Stable 81 is a location in the radioplay series Terminal Secrets. It is also briefly mentioned in the audio drama series Confessions of a Wasteland Pony. It first appears in the pilot episode of Terminal Secrets, DOSE.
Experiment & Results[]
The Stable 81 experiment was intended to produce a population of ponies that were immune to subconscious suggestion. It was theorized that with a mental framework more geared toward rational analysis rather then external inception, the ponies would be protected from some of the fears and paranoia that escalated the Great War so quickly.
Once the stable door was sealed, an inflammatory agent was spread through the stable's air conditioning system which induced chronic, painful migraines in the entire population. After feeling the effects for some time, the stable dwellers were told that the migraines were caused by permanent damage in their brains from the stable door not closing in time. They were told to believe that they no longer had a certain neurotransmitter and that the pain would be with them the rest of their lives.
A "temporary cure" was then "developed" by the medical personnel, which was actually an antidote for the inflammatory agent spread through the air conditioning. The stable dwellers were told that they would need a dose of the serum every day for the rest of their lives, and that if they ever missed a day, the pain would return.
Once the population had subconsciously accepted the story, the inflammatory agent was turned off. Most of the stable dwellers continued to experience the pain from the migraines. The serum was then replaced by a simple saline solution which looked and felt identical to the original antidote. The painful condition, now called "Necrocerebriosis", and the antidote for it, now existed solely within the subconscious of the population.
As time went on, 25 ponies of the 500 residents discovered that the pain never returned, even if they missed one of their daily doses of serum. The stable scientists determined that it was their brains which rejected the subconscious suggestion, and that they contained the genes or personality traits which they wished to foster.
These ponies were then presented to everyone as having developed a natural immunity to the Necrocerebriosis. Instead of receiving a dose of serum per day, they would donate a vial of blood each day which the population were told would be used to continue making more of the serum.
When some of the stable dwellers began getting pregnant, the idea of the disease was transferred to them by their parents telling them that they would suffer horrible pain without a daily dose of the serum. Years of childlike suggestibility continued to perpetuate the imaginary condition for successive generations.
Both of these belief systems created a social stratification where the "immune" were much more highly desirable for starting a family. The scientists and Overmares would continue to foster the idea that it was much better to reproduce with someone who was immune to increase the chances that your own offspring would have the immunity.
Once a filly or colt got their cutie mark, they would be tested to see if the migraines would continue or their brains would reject the subconscious suggestion.
After 180 years, only 33% of the stable had the "immunity". This was when a chain of events led to the breakdown of the experiment and the stable society as a whole.
The experiment was deemed a failure by the S.T.E.L.L.A. and the population was terminated by the Stable X analyst, Butterfly Stitches.
The only survivor of the experiment was one of the young scientists, Pink Pippin.
Notable Residents[]
Quotes[]
- "What do you mean? That’s one of the main ingredients... The blood plasma of patients that are immune to Necrocerebriosis gets absorbed by the blood of the patient, which allows them to produce the Symitosin." - Pink Pippin
- "And like a plague you spread that disease to every one of the sick minds in the stable, so that imaginary cure to the imaginary disease no longer worked." - Doctor Needle
Behind The Scenes[]
- While the concept explored in the experiment is more commonly known as the "placebo effect"... that name specifically refers to an imaginary cure for a real feeling of sickness or ailment. The Necrocerebriosis condition is more accurately described as a "Nocebo."
- The inspiration of the plot was sparked by one of the migraines that SkyBolt frequently suffers.