MLP Broodmother Virus: Super Duper Party Pony
A hot air balloon glided through the air, as a wide-eyed party pony stood up on his back hooves, panting heavily and gaze darting around in terror and paranoia. His mane was matted with sweat, and his vest splattered in blood, spots of it also left behind with each hoof print.
He took a shaky deep breath, looking over his shoulder towards Ranush. The poor traumatized yak calf was curled up on the floor of the balloon, soaked from horn to hoof in blood, clotting against her fur. The pair had barely survived the poor girl's own birthday party after Pinkie's 'generous' donation of treats had afflicted every yak in Yakistan with the virus, the pair both the only to survive, and the only to remain uninfected.
Cheese's mind was still reeling; he'd been far away from the outbreak, and as such, had no idea what had even happened beyond the obvious. What were those things? Had someone sabotaged Pinkie's sweets? That HAD to be it - there's no way Pinkie would do that, she wouldn't do the things he'd seen.
That's why they were just cresting into Ponyville airspace, to check on Pinkie...but his hopes for aid grew more dashed by the moment, as he looked down at the town below. The town, decimated, the only remaining signs of pony life being fillies and colts, old blood clung to buildings and rotten bodies nearly skeletal scattered about, most chewed at and half-eaten.
His breathing hitched, as tears pooled at the corners of his eyes. "Oh Celestia...P-Pinkie? PINKIE!" He cried out across the clouds, gasping breaths turning into choking sobs as the crumbled ruins of Sugarcube Corner came into full view.
"CHEESIE!" His heart nearly skipped a beat at the sound of a familiar, high-pitched voice shrieking in delight, so loud it nearly tore the thick clouds away all by itself. He gasped. "PINKIE! We're coming!" He frantically pawed at the steering of the balloon, turning it towards of her voice.
"Oh Pinkie, I-I was worried!" He said with an almost desperate chuckle, rubbing the tears from his eyes as the balloon moved closer. But as it crested the clouds and came into full view of Pinkie, his eyes widened, mouth falling agape as his pupils turned to pinpricks.
"What's wrong Cheesie? I missed you!"
She was....ENORMOUS! She sat tall over the trees, looking upon the balloon as if it was little more than a pesky fly - and speaking of flies...she was more insect than pony now. Her once bubbly blue eyes were blood red and segmented, her jaw hung open and jagged, like her jaws themselves had become fangs rather than simply growing ones. She tilted her head, her poofy mane flopping to the side as she did so, now made of a thick viscous fiber rather than hair.
"P...P-Pinkie? W-What in Celestia's name HAPPENED to you?!" Pinkie pouted or at least made the closest she could to a pout with how her face was now structured. "Whattya mean, Cheesie? Aren't I just the prettiest? Hehe! But I bet you'll look even prettier soon!"
Cheese blinked away the tears that flew down his cheeks, backing up from the edge of the balloon. "What are you t-talking about? What's going on?!" Pinkie's gaze turned less cheerful, downright disappointed even. "...You mean you didn't eat your candy? You were supposed to eat your candy! Do you know how long I worked on that gift for you? How are you supposed to be my special some-buggy if you don't EAT?!!"
She shrieked, which was swiftly echoed by dozens more ear-splitting shrieks, making Cheese and Ranush put their hooves to their ears. "PINKIE! PLEASE!" Cheese cried out, falling to his knees as he continued to sob. A sharp tear ripped through the air, and the balloon buckled and swayed, as air rapidly escaped a fresh claw strike across the fabric, blue blurs darting all around the balloon faster than the eye could spot them.
Cheese's heart hammered away against his ribs, as it dawned on him that the balloon would soon be crashed down to the battered soil below. He scrambled to one side of it, towards a saddle bag he just barely grabbed in time before it flew over the side, frantically rifling through it before retrieving a puffy, multicolored sack of some kind.
He pushed it into Ranush's grasp, who shook in pure terror as she stared wide eyed at him. "Ranush, hold on tight to this, okay? The balloon's g-gonna fall, but if you hold onto this, y-you'll be okay!" She blinked, as the balloon continued to sway, air rushing past as it fully began to descend.
"W-What bout yellow pony?" He chuckled sadly, giving her a big hug as his heartbeat kept hammering away. "Don't think about that - just close your eyes and hold on tight." She whimpered, the wood of the balloon's nest cracking under the pressure as the tree speedily approached them. She sobbed, but did as she was asked.
When she awoke who knows how long later, she was snugly surrounded by puffy, bright balloons, curled around her protectively, but not so tight that she couldn't breathe. She sniffled, snuggling against the soft party favors as she wept through reddened eyes. Through the rubber, she heard the muffled voice of the party pony nearby, weak and labored, each breath sounding like it was taken through filled lungs.
"Super...d-duper...p-party, pony....t-that, pony....is m-mee...."