Monochrome

"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.))

Yours is now in progress, Quicklime.

And for you, Bellosh! http://www.canterlot.com/gallery/image/5258-snively-for-bellosh/

Okay, my scanner's running again! Here you go, Brony55: http://www.canterlot.com/gallery/image/5259-for-brony55/

"That's the problem. I'm not quite sure. Physical injuries spreading as plague, as well as a single-mindedness, and if you touch them, you get it too!" the stallion explained unsettledly, looking over his shoulder every few seconds to make sure none of them were drawing near to him. "I'm Mechanical Madness. Scientist." he added. "Look at them all. Those aren't masks, you know. It may look like a mask, but it's fused to their faces. What is all this? 'Mummy, mummy, are you my mummy?' What could've brought this on?" he muttered absently, partially to the pony he was warning and partially to himself.

((Okay... I'm really into Doctor Who, and I decided to take my scientist pony and start this rp. Let's have some fun with this!)) It's a dim, overcast day, but otherwise generally normal. Everypony is going about their business as usual. However, if one were to take a closer look, they would begin to notice something odd about some ponies today. Many appeared to be sick, and many others were wearing gas masks. All of these odd ponies, upon very close inspection, each had the exact same scar on their left front hoof. Suddenly, you are tackled from the side and herded into a nearby alley. Once you turn to see who dragged you here, you see that it is an anxious-looking yellow pegasus stallion with a short silver mane and tail, mechanical wings, and a mechanical right hind leg, and wearing a tattered lab coat that covered his cutie mark and cracked goggles that obscured his eyes. "Don't touch anypony." he warned, an undertone of panic in his hushed voice. You glance back at the usual marketplace crowd again, but more ponies seem to have gas masks this time. Even stranger, you hear multiple cries of "Are you my mummy? Mummy?", even from full-grown mares and stallions. You turn back to the stallion, who is staring at the eerie ponies as well.

Okay, I already did a thread for names, but how about what your genderbent oc would look like? Let's use the pony creator to show it! Link to generalzoi's pony creator v3: http://generalzoi.deviantart.com/art/Pony-Creator-v3-397808116 Ponycode for Monochrome's genderbend, Greyscale: fnNKN12YOc90AcT0F05uWun1837000e0000/t//37Vp/C/t//2803wW0B3D07Ay

Does, Bellosh's being finished open up a slot? If not, that's alright. But if there is an open slot... I'd like you to do Monochrome, if it's not too much trouble. Here's her app: http://www.canterlot.com/topic/15461-monochrome-fixed-ready/ And here's a reference pic for further detail: http://www.canterlot.com/gallery/image/5247-old-ish-monochrome-sketch/