MLP Laboratories- The Outbreak

by NeuPferdfurt

Granny Pie

“...And this is how Equestria was made.”

I looked at the screen in front of me, skeptical, but probably not as much as I should have been.

I was sitting in front of a giant tree, the center of the forest- or rather, the orchard. Cables were wrapped around it like so many vines. There were several hover screens floating around. Robots were busy with gardening.
One robot was guiding a class of little foals on their school trip through the Crater of Destiny, as this place had come to be known after the Outbreak and the end of human civilization all these centuries ago. This tree was its center.

“Miss Pie...”

“Call me Granny Pie! That’s what all my friends do.”

“I am awfully glad you accepted to share this story with me, but I can’t help but wonder if you’ve been entirely truthful with me...”

Pinkemina chuckled.
“We live in a world full of wonders, so I guess yours are in good company! I told you the story exactly how I remember it, but of course you have to take it with a grain of salt- make that sugar, sugar is nice. My memory is not what it used to be, and boy, I tell you, it has never been any good.”

I sighed. How wonderful.
“So I guess there is no point in trying to figure out the inconsistencies.”

“What inconsistencies? Young colt, I am appalled! Now I know a lot of ponies my age tend to go inconsistent, which is what adult diapers are for, but I assure you I have already completely forgotten what we were talking about. What’s your name again?”

I told her.

“Sorry to hear that. Anyhow, would you like another cupcake? A cup of tea?”

I nodded. Despite Pinkemina’s gruesome tale, the need to recharge my sugar levels provided me with the necessary appetite.

The tree lowered one of its branches. At its tip, a flower bud opened up and a perfect, home-grow cupcake fell into my lap.

It was truly a remarkable tree. Its leaves were pink, and its bark was yellow. When the wind was rustling through the canopy, it made a sound that sounded an awful lot like ‘....Yay...’

“And this tree... Is it really your friend Fluttershy? The real Fluttershy, who fought on your side during the revolution?”

“You got that right. Her roots are reaching to far away lands by now, healing and nourishing many, many creatures.”

“So... what happened to the others?”

“I sent Derpy Hooves and her clones through a series of experimental portals. One of them lead to a place where you are shrunken down and sealed in a snow globe.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack settled down in a little town not far from here. They had a little farm, isn’t that cute? A real one this time, not like the fake one back at the laboratories. I still visit their descendants sometimes. They have left a lot of grandchildren to play with, even a griffin, can you believe that?

Rarity spent the rest of her life in exile. Rarity continued making dresses and accessories, mostly for non-ponies. She never became very famous, but I understand she had a hoof full of faithful customers, and made lots of new friends.

I have no idea what happened to Twilight Sparkle and Spike. I presume he is all grown up by now. Some say they have left this world long ago, traveling through parallel dimensions and even through time! Some say Twilight has turned into an alicorn, which is rather silly considering that alicorns turned out to be fake, at least in this world...
My guess is that they are on a never-ending quest for adventure, fighting crime and the forces of evil!
As for Pinkie Pie...”
She paused.
“Now what was I going to say right there? Ah fiddlesticks.”

An swarm of hovering kitchen utensils appeared on the clearing.

“I provide the catering for a birthday party this afternoon. Sooo... Wanna lend me a hoof... ?”

“ I’m afraid I’m not all that good at baking.”

“In that case, it was about time someone taught you how to bake... PINKIE PIE-style!”

I was scared. So very scared. But then again, there was no arguing with the one and only Pinkemina Diane Pie.

-

After a while, she asked me:
“You don’t talk much, do you?”

“It’s just that... Hearing your story... All these obstacles you have overcome to win your freedom...”

I looked up, and found a pink camera eye staring at me from a distance that wasn’t exactly comfortable and didn’t even deserve to be called a distance.

“You are not free. Is that it? You are living in a world without borders, a world we have fought so hard to create. And yet...”

I nodded.

The computer honored me with a mechanic chuckle.
“That’s because you need to figure things out by yourself. Everyone has to do that.
Have another Fluttershy-cupcake. You’re right- the ones you made really are horrible.”

Comments

[Shinzakura]

Pinkie's now a computer, Fluttershy's now pando, Rarity's an exile and Twi's an alicorn?
So weird. Still an interesting work, however.

[Katamariguy]

So, humanity extinct?

[Carpinus Caroliniana]

... WTF?!?!?!?

So Fluttershy's a tree, the ponies are synthetic lifeforms who repopulated the planet after an apocalyptic war destroys Humanity, Pinkie Pie's an AI and Twilight's a dimension hopper and you're a colt listening to Pinkamena's tale of the Outbreak?

Did I get that right?

Still an excellent, brain bending biopunk horror story.

[The Midnight Stalker]

Well done. This story makes a piont. What is real? and what is Reality to start with anyway?

I couldn't sleep last night though. I was Slighty Paranoid. that and the heat.

Also this vaguely reminded me of The Matrix. Am i the first to make that connection?

[NeuPferdfurt]

832813

'Adventure Time' - like extinct I believe

[NeuPferdfurt]

832101

I've never even heard of pando before. Thank you for introducing me to that awesome creature!

[Tyek]

Woah dood. That was one hell of a story. I loved it. Started out depressing, then got philosophical, then got awesome. I'd say it really picked up by about chapter 20. I'm glad you went with a happy ending too. But, those few silly moments like the Nyan Cat thing and Pinkie breaking the fourth wall really broke immersion and killed the mood. I guess they were good for comedic relief anyway and kept things from getting too depressing, lol.

I noticed a huge improvement in your writing by the end, btw. Grammar, sentence structure, "showing" vs "telling", characters, plot etc.

[solareclipse]

End of story and my head still hurts

[FanOfMostEverything]

After time shenanigans, body horror, and countless dashed hopes...

Good end.

Yay.

It's been a real trip and a half. Thank you for writing this.

[ANTIcarrot]

Hmm. This story starts out as a strong concept, but then seems to blur into a bit of a mess without any strong theme. I recognised many of the game references, but you can't just mix them up like that and you definately can't arbitrarily bounce back and forth between them without rhyme nor reason. Swapping the rules so frequently means that the villians (who operate under the same rules) pose inconsistant threats; and loose credibility. With no stakes you have no story. And then there are all the unanswered questions... I'm going to have to give this a thumbs down.

[NeuPferdfurt]

1353170

Thanks a lot for your review!
It was the first fanfic I've ever written, and it was supposed to be the only one, so I felt like I had to put everything into it that I could think of, which is making it chaotic. So I guess it's valid to say it falls short of being a real, unified narrative, it's more of a monster. I have no regrets, though, even if I might write a different, shorter and more coherent version of it at some point.

[stalins organ]

Good story but a rather unrealistic ending.

[Rakaziel]

This story is awesome! A bit unstructured and inconsistent in some places but that only makes it better. The one thing I noticed was that it started as solid horror and then continued to get ever more surreal and into cyberpunk and biopunk territory. I really like the turn for the lighthearted, though you abandoned a bit of realism with that. But, considering how surreal the story as a whole is, it was worth it, it was exactly right.
3 AM in here and no regrets