idea how messed up you are inside... Your bodies and brains produce the stuff our creators need, but they were not meant to survive out of captivity. When the system was still working, you received drugs and infusions that would stabilize your bodies on a regular basis. Now that the machines are all destroyed... I have no idea where we can get this stuff. And without it, you will die. Your flesh will rot on your bones."
"SPIKE!"
"Sorry, I got a little carried away... But yeah, I believe that's what is going to happen. They have run tests to confirm this, you know. Remember a pony called Carrot Top?"
"No?"
"There you go."
The ponies were looking at each other.
"I-I don't know about that... I feel fine."
"Yeah, me to!"
"Let's get this medicine-stuff anyway, just to be on the save side."
"YES! On the save side. I like the sound of that."
-
"BODY MELT!"
Pinkie Pie was running through the tunnels, hitting one hoof against a casserole, yelling
"BODY MELT!"
Twilight Sparkle didn't think that was very helpful.
-
They all felt a little itchy this evening.
MLP Laboratories- Freak Show
The patient
(MLP Laboratories the Outbreak Level -?-)
Twilight couldn't move. Her pose was unnatural, her front legs were tied away by some sort of jacket.
She needed to get up. She needed to get away from this place. She couldn't quite remember why that was, but oh, she was scared, so scared. She felt so overwhelmingly helpless that she started screaming.
Somewhere she heard Pinkie Pie giggle.
"Uuuuh, Tweelee is making the loud noises with her head again!"
Someone was running around in circles, chanting "Head noises, head noises!". Was it Rainbow Dash? And the pale one in the corner, chewing on one ear of a plush bunny... was that Fluttershy?
A door was opened, and two big ones in white clothes appeared, holding Twilight down with their big, strong arms.
"Shhh, quiet, girl... Dude, give me the syringe."
No needle! The needle was bad! Twilight doubled her efforts, but in vain.
"There we go... This one is getting more difficult to deal with by the day."
"She's creeping me out, I can tell you that. Did you hear these screams? Jesus, she sounded like a freakin' horse ..."
The voices faded away.
-
When Twilight opened her eyes again, she was sitting on a chair. All her friends were there too. And opposite to her, on the other side of the circle, there was a man, one of the finger-people. He had a long, white beard and glasses.
"There you are, Tara. The tenders told me you have been a naughty girl. Let's talk about that."
"I'm not Tara, I'm Twilight... Twilight Sparkle... Who are you?"
"Why, I'm your doctor, Doctor Fohlman. You have been seeing me for years."
Twilight was shaking her head. She was feeling so very dizzy. She could hardly keep her eyes open.
"Tara... "Twilight", please tell me what is wrong with you. I am your friend. I am here to help."
"Ponyville... It's all a lie... All of this is WRONG! There is tunnels, and pipes, and dark places, and needles, and robots... We need to get out... Out... Out..."
"Yes, Tara. Ponyland is just a dream. That much is true. It is a nice dream, a dream where you could have fun, and play... It was a very good dream. But something happened to that dream. Somehow, it got bad. You're not a happy girl anymore, and you're causing a lot of trouble, you know that?"
"It was a LIE! We needed to break through! Spike told me..."
"Spike? Oh, do you mean this?"
The doctor pulled a little purple plush dragon out of his pocket. He put it on Twilight's lap.
"Did that doll tell you nasty things?"
Twilight was staring down on the plushie.
"Spike is real..."
"No, Tara. Spike is imaginary. Can you see now? It is all in your imagination! But now you're imagining bad things. And that's bad."
Twilight started crying.
"It's not true... It's not true... Spike is real... And you're all just a bunch of trolls... But we'll show you..."
"Tara, I need you to listen to me. You are making everyone miserable. Yourself, your little friends, and us, of course, the people who care about you.
It's your dream, Tara. You control it. You can dream nice things again. We need you to dream nice things. Look around you! Reality is cold and boring and sad.
Just look at yourself..."
Twilight was looking down at her torso, wrapped in a straight-jacket, at her pale legs. Instead of hooves, there were... finger... toe... things. She flexed a few muscles, and they started wriggling around, like a bunch of little maggots. It was freaking her out.
"You and your friends, you were playing ponies, what a pretty idea! The little jackets keep your hands safely tucked away, but you still had your legs to run around, and magic, of course... I understand some of you can even fly! Now that's really cool!
So my request is very simple. Go back into your dream. But dream it nice this time. Don't let this stupid old Spike tell you bad things! Maybe we should send him somewhere else..."
The doctor reached forward to take the plushie away.
"NO!"
The doctor smiled.
"There there, Tara. You can keep him. But teach him some manners, okay?"
He sighted.
"Tara, you and your friends, you have to stay with us. You're a threat to yourself and to people around you.
They see you as their leader, Tara. They will follow you. If you're having scary thoughts, they will get scared as well. Leaders need to be responsible, Tara. You know that, don't you?"
Twilight nodded under tears.
"That's right. You're reasonable. You're responsible. You know your little friends need you. So what will you have to do?"
Twilight snorted. She was still feeling dizzy. Thinking was hard. But the doctor said...
"I... I need to bring them back to the dream. Not make scary noises or say scary things... So we can be happy again..."
"That's right."
The doctor brought his big, friendly face closer.
"I need you to eat your candy, and go back to Ponyland. Where you can heal, and play... And you'll be my little ponies again..."
In a fluid movement, Twilight rose from her chair and kicked the doctor in the face, sending him to the other side of the room.
"WE ARE NOT YOUR LITTLE PONIES!"
"Yeah! You show 'em, Twilight!"
"You rock! Woo-hoo!"
The other girls jumped of their chairs as well, chanting and stomping in approval.
-
"ENOUGH!"
The sterile decor was falling apart. Black robot arms rose from the shadows, grabbing one pony after the other and pulling them away.
The doctor's face was changing. It was made of shiny white metal, with glowing eyes.
Because the doctor wasn't a doctor at all. It was Princess Celestia, with her android voice.
"TWILIGHT SPARKLE! You're going to pay for this! My patience is running low! I will break you, Twilight Sparkle, and if it's the last thing I'll do!"
Twilight's mind was drifting away again, but this time, she was smiling.
She couldn't tell what was real and what was not, but there was one thing she knew for sure: That kick... It had felt so good.
