[FO:E] The Northern Wasteland of Equestria 2 [Archive]

Rebonack

2012-11-19, 09:17 AM

((This thread covers Canterlot and all locations north of it. Map! (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y102/Ironack/FOEMV9.jpg?t=1351207762)))

War.

War never changes.

Except when the war involves pastel colored magical talking tiny horses.

In which case war changes quite a bit. But only in so far as it looks a little cuter. Otherwise the horror of war is all too familiar.

Two hundred years ago war raged between Equestria and the Zebra Empire. A war ended decisively with megaspell strikes on each nation, devastating the land and poisoning it with necromantic radiation. The Pegasus sealed up the sky with an omnipresent curtain of clouds, shrouding the surface in perpetual gloom. Survivors retreated into the Stables, massive fallout shelters to protect them from the radiation storm above. Some offered salvation. Others became nightmarish death-traps. But the Stables opened and descendants populated the blasted, blighted wastes.

Some Stables remain closed, forgotten by the world.

The Princesses are dead.

Fell things watch from the Stars.

Unity seeks to consume all.

A new order rises on the backs of slaves.

Harmony is shattered and forgotten.

Discord warps fragile virtue.

And Friendship is dying in the hearts of ponies.

Can light be returned to the Equestrian Wasteland?

Or is suffering and hate its only future?

This can only be answered in the course of time.

This is Fallout Equestria.

Rebonack

2012-11-19, 09:30 AM

TheAmishPirate

2012-11-19, 10:53 AM

[Girdershed - How is Luck not his dump stat?]

Fleetwing furiously rubbed at his weak eyes, then held the schematics in question right up to his muzzle.

You've gotta be bucking kidding me...

All that time, all that effort, all those painful bits of mine shrapnel, all for a hypothetical grenade that you needed to win the scavving lottery to build? He could've had a fancy, modded shotgun, and he gave it up for this?! "I...augh...buck everything!!!" Fleetwing angrily chucked the paper into the corner...only to quickly find out that paper didn't "chuck" so much as it "fluttered slowly to the ground." Significantly less satisfying.

The hapless pegasus sat down heavily on his haunches, his hooves smacking up a steady beat against his forehead. "Who, in their right mind, takes a rare, nearly impossible-to-find bottle of special Sparkle Cola, and makes a bucking grenade out of it?!" he groaned in utter disbelief.

[Tag: Blade, Luka]

Benson

2012-11-19, 01:57 PM

Tenpony Tower - Elevator

"I think, you two should not start acting like total busybodies. But nonetheless, we may need to look out for Mister Lucky."

BladeofObliviom

2012-11-19, 05:52 PM

[Girdershed]

"Somepony who likes grenades, obviously.", notes Swift, without even looking up from her current attempt to brew a proper healing potion.

Lycan 01

2012-11-19, 07:05 PM

Tenpony Tower - Elevater ---> Penthouse

Flim and Flam nod in agreement. The rest of the trip is thoughtful silence, unless Miss Gwendolyn has something to add.

Then it's back to the penthouse!

Which has probably been wrecked by the cub...

---
Caught Somewhere In Time

(Spoiler'd for length and uselessness)

Lucky, still a relatively young colt living with his father with a relatively naive worldview, studied the diagrams and sketches in front of him. "So it's like a second skin?" he idly asked. "You just let it do all the work?"

Tough Break looked up from his bottle of Sparkle Cola and smirked. "Eeyup, pretty much. A lot of newbies try to struggle against it, which causes over-compensation. I've seen guys flail around wildly, screaming that the suit had a mind of its own, only because they wouldn't calm down."

Lucky chuckled. "So I'm smarter than the average Enclave recruit. Good to know."

"Any more questions?" Tough Break asked, trotting over to survey his son's progress.

"Is the scorpion tail controlled just by the tail, or is it assisted by the targeting systems?" Lucky curiously inquired. "And just how in-shape do you need to be to wear it? Can the night-vision, EFS, SATS, vision enhancements, and other systems all operate at the same time, or is there a limit to the number that can be active at once?"

Tough Break chuckled. "Wow, you actually seem pretty interested. Planning to go dig my armor up when I ain't looking and take it for a whirl?"

Colt-Lucky gave a small scowl. "I'd rather not. But better safe than sorry, right?"

Tough Break smirked, and gave a nod of approval. "Right." Sitting down next to his son, he ruffled the colt's mane and looked down at the Enclave power armor diagrams he'd drawn out. "Alright, let's start with the tail..."

Rebonack

2012-11-19, 07:09 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Flim&Flam's Penthouse]

Indeed it has!

One surprise is discovered right away. Furniture makes a wonderful scratching post.

A second surprise will be discovered after a bit of sniffing and searching. The cub isn't house-trained.

The little critter is hidden away in some hidey hole when everypony arrives. They'll have to go on a manticore hunt to figure out where the little bugger is sleeping. And of course there's also the very real chance that he'll pounce at whoever finds him first.

Fun!

TheAmishPirate

2012-11-19, 11:54 PM

[Girdershed]

Fleetwing's mouth hung open, grasping at words. "I-I... da...wh....I...guess so! A regular grenade-loving nutjob! Sees a soda worth its weight in caps? Just blow it up, why don't you?"

The pegasus marched over to the mattress and fell onto the ruined springs, throwing up his forelegs in surrender. "Well whoever they are, they just went and made this whole bucking day a wash. 'Cause unless you can brew up Quantums, or I happen t'find another truck-load of the stuff just sitting in a canyon somewhere, then I nearly got m'legs blown off for nothing. Huh. Some great 'trove o' knowledge' this turned out t'be." he muttered irritably.

A pause, and then he lifted his head with a nervous, obviously forced smile. "Er, wasn't even thinking of poking fun at your brewin' skills, just...that were just a joke, y'see..." He'd seen zebra rifles in action; nasty pieces of work. A ghoul who knew how to use one properly was not to be trifled with.

MCerberus

2012-11-20, 12:45 AM

Benson

2012-11-20, 02:02 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Flim&Flam's Penthouse]

Gwendolyn stared at the mess with a slack jaw and grimace. "....I swear I'll clean this all up."

Lycan 01

2012-11-20, 02:11 AM

Tenpony Tower - F&F's Penthouse

Flim and Flam both facehoof and cringe.

"No, Miss Gwendolyn, you just worry about finding the little tyke," Flim sighs.

"Yeah, we'll worry about the rest," Flam shrugs.

Flim nods. "That's right. I'll clean up the sofa, and Flam will clean up the... other mess."

Flam nods as well. "That's right, I'll- wait, what?" he asks, turning to look at his brother.

"1-2-3-not-it," Flim states crisply with a crooked grin.

Flam sighs, before stalking off to find and clean up the mess. "I hate you..."

Rebonack

2012-11-20, 02:22 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Flim&Flam's Penthouse]

Well.

The pony who upholsters furniture here at the tower is certainly going to be pleased. They'll have plenty of work to keep them busy!

The unicorn probably won't have much fun cleaning up the 'other mess' but at least levitation means that he doesn't have to come even close to touching it. Guh... that smell is vile...

Thankfully nothing too terribly important has been shredded.

It even decided not to claw the curtains!

Maybe he's saving that for next time...

Benson

2012-11-20, 02:40 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Flim&Flam's Penthouse]

Gwendolyn should invest in a squirt bottle. She quietly thanked the twins for not seeming to upset about this and helping. She told herself she would pay for the upholstery herself out of her own pocket.

She then began to call out for the manticore. "Sir Lyons, get your furry butt out here now!" And when that was sure not to work she pulled out her secret weapon.

she dug through her pack and brought out the last of her iguana meat and waved it around. "Lookie, lookie, food, your favorite. Just come out." This all may or may not have been an interesting sight of the griffon for the twins.

Lycan 01

2012-11-20, 02:47 AM

Tenpony Tower - Flim and Flam's Penthouse

Flim does his best to use his magic to replace the ripped-out stuffing and patch up the tears. He's by no means a professional upholsterer, but this should suffice for the time being.

Flam frantically flees to the bathroom with his levitating... object. Once it's flushed, he slinks back to finish cleaning the floor.

Both twins pause to give Gwendolyn a curious glance. Well this was an interesting side of the tough-as-nails griffin to see. "Good thing Mister Lucky ain't here for this, eh Miss Gwendolyn?" Flam asks with a crooked grin.

"Phsaw," Flim waves a hoof. "If he were here, she'd be using him as bait..."

Benson

2012-11-20, 03:02 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Flim & Flam's Penthouse]

She shot them a sideways glance. "You bet your horns I would." She was kidding, but her tone sounded it differently.

BladeofObliviom

2012-11-20, 03:38 AM

[Girdershed]

Swift looks up at him harshly, fire blazing in her eyes.

"NOPONY INSULTS ME LIKE THAT!", She says, viciously beating him to within an inch of his life before pulling out her rifle atop his broken form, and ending such misery with three bullets to the muzzle. :smalltongue:

No, no such violence occurs. Still not looking up from her brewing, though, Swift responds:

"Fleet, you don't need to backtrack. It takes much more than that to get me angry."

With that, the potion finishes percolating into the empty Sparkle-cola glass that she intended to use for storage. Since alchemy does not necessarily take up one's attention once it's finished, she lifts her head to speak less dismissively as she continues.

"Besides, you did not waste your time today. Perhaps the reward you were expecting was less than you hoped for, but you managed to spread some laughter in the wasteland, and that's not exactly an easy feat.

And don't call whoever devised such a weapon crazy. Blowing up valuable items for no reason might be a fool's action, but I'd say that one's life is more valuable than any beverage. If you make even one grenade and it saves your life through judicious use, I would say that such a bargain is well worth it."

She manages to smirk. It looks somewhat... ...off, with decayed lips.

"Not to mention that I could likely identify the constituents and recipe for said beverage with a sample and some decent alchemical equipment."

PurityIcekiller

2012-11-20, 04:21 AM

[Girdershade]

Violetta had spent a good while sitting outside in silence, thinking.

...teach him respect. And morals. On the bright side, it seems my healing power does slowly return over time. That's good to know.

Eventually, she started to get too cold and headed for the shed. She didn't really want to risk continuing the argument, but it was better than freezing.

Lycan 01

2012-11-20, 04:51 AM

Girdershade - Shed

A short while after Violetta returns to the shed, a scream suddenly echoes into the night.

It sounds like Bucky's terrified of something!

A short moment later, Bucky either barges through the door of the shed, or the inhabitants of the shed bump into him just outside as they charge into the darkness. The stallions eyes are wide with fear, and he looks utterly horrified. His eyes immediately lock on Fleetwing. "You! Here!" he exclaims, before telekinetically hurling the Kneecapper shotgun at him. "Either get out while you can, or go put her down! I can't do it! I can't pull the trigger, dammit!"

And with that, Bucky gallops off into the night, tears and fears in his eyes as he disappears into the darkness...

Wut just happened?

---
Tenpony Tower - Flim and Flam's Penthouse

The two twins both chuckle, and in unison both reply: "No bet."

"I like my horn, thank you very much," Flam smirks.

Flim shrugs. "Yeah, I'd rather not lose it in a sucker's bet."

"So how long do you think Mister Lucky will be able to keep his face in one piece after they fix it?" Flam idly asks.

Flim chuckles. "Probably not to long, especially if Miss Gwendolyn uses him as bait for her little pet. But hey, who knows? Maybe he's actually become a lot more competent and less prone to horrible injury. Y'know, like, unlock some hidden potential and become a Wasteland Badass after they fix his face and brain?"

The two brothers ponder for a minute, before both shaking their heads. "Naaaah."

Luka

2012-11-20, 09:04 AM

((repost from old thread))

Manehatten - Bucklyn Cross

Paladin Staccata's office wouldn't be that difficult to find. Considering she's permanently posted at Bucklyn Cross, her name's on the door. Currently she's just looking over stuff and thinking about the day. If only ordering scouts into liquor/cider stores wouldn't be gross abuse of power...

Burnshine would just enter her office an salute then.
"I was informed you required volunteers, ma'am"

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Bucklyn Cross Firing Range
"Not bad, initiate, but your breathing is... well your book instructors will likely talk about that kind of theory at some point."

Then he goes for a box for a new round of excitement. It opens to reveal... a cleaning kit! "Time for maintenance. I'll see about breaking out the 38s next time."

The little colt's excitement over new boolet wasn't shot down as mch as he would expect, He's just like "Ok" and starts using the things on the rifles, it would possibly seem like he's done it before and got experience.

[Tag: MCerberus]

-------------------------------------------------

[Girdershed]

Gleamy would be just sitting silently near a corner, she would seem to be distracted daydreaming or thinking about stuff, maybe trying to recover her memory. Then just tries to conversate
"What if they're made of them because they're worth it?"
Then Bucky would enter and throw the shotgun at Fleetwing before running outside; she just looks, blinking a bit.

[tag: TheAmishPirate, BladeofObliviom]

TheAmishPirate

2012-11-20, 10:12 AM

[Girdershed]

Gleamy would be just sitting silently near a corner, she would seem to be distracted daydreaming or thinking about stuff, maybe trying to recover her memory. Then just tries to conversate
"What if they're made of them because they're worth it?"
Then Bucky would enter and throw the shotgun at Fleetwing before running outside; she just looks, blinking a bit.

[tag: TheAmishPirate, BladeofObliviom]

"I don't know! Maybe?" Fleetwing responded, a bit more harshly then he intended. Partly because the alicorn had a good point; maybe you just couldn't make a good grenade cheaply. If you could, then he'd be running into a lot more grenade traps on his scavving runs.

[Girdershade]

Violetta had spent a good while sitting outside in silence, thinking.

...teach him respect. And morals. On the bright side, it seems my healing power does slowly return over time. That's good to know.

Eventually, she started to get too cold and headed for the shed. She didn't really want to risk continuing the argument, but it was better than freezing.

As Violetta entered, Fleetwing shot her a dirty, frustrated glare, but didn't say anything beyond that. Apparently, he wasn't in the mood to continue the argument just yet. That, and the ghoul was talking:

[Girdershed]

Swift looks up at him harshly, fire blazing in her eyes.

"NOPONY INSULTS ME LIKE THAT!", She says, viciously beating him to within an inch of his life before pulling out her rifle atop his broken form, and ending such misery with three bullets to the muzzle. :smalltongue:

No, no such violence occurs. Still not looking up from her brewing, though, Swift responds:

"Fleet, you don't need to backtrack. It takes much more than that to get me angry."

With that, the potion finishes percolating into the empty Sparkle-cola glass that she intended to use for storage. Since alchemy does not necessarily take up one's attention once it's finished, she lifts her head to speak less dismissively as she continues.

"Besides, you did not waste your time today. Perhaps the reward you were expecting was less than you hoped for, but you managed to spread some laughter in the wasteland, and that's not exactly an easy feat.

And don't call whoever devised such a weapon crazy. Blowing up valuable items for no reason might be a fool's action, but I'd say that one's life is more valuable than any beverage. If you make even one grenade and it saves your life through judicious use, I would say that such a bargain is well worth it."

She manages to smirk. It looks somewhat... ...off, with decayed lips.

"Not to mention that I could likely identify the constituents and recipe for said beverage with a sample and some decent alchemical equipment."

Judging by Fleetwing's expression, the stallion did not quite share her opinion on the value of laughter. Rare as it was, it didn't put food on the table or ammo in the clip. Likewise with her reasoning of the grenades. Sure, they could save his life...if he could ever actually get his hooves on one. The last point, however, got his full, undivided attention.

"Wait, you can?!" Fleetwing instantly bolted upright. "No fooling? I-I was just makin' a joke but...but if all you need is a sample...hmm..." He flapped to his hooves and started pacing back and forth. "Fizz probably wouldn't be willing to part with one, but if all you need is just a small sample, you could keep that sealed up and I could track down a proper alchemy station..." Then this whole venture might just be salvageable after all! Sure, it meant yet another wild goose chase to track down an alchemy station, but if it meant a steady supply of grenades? Absolutely worth it.

The pegasus all but raced to the door. "I'm going t'go ask Fizz if we can borrow a sample, she might let us have just a-"

Girdershade - Shed

A short while after Violetta returns to the shed, a scream suddenly echoes into the night.

It sounds like Bucky's terrified of something!

A short moment later, Bucky either barges through the door of the shed, or the inhabitants of the shed bump into him just outside as they charge into the darkness. The stallions eyes are wide with fear, and he looks utterly horrified. His eyes immediately lock on Fleetwing. "You! Here!" he exclaims, before telekinetically hurling the Kneecapper shotgun at him. "Either get out while you can, or go put her down! I can't do it! I can't pull the trigger, dammit!"

And with that, Bucky gallops off into the night, tears and fears in his eyes as he disappears into the darkness...

Wut just happened?

-and then he gets a shotgun hurled at his barrel, knocking him flat on his haunches. Thank goodness for his light barding, that might've caused some nasty damage.

Fleetwing stared dumbly at the beautiful piece of craftsmanship sitting in his hooves, that beautiful gun that he'd coveted since Bucky had first shown it off, before snapping out of his daze and calling after him. "Wait, Bucky! What's going-" but it was too late; he was already gone, leaving the night still once more. Gulping audibly, the pegasus scooted forward and peeked out the shed door, taking a moment to get a feel for the weapon. Heavy, but workable. If he could just see what had gotten Bucky so scared, then they'd be in for a nasty surprise. No signs of raiders, no signs of gunfire, in fact, the only thing he could see was the museum-

And then he froze, eyes going wide and coat growing pale. "Fizz!!! Bucky was talkin' about Fizz!" he babbled, working up a panic to rival Buckshot's. His eyes darted around to each of them in turn, mind racing as fast as his heart. "W-we gotta...just... c'mon!!!" he managed to sputter out. [Special Talent: Running] Without waiting for an answer, Fleetwing tore across the town for Fizz's house/museum, feeling a deep pit of fear and anxiety growing in his stomach.

[Tag: BladeofOblivion, Luka, PurityIceKiller]

PurityIcekiller

2012-11-20, 12:52 PM

BladeofObliviom

2012-11-20, 12:57 PM

[Girdershade]

Swift doesn't wait for Fleetwing to speak before she's in action. The moment she heard the scream, she pulled the rifle atop her back once more and went for the door.

Then of course, Bucky burst in and made things more urgent.

The ghoul may lack a special cutie mark that enhances her running, but her build is good for it and she's naturally fast, so with that head start she's right by Fleetwing's side as they reach the museum.

"If she's become a ghoul... ...don't shoot immediately. She might just be scared and confused."

Flux was used in EVERYTHING prewar, after all. She might have just taken a nasty overdose of radiation.

MCerberus

2012-11-20, 01:33 PM

Manehatten - Bucklyn Cross

Staccata takes a critical look at the knight that responded to her summons. Odd, usually this late they drag their feet and come in the next day. 'Volunteer' might have been a mislabeling though, if these new ponies are unassigned they'd likely be up for grabs. Still, Outreach is a rather odd project so willing ponies are needed.

"Yes. In particular ponies that can show judgement, ability, and some degree of independence. You would operate outside of the normal squad system, be under strict gear constrictions, and are expected results out of reach of several ponies from assault and recovery."

She takes a moment to catch her breath. Her voice is serious and unwavering, and Staccata is still looking through some paperwork. "I'm making a snap-judgement here based on your first mission. I cannot promise you anything, but these conditions are great judgment for officer candidates."

Bucklyn Cross Firing Range

One could expect colts to know how to clean a gun before using it. Can't quite start shooting without appreciating how to keep a gun firing. Nit-Pick doesn't clean his own 9mm yet, he's not quite done with his own practice.

"When you're done, you're dismissed. I wouldn't want to catch an earful keeping you too late and have you sleep through classes tomorrow."

Out in the Wastes - Near Cloudsdale

A ghoul pegasus is currently fiddling with a hoof-mounted MEW of some kind, oblivious to the rest of the world or any gak-ponies around. His bright-yellow fur is now dingy, dull, and... actually it's not falling apart too much. He's still got a rather large amount of tail and mane too... for a ghoul. It's pretty brown, only a small bit of red tiny betraying its old color.

His gear's in better condition though. A MEW, retractable hoof blade of some complexity, fancy black goggles.

Luka

2012-11-20, 01:44 PM

[Girdershade]

Gleamy would instantly stand up and rush along, keeping the cloak on and preparing to cast a shield just in case.

Benson

2012-11-20, 02:15 PM

Tenpony Tower - Flim and Flam's Penthouse

The two twins both chuckle, and in unison both reply: "No bet."

"I like my horn, thank you very much," Flam smirks.

Flim shrugs. "Yeah, I'd rather not lose it in a sucker's bet."

"So how long do you think Mister Lucky will be able to keep his face in one piece after they fix it?" Flam idly asks.

Flim chuckles. "Probably not to long, especially if Miss Gwendolyn uses him as bait for her little pet. But hey, who knows? Maybe he's actually become a lot more competent and less prone to horrible injury. Y'know, like, unlock some hidden potential and become a Wasteland Badass after they fix his face and brain?"

The two brothers ponder for a minute, before both shaking their heads. "Naaaah."

Gwendolyn chuckled a little bit at the twins while still waving the piece of meat. A part of her though did wonder though just how his face looked all fixed up. The only face she knew of, of course his funky bandaged mug that's seen better days.

Luka

2012-11-20, 03:00 PM

[Buckling Cross]

Burnshine would lower her salute, not really changing her expression though
"What kind of assignment would it be?"
she would be starting to suspect it's recon, mostly others would not like it because the whole fun in the Steel rangers are power armor and big guns, knights get those; but Burnshine doesn't care, she's does stuff because the authority says so and loyalty, or in other terms, possibly Lawful-neutral.

[Buckling Cross's firing range]

When little Mile finishes his maintenance, he would just put the kit back into the locker, salute, pick up his stuff, then go back into the little room (possibly was a maintenance one) where his sister was writting, look outside, close the door... And slip back into the power armor. Some still think normal gear is waaaay too boring :smallbiggrin:

[tag: MCerberus]

TheAmishPirate

2012-11-20, 03:11 PM

[Girdershade]

Violetta gave Fleetwing a disapproving look, but then saw Bucky run past.

"Looks like your problems will have to wait, 'Fleety'," she said. "Let's go." Her horn flared up as she ran for the museum, ready to stop whatever the problem was.

Fleetwing gave no response, not wanting to waste breath that could be used for running. Funny how petty arguments seemed to just vanish into thin air once real problems reared their ugly heads.

[Girdershade]

Swift doesn't wait for Fleetwing to speak before she's in action. The moment she heard the scream, she pulled the rifle atop her back once more and went for the door.

Then of course, Bucky burst in and made things more urgent.

The ghoul may lack a special cutie mark that enhances her running, but her build is good for it and she's naturally fast, so with that head start she's right by Fleetwing's side as they reach the museum.

With the head start due to Fleetwing's blundering, she'd easily be next to him as they approached the museum.

"If she's become a ghoul... ...don't shoot immediately. She might just be scared and confused."

Flux was used in EVERYTHING prewar, after all. She might have just taken a nasty overdose of radiation.

He acknowledged Swift's instructions with a shaking nod. Just about the last thing he needed right now was something for his imagination to latch onto. Horrifying image of Soda Fizz thrust their way into his mind. Her beautiful mane, falling out in burnt clumps of ruined hair. Her dark coat, mottled with bubbling, torn flesh. Her bright smile, twisted and grotesque as she lunged for his throat with sharpened teeth...

Fleetwing whimpered aloud, his breathing inching closer to hyperventilation, but some dark curiosity drove him forward. He just had to know what fate had befallen poor Soda Fizz.

[Tag: Lycan]

MCerberus

2012-11-20, 03:33 PM

Manehatten - Bucklyn Cross

Oh, the Lawful stuff would get interesting. Staccata spent most of her career as a loose cannon on the edge with nothing to lose. The mare doesn't stop to break apart Burnshine's body language or etc, just continuing on with the 'need to know' information.

"Independent Outreach is a program that's been producing results lately. Currently there are three, but I'm looking to bring it up to full squad strength. Each member is out in the wastes in unmarked gear in the guise of one of the natives. This allows assassinations, scouting, tech recovery, and rapid response usually out of feasibility for assault and recovery or even recon squads."

Rebonack

2012-11-20, 04:42 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Flim&Flam's Penthouse]

Nope.

Still nothing.

Not even the yelling and the smell of food has attracted the little bugger!

...maybe he's under the bed? Gwen should check under the bed. Though be ready for face-pouncings.

[North of Cloudsdale]

Island is glad that she isn't falling apart right now. Frankly considering how goopy her body is she's surprised that she can hold any coherent shape at all. But to be fair she probably wouldn't be thinking too hard about this since her body is made completely of magically charged necrotic sludge and thinking shouldn't even be possible in the first place.

Those lights are still far distant.

Buuuut something else catches her attention! A pony. Sure there are plenty of ghouls milling around in the wastes near Cloudsdale. But it is pretty easy to spot one that's still in their right mind. They don't just stand around staring off into space. They actually do things.

No telling whether she (or he) is friendly or not. Given the Wasteland the answer is probably HAHAHAHAHAHAHA no. But Island hasn't encountered a single pony she can talk to thus far and it would be really nice not to be alone.

So with that in mind she dips a wing and descends, landing a comfortable distance away from the ghoul so that he'll be able to see her coming. One thing you want to avoid out here is surprising somepony. That's a good way to get a bullet in the guy.

"Ah... hello there?" calls out the rad-suit clad pegasus. At this distance it would probably be difficult to tell that there's anything off about her. Though judging from the fact that the ghouls aren't pony-piling her it should be clear enough that the mutants don't consider her to be alive.

Chaotic Bob

2012-11-20, 06:35 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Swiss just nods as she continues her work. Repairing the computer is some pretty small-scale work. Far more fiddly than most any other task the changeling will be tackling. But thankfully not outside her abilities. Fixing the silly buggy antenna is quite a bit simpler.

As she's finishing the last touches on the helmet she turns her attention to Down again. There's just something...

The mock-pegasus takes a deep breath and decides to risk it. "Hey Down?" she begins, her voice betraying trepidation. "I've... noticed some things about you. How uncomfortable you are with ponies getting too close. How much it bothered you when I touched you... And how hard it was for you to take any of the armor off. Were... is there anything you might want to tell me about? Just to get it off your chest? Because I've met ponies before that react to touch like you do. And they..."

Another deep breath.

"They were usually ponies that were... used... by somepony else..."

And in the changeling's mind there's a simple, silent plea. Please don't hate me, I only want to help.

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Indignation. Despair. Ignorance.

Silence. Acceptance. Rage. Melancholy. Laughter.

Affirmation. Denial. Humiliation. Regret. Explanation. Discouragement. Confusion.

There lie numerous potential reactions to the implication Swiss lays out before Down. Few positive, many unpleasant. Fewer still helpful.
All justifiable to some degree, at least in part.
All some form of acknowledgement of the subject.

Something Down is certain shouldn't happen shortly after Swiss begins talking.

Huddling up against the wall, staring at one of her hooves with a blank gaze, somewhere past the point of nervousness and into the realm of disengaging from the world, she slowly shakes her head.
"Don't."

Rebonack

2012-11-20, 06:46 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

...yeah...

That...

Pretty much confirms it. Swiss had been hoping that Down would tell her that she was wrong. That the pegasus just had a phobia of being too close to others or something. That her suspicions were unfounded and everything was fine.

But instead?

The changeling makes the last few tweaks to the helmet before floating it over to Down. And changes the subject. "It's really similar to the Steel Ranger armor. We'll have you suited back up again in no time," Swiss says, offering a comforting smile.

Lycan 01

2012-11-20, 07:05 PM

Tenpony Tower - F&F's Penthouse

Now that the cleaning is done, Flim and Flam cautiously search the house. Kitchen cabinets, shower stall, storage room... Everywhere but under the beds.

"You look," Flim mutters, nudging Flam.

"No, you," Flam nudges his brother back.

The two twins just stare at the guest bed, and what may be beneath it.

---
Girdershade - Fizz's House

Into the Museum!

Everypony apparently barges in, in an attempt to rescue Fizz from whatever threat she's under.

However, Fizz is sitting at her desk, reading an old magazine. As the rag-tag band of adventurers barge in, she looks up at them and smiles. "Oh hey! What's up? Something I can do for you? Oh, and what's up with Bucky? He came in a second ago, screamed, and ran out..." she mutters with audible confusion too. She also looks pretty confused, too.

Oh, and she's also glowing neon blue and missing most of her skin.

Yes, it would seem poor Soda Fizz has been ghoulified. And not just normal ghoulification, either. The majority of her beautiful black fur has rotted or sloughed away, revealing exposed musculature glowing a vibrant blue hue. Most of her mane and tail is still intact, though it looks a bit faded in color. Her eyes are still bright, and show sentient intelligence rather than feral hunger.

Those sodas probably need bigger warning labels....

PurityIcekiller

2012-11-20, 07:14 PM

[The Museum]

Violetta let her magic charge dissipate. She didn't seem too put off by this turn of events. "...Okay, this probably isn't as severe as I expected. Fleetwing, go find Bucky and tell him to calm down." Cautiously, she stepped a bit closer to Fizz. "Do you feel all right?"

Chaotic Bob

2012-11-20, 07:51 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

The helmet is lifted over and Down reaches out to claim it.
Doesn't quite put it back on immediately, though, taking a moment to take it in.
Probably confirming it looks alright, in her presently-detached fashion.

That and putting it back on won't really work when the rest of the suit still has to come off...
The fact that has her gingerly placing the helmet on the ground next to her again.
"I hope so."

Now quickly, before Swiss breaches other topics you have no interest in, or worse, decides to come over and help, best start trying to pry this suit off...

A process that is trapped somewhere between difficult, tedious, and slow when you're intermittently twitchy and undecided between apathy or panic.

Hopefully Swiss is patient.

BladeofObliviom

2012-11-20, 07:56 PM

[The Museum]

Given that this is fairly close to the first rational conclusion she came to, Swift isn't surprised at all. Admittedly she wasn't expecting the blue glow, but that's just a minor detail. And then Violetta starts talking.

"Let me stop ya there, miss. I'm kinda in a better position to know what's going on here."

Turning to Fleetwing:

"She's right, though; You're the one of us who might be able to find Bucky before he gets jumped by Radscorpions or something."

Just as quickly, Swift turns her attention to Fizz, trying to breach the subject softly.

"Fizz, I'm not sure how best to say this, but you might want to take a close look at your hooves. Or in a mirror, if you've got one."

Rebonack

2012-11-20, 08:22 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Swiss isn't patient.

Patient isn't a word that one would use to describe Swiss. She's energetic, strange, and generally impulsive. And her desire to help her friends boarders on obsessive. Even if her friends don't acknowledge her as a friend.

Yet.

"I could use my magic to help you get it off," Swiss offers. "Or... I could just sit over here. Quietly."

Good luck with that.

It would only be a matter of time before she starts talking and fidgeting and generally being Swiss again.

TheAmishPirate

2012-11-20, 08:34 PM

[Sparkle Cola Museum - Under New Old Management]

The sight of poor Soda Fizz - missing most of her skin - froze Fleetwing where he stood. Had it not been for Swift's wise warning, he might've blindly opened fire right then and there, or perhaps torn off screaming. Now he felt lost somewhere between the two in a paralyzing haze of horrified indecision.

Once again, Swift gave him a proper shove in the right direction. He nodded wordlessly, backing out with trembling hooves before turning and bolting for all he was worth.

[Special Talent: Running] [Trait: Near-Sightedness] Fleetwing poured all his terror into his legs, wanting nothing more than to get far, far away from that accursed museum. In a similar state, Bucky had hopefully left him an easy enough trail to follow. Otherwise, his bleary eyes might lead him to a pony-shaped rock instead of the lost bodyguard.

Luka

2012-11-20, 09:13 PM

[Girdershade - Museum of soda]

Gleamy would be left with a mouth half-open, seeing Fizz suddenly turn into that. She closes her mouth and remains silent, letting Swift do the rest, not exactly being herself the best for this kind of situation.

--------------------------------------------------------

Manehatten - Bucklyn Cross

Oh, the Lawful stuff would get interesting. Staccata spent most of her career as a loose cannon on the edge with nothing to lose. The mare doesn't stop to break apart Burnshine's body language or etc, just continuing on with the 'need to know' information.

"Independent Outreach is a program that's been producing results lately. Currently there are three, but I'm looking to bring it up to full squad strength. Each member is out in the wastes in unmarked gear in the guise of one of the natives. This allows assassinations, scouting, tech recovery, and rapid response usually out of feasibility for assault and recovery or even recon squads."

Burnshine lowers her salute normally, stays in her spot, she would look to overall following rules/protocols/something.

"If I may ask for confirmation, those are the specifications of the assignment I would receive? or overall information?"

[tag: MCerberus]

Lycan 01

2012-11-20, 09:50 PM

Girdershade - Museum

Fizz's tattered, glowing face forms a perplexed expression at Violetta. "I feel fine, why?"

And then Swift speaks up! Fizz looks at her funny for a moment, before looking down at her hooves. Her half-skinned, glowing hooves. "Huh. Looks like those sodas turned me into a ghoul," she casually observes, before smiling sheepishly. "Oops."

Fizz then gives an aloof shrug. "Oh well."

Well, she's certainly taking this in stride...

Swift and Gleamy will both start to notice that they're both feeling a subtle, comfortable sensation of warmth. Like there's a nice campfire or space heater nearby. However, they're both probably smart and/or experienced enough to realize that the sensation they're feeling is, in fact, ambient radiation being given off by Fizz.

...they may want to tell Violetta she's exposing herself to rad poisoning.

---
Girdershade - Outside

Fleet's off into the darkness!

And he proceeds to trip over several rocks. And a few branches. And maybe a cactus.

If he presses on into the night, he won't see any immediate signs of Bucky. But wait. What's that?

There's a faint light in the distance...

BladeofObliviom

2012-11-20, 10:55 PM

Girdershade - Museum

"...Huh. Well, if you're okay, then you're okay I guess."

That went a lot more easily than Swift was expecting, honestly. Most ponies would panic if they realized that their coat, mane, tail, and half of their skin had fallen out.

She certainly did, when she'd gotten her first look at herself after the bombs fell.

Also, radiation. That could be a problem for the fleshier pony in the room.

"Violetta, this room is flooding with radiation. You should probably go and fetch a RadAway, then make sure Fleetwing and Bucky didn't get themselves killed."

Chaotic Bob

2012-11-20, 11:19 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Well those are two fairly disparate options.
Especially since the first leads to a rather notable jump in Down's discomfort, whereas the second one just has her giving Swiss a little look.

Connect the dots, changeling!

Assuming that happens, and she can hold her tongue for just a minute or two longer...

There's a rather glaring problem.
A spider-webbing network of evidently fresh scars terminate at the base of her neck, coiling around her body and originating at a large pockmark just in front of her left hind leg.

Perhaps strange in appearance, but not too peculiar for a pony to have scars.

What is more problematic, is how the skin on her legs seems too tight for them, shrunken inwards, and leaving her with awkward, unsteady movements as she separates from the suit.
There's the look of fear on her face against as she sees them, but not one of surprise, so they were expected.

"Quickly..."
Down quickly stumbles some distance between her and the suit, so Swiss can advance on it, driving herself closer to a corner.

Corner's are safe places.

Along the way, little bits of dirt and grass are shaken off.
Curiosities which lurk within the suit as well.

MCerberus

2012-11-20, 11:24 PM

Manehatten - Bucklyn Cross

Staccata gives a questioning eye before going to a requisition form. Stupid military bureaucracy. "The specifications are that you'd be under standing orders to monitor threats and recover tech and be on standby to assist in an emergency, if you want something formal like that piece of information."

The mare thinks for a moment before continuing. "Likely you'd be downtown, it's been active recently, working roughly the same area as IO3."

North of Cloudsdale

The ghoul's pretty busy tinkering with his gear. Custom weaponry sure is fickle with all the dust and dirt and radiation around. The ghoul's a stallion, a brown gear for a cutie mark. He doesn't seem to notice the pony in the radiation suit until it talks.

The ghoul pegasus seems kind of shocked there'd be anypony around talking. The roamers are mindless freaks, but at least they don't try and shoot at him thinking he's a brainless monster. "Oh, ah, hi." He looks up then looks around. The first thing he notices the radiation suit. His voice is gravelly like most ghouls, but slightly less so. He believes to live healthy in his odd life.

"If you're thinking of picking over cloudsdale for loot you'd just be another to end up dead, by the way."

Why else would a pony in a rad suit be out here?

Rebonack

2012-11-20, 11:47 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Swiss manages to remain silent.

It's a difficult task, but in the end she pulls it off. Not without a great deal of sacrifice on her part! But she manages all the same.

And then?

Scars.

Dirt. Fresh leaves. Everfree? Did something... grow out of that wound?

The changeling is staring for several moments before she remembers that she had a job to do. Swiss snags the pieces of armor in her magic and pulls them over to herself. Start working again. Quietly.

Though true to form Swiss can't stay quiet for long.

"I'm sure Doctor Helpinghoof could heal those injuries," she offers gently. "Though... I guess you would probably head back home for medical treatment..."

Friends leaving makes Swiss sad...

[North of Cloudsdale]

"Well... so far the ferals haven't bow bow bow been very interested in me," Island replies as she takes a few steps forward. As she draws closer that electric blue glow from inside her helmet will become increasingly obvious. "Whatever that thing in Whitetail Woods did to me... I guess I don't count as alive anymore..."

A pity.

She rather liked being alive.

"Mostly I'm just trying to get my bow bow bow bearings. Figure out where to go from here..."

PurityIcekiller

2012-11-21, 12:22 AM

[Girdershade]

"Sounds like everything is- Wait, what? What's a... Never mind." Violetta wasn't sure what was going on, but thought it best to trust the one who did. She lit up her horn and stepped outside, then called back, "Where would I find that thing you suggested?"

MCerberus

2012-11-21, 12:23 AM

North of Cloudsdale

Considering the ghoul doesn't have any smooze experience and a verbal tic of his own, he doesn't really think too much about the blue glow or anything. To him it just sounds like an unlucky pony recently 'gifted' with their new extended lifespan. Might be a glower though.

"Yah well, you've, ah, come to the wrong pony to talk to you about that. I've been out here so long my first... few months like this have gotten pretty hazy."

Rebonack

2012-11-21, 12:39 AM

[North of Cloudsdale]

Most ponies don't have Smooze experience. Which is a good thing. Ponies with Smooze experience usually end up getting smoozed. Or at least somepony with them does.

And if Island were a glower then that might explain the rad-suit. Especially if she's aware of the whole 'kill anypony near her' part.

"Ah... I can't fault you for that," the gooey pegasus replies as she continues her approach. Once nearby it'll be pretty clear that there's something off about her. Mostly that she's a pony-shaped mass of electric blue sludge with weeping black pits for eyes and mouth. "But maybe you do have some advice I could use? How... does somepony keep their mind? How does somepony avoid becoming like them?"

She gestures at the nearby ferals with a wing.

TheAmishPirate

2012-11-21, 12:43 AM

Girdershade - Outside

Fleet's off into the darkness!

And he proceeds to trip over several rocks. And a few branches. And maybe a cactus.

If he presses on into the night, he won't see any immediate signs of Bucky. But wait. What's that?

There's a faint light in the distance...

Ow. Ow. Buck. Ow. Cactus. Ow. My leg. Ow. Ow.

Yep, nothing like a few good knocks on the head to calm a pony down. After his third close encounter with a cactus, some sense finally got through to Fleetwing's panicked mind. Instead of looking down for tracks, better to scan the horizon for any signs of trouble. Wouldn't do any good to find Bucky, only to be so beat up he'd need rescuing. Heart thundering away in his chest, he continued his lone dash through the Wastes.

On the blurry horizon, Fleetwing caught sight of a faint light. Perhaps it was Bucky, making a lone camp to mourn the passing of Soda Fizz? Or maybe he was about to sprout a horn and wear a tiara. Caps to cola it was trouble, big enough to not care about being seen from a distance. Fleetwing nervously checked the Kneecapper clumsily stashed in his saddlebags, and pressed onward.

As he approached the light, he'd slow his speed to a careful, wary trot. If Bucky had stumbled into trouble, then the least he could do was learn from somepony else's mistakes.

Lycan 01

2012-11-21, 01:01 AM

Girdershade - Museum

Soda Fizz is waving her hooves between herself and the nearest wall, giggling in amusement at the shadows cast by her new glowing body. "Coooooool..."

She then looks back at Swift and Gleamy. "So do I need to know anything special about being a ghoul? Like, is there a special club with a secret handshake? Can I still drink soda? Am I immortal now? Ooooo, I'm immune to radiation now now, so I can drink anything, riiiiight?" she gleefully inquires with a massive grin that is both endearing and disturbing thanks to her tattered features.

She either missed or ignored the stuff about Bucky and Fleetwing...

---
Girdershade - Outside

Violetta sees no signs of Bucky or Fleetwing...

---
Middle of Nowhere Near Girdershade

Fleetwing slowly begins to move towards the light.

And then the light begins to move towards him.

The light begins to zig and zag, rapidly moving across the Wasteland towards him at speeds no pony should be capable of. And then, the light suddenly rises up off the ground and up into the sky, still moving towards Fleetwing a few dozen feet off the ground. And then, about a hundred feet away, the bright light goes out.

A few short moments later, the light returns. Directly above Fleetwing. And with it, dozens of other red and green lights ignite, forming a circle around the bright light in the center. A shaft of light spears out from the central glow, and begins to circle around Fleetwing like a giant spotlight before finally locking on him. If Fleetwing looks directly up into the light, he'll briefly see that there are several dark shapes - strange figures, in fact - moving around within the source of the light, before disappearing from view.

The central light and the shaft of illumination around Fleetwing suddenly blinks out of existence. The red and green circle of lights begins to spin around, before rising up into the sky, ascending into the night, and returning back to its home amongst the Stars.

Well that was neat.

MCerberus

2012-11-21, 01:38 AM

North of Cloudsdale

The ghoul sort of blinks after looking into the head portion of the suit. After that it just goes back to a semi-opaque barrier in his eyes. He's not one to judge on appearance... still a ghoul.

The pegasus just shrugs. That would be some useful information, how to not go feral. It's a shame there's nopony wanting to do that research. "I can't really tell you so much. It could be how you react to radiation, you could be lucky, but I've got a theory about keeping yourself relatively clean and not indulging... in ah, what the ferals eat."

He shakes his head. That's just wrong, and he's thought it was wrong since before... or was it after? He was turned. "Well if it's luck, I wonder how lucky you were. Can you still, ah, fly?"

TheAmishPirate

2012-11-21, 01:55 AM

[Middle of Nowhere - A Close Encounter]

Fleetwing dug in his heels so hard, he left a skid trail a couple dozen yards long. Augh! How the hay did they see me already?! Without waiting around to find out, he zoomed off in the opposite direction, only to find the lights...gaining on him?! There wasn't a pony on the ground who could ever keep pace with him, much less pull off maneuvers like that and gain ground. He poured all his strength into his legs, panting like a bellows, and still it grew closer and closer until suddenly, they vanished. The lights were just...gone. Not that it made a lick of difference to him. Fleetwing pushed his aching legs on, before whatever that was decided to-

*THOOM!*

-come back.

With a panicked yelp, he tripped over his own hooves, tumbling flank over teakettle across the Wastes and straight into another cactus. Before he could recover, a bright spotlight, brighter than any light he'd ever set eyes on, engulfed him. Blinded, sore, and covered with nettles; no escaping now. The light-monster had him beat. He curled into the fetal position and threw his forelegs over his head. "I'm sorry! Whatever I did, I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to yell at that filly! I didn't mean to barge into Fizz's without knocking! I didn't mean to make her a ghoul! I'm sorry! Forgive me! I-I-I got caps! I got guns! I got more where they came from, just...don't kill me!!!" he sobbed pathetically. Eyes screwed tightly shut, he waited for the end to come.

And waited. And waited. And waited, until it finally dawned on him that the light was no longer shining on him. Fleetwing peeked up with trepidation, only catching a glimmer of something slipping between the clouds. Slowly, ever so slowly, he raised his head and scanned the Wasteland. Did...did that all really just happen?

Chaotic Bob

2012-11-21, 01:56 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Dr. Helpinghoof probably could help.
But then, what are the odds that Down could be convinced to fall into his medical care?

The one not-pony she's trusting with this situation right now, she still refuses to be close to.

She's also not in much of a talkative mood at the moment, instead just sort of...sitting there with her eyes closed, trembling a bit.
Not going to be doing a whole lot else, likely...

Rebonack

2012-11-21, 02:02 AM

[North of Cloudsdale]

Island gives a bit of a shudder at the thought of... eating... ponies. She's dead. Does she even have to eat anything? So long as she remains properly irradiated shouldn't she be just fine?

Hopefully that's true...

The rad-suit clad mare nods her head.

"I think I can manage that pretty easily. And of course I can still fly," she quirks her head off to the side ever so slightly. "I mean... can't you? I think I saw some of the feral ghouls flying around earlier. Not for very long bow bow bow but that's still something."

Unless his wings got ripped off or something.

Island checks to make sure the ghoul's wings hadn't been ripped off.

AND THEN SUDDENLY!

A bright mess of spinning lights suddenly goes rocking off into the sky in the far distance! The movement catches Island's eye and leaves her gazing up at the clouds as the whatever-it-was vanishes from view.

"Did... did you see that!?"

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Swiss gives a little frown at the silence. And not much else. Looks like her friend doesn't want to talk. And so the changeling begins to simply do her work in silence.

Haaaaates doing work in silence.

Way more fun to chat with other ponies. But if that's what Down needs right now that's what Swiss will give her.

The armor is in terrible shape. And the longer she works on it the more apparent it becomes that this is going to take quite a while. After fifteen minutes or so Swiss bites her lip and admits, "The damage to your armor is really really extensive. I practically need to build you a whole new suit from the parts we have. This isn't something I can finish even in a few hours. I'll probably be at this for two days at least assuming everything goes well."

What terrible news!

Chaotic Bob

2012-11-21, 02:21 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

That really is terrible news.
Sure, the main portion of her armor was pretty much good for absolutely nothing except making her be a bit stronger and block some bullets...but it was still there.

And now Swiss is saying that won't happen for days?

There's a sharp intake of breath with that news, and the pegasus' eyes snap open, contracted and definitely in the realms of panic.
"What about the talisman?"

Benson

2012-11-21, 02:31 AM

Tenpony Tower - F&F's Penthouse

"Boys, get me a broom please," Gwendolyn said all serious business and grimly.

Lycan 01

2012-11-21, 02:35 AM

Tenpony Tower - F&F Penthouse

Flim and Flam provide Miss Gwendolyn with a broom. And a trash can lid to use as a shield.

---
Middle of Nowhere - Close Encounter

Everything is quiet and still. Fleetwing is all alone.

Thankfully, he should know the way back to Girdershade. Hopefully.

Rebonack

2012-11-21, 02:37 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

That reply just gets a shake of the head from Swiss. "You can't just stick a repair talisman into a machine and expect it to get fixed. It has to be integrated properly. And your whole suit has taken a horrific beating. You're fortunate to be alive, Down."

Could say that again.

"I thought this would just be a case of replacing a bad talisman. But the damage is way worse that that. I'm... sorry I can't do any better..."

Aaww...

Don't make Swiss feel terrible!

"I've got your communications equipment working, though. Would you be able to call anypony from the Enclave to come and pick you up? They could just get you a new suit of armor instead of having to work with my patch-job."

[Tenpony Tower - Flim&Flam's Penthouse]

There is only silence below the bed.

Silence and darkness.

Benson

2012-11-21, 02:41 AM

Tenpony Tower - F&F's Penthouse

Gwendolyn then clutched the broom firmly in her talons, knealt down on the floor and stuck the broom under the bed on one side and began to move it to the opposite end to try to flush the critter out if it was under there.

Chaotic Bob

2012-11-21, 03:07 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

If only it were so simple, Swiss.

Although it does remind Down of something important, enough so to forestall what is likely to be a complete flip out (http://www.mspaintadventures.com/extras/ps000028_4.gif) of unpleasant proportions.

"Call...call, right! I need to report..."
A lifeline of purpose and duty, grabbed in a rather desperate bid to ignore pretty much everything about her current position.

And so, shriveled legs shaking away, Down will begin the process of piecing her helmet back together on her head.
It looks awkward, without the body of her suit, but that doesn't really matter.
What matters more is rebooting the comms equipment properly.
"I'm...going to need some privacy in a moment."

Secret business.

BladeofObliviom

2012-11-21, 09:11 AM

[Girdershade - Museum]

Swift answers Violetta, of course.

"RadAway. It's a pouch of orange stuff that you drink if you don't want to get sick or die from radiation. There should be some in my saddlebag, back in the shed."

If Violetta actually goes there, there are indeed two pouches of RadAway in that saddlebag. Along with disturbing amounts of Mint-als and Dash. It is probably not a good idea to take those.

Back at the Museum, Swift stares on with a degree of wonder, and even a touch of envy that Fizz seems so... ...comfortable with such a sudden and drastic change.

"Uh, well...

...No, yes, kinda, and 'if you really want to,' I suppose."

Well, that's concise. Swift doesn't respond to the creepiness of the grin, though. She's used to seeing it in the mirror.

"More precisely, no there isn't a club, and yes you can drink soda. You won't die of old age, but you'll get thirsty if you don't get a dose of rads once in a while and you still aren't bulletproof. As for the drinking, you aren't at risk of radiation poisoning or most other types of poisoning, no. Stay away from the rainbow-colored goop, though. It's bad for everything that isn't an Alicorn."

The other ghoul looks a little fidgety here, almost as if she feels a touch guilty. Hmm.

TheAmishPirate

2012-11-21, 10:50 AM

[Middle of Nowhere - Close Encounter, Hopefully Not for the Third Time]

Quiet and still. Two of his most very favorite words.

Unfortunately, neither of those words meant he was finding Bucky anytime soon. And with each passing minute, the chances of finding him grew slimmer and slimmer. Fleetwing slowly, carefully flapped to a low hover, surveying his surroundings. Something about the stillness struck the pegasus as incredibly odd; namely, that it was there at all. Most times, when you made a racket out in the Wasteland, it attracted all kinds of the wrong attention. If not from Raiders, then from the local mutated wildlife. But if that light really had scared danger off...then perhaps he could risk being a little more bold in his search.

"Bucky!" he called out, rising higher and continuing down where he was pretty sure Bucky had gone. The distant form of the ruined overpass served as a helpful point of reference, even n the fading light. "Bucky! It's Fleetwing! You there?!"

PurityIcekiller

2012-11-21, 11:11 AM

[Girdershade]

"Got it." Violetta headed over to the shed as instructed.

She took everything that wasn't nailed down one of the RadAway pouches and gave it a sniff. Eugh. Well, no one knows what kinds of things I'll end up having to down out here, so I might as well get used to it. She concentrated on ignoring the taste and drank it all.

With that done, she headed out into the darkness, guided by the light of her magic.

Luka

2012-11-21, 11:46 AM

[Girdershade - glowy museum of soda]

Gleamy would just stand there for a bit, since it seems Swift is handling it, and she has no idea what to do.
"....Why do I remember those sodas so much then?" she asks herself, likely wondering if she ever drinked them.

------------------------------------------------------

[Buckling Cross]

Burnshine's confused...What? that's it? just going out and doing recovery? that didn't seem like anything special to her, but a commander says so, and there wouldn't be many visible hints of confusion, except maybe the silence.
"Very well, I may be in, are marksponies' carbines allowed?"

[tag: MCerberus]

MCerberus

2012-11-21, 12:59 PM

Manehatten - Bucklyn Cross

"With it serials filed off and all insignias removed from your gear, yes," Staccata replies. Hopefully this new recruit will grasp the fact she'll be out without backup or the usual massive armor advantage regular squads have.

"Obviously I don't expect you to come to a final decision yet. In the morning, I'll have some of the transfer hurdles cleared and have you speak with the pony currently assigned to the downtown area."

North of Cloudsdale

The pegasus flaps his wings again. Ferals are never fun to talk about, but there's something else less depressing right now. "I remember being faster than I am now. Some ah, have too much 'rot' by their wings or lose their feathers."

It's another round of ick, pegasi have 6 limbs that could potentially... just fall of. "You could say-" the lights go off and disappear. "what the flying feather?!"

Rebonack

2012-11-21, 04:28 PM

Lycan 01

2012-11-21, 06:32 PM

Middle of Nowhere - No Encounters of Any Kind

Fleetwing hears or sees no sign of Bucky. Or anypony else. At all.

---
Girdershade - Museum

Fizz raises a rotted eyebrow at Gleamy. "Oh, would you like a soda?" she asks with a cheerful smile.

She then turns back to Swift. "Is something wrong?" she kindly asks. "You're looking twitchy. I'm not making you uncomfortable, am I?"

---
Tenpony Tower - F&F Penthouse

Flim and Flam both quickly skitter out of the room. "Goodnight Miss Gwendolyn!" Flim proclaims.

"Help yourself to the kitchen!" Flam informs her.

"The shower works, too!" Flam points out.

"Goodnight!" they both repeat in cheerful unison, before locking themselves safely in their rooms, well away from the cub.

TheAmishPirate

2012-11-21, 06:43 PM

[Middle of Nowhere - Cross-Class Skills! Ain't they grand?]

Fleetwing kept up his search until his voice grew hoarse, but to no avail. It was like Bucky had vanished into thin air. Along with everything else in this thrice-accursed Wasteland. Or maybe the light creature got him. Maybe...maybe it really did get me...and this is the Everafter... He shook his head clear of such thoughts. That had just been a trick of the failing light, his weak eyes going all panicky and fooling him. That, and he refused to believe his eternal rest was just wandering the same crappy patch of dead earth for all time.

No, Bucky was out here, somewhere, but he just couldn't find him alone. That all could change with a little light from Violetta, and maybe some tracking help from Swift. She looked like she knew her way around a set of hoofprints. Fleetwing gave one last call into the night, before turning back for the skies above Girdershade. Or at least, the patch of skies above that old overpass he hoped was Girdershade.

BladeofObliviom

2012-11-21, 06:55 PM

Girdershade - Museum

Swift looks right back, and now seems to be making an active effort to hold still.

"No, I'm just remembering something... ...unpleasant. From before the war."

MCerberus

2012-11-21, 09:21 PM

North of Cloudsdale

Disturbing has a different context. Glowers are weird, and there's plenty of other weird stuff going on. It is a pleasant surprise to have a conversation that isn't a one-sided one with some mindless feral or somepony shooting at him to start, so the ghoul decides to take leave of his senses.

"Yah and what's going to happen if, ah, something goes wrong? It's one of the few good things about this condition." He'd follow along, of course.

Lycan 01

2012-11-21, 11:12 PM

Girdershade - Museum

Swift looks right back, and now seems to be making an active effort to hold still.

"No, I'm just remembering something... ...unpleasant. From before the war."

"Oh," Fizz replies softly, her tattered ears falling back. "I'm sorry. Didn't mean to make you remember bad stuff."

The perky phosphorescent ghoul looks around for a distraction. "Hm, something cheerier. Um. Would you like a soda? Oh, also, how far should I stay away from ponies now that I'm all magically poisonous and stuff? I don't want to accidentally make anypony too toasty." She gives an apologetic glance to Gleamy, who she still thinks is a normal - albeit lanky - unicorn.

Rebonack

2012-11-22, 12:25 AM

[North of Cloudsdale]

Island begins beating her wings and lifts herself into the air. Despite the awkwardness of the radsuit she's actually managing to hold herself aloft pretty decently. What a talented pony, right?

"Go wrong?" she laughs. "Of course something will go wrong. This is the Wasteland. Something always goes wrong."

She raises a valid point there.

"bow bow bow But in that case I'll just wing it and hope for the bow bow bow best. Usually works out pretty well for me."

A beat.

"Well... except for that last time where I got killed... I'll try to avoid that this time, though."

Good thing she's putting lots of thought into this plan.

Benson

2012-11-22, 02:11 AM

Tenpony Tower - F&F Penthouse

"Sir Lyons...." She simply said sternly looking at the cub and shaking her head.

PurityIcekiller

2012-11-22, 05:02 AM

[In The Velvet Darkness Of The Blackest Night, Burning Bright]

Violetta searched for signs of Fleetwing and Bucky's passage by the light of her magic. "Where did they both get to? I sure hope they didn't both get lost out here..."

Then she heard the voice. "Huh? Fleetwing? Is that you?"

MCerberus

2012-11-22, 12:54 PM

North of Cloudsdale

The ghoul lifts off and hovers for a bit before responding. He has pretty limited idea why he's going along with this. It could be to help transition this glower into her new 'life'. More likely it's because living for a while makes you bored.

"Yah... you're, ah, not going to have to worry about radioactive waste this time though."

Lycan 01

2012-11-22, 01:45 PM

Girdershade - Outskirts

Fleetwing either makes it back to Girdershade unaccosted, or encounters Violetta on the outskirts, depending on which side of town they're on and the fickle whim of fate. Either way, Fleetwing makes it back unscathed - the pegasus is quite lucky.

---
Caught Somewhere in Time

(Just gonna keep spoilering these to avoid clutter)

Lucky was not living up to his name. He was battered, bruised, missing a few feathers, and forced to wear a just-too-tight bomb-collar, the poor pegasus was having quite an off day. A delivery gone wrong had left him in the possession of slavers, who were now trying to sell him and several other poor souls off to a prospective buyer.

Oh well. At least he still had his hat.

"How much for the pegasus?" the buyer inquired. He was an orange unicorn with a white mane, clad in a crisp black suit. His carried himself with poise and spoke affluently; her was clearly a pony of power and influence. Lucky wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Double," one of the slavers gruffly replied.

"Oh well at least I'm pricey," Lucky muttered to himself.

"Quiet you," another slaver growled, telekinetically raising a threatening crowbar. Lucky sighed.

"Double? Are you mad? Look at him, he's been beat to Tartarus and back. Sweet Celestia, have you been plucking his feathers for kicks?" the classy unicorn scowled.

The slavers shrugged. "Nothing that won't grow back. C'mon, he's perfectly healthy. Think of how useful a pegasus could be. Scouting, bodyguarding, gladiatorial arena. I know how you guys love your arena games..."

The orange stallion continued to scowl. "Normal price."

The lead slaver frowned. "Double price."

"Normal price, or you can forget about future dealings with the Legion," the stallion warned in a tone that showed he wasn't joking.

The slavers exchanged glances, before shrugging. "Fine. Normal price. Cough up the caps and he's yours."

An exchange of caps and a detonator trigger later, and Lucky was being shoved towards his new owner. "Enjoy. Though, he's got a bit of a mouth on him," the slaver informed the stallion with a smirk. "He responds well to kicking, though."

The stallion rolled his eyes. "Come along," he curtly informed Lucky. Lucky sighed, and did as he was ordered. As tempting as it was to try and fly away... he quite enjoyed having an intact cranium.

Once they were well out of sight of the slaver encampment, the stallion turned and fixed Lucky with a scrutinizing glare. "Name and occupation."

"Uh..." Lucky recoiled slightly. "Um, Lucky Break. Courier. And now slave, apparently."

"Ties to the Enclave?"

Lucky scowled. "Hell no."

The stallion smirked. "Ah. As I suspected. Well Mister Break, today is indeed your Lucky day."

Ah jeez. Lucky knew where this was going. Bad guy monologue, rambling about how Lucky would get a chance to earn his freedom, or-

The stallion disarmed the slave collar, unhooked it, and slipped it into his suit. "You are free to go."

"Wut." Lucky blinked a few times. "What, just like that?"

The stallion nodded. "Just like that."

Lucky looked around in confusion. "Um. Wow. Thanks. I... uh... don't really know what to say."

The stranger waved a hoof dismissively. "Think nothing of it. Though, before you go flying off, I was hoping we could perhaps chat for a moment."

"Well," Lucky shrugged, "If you're gonna go rescuing me from slavery, it seems only fair that I listen to what you have to say."

"Excellent!" the stallion grinned. "Come, trot with me. My encampment is not far from here. My name, by the way, is Argentum Lingua. You may call me Silver Tongue, though. Pray tell Mister Break, how much do you know about Celestia's Legion?"

Lucky shrugged as he trotted along with Mister Lingua. What an odd name. "Um, bits and pieces, rumors and speculation. Of course, y'all can't be all bad if you go 'round savin' idiots like me."

"Oh good, you have an open mind," Silver Tongue smiled cheerfully. "Most refreshing. And yes, we're not quite as bad as many ponies make us out to be. I'm sure my colleagues and I can help to answer any questions and assuage any concerns you may have for our little Wasteland faction, once we get back to our encampment. And, if you're willing to listen, we also may have a job opportunity for you. Just a simple delivery."

Lucky pondered a moment. "Well, you saved my life. The least I can do is hear you out. One good turn deserves another..."

Silver nodded, and smirked. "Good to hear, Mister Break. Good to hear..."

TheAmishPirate

2012-11-22, 01:55 PM

[Girdershade Outskirts - On a day like today, 'mostly unscathed' is pretty darn lucky]

Fleetwing spotted a bright spark of light wandering the outskirts of the settlement, calling out his name, no less. "Violetta? J-just stay put, I'm coming!" he called back. Dipping into a dive, he skidded into a sloppy landing next to her. The pegasus looked as though he'd been through quite a few tumbles, sporting a small legion of cactus spines and light scrapes on his legs from ankle-biting rocks. Nothing he couldn't walk off.

Still panting heavily from his close encounter which may or may not have happened, he motioned over to Bucky's shed. "I...I couldn't find him. Not a s-sign of him anywhere. If y'take your li-light over there, we might b-be able to pick up his tracks where he started ru-running off. I'm going t'go grab Swift, see if she kn-knows how t'track." As he babbled out his story and instructions, he couldn't help but keep an eye on the skies. If that light showed up again, he was going to be under some cover just as quick as his legs could carry him.

[Tag: Purity]

Luka

2012-11-22, 03:04 PM

Girdershade - Museum

"Oh," Fizz replies softly, her tattered ears falling back. "I'm sorry. Didn't mean to make you remember bad stuff."

The perky phosphorescent ghoul looks around for a distraction. "Hm, something cheerier. Um. Would you like a soda? Oh, also, how far should I stay away from ponies now that I'm all magically poisonous and stuff? I don't want to accidentally make anypony too toasty." She gives an apologetic glance to Gleamy, who she still thinks is a normal - albeit lanky - unicorn.

"Actually.... It's not much of a problem to me"
Starts using telekinesis to put off the cloak, but then stops and wonders about putting it off or no, since Fizz would panic.... But she's a ghoul, and ghouls aren't unificable; so then she just continues and puts it off
"Don't panic, I'm not like the others, left them, I'm not willing or planning to take others away or...Do they things they did; even so, they don't look for ghouls"

[tag: Lycan, BladeofObliviom]

------------------------------------------

[Bucklyn Cross]
Burnshine just salutes then
"Then I'm reporting in tomorrow"
She remains there saluting until Staccata says something else

[tag: MCerberus]

Rebonack

2012-11-22, 03:55 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Flim&Flam's Penthouse]

Lyons just peers up at Gwen with those big eyes of his. Then begins washing his ears. Seems he isn't terribly concerned with the scolding he's probably about to get. Which isn't too surprising. He is mostly cat after all. And if that's anything cats don't give it's a load of horseapples about what everyone else wants.

[North of Cloudsdale]

It's been said that the best way to avoid becoming a feral is to keep busy. That's why so many ghouls get locked in some sort of familiar routine. They just keep doing something that they did in life, subconsciously fighting away the insanity that leads to a pony going feral.

Chasing around mysterious lights?

That's totally a thing to keep one's mind off eating other ponies.

"Oh... you were coming too?" the smooze pony asks curiously. "I guess somepony to talk to wouldn't bow bow bow be terrible. I'm Island in the Sky. Or just Island if you rather. Tribal parents. Everypony had weird names."

MCerberus

2012-11-22, 04:56 PM

Manehatten - Bucklyn Cross

Paladin Staccata gives a salute back so the mare wouldn't be standing on ceremony or anything. Now she's getting into the fun stuff, the stuff about today. Yay reports...

"Dismissed, knight."

North of Cloudsdale

It's also been theorized that ponies being so filled with the magic of friendship, feral behavior is a result of giving up hope in solitude or whatever. That would explain how Ditzy is the least feral ghoul possible.

"I'm Mach. Used to have more to the name, but ah, I forgot. Things got kinda fuzzy for the years around when I was turned... kind of awkward that I can't recall if I was pre-war or enclave or something."

Rebonack

2012-11-22, 05:45 PM

[North of Cloudsdale ==> Girdershade]

Or maybe Ditzy is just so derpy that she keeps flying in the opposite direction of feraldom totally unintentionally. Oops! My bad.

"Oh... it must bow bow bow be really terrible not being able to remember..." Island replies. That would be awful. Not recalling who one is? But then one would just have to build up themselves anew one day at a time, right?

Right!

"Well, if you're coming with me Mach I'll let you set the pace. Hopefully there will be something left of... whatever that was... when we get there."

Away!

BladeofObliviom

2012-11-22, 06:02 PM

Girdershade - Museum

"Don't be sad, it's not your fault..."

And then a welcome change of subject.

"Oh, I'd recommend keeping contact short until the glowing wears off. I think there's a trick you can use to make it go away faster by throwing it out as an explosion or something, but I've never actually been radioactive enough to start doing that."

She thinks a moment.

"You could also try wearing a radiation suit to keep it contained."

...and then Gleamy takes off her cloak. Swift's reaction seems largely restricted to dropping her jaw. She's more surprised that Gleamy decided to remove her cloak than that she's an alicorn, though one could easily be forgiven for misinterpreting that.

...Anyway, um, yeah.

Lycan 01

2012-11-22, 06:20 PM

Girdershade - Museum

Fizz blinks a few times, staring at the alicorn. "Oooo. You look pretty," she naively observes. "All elegant and fancy. Like the way the Princesses look on the old advertisements. Neat!"

Yeah, she doesn't seem to have much reaction to Gleamy being a "monster." Perhaps the ghoulification has tampered with her brain? Or maybe she was always just this ditzy and naive.

Probably the latter!

"Wait," she turns to Swift, eyes wide. "I can make explosions?"

MCerberus

2012-11-22, 06:22 PM

North of Cloudsdale

Mach just sort of does a pegasus shrug while lifted in the air. It's going to need more elaboration. "Not like I forgot everything, just, ah, gets fuzzy like I said around that time."

While Mach was a faster flyer in 'life', he's not exactly a slowpoke now, so the ghoul gives chase to the weird crazy lights at a decent clip.

Rebonack

2012-11-22, 09:22 PM

One uneventful flight later...

[Near Girdershade]

"...and so that's how I convinced the changeling that pegasus can shoot lightning from their eyes," Island says, completing what was no doubt a hilarious and generally amusing story.

But what's this?

Down below are lights!

Probably lights from a small town. And another smaller light that may very well be a unicorn with his or her horn lit up. Sadly it doesn't look like there's any trace of the unidentified flying object that took off.

Yet.

PurityIcekiller

2012-11-22, 10:54 PM

Fleetwing spotted a bright spark of light wandering the outskirts of the settlement, calling out his name, no less. "Violetta? J-just stay put, I'm coming!" he called back. Dipping into a dive, he skidded into a sloppy landing next to her. The pegasus looked as though he'd been through quite a few tumbles, sporting a small legion of cactus spines and light scrapes on his legs from ankle-biting rocks. Nothing he couldn't walk off.

Still panting heavily from his close encounter which may or may not have happened, he motioned over to Bucky's shed. "I...I couldn't find him. Not a s-sign of him anywhere. If y'take your li-light over there, we might b-be able to pick up his tracks where he started ru-running off. I'm going t'go grab Swift, see if she kn-knows how t'track." As he babbled out his story and instructions, he couldn't help but keep an eye on the skies. If that light showed up again, he was going to be under some cover just as quick as his legs could carry him.

Violetta cast her healing spell, then listened. "I'll see what I can do. Maybe you'd better remember the light first next time."

As she turned to look for tracks, she thought she felt some kind of presence. She wasn't sure what it was, though.

TheAmishPirate

2012-11-23, 12:12 AM

[Girdershade]

Fleetwing blinked in surprise as the magic routed the nettles and soothed his burning muscles. "Uh, yeah. I-I'll remember that next time," he responeded distractedly. Did she just...heal him? Completely unprompted? While they were still technically fighting? Shaking his head in disbelief, he trotted over to the museum, reveling in his freshened legs. Daggum, if this filly wasn't something else.

He pounded a forehoof on the door and, after saying a quick blessing, called out, "Swift? Y'in there? It's Fleetwing!"

[Tag: BladeofOblivion]

BladeofObliviom

2012-11-23, 01:17 AM

Girdershade - Museum

"Wait," she turns to Swift, eyes wide. "I can make explosions?"

Girdershade - Museum

Well, Fizz already was fairly ditzy. In retrospect this really shouldn't be very surprising. Honestly, she's pretty lucky to not have outright died from radiation poisoning. In any case, Swift manages not to betray her bewilderment at how strangely comfortable Fizz seems to be with this. Really, she's beginning to wonder if the other mare is actually having a mental breakdown and trying to cover it up with laughter.

...Hay, that's what Swift did when she noticed her own ghoulification, after the regular panic wore off.

"Yeah, probably. I'd explain how, but I don't actually know. My metabolism eats up rads too fast for me to start glowi-"

He pounded a forehoof on the door and called out, "Swift? Y'in there? It's Fleetwing!"

"-ing."

Swift seizes up.

"Fleet, stay outside! It's, uh, ghoul talk!"

She quickly turned back to Fizz.

"I'll be back. Gleamy, can you keep her company?"

And then she trots out the door.

"Alright, any luck finding Bucky?"

Benson

2012-11-23, 01:23 AM

Lycan 01

2012-11-23, 01:32 AM

TheAmishPirate

2012-11-23, 01:36 AM

[Girdershade - Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun]

Fleetwing glanced inside nervously in the split-second the door opened, making sure Soda Fizz wasn't listening in. Satisfied, he gave his report, frequently fiddling fretfully with his forehooves. "I-I couldn't find him. I looked and looked, and I-I even called his name some, but there we-weren't hide nor hair of anything. N-not even cr-critters or nothing. V-Violetta's going t-to check for hoofpr-prints by the shed with her light, and I-I figured you l-looked like you knew a bi-bit more about tracking, s-so, d-do you?"

PurityIcekiller

2012-11-23, 04:44 AM

[I]Now who's picking up whose messes? Violetta smiled with satisfaction at Fleetwing's reaction, then set about following the tracks.

As she headed out, she became a bit more wary. She didn't know how far Bucky had gone, but had a feeling it was further than she'd even been, and she had no idea what kind of creatures were out there.

BladeofObliviom

2012-11-23, 05:12 AM

[Leaving Girdershade]

Swift closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

"Yeah, tracking was part of basic training. I'll need some light to see by, but we have a Unicorn so that won't be a problem. We should hurry, though."

And, since Violetta presumably isn't running off into the wastes alone like somepony asking to die, Swift and probably Fleetwing catch up as the Ghoul tries to find Bucky's tracks.

Specifically, fresh tracks that belonged to an Earth Pony. Pegasi and Unicorns typically leave lighter hoofprints due to their significantly lower body mass, so hopefully that isn't too difficult. Disregard this, Bucky is a unicorn and this writer is an idiot.

Lycan 01

2012-11-23, 05:24 AM

Middle of Nowhere - Near Girdershade

Too bad Bucky is a unicorn!

The point is moot, though. His tracks are easy to find, and lead on out from Girdershade a good distance. It certainly looks like he was in a hurry.

Eventually, though the tracks just... stop. Mid-step, his hoofprints just cease.

Fleetwing may find this area to look a bit familiar...

TheAmishPirate

2012-11-23, 09:53 AM

[Outside Girdershade - Middle of Nowhere]

On the edges of Violetta's light, Fleetwing caught a glimpse of a knocked-over cactus with skid marks leading up to it. His heart skipped a beat.

"Ohhhh no. No. Nonononononononononono..." He flew all around the area; zip here, zip there, find tracks, find disturbed plants, find something, anything to prove his gut feeling wrong. "Bucky! Buuuuuckyyyy!" he desperately called out. When that likely didn't work, he turned his gaze skyward. Where were those lights, and why had they taken poor Buckshot?!

MCerberus

2012-11-23, 11:18 AM

Near Girdershade

Mach lifts up his goggles to get a view of the scene in color, instead of the gray of the nightvision spell his goggles emulate. It seems he's found himself on an adventure with a chatty one. Kind of creepy though, just how well she's taking being a fresh ghoul. Nopony else could be so cheerful about it, right?

"So, ah, you think this town made the lights?"

Luka

2012-11-23, 12:50 PM

[Girdershade]

So Gleamy just remains back inside Fizz's house
"heh...Thanks" she responds to the compliment she gave earlier.
"So I...Could have one? I mean, of the sodas...I don't know why do I remeber them much.."

[tag: Lycan]

----------------------------------

[Buckling Cross]

Burnshine lowers her salute and just heads out. Latest carbine she had got taken away at the Hippocampus plant, and she still isn't very fond of Ray, having got hints of his true nature, so she would just be getting that assingment and do something else. Also got to get to the quartermaster for a new carbine

[tag: MCerberus]

Rebonack

2012-11-23, 03:01 PM

[Near Girdershade]

Or maybe her current state is worlds better than the situation she was in previously. She might have been reduced to one of the more exotic forms of ghoul, but at least she hasn't completely lost her mind. And keeping one's mind can be rather nice.

"I can hear somepony yelling down there," Island calls out. "Come down slowly, we don't want to startle them if we can avoid it."

Shooting at ghouls that startle you is a pretty common occurrence in the Wasteland after all.

"And I doubt the ponies here could have bow bow bow built anything like what we saw. Whatever that thing was it could have put the fastest pegasus to shame."

Should Fleet turn his attention upward he might notice a bright neon blue light approaching the area at a pretty reasonable clip before descending toward the ground. Unfortunately it's too dark to make out the smooze pony in a radiation suit. Just the electric blue glow she's giving off.

[Tenpony Tower - Flim&Flam Penthouse]

And the spunky cub will follow her!

Every time Gwen begins to distract herself with something the cub will remind her of his existence by swatting at the end of her tail.

MCerberus

2012-11-23, 06:15 PM

Near Girdershade

Mach lands with the pony he just assumes is a regular glower. Although there was the matter of the assertion about what the lights were. "Well it could have been some kind of radiation light or magic dispersion from something. Weird stuff like that just, ah, sort of happens."

Manehatten - Bucklyn Cross

It may be a little late in the day for business-as-usual equipment getting. The quartermaster may not enjoy having to spend his evening listening to how a rather good gun was lost and the pony that lost it needs a new one. Then again he could if he's some sort of crazy.

Regardless, right now he and his assistant is taking inventory.

PurityIcekiller

2012-11-23, 10:58 PM

['Cause I've Got An Unpeaceful, Uneasy Feeling, And I Know You Won't Let Me Down]

"Well, that's ominous." Violetta glanced around. She could tell there was something with... whatever she picked up about Gleam. There was probably a problem about.

It was only then that she noticed her companions had caught up with her. "Oh, there you are. Do you think we've met another Fizz, or something else?"

BladeofObliviom

2012-11-24, 01:22 AM

[Outside Girdershade - Middle of Nowhere]

As the trio came upon the site of Bucky's disappearance, Swift was performing some cold, silent logic to prevent herself from going into a panic like Fleetwing currently was.

"He seems to have simply disappeared mid-step, and there are no other tracks. He couldn't have seen it coming, since he just continued galloping in a straight line rather than trying to change direction or find cover. That rules out raiders, radscorpions, or a majority of other threats. Possible airborne attack from a number of other sources. Bloodwings only drink the blood, Pegasus Ferals wouldn't be so clean. Enclave wouldn't bother with the body, and Bucky was a Unicorn anyway..."

However, she certainly can't keep herself from cursing aloud.

"...Horseapples. You two, watch for Alicorns."

[Perception + Awareness] Spotting an electric-blue glow in the skies above, Swift pulls the rifle off of her back and takes aim. However, she quickly realizes that her target isn't clearly visible aside from what she assumes to be a magical glow, and holds her fire while she tries to extrapolate where an Alicorn's wing would be based on the glow.

She'd fought unicorns with Stealthbucks before; She could do that.

However, this delay gives Fleet and Violetta a moment to stop her. Even if they fail to, her shot likely goes wide due to the fact that she's almost certainly misjudging the distance of a moving target that is significantly smaller than she assumes it to be, leading it by an incorrect amount.

So even if she isn't stopped, the flaming bullet whizzing by is more likely to be an indicator of danger than a surprise attack.

TheAmishPirate

2012-11-24, 10:07 AM

[Outside Girdershade]

As Fleetwing was scanning the skies, a splotch of glowing blue light caught his attention. It had to be the light creature. But farther away, or maybe with a different kind of light attack. Was it freezing ponies now? Was that what blue meant? Or maybe it was shocking them? How on earth could they fight or reason with a monster made out of pure light?!

"...Horseapples. You two, watch for Alicorns."

Fleetwing screeched to a halt in mid-air. Wait...alicorns? Right, right, still an explanation for all this. Wasn't magical floating light creatures abducting ponies for their own nefarious ends. It was just alicorns.

...oh horsefeathers, alicorns?!

He zipped back over Swift's head and landed beside Violetta. Before she could respond, he draped a wing over her protectively and pulled her close to his side. "Violetta! Stick close!" he said rather superfluously. But hay if they were pulling the same snatch-and-grab with this filly. Visibly shaking, he grabbed the Peashooter from its holster and his head darted around the area, checking for signs of life.

If Violetta didn't stop the shot, Fleetwing would panic and lend a few more bullets to the cause. Despite looking like a piece of junk, the Peashooter roared like a revolver instead of the weak *plink!* of a 9mm. With no visual contact, no light, no scope, and bad eyes to begin with, his quick, three-round salvo would go wildly off-target.

Lycan 01

2012-11-24, 11:14 AM

PurityIcekiller

2012-11-24, 03:06 PM

['Cause I'm Already Standing On The Ground]

Violetta was confused. "Alicorn? Do alicorn ghouls even- Hey!" Fleetwing grabbing her made her lose concentration on her light, plunging the trio into darkness while they shot.

After a moment, when she had her spell back up, she gave Fleetwing a look of irritation. "Let me go. I'm fine. What is with you and grabbing ponies?"

Chaotic Bob

2012-11-24, 04:59 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Swiss nods back. "I understand. Military secrets and stuff, right? I'll leave you to that," the changeling rises to her hooves and points her horn at the resin binding the door shut, causing it to evaporate away.

Wonder how healthy breathing in the vapors from that stuff is...

"If you need me again just call me, okay? I'm sure Sour won't mind if you sleep on the guest bed in here."

With that she'll wait for a response before head through the door and closing it behind her.

Out in the rest of the penthouse Corn's cooking is coming along swimmingly and Rye is sitting on the couch with her eyes closed. The earth pony mare is looking about a zillion times better now that she's done with her trip to the spa.

"How'd it go?" Corn asks from the kitchen.

Swiss shakes her head. "Her suit is in a bad way and so is she. I think she and anypony else who was with her must have been poking around in the Everfree forest. They... might have been killed. Or worse. Down nearly way."

"Oof... nasty buis'ns. Reckon she'll let Sour 'n you help her out?"

A sigh from the changeling. "No... she's terrified of letting anypony get close to her. And... like... triple that without her armor on. She's reporting in to the Enclave right now."

At that Rye's ears perk up. The unusually perceptive earth pony reaches out with her senses to listen in on the conversation beyond the door...

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Being nosy, Rye, is hardly an admirable trait...

After Swiss leaves, Down's comfort levels jump rather significantly.
All alone now, safe.

None of that matters, shortly after keying into her communication systems and establishing contact with headquarters, however. That's time for focus, and to let all of these petty issues fall away.
If she had to choose what her talent was, it would be this ability to concentrate when it really mattered, rather than what the upside down water-drop on her flank denoted to her.

Don't always get what you want.

From outside, Rye is only going to be getting one-half of the conversation, unfortunately.
"Alive and whole, sir. I...yes. Integrity is compromised for the time being. The talisman may have been overworked.
...
No, we were separated. He had been in a better state before the retreat, so I would assume he's fine. Lost contact with Pilot at the border.
...
No, we were unable to locate it. I would advise a reassessment of the risk.
...
Yes, sir.
...
A detonated stable and mutated insects.
...
Not at all. Nothing yet, outside of the border.
...
No new information on them yet, sir. I'm moving in that direction. Estimate a significant delay while my suit is compromised. At least a few days.
...
Confirmed.
...
I can confirm that as well.
...
It's limited, to what I can tell. No excess risk, but worth keeping an eye on.
...
There may be a...possible problem. I'll need further intel before I report. Only-...no. No threat of that. I should only need a day or so. No risk.
...
Yes, sir. As you say.
...
Sir. Down out."

Rebonack

2012-11-24, 08:49 PM

Luka

2012-11-24, 09:18 PM

Girdershade - Museum

Soda Fizz cheerfully plucks a Sparkle Cola from a nearby shelf with her telekinesis, and hovers it over to Gleamy. "Here you go! Enjoy!"

The distant sounds of gunfire echo into the night, and faintly filter through the walls. Fizz raises an eyebrow. "Did you hear something? Or is my hearing just fried like the rest of me?" she perkily asks.

She grabs the Sparkle cola, inspects it a bit, then tries drinking a bit.... It's taste would seem kind of familiar... She tries another bit, gunshots! lowers the bottle for a bit.
"That seems to have been... Fire? Maybe gunfire?" She just says, a bit worried and hoping the others didn't yet in that much trouble.

[tag: Lycan]

---------------------------------------

[Buckling Cross - armoery]

Burnshine approaches the Quartermaster and salutes.
"Requesting resuplying"
She just says that to get his attention

[tag: MCerberus]

MCerberus

2012-11-24, 10:40 PM

Near Girdershade

Blarg! How shocking. Mach managed to not get shot in his face and powers up his hoof cannon as he lands. The ghoul kind of looks around shocked when he comes upon the damaged suit. Well he can feel the radiation, so she might not be completely dead. The pegasus pokes at the suit to try and see if she's just at a weird angle and unconscious or something.

Bucklyn Cross

The quartermaster just turns around, gives a salute out of protocol and sighs. He never gets off work early. "Name, rank, assignment and what you're needing, soldier. I'll have the junior go do the paperwork."

Luka

2012-11-24, 11:40 PM

[Buckling Cross]

"Burnshine, recently-promoted knight, markspony, need a markspony's carbine"
She deadpans, following protocol.

[tag: MCerberus]

TheAmishPirate

2012-11-25, 12:15 AM

[Outside Girdershade]

In the dark, Fleetwing had no way of knowing whose bullets hit home. All he heard was a scream, followed by the neon blue glow falling to the earth. He panted heavily around the grip of his pistol, keeping it trained on the shimmer as it fell. His wing stayed firmly around Violetta. "Y'won't be fine if that there alicorn teleport-snatches you away like they did t'poor Buckshot. You just stay close in case there's more of-"

*SPLAT!*

"-them?"

Fleetwing blinked and cocked his head at the glob of brightness decorating the Wasteland up ahead. Bodies made lots of different noises when they fell. Some of them squelched as they were impaled on rebar. Others snapped as their bones cracked and broke. But never in his short life had he heard a pony make a splat like a glob of goopy, pre-war vegetable mush. "Did...did we just shoot it so hard it melted? Do alicorns do that when they die?" he asked Swift, so baffled he momentarily forgot to be afraid.

Chaotic Bob

2012-11-25, 12:39 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Aw, that's nice of her. Swiss is so considerate.

It really is a shame that as soon as she's disconnected from her headquarters and turning off her helmet to conserve its power, Down reverts back to her prior state.

Sort of inevitable, really, considering that she's now standing naked in a largely unknown-to-her location, her equipment broken and disarmed, and her body far from good health.

Her legs tremble, although more from a remembered weakness than fear.

It's an acknowledgement of her body's failure that puts her in the bed.
An acknowledgement of her paranoia that brings her to drag the bladed tail of her armor over as well.
An acknowledgement of both that it takes so long for her to give in and get back up, to nibble on the food offered to her.

Light meals and ravaged bodies, off to lead this Enclave soldier to a troubled night's sleep.

MCerberus

2012-11-25, 12:46 AM

Manehatten - Bucklyn Cross

The assistant goes running off to make sure Burnshine didn't have anything checked out of the armory that's still missing... Meanwhile the quartermaster goes over to get a box of ammo and some empty magazines for her.

"So your weapon out of order, new deployment or?.."

Rebonack

2012-11-25, 12:57 AM

[Near Girdershade]

The electric blue puddle continues to be an electric blue puddle. The ground around it is hissing and bubbling while the air feels warm from the radiation that goop is giving off. If possible whatever that stuff is it happens to be shedding even more radiation than Fizz was.

Getting too close will leave a normal pony feeling nauseous from radiation sickness in no time flat.

Maybe that's what the radiation suit was for? Who knows! That ghoul pony might! He did just land next to the gross blue smear after all. Maybe he was flying with whoever it was before splattering all over the ground?

Which means that probably wasn't an alicorn.

Which also means Fleet and Swift might have just killed somepony who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Whoops!

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

The next morning!

Ever wake up to the smell of a glorious breakfast?

Because that's probably what Down will encounter. Might it be enough to coax her out of her room? Stay tuned to find out!

Chaotic Bob

2012-11-25, 01:43 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Have you ever run, for hours?
Just run as fast as you possibly can, for as long as you can, and then a little more?
Run yourself down to the point of physical exhaustion and pain?

It's terrible, to be sure.
What is perhaps equally terrible, is how you feel when you wake up the next day.

Everything aches. Moving is a chore.
Muscles are throwing a strike from the previous day's exertions, and refusing to go without a fight, until they feel good and proper again.

Down is feeling a bit like that.
If extreme physical exhaustion can be compared to whatever horrifying state her body is presently in.
And if muscle fatigue can be compared to whatever terrible nothing she's in right now.

She pulls the blanket back with her mouth and stares at her legs for a few minutes.
Stares at the rest of her body, then back to her legs.

It's likely a wonder she doesn't panic right then and there, a reminder that the past day was not some awful dream.
That there wouldn't be consequences.

Rebonack

2012-11-25, 01:48 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

There comes a rap rap rapping at the chamber door.

Or more properly Swiss banging a hoof on it. "Are you awake in there Down? Corn finished up breakfast and we were wondering if you wanted any," comes the voice of the changelings from the other side of the threshold. "Once you're ready I can really get to work on that armor of yours. I've got plenty to do after all!"

So much to do!

And thankfully no time table to do it in.

Homage has been pretty generous after the Team's recent contribution to the music of the Wasteland.

Chaotic Bob

2012-11-25, 02:08 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Down's eyes flick to the door and she immediately starts moving.

Her wings flick out and around, while her mouth grasps the edge of the blanket again. Quick as a whip, the fabric is wrapped about her body again, coiled around in choice locations to make it a more self-sustaining project.

"One...one moment, Swiss."

She slides over to the edge of the bed and pushes her legs out onto the ground, flinching as they immediately fail to properly support her weight.
Catching herself on the bed with her shoulder, Down takes a few moments to balance herself on the limbs.

It takes a few more moments before she hauls herself away from the bed, trembling from the exertion of even trying.
"O-okay. I'm up.
Ah, don't suppose that I could trouble you to let me eat in here..."

Rebonack

2012-11-25, 02:29 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

'Up' is a generous description of the pegasus' current state.

A few moments after her reply the door is eased open and Swiss enters balancing a tray in her livid green magic. And likewise she's quick to bump the door closed again as soon as she's through.

The tray of delicious smelling whateverthatis is set at the foot of the bed whilst the changeling offers a comforting smile. "I thought you might want it in here. And I thought I would remind you that you're among friends. Nopony out there is going to hurt you. You helped us do some real good things for the Wasteland. We owe you the hospitality I think!"

And the tasteh foods.

"But you don't have to go out until you're ready. If you even go out at all."

PurityIcekiller

2012-11-25, 02:40 AM

[I Found Out A Long Time Ago What A Pony Can Do To Your Soul]

Violetta rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure it wasn't an alicorn. That's what happens when you shoot first and ask questions later." She decided this was a good example of how not to do diplomacy.

She stepped a bit closer and called out to Mach, "Sorry! That was just a misunderstanding!"

Chaotic Bob

2012-11-25, 02:56 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Down would probably be enormously appreciative of the lengths that Swiss is going through for her here, if these were remotely better circumstances.
Even if she was only just wearing her armor again.

Instead, she's shambling right back over to the bed, putting her concentration towards making the trip without falling on her face.
Instead, she's trying to not panic just by having Swiss so close by.
Instead, she's wondering if she's going to die soon.

Taking a little breath as she leans against the bed, the pegasus makes an effort to give Swiss something that could possibly be mistaken for a smile in a pitch black cave.
It's the thought that counts?
"I think I'll...stay here f-for now. Thank you."

Fear, anxiety, pain, and just the faintest inkling of appreciation.

Benson

2012-11-25, 03:07 AM

Tenpony Tower - Flim & Flam's Penthouse

There's not much for Gwendolyn to cub-proof. The sofa has already been ravaged and repaired (for the most part), and the kitchen is mostly just counters, cabinets, and a few appliances.

Oh hey, fully stocked fridge. Score!

No sign of a spray bottle, though...

Tenpony Tower - Flim & Flam's Penthouse

She had then set aside an area in the corner near the trash made of old paper and papery waste. She was going to try to teach the cub to do its business there. She would stay up all night if she had to to get the cub to know that this is the spot to go do 'that' business.

[Tenpony Tower - Flim&Flam Penthouse]

And the spunky cub will follow her!

Every time Gwen begins to distract herself with something the cub will remind her of his existence by swatting at the end of her tail.

[Tenpony Tower - Flim&Flam Penthouse]

Gwenny ignored most of the batting only reminding herself that this was her choice. She eventually plopped down on the ground in exhaustion. She wanly smiled at the cub and clicked her tongue and rapped her claws on the ground to see if the cub would come over.

Rebonack

2012-11-25, 03:12 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Ah.

A smile.

And a few warm emotions flickering around somewhere in Down's soul. Mmmm... pathos... nothing like the pony magic of emotion to fill the void in a changeling's heart. Swiss catches the inklings like a child might catch snowflakes on their tongue whilst radiating soothing feelings all the while.

It's a net loss of magic for her. But she's trying her hardest to make a new friend here. And that always means sacrifices on her part.

"I can take your armor out in the other room and work on it there if you would prefer to be alone?" Swiss says tentatively. Her tone betrays the fact that she would rather remain here with Down while she works. But if the pegasus wants solitude she isn't going to deny it. "Oh! And how did your call go? Did you talk to who you needed to talk to? I know you can't tell me any details. Don't worry about that."

Chaotic Bob

2012-11-25, 03:29 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Swiss lucks out!
Down has a much higher desire to keep her suit where she can see it than her blatant vulnerability can stifle.

"You're fine..."
She tries to not sound reluctant about that, mostly out of a desire to not seem like an ingrate, but it is rather hard to deny her more negative emotions.

Also hard to deny gravity's desire to see her flattened on the floor.

Taking the easy way out, she guides herself back to the bed, taking care to keep her blanket-dress draped over her in the process.
Perhaps it's rude to eat in bed, but she feels that she can pull out a few excuses to make herself feel better about it.

Food and conversation.
Neither are entirely desired, but both are probably needed. Hunger and silence tend to be great predators to a despairing mind.
"It went...well. Yes, I contacted my superiors. Prevented a 'MIA' or 'KIA' mark on my record, I guess."

Rebonack

2012-11-25, 03:37 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

The food is delicious. Something akin to oatmeal with cinnamon and apple chunks in it. Along with a hash of potato, egg, and (big surprise) corned beef. Swiss gives the plate a rather mornful look.

"I don't think anypony has any idea how Corn manages to find the ingredients for his food. But he pulls it off all the same. Just wish food still actually tasted like something other than a mouthful of ash to me," Swiss grumbles as she pulls a few armor components over to herself and begins fiddling with them.

The changeling gives one of her snaggle-toothed grins. "But you're lucky! You get to enjoy it. Don't you worry one bit, Down. We'll make sure you get home. And since the call made it through your family knows you aren't dead now, right?"

Great news!

Chaotic Bob

2012-11-25, 03:51 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Does Down have an issue eating meat?
Judging by how she's pecking at a little of everything, apparently not.

But it is the survivalist's mentality: eat what you get, you may get nothing else.

Corn's little talent is a curiosity, but little more than that, to Down. Many ponies have rather unique talents. Some can do vaulting somersaults leading into aerial flips, all without being a pegasus.
Some can find food in a dump.

Everypony's got something. Although it is rather valuable, given the current state of the land...
"Your Corn has a useful skill."

Nibble nibble.
Pause.
"Yes. I suppose...they do know."
Vane is definitely alive, her superior had informed her. Pilot's status is as unknown as her was, which is...foreboding.

But Vane.
Vane was...

Nibble nibble.
"D-do you still think this will take a couple days to finish?"

Rebonack

2012-11-25, 04:19 AM

((Sorry! That post ninja'd me and I just now noticed it.))

[Tenpony Tower - Flim&Flam Penthouse]

Gwenny ignored most of the batting only reminding herself that this was her choice. She eventually plopped down on the ground in exhaustion. She wanly smiled at the cub and clicked her tongue and rapped her claws on the ground to see if the cub would come over.

Rapping claws on the floor?

Hoo boy. That's asking for trouble.

Lyon's eyes dilate wide and his whiskers brush out as he watches the movement, wiggling his hind-quarters in preparation to charge. Like a fuzzy bolt he darts forward and then leaps into the air, claws spread wide!

Only to land on his paws again.

And delicately bat at Gwen a few times.

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

"Hehe... yeah. Corn's a great pony. All my friends are great ponies. And I think you're probably a great pony too," the changeling replies with a laugh.

Aaww...

That's a nice thing to say!

At Down's question the armor is given an exasperated look and a sputter sigh. "Yeah... Whatever thrashed your armor wasn't kind to it at all."

Wasn't kind to you either, Down, Swiss mentally adds.

"But don't worry. I'll get it working again for you. Should I be expecting your friends from above the clouds to be picking you up?"

Benson

2012-11-25, 05:17 AM

Rapping claws on the floor?

Hoo boy. That's asking for trouble.

Lyon's eyes dilate wide and his whiskers brush out as he watches the movement, wiggling his hind-quarters in preparation to charge. Like a fuzzy bolt he darts forward and then leaps into the air, claws spread wide!

Only to land on his paws again.

And delicately bat at Gwen a few times.

[Tenpony Tower - Flim&Flam Penthouse]

Gwenny let out a soft quick chuckle and yawn as exhaustion was hitting her. Like Benson right now at 3:16 am. She scratched under his chin and yawned again.

She wanted to sleep but she knew she had to stay up longer to begin *trying* to teach the cub where to do his business. She told herself to be vigilant and alert.

Cut to ten minutes later and the lady griffon was out like a light.

/end her current day

Lycan 01

2012-11-25, 05:37 AM

Girdershade - Museum

Fizz frowns uncomfortably. "Oh dear. Do you think we should stay here? Or should you go check on your friends? I'm not really good at fighting..."

---
Caught Somewhere In Time

"So Argentum says I'm supposed to teach you to fight," grumbled a rather irate mare clad in Legion armor.

Lucky shifted uncertainly. "Yeah, he says if I'm going to work for you guys, I need to know how to fight like y'all."

The dark-furred unicorn snorted. "Alright then, Mister... Lucky Break, was it?"

Lucky nodded. "Yeah. Silver said your name was Shadow Stride, right?"

"Right. Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, let's get down to business," Shadow Stride frowned. "Alright, the first thing you need to know about Legion combat tactics is-"

Without warning, Shadow lunged towards Lucky, leaping into the air and bringing her hoof down on his face with all of her momentum and descending inertia behind it. Lucky was caught quite off guard, and wound up sprawled out in the sand with a bloody nose. "What was that for?!" Lucky snarled.

"The Legion fights dirty," the mare smirked wickedly. "That's called a Crow Hop. A glorified sucker punch, with downward speed, momentum, and gravity behind it. It's a very basic trick, but it works."

"I noticed..." Lucky grumbled as he staggered back to his hooves. "Crazy bitch."

----

At a Legion campfire, Silver Tongue and Lucky Break, or rather, Argentum Lingua and Felix Enfractus were enjoying a few drinks and spirited conversation. It had been a few years since Silver first saved Lucky, and now he was not only a full member of the Legion with a "true name," but he had become one of their best espionage and special operations agents. A Frumentarii, second in rank only to Argentum. Life was good. Very good.

"It would be an honor to be your Best Stallion. When will you be proposing?" Argentum asked with a crooked smirk.

"Pretty soon!" Felix nodded, before taking a sip of his beef. "Probably after my next delivery."

"The one to Old Appleloosa?"

"Yup. Gotta give 'em some new slave collars, help improve things between us and that Red Eye bastard," Felix shrugged. "Should only take a week or so. And then, first chance I get, I'll ask her to be my wife."

Argentum grinned, and telekinetically raised his beer. "Well then. To you and Umbra. May fortune and Celestia herself smile upon you both."

LEVEL UP

New Perks Gained
New Secondary Skills Gained
Charisma Penalties Removed
Intelligence Penalties Removed

---
Tepony Tower - Flim and Flam's Penthouse - The Next Morning

Gwendolyn will be awoken early in the morning by the sound of three stallions bickering in the living room. If she's asleep on the living room floor, she'll discover there's a blanket draped over her.

"No no no!" Flim hissed from the somewhere in the living room. "Blue! It matches his eyes better!"

"Flim, red ties look better with black suits!" Flam growled in response.

"Well maybe we should get him a different suit, then?"

"But black suits are more stylish!"

"We don't want him to look stylish, we want him to look sexy."

"Stylish and sexy can be the same thing."

"Boys..." Lucky Break groaned. "Stop bickering, you'll wake Gwendolyn and the cub up. If you haven't already. Anyway, black suit sounds fine. And let's go with red."

"Huzzah!" Flam cheered.

"Hush!" Flim and Lucky both hissed.

"Oh, right, sorry."

Chaotic Bob

2012-11-25, 05:58 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Probably a great pony too...
That would be nice. She's trying.

The brief mistakable-for-a-smile action that briefly reoccurs is swiftly swept aside as she pulls the blanket tighter around her and stares pointedly at her food.

It's fairly simple to see what inspired that reaction, timed so completely with Swiss' comment about "whatever thrashed her armor".
Drowning out what flicker of positivity was lurking within her as she remembers. She'd been trying very specifically to not...

"...n-no...they don't need to. I'll be fine on my own for now.
I'll be fine..."

BladeofObliviom

2012-11-25, 06:23 AM

[Near Girdershade]

Sometimes?

Sometimes a pony just can't catch a break.

Suddenly bullets! Bullets everywhere! A few of them punch through Island's chest and another wings her, sending the smooze pegasus into a much less chaotic descent than she had originally anticipated. She gives a startled scream shortly before plowing into the ground with a sickening splat.

Finding where she landed should be easy.

There's a fairly noticeable neon-blue splotch surrounding a badly damaged yellow rad-suit. This probably isn't good for her. Not by a long shot.

Near Girdershade

Blarg! How shocking. Mach managed to not get shot in his face and powers up his hoof cannon as he lands. The ghoul kind of looks around shocked when he comes upon the damaged suit. Well he can feel the radiation, so she might not be completely dead. The pegasus pokes at the suit to try and see if she's just at a weird angle and unconscious or something.

[Outside Girdershade]

In the dark, Fleetwing had no way of knowing whose bullets hit home. All he heard was a scream, followed by the neon blue glow falling to the earth. He panted heavily around the grip of his pistol, keeping it trained on the shimmer as it fell. His wing stayed firmly around Violetta. "Y'won't be fine if that there alicorn teleport-snatches you away like they did t'poor Buckshot. You just stay close in case there's more of-"

*SPLAT!*

"-them?"

Fleetwing blinked and cocked his head at the glob of brightness decorating the Wasteland up ahead. Bodies made lots of different noises when they fell. Some of them squelched as they were impaled on rebar. Others snapped as their bones cracked and broke. But never in his short life had he heard a pony make a splat like a glob of goopy, pre-war vegetable mush. "Did...did we just shoot it so hard it melted? Do alicorns do that when they die?" he asked Swift, so baffled he momentarily forgot to be afraid.

[Near Girdershade]

The electric blue puddle continues to be an electric blue puddle. The ground around it is hissing and bubbling while the air feels warm from the radiation that goop is giving off. If possible whatever that stuff is it happens to be shedding even more radiation than Fizz was.

Getting too close will leave a normal pony feeling nauseous from radiation sickness in no time flat.

Maybe that's what the radiation suit was for? Who knows! That ghoul pony might! He did just land next to the gross blue smear after all. Maybe he was flying with whoever it was before splattering all over the ground?

Which means that probably wasn't an alicorn.

Which also means Fleet and Swift might have just killed somepony who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Whoops!

[I Found Out A Long Time Ago What A Pony Can Do To Your Soul]

Violetta rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure it wasn't an alicorn. That's what happens when you shoot first and ask questions later." She decided this was a good example of how not to do diplomacy.

She stepped a bit closer and called out to Mach, "Sorry! That was just a misunderstanding!"

[Near Girdershade - Whoops!]

In all fairness, Swift made perhaps the most reasonable move based on the knowledge she had. It really is too bad she jumped to the (admittedly fairly reasonable) conclusion of an invisible Alicorn attack rather than a smooze pony pegasus flying overhead. :smalltongue:

After all, that's more or less rule one of Alicorn-fighting: If you catch one with its shields down, do not give it a chance to rectify that error. And DEFINITELY do not allow it to make the first move. Violetta can do all the moral posturing she likes, but Swift knows that were this an actual Alicorn attack, not shooting might have been certain death.

"...I wouldn't know, Fleet. I've never killed an Alicorn before."

There's a bitter flavor to those words, almost as if he's struck some imperceptible nerve in the ghoul's usually calm and collected demeanor. If he gets a good look at her eyes, there's something there that seems somewhat misplaced: Like guilt or sorrow, but not at all recent. This was an emotional wound that had been festering for over two hundred years. Still, she gazes upon the "body" and the ghoul nearby, before coming to another logical conclusion.

"...And from the look of it, I still haven't. Unless Alicorns usually stuff themselves into pegasus-sized radiation suits, of course. I can almost feel the heat from here; You two should probably stay back if you don't want to die from radiation."

With that, Swift calmly sets her rifle on the ground, and begins trotting toward Mach in a gesture of peace. Hopefully the ghoul doesn't get shot too much before she starts picking up enough rads to start regenerating.

TheAmishPirate

2012-11-25, 11:22 AM

[Near Girdershade - Honest Mistakes]

Fleetwing nickered in frustration and confusion. "W-well, how were we supposed t'know that?! They should've known better than t'sneak up on folks all glowing and such and not announce themselves." He would've pointed out the plum foolishness of trying to talk things over with an alicorn, before Swift's comment interrupted his thoughts.

Something didn't fit in the ghoul's eyes. It sounded like she was reaching for sarcasm, but only found bitterness instead. A deep pain, that her potions nor the years had not been able to heal. Swift, brave Swift with her big zebra rifle, had been hiding a proverbial limp. Out in the Wastes, in the dark of night, and dealing with forces far beyond his reckoning, seeing that moment of vulnerability dealt his confidence a mortal blow. Fleetwing shrunk back - a stark contrast to his panicked blustering a moment ago - and his wing reached out to keep Violetta away from the harmful radiation. "C-c-c'mon, let's d-do what she sa-says." Gently, he nudged her away from the magical poison, before slinking back to a safe distance.

MCerberus

2012-11-25, 11:38 AM

BladeofObliviom

2012-11-25, 02:14 PM

[Near Girdershade - We Can Rebuild Her]

Swift doesn't even seem properly fazed by the fact that there's a weapon pointed at her. Maybe she's feeling somewhat the same way?

"Because your friend isn't dead, and pointing a gun at me is wasting valuable time while it bleeds out."

Hopefully, that gets his attention somewhat. But how could she possibly know that Island isn't dead? It's not like she's ever seen a Smooze pony before.

...Right?

PurityIcekiller

2012-11-25, 02:50 PM

"...I wouldn't know, Fleet. I've never killed an Alicorn before."

There's a bitter flavor to those words, almost as if he's struck some imperceptible nerve in the ghoul's usually calm and collected demeanor. If he gets a good look at her eyes, there's something there that seems somewhat misplaced: Like guilt or sorrow, but not at all recent. This was an emotional wound that had been festering for over two hundred years. Still, she gazes upon the "body" and the ghoul nearby, before coming to another logical conclusion.

"...And from the look of it, I still haven't. Unless Alicorns usually stuff themselves into pegasus-sized radiation suits, of course. I can almost feel the heat from here; You two should probably stay back if you don't want to die from radiation."

With that, Swift calmly sets her rifle on the ground, and begins trotting toward Mach in a gesture of peace. Hopefully the ghoul doesn't get shot too much before she starts picking up enough rads to start regenerating.

Violetta failed to notice the emotion in the ghoul's words. She stopped as suggested, but was clearly quite reluctant. "Maybe someone a little less trigger-happy should handle the negotiations?"

Fleetwing nickered in frustration and confusion. "W-well, how were we supposed t'know that?! They should've known better than t'sneak up on folks all glowing and such and not announce themselves." He would've pointed out the plum foolishness of trying to talk things over with an alicorn, before Swift's comment interrupted his thoughts.

"I don't think 'glowing' and 'sneaking up' are compatible, Fleetwing," laughed Violetta.

Then she got a more serious expression. "Really, you can't jump to conclusions like that. You need to at least find out what's going on before you shoot the first pony in sight. At least the mistake I made that you got so mad about didn't kill anyone."

...Fleetwing shrunk back - a stark contrast to his panicked blustering a moment ago - and his wing reached out to keep Violetta away from the harmful radiation. "C-c-c'mon, let's d-do what she sa-says." Gently, he nudged her away from the magical poison, before slinking back to a safe distance.

"All right. It's dangerous. But..." She stepped back and called out, "Swift! Come back! We should negotiate over here, not over there!"

MCerberus

2012-11-25, 02:51 PM

Near Girdershade - If they don't have the technology...

Mach doesn't seem all too convinced, keeping the charged MEW pointed at Swift. Luckily he wouldn't be alive or have any of his decent skills if it weren't for trying out new ideas. There's a glare before the ghoul responds

"You fail and it's blood for blood."

Rebonack

2012-11-25, 03:21 PM

[Near Girdershade]

Welp.

It looks like things are about to spiral horribly out of control any moment now. Hopefully something happens to prevent that. Like, say, an oozy hoof reaching up out of the glowing puddle on the ground and bracing itself on a nearby cactus.

The plant immediately begins to dissolve into bubbling neon blue sludge.

Like a pony hauling themselves out of a pool of water Island pulls herself back into shape, sopping up the laying of goop as she does. The first thing her empty eyes turn to?

"Oh no..." the yellow rad-suit is lifted in her hooves, now tattered and ripped by bullets and crash alike. "No no no no no!"

And to make matters worse? There are ponies nearby.

"S-stay away from me!" Island sputters out. "It isn't safe to bow bow bow be near me!"

Well.

At least she isn't mad... Island is frightened, though. She can feel the intense radiation bleeding out of her body. And it's only a matter of time before the radiation loss kills her.

[Tenpony Tower - Flim&Flam's Penthouse]

The cub has awoken at some point and seems to have decided that Gwen should wake up as well. This will be accomplished by pouncing on her face. Aren't kittens wonderful things?

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Positive emotions cut off at the mention of whatever messed up Down's armor... Right. Avoid that topic. Talk about something better.

"You aren't on your own, Down," Swiss insists as she fiddles with the armor's arcane circuits. "I'm here. And so is the rest of the team! We've got plenty of business to do in the tower, so we'll have your armor done for sure before it's time for us to head out."

Just connect that bit to there... make sure the seals are working properly to prevent magical overload...

TheAmishPirate

2012-11-25, 03:28 PM

Near Girdershade

Maybe it isn't really that wise to approach when two and two are easy to put together? Mach just hovers a bit off the ground where his hoof-mounted weapons were designed to be effective. With his goggles not over his eyes, one could see the ghoul is rather mad.

Oh, and there's the fact that there's a louder hum of a charging magical electrical blast. With this much radiation around, it might simulate something like being on a chem-high to normal ponies. The feelings of invincibility and the amplification of his current state of mind more than anything.

What's his current state of mind again? Oh right, angry. "You going to give me a good reason why I should let a murderer just walk away?"

Fleetwing, for his part, had his Peashooter in its holster and his hooves in the air in the universal sign of "Don't shoot!"

"I don't think 'glowing' and 'sneaking up' are compatible, Fleetwing," laughed Violetta.

Then she got a more serious expression. "Really, you can't jump to conclusions like that. You need to at least find out what's going on before you shoot the first pony in sight. At least the mistake I made that you got so mad about didn't kill anyone."

...what.

Violetta, in the middle of a stand-off with a livid ghoul ready to vaporize the lot of them, wanted to lecture at him. When she couldn't even remember that he shot second. If he wasn't too busy fearing for his life, he'd facehoof himself into blissful unconsciousness. "Violetta. This reaaaaaally ain't a good time right now..." he pleaded out of the corner of his mouth.

Violetta failed to notice the emotion in the ghoul's words. She stopped as suggested, but was clearly quite reluctant. "Maybe someone a little less trigger-happy should handle the negotiations?"

"All right. It's dangerous. But..." She stepped back and called out, "Swift! Come back! We should negotiate over here, not over there!"

No. No. No. No. A thousand times, no.

"No! This ain't even a negotiation at all!" he frantically whispered, gesturing for her to put her hooves up too. "Just...follow my lead here for once. Please?"

EDIT:

And then...well, to be honest, Fleetwing wasn't exactly sure what happened next. The "dead" pony reached a goopy hoof out of the radioactive sludge, and effortlessly dissolved a nearby cactus. The slime reformed into something vaguely pony-shaped, cradled the rad-suit like a shed skin, and screamed about danger through a mouth like a tar pit. To be honest, the warning of danger seemed a little superfluous. "Wha...what in the...unholy Tartarus..." he said in a shaking, terrified voice. His instincts told him to run, but his head knew that he couldn't outrun a MEW blast. He settled for an unhappy medium, inching fearfully away from the monster of a pony.

BladeofObliviom

2012-11-25, 04:08 PM

Violetta failed to notice the emotion in the ghoul's words. She stopped as suggested, but was clearly quite reluctant. "Maybe someone a little less trigger-happy should handle the negotiations?"

"I don't think 'glowing' and 'sneaking up' are compatible, Fleetwing," laughed Violetta.

Then she got a more serious expression. "Really, you can't jump to conclusions like that. You need to at least find out what's going on before you shoot the first pony in sight. At least the mistake I made that you got so mad about didn't kill anyone."

"All right. It's dangerous. But..." She stepped back and called out, "Swift! Come back! We should negotiate over here, not over there!"

Near Girdershade - If they don't have the technology...

Mach doesn't seem all too convinced, keeping the charged MEW pointed at Swift. Luckily he wouldn't be alive or have any of his decent skills if it weren't for trying out new ideas. There's a glare before the ghoul responds

"You fail and it's blood for blood."

[Near Girdershade]

Welp.

It looks like things are about to spiral horribly out of control any moment now. Hopefully something happens to prevent that. Like, say, an oozy hoof reaching up out of the glowing puddle on the ground and bracing itself on a nearby cactus.

The plant immediately begins to dissolve into bubbling neon blue sludge.

Like a pony hauling themselves out of a pool of water Island pulls herself back into shape, sopping up the laying of goop as she does. The first thing her empty eyes turn to?

"Oh no..." the yellow rad-suit is lifted in her hooves, now tattered and ripped by bullets and crash alike. "No no no no no!"

And to make matters worse? There are ponies nearby.

"S-stay away from me!" Island sputters out. "It isn't safe to bow bow bow be near me!"

Well.

At least she isn't mad... Island is frightened, though. She can feel the intense radiation bleeding out of her body. And it's only a matter of time before the radiation loss kills her.[/COLOR]

[Near Girdershade - Not Faster or Better, but Good Enough]

Violetta is ignored! Swift is currently much more concerned with the smooze pegasus at the moment.

"A non-feral ooze pony. That's new."

The statement is a simple statement of fact, though a hint of surprise remains.

"Listen: You need to get that suit back on before the magic in you bleeds out into the environment."

She turns quickly to Mach.

"If you can short-circuit a spare sparkle battery, we can use it to cauterize the holes in the suit so your friend's magic stops bleeding out."

EDIT (Since I'd meant to state this but forgot):

If Island appears to be having significant trouble getting back in the suit, Swift tries to help, though she's very careful to touch the suit and only the suit. Her regeneration would mean that she wouldn't be hurt too badly by touching the Smooze, but it would be really bad for the other pony.

MCerberus

2012-11-25, 04:38 PM

Chaotic Bob

2012-11-25, 04:55 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Positive emotions cut off at the mention of whatever messed up Down's armor... Right. Avoid that topic. Talk about something better.

"You aren't on your own, Down," Swiss insists as she fiddles with the armor's arcane circuits. "I'm here. And so is the rest of the team! We've got plenty of business to do in the tower, so we'll have your armor done for sure before it's time for us to head out."

Just connect that bit to there... make sure the seals are working properly to prevent magical overload...

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Who would have thought it?
Thinking about something horribly dangerous made Down less happy.
Hmm.

Shame that nibbling still involves eating the food.
Means she'll run out sooner than later, which is unfortunate. One less distraction for her to cling to.

So time to pull at a few more.
"How long have you and your friends been acquainted?"

Rebonack

2012-11-25, 05:17 PM

[Near Girdershade]

"Don't be mad at them Mach," Island says as she does her best to slip back into the radiation suit. Thankfully her fluid body has no trouble oozing into the numerous holes that have been ripped in it. "This was all a bow bow bow big misunderstanding. Nopony needs to get hurt on my account."

Once inside it is rather clear just how badly damaged the suit is. The suit's repair talisman is working on fixing the damage, but sealing it up tight would probably be a good idea.

Island peers at the pink glow in her visor as the hard clear plastic mends itself. "...oh... I didn't know it did that..."

A bit less of a problem!

Though Island has still lost quite a bit of radiation. And is STILL losing quite a bit of radiation. Anything that would seal up the holes faster would probably be a good plan.

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Subject change GO!

Swiss seems to be quite happy to talk about her friends. "Oooh, about six years now. We've had all sorts of crazy adventures together. And some adventures that were quite sane. But the crazy ones are always more fun!"

Woohoo!

Crazy!

"Finding a group of friends you can trust is really important out here in the Wasteland. Especially for a pony like me. My friends are my life and I don't know what I would do without them."

Probably starve to death.

Or be forced to eat ponies.

Luka

2012-11-25, 06:29 PM

[Girdershade]

"I'm... Not sure"

Gleamy says with a worried tone, maybe the others are in trouble, maybe they're in not so much, maybe if she leaves Fizz then she would be in trouble, Swift just told her to stay there so she does.

[tag: Lycan]

-----------------------------------------------------

[Buckling cross]

"New deployment, but for this, it's required that the gun doesn't hold serials"
She says again in a protocol-kind of voice

[tag: MCerberus]

Lycan 01

2012-11-25, 06:40 PM

Girdershade

As the shooting stops, Fizz gives Gleamy a concerned look. After a moment, she goes over and cracks the door open, peeking out into the night to see what's going on.

The folks outside Girdershade may notice a neon-blue Glowing One poking her head out of a building. Fleetwing, Violetta, and Swift will recognize her as Fizz. Mach and Island, though, will only see her as a pretty ghoul mare, or at least as pretty as a ghoul can be. Matter of perspective, probably.

MCerberus

2012-11-25, 08:04 PM

Near Girdershade

[repair] A talisman would make it a lot less complicated, just shove some more spare parts into it. Plus Mach would have some other stuff to help.

"I've got some patches if it's important," the ghoul states still being angry/intimidating at Swift. Of course rad absorption if anypony applies them might be an issue.

Manehatten - Bucklyn Cross

The quartermaster facehoofs. "Another one of those b-" he cuts himself off from being profane. "stupid recon assignments. And I didn't even get a warning about it..."

He shakes his head displeased. Now he's going to go have to set up a gear load without emblems and all that. "You're going to need to turn in your standard gear though unless your squad commander has a place to store it."

BladeofObliviom

2012-11-25, 10:11 PM

Near Girdershade - A Smooze Barely Alive

Well, poor Violetta. If it weren't so weird here she'd get a lot more conversation from the collected ghouls. Mach's a little weirded out by whatever is going on here, but still retains enough senses to carry on.

Also he's got a convenient way to mess up batteries and a backup weapon so that's good. He aborts the charge on his hoof cannon and ejects the now primed and sparking power source. "I want to make one thing clear."

After a 'shink' Mach has the cutting edge of his hoofblade a little close to swift.

[Near Girdershade]

"Don't be mad at them Mach," Island says as she does her best to slip back into the radiation suit. Thankfully her fluid body has no trouble oozing into the numerous holes that have been ripped in it. "This was all a bow bow bow big misunderstanding. Nopony needs to get hurt on my account."

Once inside it is rather clear just how badly damaged the suit is. The suit's repair talisman is working on fixing the damage, but sealing it up tight would probably be a good idea.

Island peers at the pink glow in her visor as the hard clear plastic mends itself. "...oh... I didn't know it did that..."

A bit less of a problem!

Though Island has still lost quite a bit of radiation. And is STILL losing quite a bit of radiation. Anything that would seal up the holes faster would probably be a good plan.[/COLOR]

Girdershade

As the shooting stops, Fizz gives Gleamy a concerned look. After a moment, she goes over and cracks the door open, peeking out into the night to see what's going on.

The folks outside Girdershade may notice a neon-blue Glowing One poking her head out of a building. Fleetwing, Violetta, and Swift will recognize her as Fizz. Mach and Island, though, will only see her as a pretty ghoul mare, or at least as pretty as a ghoul can be. Matter of perspective, probably.

Near Girdershade

[repair] A talisman would make it a lot less complicated, just shove some more spare parts into it. Plus Mach would have some other stuff to help.

"I've got some patches if it's important," the ghoul states still being angry/intimidating at Swift. Of course rad absorption if anypony applies them might be an issue.

Near Girdershade - Apparently, Gravity CAN Stop the Smooze

"Alright, a sparkle battery and some patches. I can work with that."

Swift doesn't seem fazed in the slightest when a knife is brandished at her! Mostly because she's kinda an expert in Fallen Caesar and could probably break a fair number of Mach's bones before he could even get a second strike in. :smalleek::smalltongue:

Similarly, this particular ghoul doesn't notice Fizz because she's somewhat focused on fixing up that Radiation suit before the smooze leaks out again. It wasn't really clear whether Mach was actually handing Swift the battery or not, so I'm operating on the assumption that he did so she's doing something other than standing around.

At any rate, radiation suits are not made from natural fabrics because that wouldn't do much of anything. They're made from lead, synthesized fabrics, and plastics. As such, most of the stuff should be able to be melted back together with something as hot as a short-circuiting Sparkle battery.

With the help of patches, this should be a fairly fast and efficient repair job, though it's slowed down somewhat by the fact that Swift is still being extra careful not to accidentally touch any of the smooze. She may not have to worry about her own rad count too much, but it's probably best if she doesn't take any more than she has to from the pony who desperately needs it. A minute or two later, the Ghoul starts talking again.

"Alright, I think I got all the leaks. How do ya feel?"

By now, since Mach, at least, is probably somewhat familiar with ghouls, he might notice that something looks just a bit off about Swift. Her eyes are placed just a little bit wrong, her coloration seems just a bit strange, and she's a bit too thin to have been an Earth Pony. Subtle things, but somepony who sees a lot of ghouls and can recognize patterns might notice them.

Chaotic Bob

2012-11-26, 12:18 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

"Six years...that is a long time for a group to be working together."
This seems as good a time as any for some origin stories, no?
Down thinks so.

But then, she just wants something to think about that isn't awful.

Meeting friends probably isn't awful, right?
"Did everypony get invited by saving older members?"

Benson

2012-11-26, 04:15 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Flim&Flam's Penthouse]

"Waaaahaa....!" Gwendolyn sprung wide awake sitting up as the cub pounced on her face.

Lycan 01

2012-11-26, 04:47 AM

Tenpony Tower - Flim & Flam's Penthouse

Gwendolyn suddenly sitting up and screaming from the corner of the room doesn't go unnoticed.

A trio of stallions shriek in response, all four voices howling in surprised fear. There's a loud thud as Flam staggers backwards and flops on his back, while Flim ducks behind Lucky. Interestingly, the two brothers are bereft of their normal thick, heavy coats, hats, and trader garb, instead clad in casual sweater vests and undershirts. Their candy-cane red manes are combed and organized (though Flam's is slightly tussled by the floor), though Flim is wearing a small fedora.

Lucky himself... may not be easily recognizable.

The brown-furred stallion is no longer wearing his well-worn vest or battered old hat. Instead, it would seem he has somehow found himself clad in what looks like a nice, black suit, with a white undershirt and red tie. His mane appears to have been washed and combed, and actually styled to make him look somewhat proper and presentable. And most noteworthy of all, his bandages are (finally!) gone, revealing the face of a dashing young stallion who... still has scars?

Yes, it would seem that while the majority of Lucky's handsome face has been restored, there are still a few small nicks and scratches across his muzzle. Though, they're not much of a detraction; in fact, some mares may even think they make him look even more dashing and roguish. Still, odd that those small scratches remained, even though the rest of the horrific damage has been undone.

Once he's stopped screaming and recovered his wits, Lucky flashed his characteristic crooked grin and Gwendolyn. Though, it looks a bit warmer and more charming, now that he doesn't look like a mutilated mummy. "Er, good morning, Miss Gwendolyn," he greets her amicably, his voice sounding slightly more strong and confident than it usually does. "Nice to see you and Sir Lyons are getting along."

"Good morning Miss Gwendolyn!" Flim and Flam both echo Lucky, as Flim steps out from behind the pegasus and Flam staggers up off the floor.

"We gave you a blanket so you wouldn't be cold," Flim beams.

Flam gestures a hoof at Lucky. "And we gave Mister Lucky a suit so he could look sexy and impress that Enclave gal," he remarked with a sly smirk.

Lucky's eye crooked grin turns into a flat, deadpan expression, and his right eye gives a slight twitch. Clearly, this was not the first jab they'd made at him regarding the pegasus mare...

Rebonack

2012-11-26, 11:46 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Flim&Flam's Penthouse]

All the screeching seems to have upset Lyons and sent the cub fleeing under a nearby sofa. Probably going to need that broom again to get him out. Hide from all those crazy noisy ponies!

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Oh HO! Now that's an interesting question.

"Hehe... not all the time," the changeling replies wistfully. "It all started with Sour before anypony called her Sour. The sandwich thing came later. That was Corn's idea. Anyway, she has lived here at the tower for a long time. She hasn't ever told me exactly what it was that inspired her, but one day she got fed up with watching the Wasteland slowly rot and decided to do something about it."

How very noble.

"So she set off to find like-minded ponies to help her," Swiss continues. "Moondancer found Foresight first. Foresight had only been out of her Stable for maybe three days and she was already causing a whole lot of grief for the local Raiders and Bandits. Moondancer helped her put down this gang that was 'protecting' a village and they became fast friends."

Nothing like violence as a great way to meet somepony.

"Corned Beef was next. They saved him from... a really bad situation. None of them have ever really talked about it in detail. So it's probably something they don't want to remember."

Considering the sorts of stuff the team has persevered through that's saying quite a bit.

"I was picked up along with Island in the Sky. We met the rest of the team in an abandoned Stable that also happened to be a death trap. Most of them are. We pooled our resources and our wits and escaped with all of our organs intact. Since then we've been having adventures and doing our best to improve the Wasteland for everypony in whatever small way we can."

Luka

2012-11-26, 11:55 AM

[Girdershade]

Gleamy also pops out from the door to look outside, trying to get a glance of the others.

"Can you see them?"

[tag: Lycan]

----------------------------------------------------

[Buckling Cross]

"Alright, here" she would just give him the power armor helmet, then put off the rest of the armor to give it to him.

[tag: MCerberus]

Benson

2012-11-26, 04:13 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Flim&Flam's Penthouse]

Gwenny was a little too out of it to hear most of what they said past greetings and stuff.

"Huh?....ah..morning.." The bedraggled and feather mussed griffon lamely said. "Mister Lucky...? Is that really you?" Wow, he looked, different, and kinda handsome.

MCerberus

2012-11-26, 04:31 PM

Manehatten - Bucklyn Cross

The quartermaster gives a critical look at the power armor, seeing what the knight did to the precious stuff. It's a whole chain of ponies yelling at ponies if something's damaged.

"Alright we'll have a kit for you in the morning. Combat, metal, or leather barding?"

Lycan 01

2012-11-26, 07:13 PM

Girdershade - Museum

"Nope!" Fizz cheerfully proclaims. "It's dark outside. I think I see some blue light over there. Maybe it's somepony else like me who drank too much Sparkle Cola Quantum?"

---
Tenpony Tower - Flim & Flam's Penthouse

Lucky grins and chuckles heartily. "Oh what, do I really look that different?" he remarks with a playful smirk. "Is it the suit? It must be the suit."

Chaotic Bob

2012-11-26, 11:14 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Baaaackground information!
It's useful.

Down has settled into a vaguely comfortable, slightly awkward-looking, position on the bed while Swiss tells her little story.
A better place to listen.

"Violent meetings...sounds close enough to saving each other.
Although I guess I'm kind of surprised they didn't find you trying to throw a party or something."
Seems obnoxiously eager to make friends enough to throw a party in the Wasteland.

Benson

2012-11-27, 02:45 AM

Tenpony Tower - Flim & Flam's Penthouse

Lucky grins and chuckles heartily. "Oh what, do I really look that different?" he remarks with a playful smirk. "Is it the suit? It must be the suit."

"That and the face," She wanly smiled staring at the dork that was Lucky Break. "You look nice, though I think I'm starting to miss your old mug already."

Lycan 01

2012-11-27, 02:55 AM

Tenpony Tower - Flim and Flam's Penthouse

Lucky chuckles. "You know, I actually thought about keeping the bandages on, so I could mess with you and tearfully claim that the operation was a total failure. Y'know, just to see how you'd respond and react when I took 'em off," he remarks with a mischievous smirk.

"We told him you'd break his face again," Flam snickers.

"And then he really would have to put the bandages back on," Flim grins.

"Yes, that was a deciding factor..." Lucky deadpans.

Benson

2012-11-27, 03:08 AM

"Hey, I technically didn't really break his face, it came pre-broken, Flam. I just didn't help matters," She gave him a faux stern look.

"Well anyways, Mister Lucky, I'm glad you survived the procedure and didn't come back with your face half missing." She said feigning a serious business tone, though it was hard to tell, as usual, if she was really feigning it.

Lycan 01

2012-11-27, 04:04 AM

Tenpony Tower - Flim and Flam's Penthouse

Lucky grins. "Yes, thank goodness for that. Took a bunch of fancy regeneration and reconstruction spells. Really glad I was unconscious for it, since apparently it hurts like a bitch if you're even remotely awake," he explains with a shrug.

He then flashes a grin. "Oh, and they poked around in my brain. Turns out I still had a few little bits of bullet stuck in there! Should solve the memory problems at least. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff I can recall now!" he excitedly proclaims. "Enclave code-talk, how to field dress an evisceration, ten ways to please a unicorn, how to make incendiary rifle rounds, and I finally remember the most important thing of all! The key ingredient to my special barbeque sauce recipe!" he chimes, rubbing his forehooves together excitedly.

Flim and Flam both stare.

"Barbeque sauce, you say?" Flim asks curiously.

"Ten ways?" Flam mutters. "I only know seven..."

"Shut up, Flam," Flim deadpans. "We're not having this conversation."

Flam shrugs. "I wasn't gonna ask. Not with Miss Gwendolyn around, at least."

Benson

2012-11-27, 10:21 AM

"Do memory issues really work that way?...It smells so Fillywood-like." She commented rhetorically she also actively ignored Flam's comment. "Well anyways, I'm glad your happy with your memory thing and bbq sauce. Oh right...that jacket, should be ready sometime this morning-afternoon. I went to the one named Miss Lace."

Luka

2012-11-27, 10:34 AM

[Girdershade]

"Uh... I don't think that would be the most probable.."
She's still pretty worried

[tag: Lycan]

------------------------------------------

[Buckling cross]

She doesn't talk for a while, though she's actually thinking which to choose, then eventually
"Combat"

[tag: MCerberus]

Lycan 01

2012-11-27, 12:32 PM

Tenpony Tower - Flim and Flam's Penthouse

"Do memory issues really work that way?...It smells so Fillywood-like." She commented rhetorically she also actively ignored Flam's comment. "Well anyways, I'm glad your happy with your memory thing and bbq sauce. Oh right...that jacket, should be ready sometime this morning-afternoon. I went to the one named Miss Lace."

Lucky shrugs. "Beats me, but I totally remember some crazy stuff now. I'll whip up some of that barbeque later, once I have the right stuff. I'll need some Sparkle Cola, a few various plants and spices I can probably find in one of the food stores here, and some radscorpion venom."

"Wut," Flim and Flam both deadpan.

Lucky gives another shrug. "Boil most of it out, and it gives the sauce an extra bit of zing. Plus, it leaves your mouth pleasantly tingly."

Flim and Flam both look like they can't tell if he's joking or not.

Lucky then blinks a few times as his mind catches up with something. "Wait, the jacket? You actually found somepony who could fix it? Oh, thank you!" he proclaims enthusiastically, his eyes lighting up with excitement. "Thank you very much, Miss Gwendolyn. How much was the cost? We can drop by after breakfast to go see if it's ready."

He then looks around. "Oh, right, I already told the boys, but it seems we were invited to have breakfast with those Ruben Sandwich ponies. Would you like to attend?"

---
[Girdershade]

"Uh... I don't think that would be the most probable.."
She's still pretty worried

[tag: Lycan]

Fizz frowns. "Maybe we should go check it out? Or you? Aren't alicorns supposed to be great and powerful?" she asks obliviously.

Benson

2012-11-27, 01:49 PM

PurityIcekiller

2012-11-27, 03:48 PM

Lycan 01

2012-11-27, 03:58 PM

Tenpony Tower - Flim and Flam's Penthouse

"Don't worry about the cost, it was nothing, pocket change really," She said with a small smile, she then looked at the twins before they could say anything on it and raised her brow at them sternly.

"Anyways, sure, I would like to go have breakfast."

Lucky narrows his eyes, and studies Gwendolyn for a moment while wearing a wry smirk. "Pocket change. Uh huh. Well, if you say so," he muses with an idle shrug. "I'll be sure to buy you a new bottle of whiskey for your trouble. Something nice. That we won't share," he grins cheekily.

The pegasus flares his wings to make sure the suit has been properly ruined modified to accommodate them, and pokes at his tie to make sure it's straight. "So I look good?" he mutters.

"Yup!" Flim nods. "Very much so."

"Quite fancy," Flam grins.

Flim raises an eyebrow. "Haven't you ever worn a suit before, Mister Lucky?"

The pegasus shrugs. "Not since about a decade ago," Lucky replies in an offhand manner. "Never really been one for dressing fancy and looking nice. Granted... never really had the chance."

"Well now you do!" Flim exclaims with an excited flail of his arms.

"Yeah," Flam nods, before grinning wickedly. "And Miss Down will probably think you look quite snazzy."

Lucky groans. "Pleeeease just be quiet about her... I'm not try to seduce Down, honest."

Flam gives a dismissive wave of his hoof. "Alright, fine..."

Flim nudges Flam. "Yeah, drop it. Obviously he's not interested in her." Lucky breaths a small sigh of relief. "He's clearly got his eyes on that other pegasus gal. Swiss, I think her name was?"

Lucky's face becomes an amusing expression of indignance, confusion, and slight horror. "Bwuh?!" He turns to glare at the twins, before looking back at Gwendolyn and shaking his head. "Anyway. Miss Gwendolyn, shall we go? Or would you like a chance to freshen up a bit, maybe change attire? Flim and Flam were nice enough to let me use their shower, and I don't mind waiting around a bit if you want to grab one."

Flam begins to open his mouth, no doubt to make a mischievous remark about Lucky desiring to see Miss Gwendolyn after she's taken a shower. Flim and Lucky both give him a warning glare, and he opts to stay silent and smile sheepishly.

Benson

2012-11-28, 02:41 AM

Lycan 01

2012-11-28, 03:06 AM

Tenpony Tower - Flim and Flam's Penthouse

Gwendolyn went out of her way to ignore a certain subject only aknowledged by a very, subtle microscopic eye twitch. Did she really need to be asked if she wanted to freshen up? The girl was a mess, no thanks to a mischievous cub.

"Yes actually....I will take up that offer of a shower, see you afterwards Mister Lucky." And so she walked away to use their shower and grabbed herself a towel along the way. She needed a shower in general, having gone days on the journey here and before that....a very long time. Outside Tenpony Tower, showers were a tough thing to come by.

While Gwendolyn goes to get her shower, Lucky finds himself once again attended to by the twins, who insist on fussing over the suit they gave him and how to make him look best in it.

When Gwendolyn eventually emerges from the bathroom, Lucky is sitting on the sofa, looking more than a little exasperated. Flim and Flam are on either side of him, haranguing him with questions and comments. Most likely about those ten techniques he mentioned. His expression brightens, though, when Gwendolyn enters the room. It must be weird for her to finally be able to see his actual cheerful mug...

And regardless of whether or not she has her armor back on, Lucky does a wolf whistle and flashes a crooked smirk. Just to mess with her.

"Shall we be going then? I was able to get directions to Miss Moondancer's penthouse from some of the hospital staff," he explains. "I'm ready to go whenever you are."

Benson

2012-11-28, 03:51 AM

Tenpony Tower - Flim and Flam's Penthouse

Naturally she shot Lucky a glower and shook her head at his wolf whistle. Anyways, this time around she did not wear her chest armor since she didn't figure she would need if she was only gonna be having breakfast over there. She felt twenty something pound lighter and that was good. Though on the otherhand, without her chest armor she felt naked with her furry chest showing, which was a silly thought.

The shower was great, she hadn't felt this clean in ages.

"Mmm....Flim, Flam, could you two get me a bowl of water and an empty bowl. To leave aside for Sir Lyons of course." Gwen herself was going to give the cub that piece of iguana meat from before. She then turned to Lucky.

"Right after that Mister Lucky. And you don't have to get me a whiskey bottle, I rather not have New Appleloosa's shenanigans happen again."

Lycan 01

2012-11-28, 04:19 AM

Tenpony Tower - Flim and Flam's Penthouse

Flim and Flam nod and trot off to the kitchen to find the needed items.

Lucky smirks at Gwendolyn. "No worries. I'll be avoiding whiskey for quite awhile, and probably drinking in general. But if you want a bottle of something, just let me know. Maybe not whiskey, but I'm sure they've got some good scotch or vodka around here somewhere," he muses. "Seriously, it's the least I can do for helping me out with the jacket thing, and all the other trouble I've put you through."

Once Flim and Flam return with the needed items, Lucky hops up off the sofa and stretches. "Ooof. Well, off we go I suppose..."

And off the go! With Flam and Flam no doubt making subtle jabs and remarks at Lucky in regards to Down and Swiss all along the way...

A short while later, Moondancer shall hear a knock at the door of her penthouse. A peek through the peephole reveals Lucky has traded in his bandages and desperado garb for a suit and dashing good looks, Flim and Flam are wearing nice clothes for once and actually seem to be behaving, and Gwendolyn is dramatically less armored and armed than she was last time they met. It seems the trio of ponies and their griffin friend have shown up for breakfast, just as invited, and are waiting patiently for a response...

[Tag: Benson, Rebonak[/b]

Luka

2012-11-28, 10:30 AM

[Girdershade]

Fizz frowns. "Maybe we should go check it out? Or you? Aren't alicorns supposed to be great and powerful?" she asks obliviously.

"I'm supposed to be with you"
she says, also not showing much joy on the "great and powerful" part, that was what the others believed and made them be so self-righteouss

[tag: Lycan]

Rebonack

2012-11-28, 12:27 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

The door glows a soft pink for a moment before opening for the guests, Moondancer standing on the other side and smiling pleasantly. "Ah, friends. Right on time as well. Please, do come in."

As soon as that door is open a heavenly aroma is wafting out of the room. Corn has prepared meals and special treats for the well to do ponies of the tower on more than one occasion now and by this time his cooking is no doubt bordering on renowned. If that scent is any indication the rumors of his skills haven't been exaggerated in the least.

Foresight is seated on one of the nearby couches and Corn has sequestered himself off in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on the meal. Swiss is, of course, absent.

"Swiss is tending to Miss Feather's armor at the moment. And Miss Feather seems somewhat... uncomfortable to be out in the open without it. So it is doubtful that Miss Feather will be joining us. However-" the totally-not-a-ghoul pony coughs slightly before speak up. "Swiss Cheese, our guests have arrived."

She then nods to the ponies (and griffon), "Please by all means make yourselves comfortable."

Meanwhile!

Swiss laughs at the comment. "Heee... Parties haven't ever been my thing. You wouldn't believe how hard they are to set up out here in the Wasteland. Or... maybe you would? Anyway. Corn's best for that sort of thing 'cuz of his knack for finding food. Can't have a party without fancy food, right?"

And then comes Moondancer's voice from the other side of the door.

"Whoop. Sounds like Break and his friends are here. I'm... guessing you'll be staying in here, yeah?"

Benson

2012-11-28, 02:57 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Gwenny politely bowed her head as she stepped in. "Thank you for having us."

Lycan 01

2012-11-28, 03:28 PM

Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse

Lucky grins cheerfully. "Thank you for the invitation. I am glad we could make it."

Flim and Flam both nod respectfully. "Thanks, Miss Moondancer," they politely state in unison.

As Lucky trots in, he pauses as the delicious aromas of real cooking hit him like a ton of bricks.

Food food food food food food food foo-

The suited stallion snaps out of it, and grins even more. "Oh wow, that smells amazing!" he observes as he trots over to a free sofa. Once he's comfortable, he gives a small sigh. "Pity about Miss Down, but totally understandable. That armor is probably like a second skin to her and most other troopers. Seems logical that being without it would be... unpleasant," he frowns. He then gives a small shrug, and regains his smile. "At any rate, give her our regards."

Flim and Flam find a seat for themselves. At Lucky's mentioning of Down and her not being present for breakfast, Flam smirks and starts to open his mouth. Flim, though, gives him a warning glare, effectively informing him that now is not the time to jab at Lucky about Down, and his likely disappointment at her absence. Do instead, Flam just smiles and asks "So what's for breakfast?"

Chaotic Bob

2012-11-28, 09:17 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

A party does sound kind of nice.
They do exist in the Enclave, among the civilians, although they're rather...tame.
Limited resources don't allow for true extravagance.

Down look at the door for a moment, before nodding and settling her head down on the bed.
"I think I'll just take a nap. I feel...tired."

Looks the part too. She hasn't done much but lie there and eat, since her largely-failed attempts to stand up and move around properly, but apparently that was enough.

Rebonack

2012-11-28, 09:32 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Swiss just gives a nod, her horn flaring livid green as the changeling is replaced with a yellow pegasus mare. Seems she has managed to keep her disguises straight! That's always nice.

"Sleep well Down. Once we're done I'll sneak back in and get to work. Don't worry! I'll be super-duper quiet."

Super-duper quiet is something she's good at.

And then off through the door she goes before closing it behind her.

A hoof is waved at those gathered. "Hiya!"

As the mock-pegasus takes her seat Corn shortly arrives with several trays balanced perfectly on himself. How do earth ponies manage that anyway? With a skilled deftness he places the trays on the table and washes those gathered with a glorious scent.

Steam egg ready to be filled with omelet trimmings of a plethora of variety. Corned beef hash. And a single chocolate covered strawberry for each of them. "Dig in everypony!"

They do so.

"Hey Break! You got your mummy-face fixed. Feeling better?" Swiss pipes up with that weird grin of hers. She's taking very little food. Just enough so that her plate doesn't look empty.

"Have you given any thought to the next step in your enterprise?" Moondancer asks of the twins.

"So. Gwendolyn, right?" Foresight speaks up as she shovels a fair bit of delicious sustenance onto her plate. "How's that new little friend of yours doing?"

MCerberus

2012-11-28, 09:35 PM

Manehatten - Bucklyn Cross

"Great now I'll have your gear waiting just for you at no notice for-" The quartermaster facehoofs for a second. "It'll be ready for you, I just need to talk to your CO for pulling this horse-hockey on me."

Near Girdershade

Mach would help the patching up and also shoot radiation into the weird smooze-ghoul-thing. Whatever would help.

Lycan 01

2012-11-28, 09:51 PM

Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse

Lucky returns Swiss' greeting and wave with a wave of his own and a cheerful smile. "Morning Swiss."

When Corn brings out the food, Lucky's eyes go wide, and he can only stare. "Whoa..." he mutters, clearly not used to seeing real food.

And then it's time to eat! And converse!

Lucky looks up from his breakfast to flash a crooked grin at Swiss. "Oh yeah, I'm feeling a lot better. Face is back in one piece, other scars and wounds got fixed, and they even did a bit of brain surgery, so my memory issues have been resolved. Yup, definitely a step up..." he sighs contently, before resuming his meal.

Flim and Flam are quite enjoying their breakfast, but take a moment to answer Moondancer. "Oh, we're working on getting our own business," Flim answers.

"Nearly everything we sell belongs to our uncle," Flam sighs.

"We've been saving up caps, making connections."

"Hopefully before too long, we'll be able to get our own storefront or caravan."

"No idea what we'll sell."

"Doesn't matter, though."

"We just want the independence."

"And the bragging rights."

"Money is nice, too!"

"Oh yes, quite nice..."

The two twins grin, then go back to eating until further questions.

Benson

2012-11-29, 02:00 AM

Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse

Gwendolyn was slightly startled to be spoken to, she wasn't quite expecting it, she was expecting to sit around the background and just observe. The scent of the food pleasantly hit her nostrils especially the corned beef hash.

Anyways, surprise conversation.

"Oh..ah..I suppose he's doing alright, turning out to be a mini house terror though." She half mumbled the last part.

Rebonack

2012-11-29, 12:46 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Ha!

Can't just show up here, eat food, and expect to escape without any chatting! That just wouldn't be right. Gotta be social in situations like these.

"Good to hear that he hasn't gotten tossed out of the tower. Do you and mister Break have any new jobs lined up yet?" Foresight continues.

As for Moondancer, she taps her chin thoughtfully. "The sale of that talisman should help quite a bit in that regard. The whole reason I was willing to part with it in fact. I suspect some friendly competition is exactly what your uncle's business needs."

Swiss picks at her food. It totally looks like she's eating! A little. The changeling is doing her best not to make any odd faces whilst eating a meal that should taste delicious and instead tastes like soggy ash. "It's certainly an improvement! The mummy-face look really wasn't very flattering to tell you the truth, Break. I think this looks way better!" she sticks another morsel in her mouth. "So... what sort of memories did you get back? Anything interesting?"

Lycan 01

2012-11-29, 01:42 PM

Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Pad

Flim and Flam answer for Lucky and Gwendolyn. "Well, we only needed them to get us home," Flim explains.

Flam nods. "So, job's over, I suppose. Mind you, we'd love for them to continue helping us out."

"It'll be a few days before our next caravan run, though," Flim explains, before turning to Moondancer. "Also, thanks again for the talisman."

"We think we might be able to sell it to Helpinghoof for quite a few caps," Flam grins.

"Or, we could try to instal it into some combat armor," Flim smirks. "That would sell like nopony's business."

Lucky munches on his breakfast a bit, mulling over his response. "Well, I don't have any specific plans. Well, I've got a map to a slaver camp somewhere here in the city, so I intend to scope that out sometime in the next few days. See what's going on there," he muses, curiously poking at the corned beef. "If we're sure we can handle it, me and Gwendolyn may try to throw a wrench in their operation." He looks up and grins at the band of adventurers. "You're welcome to join in the fun, if you want."

He then turns to look at Swiss, and gives a crooked smirk. "I think this looks better, too," he muses, before flashing a charming grin. "And thanks for the compliment."

As for her question about memories, his expression soon grows pensive. He remembered... a lot of things. Stuff with his dad, stuff with the Legion, old missions, old friends, old pains, old sins... The suited pegasus gives a shrug of his shoulders and wings. "Eh, just stuff. Some neat tricks my dad taught me, my old barbeque sauce recipe, and a few Deadland drinking songs. Just silly little memories I'd forgotten, thanks to time and bullet fragments," he explains in a seemingly aloof manner.

Silly Lucky. Don't you remember that Changelings can read emotions? Swiss may have detected a slight spike in regret, trepidation, guilt, and other subtly negative emotions coming from Lucky before his memory-oriented response. Who knows, she may even pick up on the fact that his response is guarded and slightly uncomfortable, like he doesn't want to go into too much detail.

Benson

2012-11-29, 04:07 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Gwendolyn opened her mouth to answer the question directed at her when Flim and Flam decided to sneak in a response. Then she tried again and was cut off as Lucky answered. She sat back and picked up a fork and softly sighed as she took a stab at the corned beef hash, skewering potatos until there was no more space on her fork kebob. She then occupied her mouth with the best she could do at chewing, which was no easy task.

Rebonack

2012-11-29, 07:42 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

"Custom suits of powered armor are quite the rarity. Assuming one hasn't simply taken one from the Steel Rangers," Moondancer replies. "And of course that has its own difficulties... The Rangers aren't exactly keen on others wearing their armor."

Great excuse to get shot.

"I suspect simply selling the talisman will be your best course of action."

And changelings... They don't read emotions. Reading implies a sort of visual acuity for them. It's more like... smell? Taste? Feel? Regardless Swiss can tell that memory lane is a bit rocky and decides to steer clear of that. Doesn't even think twice about it, truth be told. Only natural for a changeling to try to steer things in a direction where happiness and love abounds.

"Barbeque sauce?" Swiss asks curiously, shooting a sidelong glance at Corn. The mock-pegasus has no idea what that is.

"Fer puttin' on grilled or roasted meat, Swiss."

"Ooooh... I guess that's an important thing to remember?" she sounds somewhat incredulous. Of course making things extra tasty makes little difference to her. Any kind of pony food tastes equally reprehensible to the changeling. "Anyhoof... Slaver camp. Any particular reason you want to put 'em down?" she inquires. "Or is this just some old fashioned righteous retribution?"

[Outside Girdershade]

Whoops. Seems Rebo was waiting on Pirate who was waiting on Rebo...

Anywho, on with the show!

With the suit sealed the smooze pegasus shakily rises to her oozy hooves. "Thanks... I just feel a little woozy is all. I think I lost too much radiation..."

She takes a few tentative steps forward and stumbles, scarcely catching herself and preventing a face-plant into a cactus.

Lycan 01

2012-11-29, 08:15 PM

Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Pad

Flim and Flam smile. "Oh, well, we didn't mean power armor," Flim explains.

Flam chuckles. "Yeah, we don't have any of that laying around, and we're not that stupid."

"Combat armor would probably suffice," Flim shrugs. "The buyer probably won't care what type of armor it is, anyway."

"Yup," Flam nods. "The fact that it magically heals them would be the main thing they care about."

Derpy as they may be, Flim and Flam actually know a thing or two about business...

Lucky chuckles. "Actually, barbeque sauce can go on just about anything, depending on your tastes. Roasted or grilled things, yes, but also sandwiches or just as a dipping sauce to add flavor to other meals. Gives a good kick to even the most bland old things..."

At the inquiry into his intentions for the slavers, Lucky just gives an idle shrug. "Just seems like the right thing to do. If nopony else does anything about it, they'll just keep enslaving and brutalizing innocent folks. What's that say about me, if I actually have the chance to help, and do nothing? Though you could also say I have a bit of a bone to pick with slavers, yes," he observes somewhat vaguely.

TheAmishPirate

2012-11-29, 08:48 PM

[Near Girdershade]

Well, this is fantastic. At least they're salvaging themselves after that little mishap there, but now I'm getting ignored and caught between ponies that could kill me just by standing next to me. I wish I knew more than two spells.

Violetta swiftly stepped behind Fleetwing and nudged him back forward. "Hold it. You're going to apologize and explain yourself to the creature that you just nearly murdered, aren't you?"

[Outside Girdershade]

Whoops. Seems Rebo was waiting on Pirate who was waiting on Rebo...

Anywho, on with the show!

With the suit sealed the smooze pegasus shakily rises to her oozy hooves. "Thanks... I just feel a little woozy is all. I think I lost too much radiation..."

She takes a few tentative steps forward and stumbles, scarcely catching herself and preventing a face-plant into a cactus.

(Argh. Apologies for the mix-up then.)

With the suit on, at least Fleetwing could pretend there was a normal pegasus ghoul standing before him. And that was enough to not send him into mad, run-screaming-into-the-night panic. Neither was Violetta suddenly shoving him forward; that merely elicited a rather girlish yelp. He dug in his hooves to stay clear of the danger zone, and shot Violetta what was supposed to be a withering glare, but it instead withered into a pleading stare. "J-just hold your horseshoes, I-I was get-tting to that."

Pushy fillies aside, apologies were a good way to not get shot in retribution for misfires. The other was running, which was his backup plan if the ghouls were in a vengeful mood tonight. Gulping down a load of nerves, he cleared his throat. "S-s-s-sorry for the fire, j-just was following up Swift's shot. Thought yo-you was an ali-alicorn."

Rebonack

2012-11-29, 09:47 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Foresight remains silent for a time as she ponders the new information before asking the griffon another question. "So you and Lucky Break are mercenaries then? Are you with the Talons?"

Whoops! The pony might have just stumbled into a minefield with that one.

"Hmm... Installing the talisman properly into the armor would require a fair bit of technical know-how. Do you know anypony who would be able to aid you in that endeavor?" Moondancer replies to the twins.

Swiss begins waving a hoof around. "Betcha I could do it. After I finish Down's armor of course. That's already a doozy of a project. If I didn't know better I would guess that she got thrashed pretty hard in the Everfree Forest. Frankly she's fortunate to be alive."

The Everfree Forest isn't a very nice place.

Then a nod regarding the slavers. "Yeah... they cause some real grief. Ever since that Red Eye creep started up his public works projects he's been sucking up most of the slaves in the Wasteland."

Lycan 01

2012-11-29, 10:22 PM

Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Pad

Lucky's smile falters slightly at the mention of Talons. The question's not directed at him, though, nor is it really his place to jump in and answer it. So he leaves it to Gwendolyn, certain that she'll have a polite reaction and response. Hopefully.

Flim and Flam smile at the offer of assistance. "That would be very much appreciated," Flim nods.

"We can get our hooves on some decent combat armor quite easily," Flam grins.

"Or at least, the pieces we lack," Flim shrugs.

"We've managed to piecemeal together some weapons and outfits over our runs," Flam explains.

"Our uncle keeps tabs on most of the gear we buy and sell," Flim rolls his eyes.

Flam grins. "But he doesn't notice a shoulder pad here or a rifle stock there."

Lucky frowns slightly. "I actually didn't know much about Red Eye 'til I left the Deadlands a few weeks ago. His influence down there is virtually non-existent. Granted, Legion picks up the slack for that, though," he grumbles.

"As for Down, all I can say is damn. Even down in the Deadlands, we know how bad the Everfree Forest is. Yeah, she's pretty lucky. I'm surprised you can fix her armor, though. That's some very advanced technology." Lucky narrows his eyes, and smirks playfully. "Impressive that you know so much about something so rare and fancy. It's not very often that I meet a friendly mare with both looks and brains. And a pegasus, no less." He pauses, before flashing a crooked grin. "You're not an Enclave spy or something, are you?" he jokingly accuses.

Hey, she commented on his new looks, it's only fair that he return the favor with a little silly flirting of his own.

Benson

2012-11-30, 12:52 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

"No, I am not associated with the Talons," Gwendolyn said rather tensely, her left talon curling into a fist for a second. In regards to the flirting, she subtly rolled her eyes and shook her head.

Rebonack

2012-11-30, 01:03 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Well. That was a terse reply. "Ah... independent mercenary then?"

"I would be cautious about that..." Moondancer replies slowly at the mention of stealing bits and pieces of armor. "You know the rules here in the tower are rather strict regarding anything that could be construed as thievery."

Whoop.

Sounds like she doesn't approve.

At the mention of 'spy' Swiss grins a wide grin. "Oh no! You've got me pegged, Break. That's exactly what I am. An Enclave spy sent to snoop the surface. That's why I'm poking around in forsaken Stables and getting shot at by killer robots. But now I'm found out! How ever can I convince you not to give away my sordid secret?"

Lycan 01

2012-11-30, 01:31 PM

Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Pad

Flim and Flam's eyes go wide. "No no no!" they both protest.

"We're not stealing anything!" Flim vehemently denies.

"We buy or find it while out trading," Flam explains with a nervous smile.

"Our uncle keeps a close eye on how much we buy and sell, and doesn't let us keep most of the inventory or profits we bring back," Flim sighs. "But if we manage to scrounge up a few caps by finding them or making a really good deal, and use them to buy a few small bits of junk to keep for ourselves, he doesn't notice or care."

"So we can bring in individual little bits of armor or equipment, and slowly over time put it all together to make full, intact gear. Once we have enough stuff stockpiled, we can sell it all and use the money to start our own business," Flam says with an excited smile.

"No more living under our uncle's shadow and crazy rules. No matter how much profit we earn caravan runs, he only pays us just enough to cover the bills. Oh, but if we have a bad run, he's totally fine with paying us less," Flim grumbles with a roll of his eyes.

"Jerk..." Flam huffs, before returning to his meal.

"But no, we're not thieves. Just... y'know... savy businessponies," Flim mutters as he goes back to his breakfast, a slight bit of dejection noticeable in his voice. Whether it's because the accusations of being a thief, or a lack of confidence in his mercantile abilities and/or plan, is unclear...

Lucky listens to the two youths for a bit, before turning back to Swiss and grinning roguishly. "Aha! I knew it. That explains why you've been so nice to me. Don't worry though. I'm sure I could be convinced to keep your secret, somehow," he remarks with a playful smirk and a mischievous wink. All in good fun, of course.

Benson

2012-11-30, 03:41 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

"Yes," She replied to the independent mercenary stuff. Best conversationalist ever? Totally. Okay not really. She fidgted with her fork and kebobed some potatoes.

"What...of you?..what do you do?.." She asked not trying to be rude by making Foresight be the one to ask all the questions.

MCerberus

2012-11-30, 04:56 PM

Near Girdershade

Mach continues glaring, but then seems to think that there is the outside chance there are Alicorns. He can see better with his goggles on due to its old enchantment. He's still rather angry about the whole 'shooting at him and successfully at somepony else' thing.

"And why would you care? They, ah, usually ignore us."

Rebonack

2012-11-30, 06:32 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

"Ah. That is far more wholesome than the description you first gave. Thank you," Moondancer replies. "I had no intention of accusing you of thievery. Your description of your activities simply left... unwelcome room for interpretation."

No kidding.

"A suit of healing armor should place you well on your way toward your goals I suspect. I'm sure Corn can attest to how useful such a thing is."

"Darn tootin'!" the huge earth pony speaks up. "Ya get yerself into a rough line of work and it can be a real life-saver, let me tell ya."

On to other matters! Like flirting. All in good fun of course. Probably a good thing that Flim and Flam are distracted at the moment. Otherwise there would no doubt be running commentary from the peanut gallery. "I'm not allowed to be nice to a dashing stallion on principle alone?" Swiss pouts. "You wound me Break! You truly do. But I'm so fortunate that you're feeling merciful. Whatever could I do to ensure your silence about my imaginary superiors?"

The mock-pegasus offers a coy grin. Her Glamor is steadily ramping up, making her seem more... desirable in stallion's eyes. Or in mare's if they swing that way.

Foresight catches the tell-tale signs of the changeling reeling somepony in. Unfortunately that kind of reaction to flirting is more or less instinctual to her friend. Having somepony around to jab Swiss and point out that she's doing it can come in quite useful. Hmm... How to breach it too her though...

Which distracts her slightly from Gwen's question. "Oh! Eeerr... We're scavengers for the most part. Digging into forgotten bits of the Wasteland and coming out with treasures. And doing our best to try to amke it a little safer for everypony else in the process."

Lycan 01

2012-11-30, 06:54 PM

Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Pad

Lucky reflects Swiss' coy grin with a roguish grin of his own, playing the charming scoundrel archetype to the hilt. "Pshaw, I know you're stronger than that to be emotionally maimed by an imperceptive rhetorical slight," he remarks with a playful wave of a hoof.

Flim and Flam both do a double-take. Since when is Mister Lucky this charismatic and smart-sounding? Was he like this before his accident? Maybe that surgery wasn't such a good idea...

"As for ensuring my silence. Well..." A wickedly sly smirk spreads across his features, and he narrows his eyes mischievously. [Lady Killer] "Well, it can be either earned or bought, and I am sure you would have no complaints with either. Perhaps you could simply allow me to further enjoy your delightful company and charming personality? Or maybe we could share a nice dinner together, and watch the non-existent sunset over the war-scorched cityscape? Or if you're up for it, we could go disrupt a slaver operation and be heroes together. You seem like the sort of mare who enjoys a bit of... fun," he remarks with a wink.

Yup, the Glamour is slowly turning his flirting from silly to sincere.

Flim and Flam are both staring incredulously now.

BladeofObliviom

2012-11-30, 07:02 PM

Near Girdershade

"A friend ran off into a blind panic. His hoofprints stopped here, abruptly. No drag marks, no dust pile, not even an attempt to avoid whatever was coming. He was a Unicorn, too. All the evidence points to an Alicorn attack."

Swift puts a hoof behind her head and shrinks down just a bit.

"When I saw a light up in the air, I jumped to conclusions. No offense, but Pegasus ghouls are a whole lot less common than Alicorns, present company excluded. Glowing ones, even more so."

TheAmishPirate

2012-11-30, 11:17 PM

Near Girdershade

"A-and we got another unicorn with us too," he motioned to Violetta. "They m-might've made him spill the beans on all of us, and were lying in wait t'snatch her up too." The alicorn story made so much sense, that the thought of the glowing light monster was all but dismissed as hogwash. Weirder things had happened in the Wastes.

Benson

2012-12-01, 02:57 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

"How noble," She commented in regards to the latter half of the answer. She was finding it really hard to ignore to Lucky's blatant flirting. Worse, she couldn't figure out why she even cared to let the thought pass her mind. "Mmm..so...how did your group come together if you don't mind my asking?"

PurityIcekiller

2012-12-01, 05:43 AM

[Ah, But She Can't Take You Anywhere You Don't Already Know How To Go]

Violetta nodded. "Like they said. I was just trying to get things figured out myself when they opened fire. I didn't jump to the conclusion that you were alicorns, but I think there's a possibility that alicorns are involved." She was mostly going by what the others had said, since she didn't know enough to draw her own conclusions.

"Anyway, I'm sorry for the mishap. I might have stopped it, but I was a little... tied down at the time." She glanced at Fleetwing, but then her glare softened. "Well, at least you mean well, 'Fleety'."

Rebonack

2012-12-01, 11:58 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Foresight seems a bit distracted from the griffon's question due to the aforementioned flirting. Though for slightly different reasons. "Ah... That was mostly Moondancer. She set off and found us by chance one by one. Travel the Wastes long enough trying to do good and you'll find like-minded ponies. Or, y'know. Die trying. I'm pretty glad our ongoing adventure has turned out nonlethal for the most part."

Not getting killed is always a plus. The earth pony waves a hoof. "One second. Swiss."

Swiss Cheese is busy locking eyes with Lucky and giving him a wane smile.

"Hey Swiss!"

The mock-pegasus blinks suddenly as if snapping out of a daze and glances over at Foresight. "Oh... uh... What?"

Foresight lifts a forkful of eggs to her mouth and begins to chew them very deliberately whilst staring at Swiss.

"Huh...? Oh. OH!" her eyes widen slightly and the Glamor is cranked down. Lucky may find himself feeling inexplicably fatigued all of a sudden... "Eerr... Yeah. I think we might be able to help with the whole slave camp thing. Maybe?"

[Near Girdershade]

Island frowns a bit at that recount of the story. A frowning smooze pony looks... disturbing. To say the least. "We saw the lights all the way out at Cloudsdale. They shot off into the sky way faster than I think anypony could ever possibly hope to fly. I haven't seen too many alicorns, though I doubt they could have done anything like that."

Lycan 01

2012-12-01, 12:13 PM

Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse

~splat~

Lucky is hit by a sudden wave of fatigue as Swiss drops her Glamour, and his head drops forward limply. Which leads to him landing face-first in a hot half-eaten omlet. "Blerk," he grunts, mind-swimming for a moment, before he suddenly sits back up and blinks a few times.

There is egg on his face, quite literally.

"Oh wow," he mutters weakly, reaching up to wipe the food from his muzzle with a napkin. "That was... weird. Feels like I got hit by a train or something. Must be a side-effect of the anesthesia they used on me or something..." he mutters, oblivious to the fact that Swiss was accidentally feeding on him. "I'm sorry, didn't mean to cause a scene. Um, what were we talking about? Bandits and barbeque sauce or something like that?" he asks, his blue eyes clearly showing his fatigue.

TheAmishPirate

2012-12-01, 12:26 PM

[Near Girdershade]

Fleetwing grumbled something unintelligible. Probably related to how his name wasn't 'Fleety'. Violetta calling him by that pet name of Fizz's felt all kinds of weird. Maybe they'd have to have a talk about what names like that usually meant...or maybe she'd figured it out and just wanted to watch him squirm. Either way, it meant more headaches for him.

Such minor gripes were instantly forgotten when Island mentioned the lights. The horrifying smooze-frown didn't help his composure one bit. "You saw them lights too?!" he blurted out before he could stop himself, his pale yellow face turning white with fear.

MCerberus

2012-12-01, 02:20 PM

Near Girdershade

Mach takes another look around, to try and see any alicorns or crazy lights, or curious ponies looking in. This whole thing is getting weirder. "The, ah, whatever it was was doing some pretty impressive flying. Alicorns are big, so I don't think they could be that agile."

BladeofObliviom

2012-12-01, 05:07 PM

Near Girdershade

Swift appears deep in thought.

"But... ...then..."

A proper pause with a look of dawning realization.

"...Violetta and I were indoors with Fizz, so of course we didn't see what happened."

More thinking. This new information must be cross-referenced for a correct conclusion.

"It could be some kind of new Enclave weapon test, for retrieving materials from the surface without risking Pegasi. Or..."

At this point, her already cycling expression shifts to one of raw fear. This is definitely one that Fleetwing and Violetta haven't seen yet. What could possibly terrify Swift on this kind of level just from a story?

"...No, it has to be the Enclave. Has to be. For all our sakes."

Benson

2012-12-01, 05:28 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Gwendolyn sighed a little inside and rolled her eyes. "Perhaps Mister Lucky, you need a nap. Wouldn't want you look a total fool in front of the mare you're flirting with."

Rebonack

2012-12-01, 05:52 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

At the mention of flirting Swiss seems even more... embarrassed? Self conscious? than she did previously. One might get the impression that she had been getting carried away and hadn't meant to do that at all.

"The meds, right. Those things can really stick with you for a while," the mock-pegasus says with a nervous laugh.

"If the rest of the group agrees I think we can aid you in your endeavor mister Lucky Break," Moondancer pipes up to ward off any awkward silence. "A bit of planning ahead of time can go a long way after all. Knowing what we are getting into before we're up to our chests in bullets can be rather helpful."

Woohoo for planning?

[Near Girdershade]

Well.

These ponies seem to be getting increasingly agitated. And Island is getting the impression that the zebra ghoul might have other ideas as well. She did come here after all to figure out what was going on. Just dropping it wouldn't be any fun at all!

"Is there another possibility?" Island speaks up. "Something that isn't the work of the Enclave?"

Lycan 01

2012-12-01, 06:23 PM

Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Pad

Lucky looks around in confusion. "Oh, I was flirting?" he asks obliviously, before pausing to yawn. "Ugh. Who was I-" he pauses as he realizes, logically, who he'd be flirting with. And what she is. And what probably happens when you flirt with somepony (somechangling?) like her.

Lucky coughs, and grins nervously. "Right. Bandits. I mean slavers. Whatever," he crisply states. "One or two of us can go scout them out later. See what we're dealing with. Then we can, um, strategize. And stuff. But, um, first..."

He turns and gives Swiss a very sheepish and apologetic grin. "I would like to say that I am sooooo sorry. Those, uh, meds really, y'know... Made me more idiotic than usual. So, um, sorry for making things awkward, and being an idiot. Well, more of an idiot than usual, really," he mutters, casting a few nervous glances around the table as he tries to figure out a way to not make things worse, but at the same time try to fix things for both himself and Swiss. It's bad enough he feels like a train hit him, but poor Swiss probably isn't too happy that she just nommed on a friend.

Oh well. Not like he can make himself look any worse at this point...

The roguish pegasus gives another apologetic grin to Swiss. "Though, um, there is one tiiiiny thing I'd like to say. Um, for your ears only..." he says somewhat furtively. He gives a small wave of his hoof for her to lean closer, and then he in turn leans in to whisper in her ear. "Do you have a return policy?" he quietly asks, a hint of playful snark in his voice to show he's not being entirely serious, and is mostly just trying to put her at ease.

---
Girdershade

Fizz narrows her eyes. "I think they're talking..." she mutters. "Nopony's shooting anypony, at least..."

Benson

2012-12-02, 10:14 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Gwendolyn, it can be implied that she was rolling her eyes on the inside. It became too tiring at this point to physically roll her eyes everytime Lucky did something idiotic.

"Anyways, this corned beef hash is pretty good, hadn't had food as flavorful as this in a long time."

Rebonack

2012-12-02, 03:22 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Swiss leans over as Lucky gestures to her with a hoof and nods. "I can do that. It might be a little awkward though."

Hoo boy? What's that supposed to mean?

"Well Ah thank ya kindly, Miss Gwendolyn! Ah put mah heart and soul inta mah work and there's nothin' that pleases me more than knownin' it brightened up somepony's day. Or some griffon as the case may be," the huge earth pony replies with a grin. "Just darn near breaks mah heart seein' what folk have to live on in the Wasteland. I think-"

And then suddenly Swiss aims to throw her hooves around Lucky to pull him into a full-on kiss. Should she manage to get a hold on the pegasus she'll pour the stolen emotional magic back into him. The sheer rush of emotion will probably feel rather overwhelming.

The rest of TRSG! just gawks for the time being.

Benson

2012-12-02, 03:44 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Okay, even that got Gwendolyn's attention as she gawked at this blatant display, from her perspective, not knowing about this changeling business.

With a clatter she abruptly stood up and left the dining room. She would go find the restroom to hole up in.

Lycan 01

2012-12-02, 04:23 PM

Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Pad

Lucky's eyes go wide as he's pulled into a kiss before he can even protest. His eyes go even wider and his wings flare as pure positive emotion is forced into his system. The experience is... odd, to say the least. The whole time, he stares into Swiss' eyes with a mixture of stunned confusion, mild horror, and sheer derp.

Flam stares dumbfoundedly. Flim merely rolls his eyes in bemusement.

Once she breaks the kiss, Lucky sits there for a moment, wide-eyed, slack-jawed, and utterly stunned. And then...

"Yeehaw!" the pegasus suddenly proclaims enthusiastically, grinning from ear to ear. "That was amazing! I feel super-duper fantastically totally awesome-possum!" he exclaims way-too-cheerfully. Almost obnoxiously so. "Wowie-wow-wow howdy woohoo!" Okay, yeah, obnoxiously so.

Lucky suddenly turns to look towards the hallway or whatever Gwendolyn presumably stormed off towards to find a bathroom. "Oh dearie-deer-dear, she seems quite bothered..." he mutters, momentarily frowning.

That frown quickly disappears as the happy pegasus hops to his hooves. "I CAN FIX IT!!" he excitedly states with a massive grin. And with that, Fix-It Felix Junior Lucky skips off to follow Gwendolyn and find the bathroom she has locked herself in.

Flam continues to stare in awe and confusion.

Flim merely telekinetically raises his drink, takes a dainty sip, and aloofly muses: "But for me, it was a Tuesday..."

Rebonack

2012-12-02, 04:28 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

The reactions of TRSG! are mixed.

Foresight face-hoofs in exasperation.

Moondancer stifles a laugh with a cough.

And Corn busts up into peals of hearty laughter.

As for Swiss? Swiss is... feeling rather embarrassed right now. And she's doing her best to shrink down into her chair and vanish. The mock-pegasus quickly becomes quite difficult to maintain one's focus on. She's just simply below anypony's notice. No reason at all to pay attention to her. Very possibly without catching the eye of anypony she slinks off out of the dining room to go work on Down's armor some more.

Chaotic Bob

2012-12-02, 05:08 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Oh hey, Down is awake.

Sort of.

There's a tangled form underneath her blanket-cover, weakly brandishing her armor's detached tail in the direction of the door.
"Go invade...someone else's room..."

A slight sniffing noise and then the tail is dropped.
Back to sleep?

Rebonack

2012-12-02, 05:32 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Swiss...

Doesn't reply.

Nope. Just staying quiet this time around.

The changeling begins to tinker with the armor once again, doing her best not to rouse Down. Y'know. Any more than she's already roused her. Just going to sit here and do some work and not make a foal of herself.

Yep!

That is most certainly the thing which she is going to do.

Lycan 01

2012-12-02, 05:44 PM

Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse

Lucky finds the bathroom door, and raps a hoof on it a couple of times. "Gwendolyn?" he curiously calls out to her. "Are you okaaaaay? I'm sorryyyyyyy," he apologizes through the door, still audibly chipper. "I didn't meant to make everything all awkward. That was totally not the plan, I swear. Clearly I'm a lot better with mares than I remember, or something. Which is awesome. Except for right now. Right now it just makes everything weird. Didn't I mention I was sorry?"

Meanwhile, back in the living room...

Flim and Flam return to their meal. "Wow..." Flam mutters. "You know, I believed him when he bragged about being good with the mares, but... I didn't think he was that good..." he incredulously observes.

Flim doesn't even look up from his meal. "Eeeeyup."

Flam raises an eyebrow at Swiss' empty chair. "Wait, where did she go?"

Flim shrugs. "I think I heard a door close. She must have slipped away."

"Huh," Flam tilts his head to the side. "Guess I need to pay more attention. And ask Mister Lucky to teach me his ways."

Flim facehooves, before turning his attention back towards TRSG! and smiling sheepishly. "Breakfast is nice, by the way. Thanks again for inviting us. Even if our friends did make things... odd."

MCerberus

2012-12-02, 06:19 PM

Near Girdershade

Enclave huh? Well with that theory it's a good thing Mach is a ghoul then and not a real pegasus anymore. He is packing some tech on his hooves and over his eyes. "It's not like we know. That's what we came over to see before SOMEPONY ah, started shooting."

Manehatten - Bucklyn Cross

Barring any more conversation and questions with the quartermaster ((and we can retcon it in)), things in the base seem to be quieting down. For Scoops, the night passes by in a slightly-uncomfortable sleep with an uneasy and recently emptied stomach. Gotta love the rad-away.

The next morning, it seems that recon is meeting in the firing range. The squad leader Crusaders, the senior available members if they're unavailable, and even any potential new transfers are summoned in. The news has already been broken that the outreach troops have been spun off into their own 'squad' in recon because of recent events. Also they have gotten their hooves on Whadda's new gun and are trying it out.

TheAmishPirate

2012-12-02, 07:30 PM

[Near Girdershade]

Poor Fleetwing. Just two days ago, he was hot on the trail of a rare, high-powered hunting rifle. Now he was in the middle of nowhere, the dark night pressing in, and reality was stripping away his last illusions of security one by one. Even the new piece of hardware in his bags was feeling more like dead weight, a heavy mess of metal and wood to be thrown away as soon as danger neared.

He shrunk inwards, furtively glancing to and fro at the skies, looking for a sign of those lights. "I-I-It was like nothin' I ever saw before; a mass of lights just zipping through the sky. I'd j-j-just barely gotten in sight wh-when it up and hauled after me. I w-was sprinting a-and it still gained l-l-like it was nothing. Even wi-with all th' zigging and zagging it was doing. A-a-ain't nothing ever been able to d-d-do that. I tr-tripped right over th-there, I think," he pointed out the nearby skidmarks ending abruptly at a patch of cacti. "Bu-but all it did was shine these li-lights on me, and th-then it was gone. N-n-no trace of it. I thought I was s-s-s-seeing things..."

Apparently telling the tale hadn't helped him get over his fear one bit. Now he couldn't stop trembling, and he swore he could hear his own heartbeat in the eerie silence. "I-I-I don't suppose th-that rings any b-bells?" he asked Swift with an audible gulp.

Benson

2012-12-03, 12:22 AM

Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse

Lucky finds the bathroom door, and raps a hoof on it a couple of times. "Gwendolyn?" he curiously calls out to her. "Are you okaaaaay? I'm sorryyyyyyy," he apologizes through the door, still audibly chipper. "I didn't meant to make everything all awkward. That was totally not the plan, I swear. Clearly I'm a lot better with mares than I remember, or something. Which is awesome. Except for right now. Right now it just makes everything weird. Didn't I mention I was sorry?"

Gwendolyn stood in front of the mirror feeling foolish about this. She couldn't even logically explain away her actions that fooled her enough. She just felt annoyed. And then Lucky and his much too chipper sounding apology making it sound insincere.

"Just leave me be Mister Lucky Break, can't I have a moment of privacy to take care of embarrassing digestive business?" She fibbed.
==

Manehatten-Scav Post- Time Unknown

Meanwhile, Fox Trot, to those on the outside, a day would have passed as the mocha stallion would continue to be trapped within his memories. A number of unpleasant things would have happened to his body while he was under.

BladeofObliviom

2012-12-03, 11:03 AM

[Near Girdershade]

If Swift was being evasive before, she might as well be gone now as Mach and Island keep pushing for information. Somehow, the ghoul manages to go pale as Fleet enters his anecdote, and she's shuddering in terror as he finishes.

There's...

...There's no way that the Enclave is responsible for this, is there? Swift hesitates before speaking, her worst fears all but confirmed, some trepidation still obviously present in her voice:

"It's folklore, but it matches too closely to be a coincidence. What..."

She takes a deep breath.

"What do you know about star-spawn?"

Lycan 01

2012-12-03, 03:02 PM

Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse

Lucky smiles sheepishly. "Oh, sorry! I'll just go away. Uh, bye," he awkwardly replies in his too-chipper tone.

And with that, he skitters back to the table. Upon returning to his seat, Flam flatly states "Teach me."

Flim, meanwhile, raises a suspicious eyebrow. "Why are you suddenly so happy and cheerful?"

Lucky maintains his grin, and gives a shrug. "Probably the medicine. Some weird side effect. Or maybe Swiss did something to me? I dunno. Probably the medicine though," he explains in a totally-not-suspicious manner.

Flim tilts his head slightly. "Right..."

Flam, though, raises his hooves in an almost pleading gesture. "Seriously. Teach me."

Lucky ignores the silly merchant, and instead looks over at Swiss' empty chair. "Oh hey, where'd Swiss go?" he asks with a cheerful smile. "Did she run off too? Oh dear. I'd be frowning, but this annoying good mood just won't go away. Seriously, did I upset her too? Maybe if I can fix it if I apologize. Though maybe it should wait? I dunno what to do. Seriously, I can't stop smiling. By the way, you got any coffee?" the happy-and-hyper pegasus asks with a grin.

Rebonack

2012-12-03, 03:27 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Foresight gives a long sigh at the twin's apology. "Don't worry about it. Between Swiss and Corn we're pretty use to odd as it is."

And then Lucky returns! Boy is he ever happy! They've seen this before of course. All of them have experienced it, too. Getting pumped full of positive emotion by Swiss can be quite the rush. Sure does beat the doldrums, though.

"Don't you go worryin' none 'bout Swiss, Mister Lucky Break," Corn drawls in a genial tone. "She's probably just feelin' a little silly right now. Be right as rain in no time, mark my words. She's probably doin' some work on Down's armor to clear her head a bit."

A pot of coffee is passed toward the stallion. Steaming and smelling delicious!

"About five minutes," Moondancer says. "The positive mood will probably last approximately five minutes. It is a... talent of Swiss'."

[Near Girdershade]

See that completely blank look from Island?

Yep.

That one.

That one means that she hasn't ever heard of 'Star Spawn' before.

[Manehatten - Scav Outpost]

Well...

That just won't do, will it? Surprise had come out of her 'nap' eventually. And suffice to say she wasn't expecting to find Foxy still comatose! Usually memory orbs have time limits to prevent a pony from being under too long...

Ah well!

The cyber pegasus will do her best to keep Foxy clean and nourished until he wakes up. And... if he doesn't wake up in another four hours? Well... she's going to need to find a way to snap him out of it...

PurityIcekiller

2012-12-03, 09:03 PM

['Cause I've Got An Peaceful, Easy Feeling... No, Wait, I'm Not Peaceful Or Easy At All]

"Star's pawn? What do board games have to do with strange lights and the Enclave?"

This was about as much as could be expected from Violetta, what with her memory still out of commission.

TheAmishPirate

2012-12-03, 09:46 PM

[Outside Girdershade]

Don't worry, Fleetwing was here to educate everypony!

"B-big, hulking creatures ma-made out of bits of th-the night sky. Their wrath is like a blazing sun that ain't ever allowed t'shine. They c-c-c-can vanish into thin air, move faster than the wi-winds, and can't never be stopped. 'Cause the l-l-land burns and the s-s-sea boils, but nopony can bring down th' Stars."

Though it had been ages since he'd heard the tale, the stark-raving terror his mum put in the telling could stay with a pony 'till the day they died. The scenes of primal, unstoppable fury that sprung to mind ran his blood cold. "Th-that sound about right?"

Lycan 01

2012-12-03, 10:15 PM

Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse of Drama

Lucky grins, and pours himself a cup of coffee.

"Wait," Flam raises an eyebrow, "So her special talent is making ponies happy... with her kisses?"

"Dear brother," Flim flatly states, giving his brother a warning glare, "Please don't make this weird."

"No no no," Flam shakes his head. "I'm just wondering if that's like a pegasus thing or something, being able to magically effect other ponies through actions and stuff. I don't think earth ponies can do that, but pegasi are so rare and mysterious, it's hard to know what they're capable of."

"Like shooting lasers out of our eyes!" Lucky chipperly proclaims with an enthusiastic grin. "Or making tornadoes! Or causing sonic rainbooms!"

Flam blinks. "Wait, you can do what now?"

Even Flim is dumbfounded now. "Lasers? Tornados? Sonic... what?"

Lucky gives a few furtive glances around, before taking a big sip of coffee. "Okay, don't worry 'bout the laser stuff, but the tornado thing is legit. I can't do more than a small whirlwind, though. At least, not since the last time I checked. I mean, it's been awhile since I tried, because how often do you suddenly decide you want to go try to make a tornado, right?" he asks rhetorically with a goofy smile.

"Uh..." Flim and Flam both stare.

"And sonic what-nows?" Flim asks.

"Yeah, what's that?" Flam inquires.

Lucky gives a few more furtive looks around. "Ummm... You know what, forget I mentioned that," he states with a sheepish grin. Probably best not to talk about Sonic Rainbooms and their legacy, considering Down is in the next room. The less she knows about his knowledge of Enclave stuff and his views towards Rainbow Dash, the better. "Perhaps we should talk about something else. Like this coffee. It's amaaaaaziiiiiing," he observes gleefully, before pouring himself a fresh cup.

Rebonack

2012-12-03, 10:56 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

"Pony magic is more broad than most are aware," Moondancer says primly. "Unicorns aren't the only ponies with magic after all. Exceptional pegasi can leave wakes of visible magic behind them in flight. And some earth ponies can forge a bond with the subject of their special talent that at times boarders on miraculous. Swiss has... a very unique magic. If you wish to know more feel free to ask her."

Well!

That's interesting!

"Ta be fair that coffee ain't nothin' special," Corn points out. "Just bought it here at the tower this mornin'."

Luka

2012-12-04, 12:58 AM

[Girdershade]

Gleamy just poked out, looking at whatever there was and the blue light
"A-Are you sure?....What should we do?"
She asks Fizz, a bit confused

[Buckling Cross]

Burnshine would at the moment just be quiet
"We have not been assigned to a CO, recently-promoted to knight and been in test missions meanwhile with a recovery squad" she salutes and would go.

Next day, Ray would be checking his Railgun bullets, Blaster would be somewhat looking over ammunition too.... candy ammunition, then preferably look over some brass to make more boolet, however, Burnshine's still kind of.... Bitter, possibly; she wasn't exactly happy with Ray and Blaster, they practically acted against superior orders by letting that alicorn and the unicorn get away, one was a traitor, the other could have helped the rangers a lot in getting tech around; and if the code mentioned it, both rangers couldn't get away with doing that; she could have already started getting them into trouble, but she still had the recon assignment, and given how she kind of agreed with the recon proposition, she could have been summoned to the firing range too.

Blaster meanwhile, would just be focused going to a scrap deposit or something. Ray, looking over his railgun bullets while he's thinking about the stuff that Anoma told him.

[Tag: Mcerberus]

Benson

2012-12-04, 01:14 AM

[Manehatten - Scav Outpost]

Well...That just won't do, will it? Surprise had come out of her 'nap' eventually. And suffice to say she wasn't expecting to find Foxy still comatose! Usually memory orbs have time limits to prevent a pony from being under too long...

Ah well! The cyber pegasus will do her best to keep Foxy clean and nourished until he wakes up. And... if he doesn't wake up in another four hours? Well... she's going to need to find a way to snap him out of it...

Fox remained indisposed, victim to the memory orb. His body went through a flurry of reactions the whole time and bonus body twitching during the time lapse.

Three hours and fifty nine minutes later the stallion awoke with a deep gasp, his chest breathing heavily. He also smelled and funk and likely peed himself due to the lack of control he had over his body on the outside.
====

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Gwendolyn was still in the bathroom, staring at her reflection, feeling stupid about all this. She was a grown lady, there was no need for this teenage wangst. No, but...Gunther's memory...she just couldn't step all over it. Urgh. Why did it have to be the idiots? She facepalmed.

Lycan 01

2012-12-04, 10:28 AM

Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse

Lucky huffs. "No fair, I don't leave any sort of fancy contrails when I fly. Well I suppose I could trail smoke, but I'd need to be lit on fire to pull that off. And being lit on fire is not an experience I want to repeat! It hurts!" he enthusiastically proclaims. "Anyhoo, yeah, pegasi are pretty fancy. We can even walk on the clouds! Make stuff out of 'em too! Buildings, computers, even tanks! TANKS!!" he exclaims with a grin and a flail of his hooves. "Heck, the Enclave has whole sky battleships built around clouds..." he muses before daintily sipping (read: chugging) more coffee.

Some of that, particularly the stuff about the Enclave warships, may or may not be news to some of the ponies at the table. It's certainly news to Flim and Flam, who both blink a few times in confusion. "...sky battleships?" the both ask together.

Lucky nods enthusiastically. "Yup! Big ol' warships built around clouds themselves! They call 'em Raptors, and they were originally used to hunt dragons. Dragons! Can you believe it? Hunting dragons with a ship mainly composed of fluffy cloud stuff! Which is surprisingly easy to punch through. Just need the right amount of speed, and whump!" he energetically explains, punching a hoof up into the air for emphasis. "Right on through..."

"By the way, this is really good coffee. Much better than the watered down trash most folks in the Deadlands drink," Lucky observes with a crooked smirk.

The pegasus is on his third cup of coffee.

Rebonack

2012-12-04, 11:06 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

After a few minutes of quietly working on the armor Swiss decides that now would be a decent time to say, "Hey Down, are you awake?" in a not terribly loud voice.

That's a silly question to ask, really.

There's only one real answer to it. Silence or irritated grumbling.

Which reaction will Swiss get?

Meanwhile!

Moondancer looks intrigued!

"Really? That is fascinating. I was unaware that the Enclave has continued developing war technology to such a degree. The conflict with the Zebras has been over for centuries after all. Who are they still fighting?"

[Manehattan - Scav Outpost]

Yep!

Hence the 'taking care of him' part.

It's a pretty gross job... But somepony has to do it, right? And Surprise is certainly nice enough to do so. What a friendly pegasus. Though now that Foxtrot has shown signs of life she'll begin prodding at him with a hoof.

"Hey! Hey Foxy! Are you awake? What did you see?"

BladeofObliviom

2012-12-04, 11:21 AM

[Outside Girdershade]

"Y-yes, not far from the mark."

Poor Fleetwing. Even the relatively composed ghoul is shaking in her boots now; I can't even imagine how he must be feeling.

"They're definitely real, though; I've seen the destruction an angry Star-Spawned Ursa wrought at Black Pony Mountain, near Hoofington.

She shuddered involuntarily.

That image will haunt me to the end of my days.

Quickly, she shook her head and continued.

I've never seen one that could fly under its own power, but the Zebra had tales of Star-Spawned Dragons, Pegasi, and many other creatures. They are nearly invisible, but bits of starlight are suspended within them."

Fleetwing gets a direct look, one filled oddly with... ...is that worry?

"If you saw one up close, you are incredibly fortunate to be alive right now."

MCerberus

2012-12-04, 11:33 AM

Near Girdershade

"You forgot one thing about star-monsters: they're an old mare's tale." There may be a lot of crazy stuff going around the wasteland, but Mach hasn't seen that variety of creepy. Crazy disturbing stuff, but no ancient god wreathed in tentacles whispering of the end of days. "And I, ah, don't think the Enclave weirdos would be interested in some random waster when they could just pluck up a feral near Cloudsdale for the same effect."

That's a shuddering thought though. If that were to be true, it would have been a bad place for Mach to be.

Manehatten - Bucklyn Cross

Burnshine would indeed be summoned. An initiate would come deliver the summons to the firing range. The breakfast talk around 'town' would luckily not have much talk about Ray, Blast, and Burn's mission. Something's up with the elder and the command branch. All sorts of rumors.

Also there are apparently a couple of single active-duty mares in base. One of them was just transferred in and the crazy talkative one... because priorities right?

Benson

2012-12-04, 02:10 PM

[Manehattan - Scav Outpost]

Yep!

Hence the 'taking care of him' part.

It's a pretty gross job... But somepony has to do it, right? And Surprise is certainly nice enough to do so. What a friendly pegasus. Though now that Foxtrot has shown signs of life she'll begin prodding at him with a hoof.

"Hey! Hey Foxy! Are you awake? What did you see?"

Scav Outpost

I looked up at that cyborg face and found my eyes tearing. I couldn't really hear her, my mind lost back in a long memory long forgotten. I instead threw my forelegs over her cold artificial neck and sobbed.
=====

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Eventually, the griffon returned from the bathroom acting as if though everything were normal. She carried a sense of dignity and sat back down at the table and continued to eat her food.

Lycan 01

2012-12-04, 03:13 PM

Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Pad

Lucky grins. "Oh, you would be surprised! They need resources, so they tear up mountains and stuff! And sometimes, there's dragons nesting or hibernating up there, and if they can't work something out not that the Enclave would bother with trying to work something out then how else are you supposed to take down a giant fire-breathing lizard? They'd just toast the normal troopers, so you need something big with lots of firepower - and that's where the Raptors come in! And they have even bigger ships too, called Thunderheads, which actually house multiple Raptors. Giant mobile bases, basically. Anyhoo, the Enclave also has to deal with other random threats and issues. Griffin mercs, rogue elements, scouting missions, spec ops, and... um..." his voice trails off, and the super-duper excitement in his voice and eyes fades for a moment.

He remembers why his dad left the Enclave. What made him go rogue, and turn his back on a great, safe life with a promising military career.

Lucky averts his gaze for a moment, looking over towards the door to Down's room. He then looks back to Moondancer, and smiles meekly. "Yeah, just random stuff like that. Dragons are the only real problem, but they're rare. Most of their military might is just to flex their muscles, and for when they eventuuuually return to 'rescue' Equestria."

And then Gwendolyn returns!

"Oh hey Gwendolyn!" Lucky cheerfully proclaims with a massive grin, regaining his obnoxiously chipper attitude. "You're just in time! We're talking about Enclave stuff that Down would probably kill me over if she knew I knew about it!" Wow, he seems really excited considering how dark that statement was. Why is-

Oh right, cup of coffee number 4.

Benson

2012-12-04, 03:48 PM

"That's nice," Gwendolyn replied casually, obviously not had really heard Lucky. She continued to eat what remained on her plate and chugged down whatever her drink was.

Chaotic Bob

2012-12-04, 04:07 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Pad]

One of Down's ears flicks, beneath the covers, shortly before faintly-bloodshot eyes snap open.
"What."

And then she falls off the bed sideways, flailing into her imprisoning blanket.

Rebonack

2012-12-04, 04:35 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

You can't really expect the changeling to be in the same room as another pony without talking, can you? That would be cruel. Or maybe just hopelessly naive.

Swiss winces when Down hits the floor.

"Oh... I was just... y'know... wondering..." the mock pegasus replies rather lamely as she eyes the heap of sheets and feathers and grumpiness on the floor. "Do you need help back into bed?"

Meanwhile!

Moondancer taps her hooves together as she processes this information. "Curious. They're much better equipped than I would have imagined. I'm surprised they've done so well without unicorn engineers. Strange that they would focus much effort on military with such constrained resources..."

Hmmm...

No doubt Down would no more.

She probably wouldn't talk much though.

The totally-not-a-ghoul seems thoughtful.

[Manehattan - Scav Outpost]

Aaww... They're going to have a moment aren't they?

Surprise doesn't so much as flinch when she's hugged. Doesn't hesitate for even a moment. One hoof goes around Foxy whilst the other rubs his mane. "It's okay Foxy. Everything will be just fine. Sshh..."

She's so nice and compassionate! It sure is great having such a wonderful pony to lean on in a time of distress.

"I used to wet the bed too when I got really scared. But don't worry! I'm sure you'll grow out of it. Just remember to think about happy things!"

...okay. Nevermind.

[Near Girdershade]

"So... wait," Island waves a radsuit covered hoof. "Are you saying that somepony was stolen by a giant star monster or something? And then it just zoomed away without a trace? That seems a little hard to swallow. Where would it have gone? It it went above the clouds the Enclave would shoot it down."

Lycan 01

2012-12-04, 05:12 PM

Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Place

Lucky chuckles. "Yeah, pegasi are full of surprises. Most of the tech is still around Wartime level, though. But an MEW is still an MEW and will still turn your face to ash! I would know. Seen 'em do it. Bzzzap! But yeah, Enclave is big on military stuff. Which is no surprise! I mean, what's good for morale? Showing off! After all, they are the Grand Pegasus Enclave," the hyperactive pegasus states with dramatic emphasis and awe-struck expression. "They need to appear big and bad and totally awesome so the civilians think everything is all good and they won't worry about dwindling resources or the wretched wasteland full of pain and suffering just below their hooves. Illusion of normalcy and whatnot. Normalcy just happens to be a very militaristic society with lots of power armor and cloud battleships. Though I hear it is quite nice up there, all things considered. My dad said it was pretty painful to leave it all behind. Mind you, he was a Dash-ite, so of course it was painful..." he muses, before going to pour another cup of coffee.

---
Girdershade

Fizz ponders for a moment...

...and then skips out the door.

"Let's go say hi!"

---
Scav Post

Sergeant Sprinkles is outside. Staring at a wall.

Chaotic Bob

2012-12-04, 05:48 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Place]

"No!"
Down pauses her flailing for a moment, to cough, before staring at the door, then Swiss.
"No, I don't need to get back to the, the bed..."

So begins the arduous process of hauling herself back onto her shriveled legs, so she can begin the even-more-arduous process of moving towards the door.
"Break..."

Rebonack

2012-12-04, 05:58 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Swiss backs away slightly at the... forceful... reply. "Oh... umm... Alright then," she replies before casting a sidelong glance at the door. "Break is... uuh... a little bit giddy right now."

The changeling sounds rather embarrassed to admit this.

"He was sort of flirting with me. I don't get any sort of romantic emotion very often and I might have gotten a little... eerr... carried away..." she fidgets uncomfortably before adding. "Gave the emotion I took back, though. Hence the giddy. Ponies react strangely to raw positive emotion."

Meanwhile!

Well. Lucky is just digging his hole deeper, isn't he?

Moondancer decides to see about changing the subject. "Perhaps you can tell us a bit about the Deadlands Mister Lucky Break?"

Chaotic Bob

2012-12-04, 11:33 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Down pauses her triumphant rise to her hooves again, and slight progress to the door, to give Swiss a somewhat perturbed look.
Although at what part of that isn't really...clarified.
"...I see."
And that is that.

Time to resume marching (shuffling awkwardly) to the door!
"Can I get you to open the door? I need to talk to him."

Rebonack

2012-12-04, 11:54 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Wow!

Down is making some real progress!

...maybe?

Or maybe she's just willing to brave her terror of being vulnerable due to some degree of duty in informing Lucky that he's being dumb. One of those things anyway.

The mock-pegasus nods and opens up the door!

No doubt everypony will be looking at Down when she shuffles through.

Chaotic Bob

2012-12-05, 12:17 AM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

As the door swings open, the last bit of blanket stubbornly clinging to her back falls.

Clear signs of strain have placed themselves all over her face, and she's shaking more than a little.
The very act of standing continues to be a chore for her, let alone the slow shuffle forward she's still trying to do.

One ear is flicking somewhat limply, while the other sits right at a ready attention.

Although these are rather trifling issues, if anyone happens to lower their gaze downward slightly.
The skin of her legs continues to look distinctly shriveled, the coat of fur on it taking a very distinctly sick sheen now.
More troublesomely, the sheen is spreading past her legs, and the skin around the pockmark scar on her side is beginning to tighten in on itself as well.

The peculiar, twining scars around her body and neck remain much as they were before, although perhaps faintly more pronounced.

With a fairly calm look on her face, and a deliberately even tone, she's offers a small smile to the the diners outside the bedroom.
"Hey, sorry for the int-interruption. Can I borrow Mister Break for a few moments?"

Benson

2012-12-05, 02:03 AM

[Manehattan - Scav Outpost]

Aaww... They're going to have a moment aren't they?

Surprise doesn't so much as flinch when she's hugged. Doesn't hesitate for even a moment. One hoof goes around Foxy whilst the other rubs his mane. "It's okay Foxy. Everything will be just fine. Sshh..."

She's so nice and compassionate! It sure is great having such a wonderful pony to lean on in a time of distress.

"I used to wet the bed too when I got really scared. But don't worry! I'm sure you'll grow out of it. Just remember to think about happy things!" ...okay. Nevermind.

"...What?....I don't wet the bed!..." I sniffled while looking baffled at her. I had no idea what she was talking about. Crazy mare. I wiped my eyes, feeling silly letting my eyes water like that. Sniffle. Thankfully her silly comment about bed wetting distracted me long enough to forget about what I experienced and put it on the back burner.

"How long was I out?" I asked the cute cyborg and removed myself from my impromptu hug.

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

"Mister Lucky is a grown stallion, just ask him yourself, not me, us." Gwendolyn said cocking a brow and tried to come off like "shrug".

Rebonack

2012-12-05, 04:03 PM

Lycan 01

2012-12-05, 04:18 PM

Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Pad

"Oh right, the Deadlands," Lucky nods enthusiastically. "It's actually a pretty interesting place. Lots of desert and wasteland, and of course a fair bit of radiation, hence the name. Got New Neighgas down in the far South, with all the casinos and stuff. That's where I'm from! My dad did jobs for security firms - bodyguarding, training mercs, fun stuff. There's lots of settlements and stuff scattered around. The only real problems are the crazy wildlife, the radiation, and the Legion. Oh, and the desert itself. You-"

And then the door behind him opens, and he hears Down's voice.

"WAHGAH!!" he exclaims, flailing his hooves in a panic. His coffee mug flings across the room, and Flim gets smacked in the snout by a hoof. "I thought she was a heavier sleeper than that!" he proclaims in horror, eyes wide with terror.

"Guess not..." Flim mutters, rubbing his snout.

Lucky's eyes dart around in fear for a moment, before he lets out a small sigh.

The pegasus then spins around in his chair, and turns to look at Down face-to-face. [Lady Killer] Maybe the fact that his face is back to it's normal, dashingly handsome self will help to put her slightly in a better mood? He puts on a big, nervous grin, and clops his hooves together. "Hi Down! How are you?" he chipperly asks.

And then he starts to babble.

"I'm really sorry about waking you up I thought you were a heavier sleeper than that I guess not huh oh well I guess you heard some of what I said don't worry I didn't say anything too important I don't think but oh wow you're probably really mad at me please don't kill me then again you're not wearing your armor so it's not like you're too exceedingly dangerous right now but then again Dad always said never to underestimate an Enclave trooper by the way you're really pretty without your helmet and I really like your mane I'm sorry for babbling I can't really help it right now Swiss kinda gave me this weird emotional high and I just drank five cups of coffee and on top of that I'm kinda sorta nervous and worried about how upset you are with me and whether or not you have to kill me now which I'm hoping you don't have to kill me now because you seem nice and I'd like to be friends but you having to kill me would kinda put a damper on that and seriously I can't help but grin and talk excitedly right now it's really annoying and kinda just making everything worse I wonder how I can make this go away sooner maybe if I-"

Lucky suddenly punches himself in the jaw, nearly knocking himself out of his chair. He reels back for a moment, before calmly rising to his hooves. "Lead the way, Miss Down," he quietly states, his voice and expression much more subdued, and his gaze averted to the floor.

Rebonack

2012-12-05, 06:00 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Moondancer decides to summarize the breakfast thus far. "This has certainly been an interesting morning."

You said it Moondancer!

Swiss decides to vacate Down's room just in case she wants to bring Lucky in there. Hopefully this won't result in too many cat-calls or wolf-whistles from the twins. That's exactly what this situation needs right now.

Also?

The mock-pegasus can't help but notice that Down's wounds look... worse... than they did yesterday. In fact she's staring right now. It's rude to stare, Swiss. You should stop.

Chaotic Bob

2012-12-05, 10:44 PM

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

It's an interesting effect, that individuals can sleep through quite a few things, until just the right stimulus reaches into their mind and flicks the ON switch back up.

Seems Lucky found the trigger.

On the bright side, it's nice how absolutely no one present is protecting him from what he thinks is a deadly threat.

Probably helps that her look flattens slightly immediately after his next round of babble, before she jerks her head towards the Penthouse exit.
"I'm not going to kill you, Mister Break.
Outside, please."

Not back to the room, it seems.

...also having her lead the way is probably a terrible idea. It's going to take her a bit longer than is probably strictly necessary for her to get to the exit.

For whatever reason, she does take the moment en route to give everyone else a mildly apologetic smile.
"Shouldn't be long."

Lycan 01

2012-12-05, 11:08 PM

Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Pad

Lucky gives Down a meek smile when she says she won't kill him. He doesn't say anything, though. Now's not the time.

The pegasus turns to make his way towards the door, but pauses when he sees Down is having a bit of trouble. He steals a quick look or two at her wounds, but his expression betrays no reactions. In his head, though, he feels a mix of confusion and concern. Were those fresh wounds? Old injuries? Something earned while serving the Enclave? Or... something done by the Enclave? There was no telling with that lot... Swiss had mentioned Down being in the Everfree Forest, though. What happened to the poor gal in that Princess-damned wilderness?

He ponders moment as Down makes her slow progress, mentally debating what to do in this situation. Eventually, being a gentlestallion, and concern for a (tentative) friend wins out over common sense and his massive fear and mistrust of all things Enclave.

He cautiously moves a bit closer towards her, and turns to his side, so the they're somewhat parallel with a few feet between them out of respect and wariness. He visibly shrugs his adjacent shoulder, and gives her a sidelong glance with a neutral-but-slightly-concerned expression. A nonverbal offer of support and help towards the door... which she probably won't take, but it doesn't hurt to offer. Better to look like an idiot than to look like an ass...

Whether or not Down accepts his assistance, Lucky will accompany her outside without saying a word. And once outside, he won't say anything, instead letting the Enclave trooper begin and lead the discussion. He keeps his gaze low. Seems the normally glib pegasus isn't feeling very chatty now, for some reason...

Benson

2012-12-05, 11:53 PM

[Manehattan - Scav Outpost]

Ha HA! Surprise's gambit was successful! Because she totally meant to use that non sequitur to distract Foxtrot. It had nothing to do with her being generally crazy. And it isn't at all uncommon for radhogs to be born with wings.

"You've been asleep for about two months," the cyberpony replies, her tone serious and concerned. "Everypony thought you had slipped into a coma because the memory orb had been trapped. Keeping you alive was pretty hard."

She'll then wait juuuuust long enough to get a proper reaction.

"Hehe! It's been a little over a day! What did you see in there that had you so busy?"

[Manehattan - Scav Outpost-Time-Late]

"Two months?? Waaah..." My heart stopped....but then......oh...ha ha...sarcastic inner laugh. I have her a deadpan grimace. "Haha..very funny." I said dryly. I then moved away from her, which was really just me facing to the side.

"Bits of my past and then pain, for the longest time I laid there in my memory unable to move, trapped in a darkness with no one interacting with my memory self. And then the physical pain would come and I was able to feel it, just hours of pain before time started to just blur together. I think my memory self was being tortured."
==

Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Pad

And Gwendolyn acted like nothing was wrong and kept quiet and slowly ate and drank. Her feathers ruffled.

TheAmishPirate

2012-12-06, 02:28 AM

[Outside Girdershade]

Fleetwing looked back at Swift with a whimper, his own face a picture of utter, tearful despair. As a matter of fact, he had been incredibly fortunate to not be in hysterics up until now. That little reminder of how close he'd come to certain death? Pushed him right over the edge.

Then Island and Mach say their naysaying pieces, and he snapped like a brittle twig. "Y-you don't get it!!!" he sobbed. "Bullets don't work, magic don't work, and they're faster than anything! You saw it! You both saw it, and you...you don't...don't know...we're all gonna die..." The stallion stumbled back from the group, hyperventilating uncontrollably. "Oh gods we're all going to die! All of us! Dead! Cold and dead and gone and clouds above I don't want to die like this! Idon'twanttodie! No! I don't want to die!!!" he babbled hysterically.

His head darted around, looking for a way out, but to his poor eyes, all he could see was darkness. Cold, unforgiving darkness all around him, pressing in, threatening to choke the life out of him. "NOOOO!" the stallion howled, before bolting off in a random direction unless stopped. And given that he spent a good while swaying and stumbling like a drunkard, the present company had more than enough opportunity to do so.

PurityIcekiller

2012-12-06, 03:03 AM

[And I Know You Won't Let Me Down]

"Whoa there." Violetta carefully tripped up Fleetwing before he could run off.

"All right, so we're in a bit of a rough situation. No need to panic, though. We've got a big, nasty thing on the loose, so we'll need to be cautious, but we'll probably survive. We'll just need to be calm and clever."

BladeofObliviom

2012-12-06, 11:37 AM

[Outside Girdershade]

Xithr realizes her mistake shortly after Fleetwing starts panicking.

"Fleet, wait..."

Oh, and then Vio trips him. Swift makes a mental note to thank her for that sometime.

"They're not invincible. The one I saw emerge from Black Pony Mountain was up against Reapers on one side and Highlanders on the other. Both groups retreated, but the thing was seriously injured by the time it returned to hibernation."

Due to the gravity of the current situation, Swift doesn't notice Fizz approaching.

TheAmishPirate

2012-12-06, 03:36 PM

[Outside Girdershade]

No matter how dexterous one may be normally, fear has a way of giving a pony four left hooves.

Fleetwing blundered straight into Violetta's outstretched leg (or whatever she used to trip him) and performed an impressive sliding faceplant into the dirt. The momentary shock - not to mention time spent spitting out grit and sand - gave Swift enough time to get a word in edgewise. Not that it helped matters much. "Y-yeah, yeah that's good," he said shakily. "Except us five can't do the same sorta damage two radier warbands can do, and we only got four guns between us! W-w-we gotta book it, just pack up shop and g-get running before it c-comes back." All thoughts of rescuing Bucky were gone. If he'd been lucky, the Star Spawn had devoured him in a single bite, and now all they could do was try not to join him.

He also did not notice Fizz fast approaching, he was more concerned with looking to the skies.

MCerberus

2012-12-06, 05:05 PM

Outside Girdershade

Well then. With all this talk about not-real things being real, panicking about the not-real things, then running off, Mach really doesn't have a response. All he could do is facehoof constantly. Then he can facehoof some more. His is the facehoof that shall pierce the heavens.

The pega-ghoul shakes his head.

Rebonack

2012-12-06, 05:24 PM

[Manehattan - Scav Outpost]

Surprise wrinkles her nose at that.

"That sounds super-duper terrible and not even a little bit of fun," the cyberpegasus replies. "But I know what will cheer you right up!"

I'll bet it's a party.

"A party!"

Ha!

See?

Told you.

[Tenpony Tower - Moondancer's Penthouse]

Swiss slinks back into the guest bedroom to work on that armor some more. Very possibly without being noticed. This mess is totally her fault just because she started getting fed some small morsels of romantic emotion and she didn't have the sense to control herself...

Stupid stupid stupid cheese-legged pony!

For the rest of the party? Well... Breakfast is starting to round up! It was very tasty! If a little awkward...

But that's the Wasteland for you. Can't allow a morning to be truly pleasant without throwing a curve-ball at everypony.

[Near Girdershade]

"Didn't you say that it already spotted you and then left?" Island speaks up to Fleet, her tone as calm as she can manage considering her rather oozy nature. "If this thing were as terrible and hungry as our friend the zebra said it probably would have just eaten you on the spot. We don't know why it took your friend. It might not even bow bow bow be hostile. Maybe it's just curious?"

She sounds...

Hopeful.

Curious is better than getting devoured by invisible monsters.

"We should just stay calm and SWEET CELESTIA AN ALICORN!"

So much for calm.

I mean, really. A pegasus is going to be able to recognize a pony with wings even if those wings are hidden under a blanket. Besides which alicorns have a fairly distinctive body shape.