MLP Laboratories- Freak Show

by NeuPferdfurt


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.