Monochrome

"Physical Dementia can't talk. Never has been able to..." Mechanical Madness remarked, an undertone of sadness in his voice. He suddenly seemed to have an idea. "But it can write. And draw." he breathed. He scrambled about the lab and soon returned. He passed a scroll and a pot of ink to the poor little creature, and it seemed to know what to do. It feebly dipped its little hoof in the ink and proceeded to draw a scribbly picture of something, finishing just in time. As soon as it was finished, it was overcome with coughs and gags that made its whole body tremble, and the transformation overtook the other head. Mechanical Madness stood, solemnly silent. "Fireball... Fireball and his friends must have been playing in my lab again! This picture... Oh, from all I can tell, it looks like a broken container of some sort... But what?" he muttered thoughtfully. He froze completely. "What if Fireball's accident made him the original?" he breathed.

"Well, we need to get to my lab and study it. Maybe I can find out what this is and how to cure it." Mechanical Madness said, glancing back at the foal again. The ponies, luckily, managed to edge their way around the infected ones without getting touched. After a bit of a walk, they reached a desolate old mansion in the forest, and Mech proceeded to open the door and invite everypony inside after he had herded the infected foal inside. He lead them all down a hallway and into a room full of various scientific equipment, oddities, and what must have been genetic experiments gone wrong. near the back was a door with a dog door installed in it. "Physical Dementia!" Mechanical Madness called, glancing about for something. Soon, his gaze fell on an awful sight. Something sat in the corner; when it turned around, it was a horrifying sight. A creature that could only be described as the front halves of two foals stitched together at the stomach was what the uninfected ponies saw... But they also saw that one head looked sick and the other already had a gas mask. The ever-repeated sayings were scrawled all over the wall in black ink around them. "Oh, no!" Mechanical Madness exclaimed, stepping towards the strange little creature. "My poor little creation... But how? I locked all the doors and windows, including the dog door! How could this happen?!" he said, growing panicked. The half of the creature that wasn't fully infected yet, which appeared to be female by its face, looked up with a pained expression and coughed.

"I just told you, I've been observing them since they appeared! What exactly do you think anypony could possibly gain from... THIS?" Mechanical Madness huffed, gesturing towards the little foal at the other end of his rope. "Mummy? Muuuuuummmmmyyyyy...." it droned eerily.

That's quite alright.

"Well, first, we need to capture one and make our way back to my lab without getting ourselves infected. If we can't capture one, we still need to make it back to my lab." Mechanical Madness said, picking up the rope and looking around. "That one should do." he added, seeming to have targeted a little foal that was straying from the crowd. Straightening the gloves he had put on earlier, he crept up behind the infected little pony and, a bit wobbly, raised himself to his hind legs to slip the rope around its neck. Success! Mechanical Madness got back on all fours and grabbed the free end of the rope in his mouth, coaxing his catch along in a surprisingly gentle manner.

Oh, sure! In fact, I can open up a slot right now since I'm not too overloaded and have finished 2 requests already. Ask away!

"I've been observing them since I first saw them. The first sign is a scar on their left front hoof, and an appearance of sickness. If anypony you meet has those, do not, under ANY circumstances, allow them to touch you, even if they appear to be in pain." Mechanical Madness informed all of the uninfected ponies that had gathered.

"You definitely do not want them to touch you. Let me see.... Ah, over there. To your left, on the edge of the crowd. Yes, the sick-looking one without a gas mask. Watch her, and you'll see what happens if you do allow one to touch you." Mechanical Madness said gravely. Sure enough, the poor mare underwent the same transformation as the stallion the first three had watched earlier. She coughed and gagged for a moment, then let out a ghastly cry of "Mummy...?", and the transformation had begun. The muzzle of the gas mask forced its way out of her mouth and fused to her face, her eyes grew into the wide, dark lenses of the mask, and the skin of her face followed suit. She was one of them now. Mechanical Madness suddenly snapped his attention to another uninfected pony, shouting at all the infected ones. "The fool's going to get us all infected!" Mechanical Madness exclaimed hotly.

Mechanical Madness' attention snapped to the other newcomer, scrutinizing him for the signs as well. "And you? Did you let them touch you?" he added.

Mechanical Madness approached the newcomer, examining her for the signs of infection. "Did you let any of them touch you?!" he demanded. His mechanical wings and leg emitted constant creaks, whirrs, and the occasional puff of steam as he paced about the alley. "I need that rope back, if you don't mind." he added, glancing over at an infected foal who had begun to stray from the group.

((I have to log off for now, let's continue tomorrow. Bye for now~ ))

Mechanical Madness withdrew into the far end of the alley and began to poke around in the piles of junk there. He returned beaming. "Well, this is truly serendipitous. I found both!" he exclaimed, holding up a pair of slightly dirty rubber gloves and an old, frayed piece of rope that just might be the right length. "Here. Tie a loop a little wider than a foal's neck at the end of this." he said, tossing the rope to Rusty and beginning to put the gloves on his front hooves. He looked at Stormchaser. "We can't harm them. It would mess with my possibly life-saving data once I study them." he remarked tensely.

"They don't exactly have mouths anymore." Mechanical Madness responded to the rusty-colored stallion, scurrying back to the alleyway. "Now... Hm... Perhaps there is some rope here we can tie around one without touching it. Like, tie it in a loop and just slip it over one's head without getting infected. Or perhaps somepony threw out some disposable gloves in the dumpster back here. Unsanitary, but may be necessary." he added, glancing around. He paused after the other pegasus' remark. "The original. Yes, but how do we find it in this sea of lost little foal-brains?" he replied.

((No, you don't have to shorten your posts... I was just running out of ideas for what he could do for the moment. XD I'll have longer posts now.)) Mechanical Madness nodded, seeming to be deep in thought. "Would be better if we actually had a mare with us, though." he remarked ponderingly. "But it just might work..." He sighed, preparing himself for a very awkward moment as he stepped towards the crowd and singled out a little colt. "Are you my mummy?" he repeated himself as all the others did. "Yes." Mechanical Madness said bluntly, casting a momentary glare back at the other two ponies to silence their barely stifled chuckles. The little colt did not respond, just tilted his head to the side a bit and repeated himself. "Are you my mummy?" "Yes, YES! Now come along, er, home with me." Mechanical Madness huffed. The colt, once again, had no response. He stepped forward more, causing Mechanical Madness to scramble backwards a bit to keep from touching the infected foal. "He doesn't understand!" Mechanical Madness called to the others in frustration.

Mechanical Madness paused for a moment. "That just might work. But how to single just one out... Hm..." he pondered.

"My little... Companion, I suppose you could say." Mechanical Madness said. "Come with me. We have to make it to my lab and sort things out."

((Yeah, I agree, thanks. And thus, Mech is the Doctor for this! ))

Oh, of course I saw it! Didn't you see your username in the first slot? Enjoy your pic.

"Indeed. Absolutely fascinating. I normally would have captured one of these for examination at my lab by now, but if I touch them.... Well, I end up one of them." Mechanical Madness remarked detachedly. "Oh my, I hope Physical Dementia hasn't been infected!" he added, seeming to have come upon a horrible realization. "But how to get to my lab to protect them...? These things are everywhere."

((Possibly. I'm not too good with canon stuff, but I might give Doctor Whooves a shot... Then again, Mechanical Madness could play the Doctor's role here.))

"The thing is.... Eh heh.... I don't know what's going on! Physical injuries, contagious, like a plague? Masks fused to their poor faces? A single-mindedness to find their mother? All of this in one epidemic... THAT." Mechanical Madness said urgently, pointing to the throng of gas-masked ponies. "Look at that one on the edge. You'll see." he added. At the edge of the crowd, sure enough, was what appeared to be a regular pony, albeit a bit sick-looking. He just stood there, coughing and gagging... Suddenly, the poor stallion let out a hoarse whimper of "Mummy...?", and a grotesque transformation overtook him. Something forced its way out of his mouth, forming the muzzle of the gas mask. His eyes grew into the blank, dark stare of the glass lenses of the gas mask. Finally, the skin of his face morphed accordingly, and he looked like the others now. "That's what happens if they touch you." Mechanical Madness remarked.

((Alright, good. ))

Mechanical Madness suddenly pricked his ears up and turned around. "Another unaffected one! Stay here." he exclaimed, looking back at Stormchaser once before dashing off and returning with a very confused stallion. "Tell me, did you let any of them touch you?!" Mechanical Madness demanded anxiously of the rusty-colored stallion.

((Oops, forgot to put a town! Let's say... Trottingham because British accents.))