Celestia's Finest: Sombra Went Down to Ashtown

[Miltonian]

(Continued from here)http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?563042-Celestia-s-Finest-Old-World-Blues&p=23438917#post23438917

Love's relief is well-founded. When has magic failed her yet?

"I'll do my best," Lullaby promises Sniper. She waves as he steps out and turns to the others in the room. "So, where do I start?"

"Just follow me," Angel tells her. To Love, she says, "We're gonna be busy here for a bit. You don't have to stick around, if you don't want to."

---

Rarity would approve of Rose's new, more polite attitude.

"You said your legs don't take food or something?" Auni asks, "That could...explain things." Now that his attention has been drawn to it, the young zebra stallion is politely looking elsewhere for the time being. His eyes are locked on Rose's face, not any other part of her.

Speaking of Sniper, good thing they saved him cake as he steps in just in time to hear Rose's comments about Night Skye's mission.

[DigoDragon]

Rarity would approve of Rose's new, more polite attitude.

Pfft, Rose is a complex pony of many attitudes and moods.



"You said your legs don't take food or something?" Auni asks, "That could...explain things." Now that his attention has been drawn to it, the young zebra stallion is politely looking elsewhere for the time being. His eyes are locked on Rose's face, not any other part of her.

Rose holds up a leg to study, but the pleasant face is still there to grok. "My legs? It's a little complicated to explain how they work. There is a sort of battery in each leg that powers them, but they also draw on the same signal from my brain as flesh legs do to get instructions on how to move. But they feel... dull. Like, imagine Anaki pokes your leg and my leg with a hoof; same force. You would feel it a lot more than I would. I can't even feel a pinch, because there's no skin on my metal leg."

"That might change in the future. My sister back home found a scientist who is working on growing your own skin to wrap around machine legs. I'm considering it because I've damaged my legs due to not feeling something, like a hot pan. Plus, this desert has reminded me that sand is terrible to get in my joints. Your own skin protects from sand and lets you know your about to touch something hot."



Speaking of Sniper, good thing they saved him cake as he steps in just in time to hear Rose's comments about Night Skye's mission.

Rose waves and returns to her contemplative state.

[D.KnightSpider]

It was a rather awkward moment upon which to enter the room, if only because Sniper didn't share Rose's limitations. The difference between their cybernetics was frightening at times.

Speaking of which... it wouldn't be a bad idea to have his own augmentations adjusted before the Ashtown assault.

Sniper returns Rose's wave. He doesn't say anything immediately as he wants to get a sense of the room's mood first.

[Elbeyon]

She asks the medic, "Are you busy with Emerald? I'd like to say a quick goodnight to her if that's alright. I won't take long or get in your way. I need to start my project in the kitchen soon anyway." She planned to have Happy help her. Love might be alone on this one though.

If Angel gives her permission, Love will go to Emerald's 'room' and audibly say knock knock. "Hey, Emerald. Love here. Would it be alright if I visit for a second?"

If Angel says something to the affect of wait until tomorrow, Love will head off to her body's location so she can switch back into her FleshBot.

[DigoDragon]

Sniper returns Rose's wave. He doesn't say anything immediately as he wants to get a sense of the room's mood first.

Rose will gesture to the slice of cake saved for him.

[Miltonian]

The zebras turn and acknowledge Sniper's presence with a mixture of waves and nods.Happy goes one step further and grabs the cake to give to him directly, just so there's no confusion. "Fancy something sweet?" she asks with a smile.

--

"Sure, go ahead," Angel says, "Just make sure she's not sleeping."

Emerald is not, in fact, sleeping. She looks up when Love enters and smiles. "Good evening," she says, "Here to keep me company?"

[DigoDragon]

The zebras turn and acknowledge Sniper's presence with a mixture of waves and nods.Happy goes one step further and grabs the cake to give to him directly, just so there's no confusion. "Fancy something sweet?" she asks with a smile.

'He's more into something subtle,' Rose's thinks to herself.

"Where's Love?" Rose asks the stallion.

[D.KnightSpider]

"Fancy something sweet?" she asks with a smile.

No.

But he'd seen Happy sulk earlier. There wasn't going to be an end until he ate something she made.

"Thanks." Sniper says as he takes the plate. He looks back at the zebra. "I know it's been a hard day, but we wanted you to know that we appreciate you. You've put up with a lot and overcome a lot and we'd never have gotten this far without you. So thanks."

His gaze fell to the cake. His stomach rolled in a bad way.

"Love's in the infirmary. She wanted to visit with the patients."

[DigoDragon]

"Love's in the infirmary. She wanted to visit with the patients."

Instinct made Rose check her comm to ensure it was on and receiving. "Ah. I hope she doesn't bother them too much. Can't wait for this campaign with Hyper Thought to be over so that we can release them to family."

[Elbeyon]

Love enters when she gets permission. "Good evening, Emerald." She honestly answers, "For a little while. I just got back from a mission. I heard you were listening to some music. Do you want to listen together?"

[Miltonian]

"You're welcome!" Happy says brightly. She begins gathering up the plates and utensils the zebras used, but she is still in the room. Maybe if Sniper can delay long enough, he won't have to break her heart.

The zebras accept his praise with a modicum of humility, though they do swell a bit. "It doesn't feel like we've done much," Oroko admitted.

--

Emerald blinks. "Oh? Was it successful?" She kinda scoots sideways a bit. "Please, take a seat. You'll have to grab the 'earbud' yourself I'm afraid."

[DigoDragon]

"It doesn't feel like we've done much," Oroko admitted.

"I find it's often the little things that make the bigger difference," Rose points out.

[D.KnightSpider]

"And every contribution matters. I think you'll have a chance to shine when we take on Sulmandeer; as I understand it, you're working on some portions to give us an edge against him. That will make a large difference."

Sniper eyeballed the cake and... decided that it wasn't worth making an issue. It was cake. Was a cake really worth hurting Happy over? If he was going to be consistent about not living in guilt then this was a part of that.

Without giving himself time to think, Sniper speared a bite, put it in his mouth and told the back of his mind to shut up.

[Elbeyon]

Love hms at the question. "We made progress. No one has any lasting injuries Rose can't fix up in a few seconds." She isn't sure it was the type of mission a pony can even succeed. When she tries to move Love almost jumps out of her coat. "You don't need to move!" It was too late. A little flustered, Love takes the offered seat. "T-thank you. Ah, excuse me then." Love reaches out to her ear and takes an earbud. She moves in closer if needed and puts it in. The musical mystery will soon come to a close. "Have Merry and you been getting along? Anything you want done?" Love is only here for meals so she wants to double-check that Emerald is able to get along with at least one of the patients. Love seems to ask if she can do something for Emerald every time they spend time together, but Love knows a thing or two about wastelander independence and wants to make sure Emerald has easy access to whatever she wants.

[Miltonian]

“We haven’t had much luck,” Auni admits ruefully, “But we are trying.”

“A Shadow Potion,” Timiti says.

Kichaka clears his throat. The quiet ritualist speaks in a voice barely above a whisper. “Something I learned of once. A potion that banishes light from those who drink it. It is meant for sneaking and stealth, but it might work on the dragon’s breath too.”

The cake is sweet, yes, but not overpoweringly so. It was baked for those who have never tasted chocolate or sugar before (or if they had, not often) and so is toned down a bit from the traditional Equestrian standard. Sniper might actually be able to enjoy this one.

----

Emerald is actually not listening to any music right now, but rather the sound of rain with the occasional rumble of thunder to fill out the background. “There’s not much of it where I grew up,” she says by way of explanation.

She pulls a face at Merry’s name. “I don’t think she likes me. She really doesn’t like Blank and he doesn’t like anyone. I don’t know what her parents were thinking when they named her.” She sighs. “She’s not...rude, but she gives me these sullen eyes whenever we talk.”

“I want to be able to stand,” she says, “Or barring that, hold a book. But you can’t do that for me.”

[DigoDragon]

““A Shadow Potion,” Timiti says.

Kichaka clears his throat. The quiet ritualist speaks in a voice barely above a whisper. “Something I learned of once. A potion that banishes light from those who drink it. It is meant for sneaking and stealth, but it might work on the dragon’s breath too.”

This gets Rose's attention. "Well that might do something. The dragon's breath is light-based, right? That would be one way to get up close without the risk of getting vaporized."

[D.KnightSpider]

"So then the problem becomes how to get him to swallow it." Sniper muses. "Cutting him off from his power source would be helpful. Hm."

He picked at the cake as he gnawed at the problem. It was an alright cake, but he could already tell he wasn't going to be able to eat much of it. Since this was a splurge, he wasn't accustomed to eating like this.

[Elbeyon]

The sound of rain and thunder are comforting. "It's nice. Isn't it? I grew up in the very south. A Junk Town on the coast. It didn't rain much there either. Thunder wasn't too rare though. There was an endless sandstorm away from the city. It lightning and thundered. You couldn't see the lightning unless you were looking for it, but a good clap made it into the city sometimes."

Love shakes her head slightly. "I don't think she dislikes you." She lowers her voice. "Her name is pretty fitting. She loves music and was a big fan of a certain singer. A lot of bad things have happened to her in a short amount of time. She is dealing with a lot." Love frowns.

"I can't do that", Love admits. She doesn't have any magical healing powers. "Did you see that picture I made earlier for Blank? I could put a book in front of you and you could turn the pages with your voice. Or, his helmet could fool your eyes, ears, and nose into thinking it was somewhere else. There are a lot of pretty places you could see or hear." Love doesn't know enough about Emerald's condition to suggest the body stocking. She will have to ask Angel or Rose if Emerald can use it.

[DigoDragon]

"So then the problem becomes how to get him to swallow it." Sniper muses.

"If you or Love are still feeling suicidal, could jump in his maw and toss the potion down his throat," Rose remarks, but not seriously. "Okay, serious, question--Could we put it in a capsule and then Sniper shoot it into his mouth when he opens up?"

[Miltonian]

Timiti, Auni, and Oroko, the three actual alchemists, chuckle. “If you think you can get it down his throat, we will have to make a bigger dose,” Oroko says, “We were thinking you could drink it, since you all can supposedly see in the dark.”

---

“I went down there on a…” Emerald’s face falls. “A recruitment drive. I know what you’re talking about. But this? This is better. I want to see it for myself one day. Just lay down and let the rain fall on me.”

Emerald looks more crestfallen now. “A lot of bad things,” she repeats, “And how many others are like her? Ponies that I...convinced to join.”

By this point, she’s sunk into herself and doesn’t react very much to Love’s offer other than to say, “That does sound nice.”

[DigoDragon]

Timiti, Auni, and Oroko, the three actual alchemists, chuckle. “If you think you can get it down his throat, we will have to make a bigger dose,” Oroko says, “We were thinking you could drink it, since you all can supposedly see in the dark.”

"Oooh. Well it would be easier to just take it ourselves, yeah."

[Elbeyon]

"Oh, you've been to my home town? We should swap stories sometime. I'd love to hear about the old place." She pauses. "I'll help you chase down that rainstorm. I'll find a nice spot for you to lay down." Love smiles at her. "You'll feel it one day."

She says sympathetically, "Emerald, you couldn't have known what the group was doing. They trick and lied to you. They have chips for anyone that disagrees or finds out the truth. If it wasn't you, they would have gotten or forced someone else. You were trying to help ponies and the wasteland. That's an admirable thing that isn't tarnished. Your intentions were good. You were trying to build a better life for ponies, and you can still do that. The future you were building towards with all the other ponies is built by pony hoofs. Wastelanders are capable of building the home you imagined with their own hoofs dreaming of a better future, always have been. Everyone should do their part. This place is my home too, and I'm going to help build a better place to live for everyone."

[D.KnightSpider]

"If you or Love are still feeling suicidal, could jump in his maw and toss the potion down his throat," Rose remarks, but not seriously.

"That's not really funny. I almost did that when Sully was shooting up the Thunderbird. It was the only way to get Brazen's bomb into a place it could do real damage."

Sniper decided that he had his fill of cake, for a variety of reasons, and politely set it aside. "You make a great cake Happy."

"Yeah. That makes sense. It'd be a lot easier to make ourselves immune to his long range attacks. Now we need a surefire way to damage him. He'll still be pretty tough without his lasers. Especially with those augments."

Shut. Up. Brain.

[DigoDragon]

"That's not really funny. I almost did that when Sully was shooting up the Thunderbird. It was the only way to get Brazen's bomb into a place it could do real damage."

"Yeah, I sort of put two and two together that you and Love tend to be ready to make sacrificial plays for the greater good. It's commendable, though I'd recommend letting Love try it first since she has the excuse that she's technically not going to die if she does it."



"Yeah. That makes sense. It'd be a lot easier to make ourselves immune to his long range attacks. Now we need a surefire way to damage him. He'll still be pretty tough without his lasers. Especially with those augments."

"Any chance we can get some armor-piercing weapons? No offense to Love, but offense that all this nonlethal stuff she's acquiring for us is not going to do anything against a dragon and Luna knows what else is gonna attack us in Ashtown."

[Miltonian]

Auni smiles ruefully. "It would be easier. Which means we have to make sure it won't poison you when you drink it."

"We, unfortunately, lost our sword of dragon slaying," Anaki says, deadpan. Rose is pretty sure she's kidding, but not entirely sure.

--

"It's still there. Or it was when I visited," Emerald says. She sighs and settles in, dreaming of rain for the moment.

"Everything you say is true," Emerald says, not sounding comforted, "But the fact remains that I did it, it was me who led them into a trap. And that, that I cannot forget. Or really forgive." She squeezes her eyes shut and lets her head slam against the pillow. "Stars above, I was such an idiot."

[DigoDragon]

Auni smiles ruefully. "It would be easier. Which means we have to make sure it won't poison you when you drink it."

"We, unfortunately, lost our sword of dragon slaying," Anaki says, deadpan. Rose is pretty sure she's kidding, but not entirely sure.

"I have confidence you'll be able able to brew it right and make it work for us. As for the sword... well, it's alright. I don't know how to swing a sword. A nice rocket launcher would be good about now though."

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper discovers himself in a surreal state wherein he can't discern others' meanings or intentions. Were they being cutting? Funny? Serious? The answer eludes him. So he falls silent and lets the others talk.

Maybe this was a bad idea after all...

[Elbeyon]

The earbud pops out. "Oh!", Love say as she reflexively tries to catch it but leaves it at rest as it slips through her hoofs. "Emerald, it's not your fault." Love goes to hold her hoof. "The people in charge and know what they are doing are the ones at fault for all of this." Love shakes her head. "You weren't being an idiot. Anyone can fall for a trick. If I didn't know what I know now, I would have done the same as you. You are a pony whose hopes were taken advantage of, not an idiot." Love squeezes her hoof. "You're a caring pony, Emerald."

"When you open your eyes. There is going to be a floating image in front of you." Love will turn her phone's holo on to display a lighthearted book about someone stealing lightening and a ponies journey to retrieve the missing bolt.

[Miltonian]

"What's a--" Timiti begins. He sighs. "You know what, nevermind. I'm sure we'll find out eventually."

"For tonight," Anaki says, "We celebrate the lives of those taken from us and create a song to remember them by."

"And none of use are good at new songs," Urur mutters under his breath.

---

"I should have been more suspicious. It seemed too good to be true at first. And surprise, surprise, it was," Emerald says, a bit of cynicism creeping into her tone, a hard cynicism that withers hope and makes the owner suspicious of anything bright and beautiful. "Well, it's a hard lesson to learn," she says more to herself than Love.

She closes her eyes and lets out a sigh. "Tell me when."

[DigoDragon]

"Unfortunately I am not talented at music. I'll let you pen that hymn while I go do a little research on our enemy's technology. Need to find a way to overcome their soldiers without resorting to just shooting them all." Rose slowly gets up.

"Do you need paper and pencils to write your song? I could probably find you some."

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper shrugs slowly.

"Being unfamiliar with the custom, I'm not sure if this is something you'd want outside help with or no. I write, but not music. Well, unless you count the time I helped Merry with a couple of lines. If you want help, I can give you some, but since I don't actually know any of the enclave, I'll understand if this is something you need to do yourselves."

[Elbeyon]

"They tricked all types of ponies, suspicious or not. Any pony can fall for being tricked no matter how much they guard themselves." Love shakes her head and holds her hoof. "The goals they falsely pursued aren't too good to exist. There are a lot of ponies that sincerely want to work with others to improve life here. Don't close yourself off from the world's beauty. It's alright to want good things. The wasteland needs ponies like you more than ever, caring ponies that want to make the world a better place for everyone."

"You can open your eyes now." Love was trying not to overdo it, but if Emerald seems like she needs more than a book Love will move to Plan R. Thank you, Rip. Love does have holo footage of rain that she prepared and showed off to Rip. That weather seems appreciated by wastelanders. Love can disappear the book and start a rain shower on top of Emerald.

[Miltonian]

Anaki chuckles. "Paper and writing utensils were rare. Much of what we know we know from memory. We will try that first before resorting to writing it down. I don't think we'll need any help."

"The elders said," Timiti says quietly, "That ink was the death of song."

--

"Oh sure," Emerald says, "But I won't be so easy to trick next time. The next time somepony says they're going to save the Wasteland, I'll hang back a bit and keep on the lookout for any ulterior motives."

She opens her eyes and blinks at the projection in front of her. "Well this is easier than a book," she says.

[D.KnightSpider]

"Fair enough." Sniper replies. "Rose, I guess you can go on ahead of me. I'll catch up in a few minutes. I should get checked out before taking a spot on the night watch/shift."

Not for the first time, Sniper found himself longing that he'd kept his big mouth shut back at the Castle of Friendship. His friendship with Rose was one of the few bright spots in his life, but, he'd let false hope and some empty promises convince himself that a relationship could work. Of course, it hadn't. From all appearances, their friendship was irrevocably changed and there wouldn't be any recovering it. He might as well get used to it.

Cadance got what she wanted after all.

Ugh. He needed to blow off some steam and get his head to shut up.

[DigoDragon]

"The elders said," Timiti says quietly, "That ink was the death of song."

"Death of song, they said?" Rose muses. "Hmm, well you should judge that for yourself. I will let you to your verses while I do some studying."



"Fair enough." Sniper replies. "Rose, I guess you can go on ahead of me. I'll catch up in a few minutes. I should get checked out before taking a spot on the night watch/shift.".

"Sure thing, Scope. I'll be at the clinic when you need me." Rose bows and sees herself out. She trots over to the clinic, in a pleasant mood with sugar on the brain.

[D.KnightSpider]

"See you later."

Sniper bid Rose and the Zebras farewell and took off in a random direction. While searching for Corby or Octavia, he sent Artie a rundown on Lullaby's situation and pointed out that she had acted as an EDF informent and had faced the risk of psychological torture because of her actions. This would be a solid 'I owe you one'.

That done, he started some serious soup searching. Eating the cake had triggered something but what? He needed to get past the symptoms and distractions to figure out the core issue. He was learning that much, at least.

Part of it was simple. In eating the cake he had allowed himself to enjoy life and he had taught himself to rebel at that notion.his mind was trying to do what he had trained it to do and go back into depression. The only solution to that was time and dedicated mental retraining.

The other half of it was... Rose. Was it that she didn't seem bothered about the break up? No. She was definitely bothered about it. That bothered manifested in all the anger and frustration that was directed at him. He could adapt to that, although if it got too bad... well, no use going there.

Upon accepting the relationship she'd immediately fallen in with Chrysalis and Ersatz (and may Ersatz never meet him in a dark alleyway). He'd honestly forgiven Rose for that. And... Oh. That was it. Made sense.

EDIT: Updated actions.

[Elbeyon]

There is still that splinter of worry. "Alright, just be careful not to let the good stuff sneak away." Love smiles at her. "I won't let you miss out on the good stuff either!" Love puts a hoof up to her mouth and laughs. "I have access to more books and music than a pony could read!"

"You can move it around with your voice. It's pretty smart. I call her Clip. Clip, open the book." The phone follows instructions. Love throws out a couple commands to move around the projection, closer to read, further away, a flip of the page, a flip backwards. She closes the book and opens it from a list. "The phone is pretty good at following instructions. Just talk to it like you would a pony. You can ask it questions. Any EDF members can help you if you run into any difficulties (though it might take them some time for them to figure it out themselves). I'm teaching Powder Keg how to use a phone too so she might be able to help a little." Love smiles real big. "This way you can turn pages and listen to whatever you want!"

[Miltonian]

That done, he started some serious soup searching.

All soup is in the kitchen. Sniper doesn't have far to look.

Octavia is far easier to track down. Though Sniper could check all the rafters for Corby, it is far easier to follow the music. He finds her sitting alone on the stage in the empty auditorium. She keeps playing as he approaches, a beautiful slow tune that is a cross between a lullaby and a lament. "It's funny," she says as he gets close.

----

The zebras say goodbye to both Rose and Scope, seeing them on their way. Happy clears up the dishes and carts them towards the kitchen and in short order they are alone. Rose gets to the infirmary without incident. The whole place seems much more empty now. Almost depressing.

-

"Huh," Emerald says, shifting to get a better look at things. "Hmm, alright. I can work with this." She clears her throat. "Clip, turn the page." The page turns. "This'll work great! Thanks, Love."

[DigoDragon]

Rose gets to the infirmary without incident.

'Huh. That's weird.'

Rose enters the infirmary and sets her things down in a corner. "Evening. Everyone doing alright? Any issues I should address? Pain? Discomfort? Hunger?"

[Elbeyon]

Love cringes when she moves. "You should go easy on yourself." Rose's healing magic seems pretty potent. She will help her move so Emerald doesn't strain herself. "Would you like me to fluff your pillow?" Love will do so if agreed upon.

Her thanks causes a big smile. "You're welcome, Emerald. Anything to help a friend. Do you have any questions? I'll be around for meals, so you can ask me any future questions you have then."

"I'll need a moment to make some changes to the phone then it's all yours to keep." She takes out her laptop and tries to seamlessly switch the holo projection from her computer. "Clip, Stabilize the holo." Love is able to move the laptop around while Emerald reads her book. She takes a cable and connects her computer to the phone. She does a full wipe then downloads a bunch of databases onto the phone for Emerald to entertain herself. She takes the back of the phone off and 'destroys' the microcommunicator. She is trying to keep all wireless stuff out of the room and away from Blank. She doesn't want to get him in any trouble. When she is done she'll switch the holo back to the phone, disconnect her laptop, and put the phone on a surface/table/shelf nearby Emerald with a clear projection path.

Rose is here apparently. Love will keep her voice down instead of shouting across the hospital.

[D.KnightSpider]

Good. It was always horrible when the gnocchi disappeared.

Sniper put his runaway thoughts on hold as he approached the stage. Rose was under no obligation to give him the same leeway that he'd shown her. From an objective standpoint, she'd done the right thing. Now that he was letting himself feel that pain, the anger and depression was subsiding.

"Do you mind if I ask what's funny?" Sniper asks in an effort to be polite. "Or would you rather I left you alone? I won't take offense either way."

[Miltonian]

Angel waves as Rose enters. "Evening Rose. Nothing much, though I could use a snack. Blank and Merry are sleeping and Love is chatting with Emerald."

Speaking of which, Emerald says to Love, "I would hug you. If, you know, I could move my legs." She chuckles wryly. "So think of it as a 'spirit hug' and I'll get down to reading."

--

"I don't mind. It's this," she says with a sweeping gesture to the empty hall. "I dreaded coming here, being put on display like some glorified boombox. If you'd asked me, I would have said there was no place I dreaded more. But now, I came here to retreat, to be out of the way. It's familiar to me."

[DigoDragon]

Angel waves as Rose enters. "Evening Rose. Nothing much, though I could use a snack. Blank and Merry are sleeping and Love is chatting with Emerald."

"For a moment I thought my invisibility spell went off," Rose comments. She gestures to the door. "Well I'm here for a while, so why don't you take a break and get your snack on? I'm just gonna do some studying on the CPI chips. I'll hold down the fort."

Rose sits down and gets out the CPI chips, her tools, and her laptop. Time to poke these things to see what makes them tick.

Perception (using the Telescopic Vision in her cybereyes) [roll0] vs. 13

Electronic Operations (Medical) or Mechanic roll (same skill level) to study the circuitry (if any) vs. (12 minus the penalty as this probably needs a specific Electronic Operations roll I don't have. I know, this is wordy and my might be rereading this a few times because of that, but I'm not sure what else I can really do. I'll cast an Analyze Magic soon for a deeper look)

[Elbeyon]

"Oh! I'll let you get back to your evening." Love smiles at her and chuckles, "We can still hug though! Would you be comfortable with me hugging you?" If she agrees, Love will give a Love 'spirit' body hug to the downed mare. She smirks. "Enjoy your reading and music. You should ask the phone what a video is sometime!" She gets up off the bed and does a slight bow to her. "Goodnight, Emerald. Ask for me if you need anything. I'll be up late tonight working. May you have sweet dreams." Love will part the curtain to leave and does a final goodbye wave. Love will give the mare her privacy.

Love starts booking it for the door.

"Hey, Rose. I'm as healthy as a pony."
"Lullaby, It was a great pleasure to meet you."
"Angel, the full vr suit might be useful to everyone suffering cabin fever. I'm not a doctor."

Love will run out the door unless some pony stops her.

She goes to FleshBot so she can check out of he work body and get to that kitchen.

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper nods slowly. It sounds like there's a life lesson in there somewhere.

"It makes sense, I suppose. I've tried a time or two to imagine what it was like for you under Wire. The mental picture hasn't been pretty but I'm sure I couldn't do it justice. At least now the stage has a better meaning for you... and in a few more days you'll be able to put it behind you altogether. I think we'll all feel better to be away from here."

[DigoDragon]

Love will run out the door unless some pony stops her.

"No running in the infirmary," Rose says in a dry, deadpan voice. She doesn't even look up from her studies.

[Miltonian]

Lullaby steps in behind Rose, a package in her mouth. She sets it down. "Brought those towels you wanted, Ms. Angel!" she says cheerily and turns to Rose, "Oh, hello...I forget what your real name is, sorry."

Rose studies that chip. It is an elegant blend of arcane and technological science that probably pushes the boundaries of current knowledge in several different ways. Nothing like this has made it into any textbooks yet. Twilight is probably having a field day with the ones already sent her way. Or a conniption fit. However, it is unlikely Rose will hear anything from her on it anytime soon, given the danger it poses. Information security is a witch sometimes. So Rose is on her own. But as far as she can tell, the only way to break it is to physically remove it from the pony it's controlling. There might be a way to interfere with the control system, but she is not sure with only a close look and her current knowledge.

In other words, it's time for SCIENCE!

"I can stay," Angel says, "We were both out and you seem busy."

Angel and Lullaby greet Love, but don't stop her.

--

"Well it was moderately worse than being under Andromeda," Octavia says coldly, "And that was a low bar already. Wire was a truly loathsome pony and no one will mourn his passing. "

She sets her cello aside for a moment and sighs. "No offense, I will be glad to bid this world goodbye again."

[Elbeyon]

Love will keep heading toward her body. It's probably in command or Wire's room (wherever she left it).

[D.KnightSpider]

"None taken. To be brought back here after finding peace, that's one thing I can't even try to comprehend. As soon as we take Ashtown and perform the rescue, we'll get the two of you to Equestria. I'm sure that Princess Twilight Sparkle will find a way to undo all this."

Sniper shakes his head. "There are too many ponies meddling with the unknown. And it's always the innocent who pay a price. I wonder if it will ever end."

[DigoDragon]

Lullaby steps in behind Rose, a package in her mouth. She sets it down. "Brought those towels you wanted, Ms. Angel!" she says cheerily and turns to Rose, "Oh, hello...I forget what your real name is, sorry."

"My real name is Rose Croix. 'Rose' is fine; I'm not good with formalities. And you're... Lullaby?"



"I can stay," Angel says, "We were both out and you seem busy."

"Up to you, but since at the moment everything is peaceful, now is the perfect time to run out and grab what you want." Rose looks at the chip and frowns. Analyze Magic would take her an hour to cast and she'd rather have Love around to help figure this out. She'd rather have Love here period. Dunno where that mare was off too in a hurry.

Sigh, can only rely on herself. Rose will find her spare comm radio and take it apart to see if she can get the antennae to pick up anything off the chip when she wires them together. No, she's not sure of what she's doing, but Rose takes some detailed notes. Because the difference between science and screwing around, is writing it down.

"I don't suppose either of you have experience with fixing radios?"

Throwing stuff at the wall and see what sticks:

[roll0]

[Miltonian]

Since no one stopped her, Love arrives at her destination without incident. No ambush from the walls, no mysterious spooky things happening. However, as she’s headed to the kitchen after transferring over, she hears a whisper from the shadows. “Psst! Psst! Love! Hey!” It’s Needles.

--

Octavia nods. “If she hasn’t changed too much, I don’t doubt that she’ll drop everything to assist us.”

“I seems more unlikely with each passing day. Since when has a little thing like morality stopped ‘the greats’ from doing what they want to the rest of us?” Octavia says bitterly, “And I thought music producers were the lowest of the low.”

“Oh, by the way. Is there any piece in particular you like? I can play it while we talk, if I know it.”

--

Lullaby nods. “Yep! I like the name well enough, so I think I’ll keep it,” she quips.

Angel takes Rose at her word and slips away with a grateful smile and nod. However, if she had stuck around, she would have answered that no, she knew how to stitch ponies back together, not radios.

“Sorry, no. But is there anything I can get you? I’m the new assistant around here,” Lullaby says.

As for Rose’s rudimentary SCIENCE, hooking up the comm to the chip produces a low, steady tone from the speaker. There is definitely a faint signal going out, but no way to tell the range on it.

[DigoDragon]

Lullaby nods. “Yep! I like the name well enough, so I think I’ll keep it,” she quips.

“Sorry, no. But is there anything I can get you? I’m the new assistant around here,” Lullaby says.

As for Rose’s rudimentary SCIENCE, hooking up the comm to the chip produces a low, steady tone from the speaker. There is definitely a faint signal going out, but no way to tell the range on it.

(OOC: I forget, what pony type is lullaby?)

Rose listens to the tone for a moment, then tries to manipulate the way she has it hooked up to see if she can get other tones. To Lullaby, "Um... if you can get me a screwdriver? The red handle one in my bag."

Rose is going to take apart her current comm. If the current one is emitting a signal, she is going to see if she can get a second setup to make a two-way radio between them. Or maybe she breaks her comm. Who knows.

Sciency roll: [roll0]

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper contemplates his (limited) knowledge of the musical arts before answering Octavia's request.

"Do you know Chomping's Grande Polonaise Brilliante?" He suggests and then follows with an observation: "Music seems to be very important to you."

He shakes his head.

"I can't speak how the Princesses have changed over the past two hundred years, but I'd find it in-character for Princess Twilight Sparkle to make resolving your situation a priority. Shutting down the ones who did this to you will be our priority. Maybe I can't stop other ponies from mucking things up, but I'll try to stop this one."

Two hundred years. Why was anything and everything from two hundred years ago?

"Anyway, I owe you some thanks for helping us wake up Merry Melody and an apology for being distant after that scene with Chrysalis. I was living through two of my worst nightmares at that specific moment. It wasn't intended to be personal."

[Elbeyon]

A greeting goes out to whoever Love sees on the road. If she meets any EDF, she will use mage sense and take note of who is going to be included in the scan. She will try to eject to her body before the spell runs the course as a curious experiment of her own. She transfers equipment and heads to the Kitchen.

She texts Happy, "I'm heading to the kitchen to bake some muffins. Do you want a piece of that sugar?"
She will update Star on her progress since she doesn't want her to worry.

Love jumps at the 'pst' but settles into twitchy ear mode as she trots over to Needles and off into the shadows. "Needles!" She smiles and chuckles. "You surprised me again." The security system Scope and Love set up might need another look. She adds it to the work pile. "It's nice to see you! How are you?"

[Miltonian]

“Screwdriver, sure,” Lullaby says, nodding seriously. She roots around for the red-handled tool until she finds it. “Here you are,” she says triumphantly and gives it over. She then sits there expectantly, waiting for another task.

--

“You know there’s more than a cello in that piece, right?” Octavia says, an amused tone in her voice, “But I’ll do my best.” She stands up, puts her string to her cello, and begins to play. The sounds that come from her strings are not, however, the sounds of a cello or at least not entirely. Trumpets and a few drums accompany her. Out of the corner of his eye, Sniper can almost make out the shapes of ponies playing other instruments. It’s enough to raise the fur on the back of his neck, no matter how beautiful the music. He thinks he might now understand why the few ponies who encountered real, hostile ghosts ran screaming away, no matter how brave they normally were.

“I prefer impersonal right now,” Octavia says, “It’ll make saying goodbye easier.” There’s a harsh logic to that, the kind that Sniper is uniquely equipped to appreciate. She sighs. “No, that’s not entirely true. I believe impersonal would be better, but what I want is friendship like I had back home.”

--

“Yeaaaah. By the way, sweet system you had going there,” Needles says, “Cloak and Dagger had a bit of a field day trying to get around it. They want to know if they succeeded. But, hey, I’m not into that whole ‘I’m smarter than you’ contest. I just wanted to say hi.”

[DigoDragon]

“Screwdriver, sure,” Lullaby says, nodding seriously. She roots around for the red-handled tool until she finds it. “Here you are,” she says triumphantly and gives it over. She then sits there expectantly, waiting for another task.

"Thank you." Rose fiddles with her devices in a somewhat vain attempt to pull the same kind of magic Love does with electronics. One idea that Rose gets is to build a cybernetic interface between the chip and her own neck. And yes, that sounds exactly as crazy and dangerous as Rose thinks it does. However, because the chips are implanted, hooking them to a little radio is probably doing nothing useful. An interface Rose could turn off and on would be kinda safe? But she'd need someone who knew what they were doing to help out in case rose couldn't turn off the chip interface herself. And Lullaby probably is a common wastelander who doesn't have this kind of knowledge.

No offense to Lullaby. She's an alright mare and maybe a little on the cute side, but certainly no tech. Neither is Rose, but what can you do?


Not having another task at the moment, Rose makes small talk with the unfamiliar mare. "So... you training under Doctor Violet? I don't think I've seen you before. Just curious what your background is."

Rose also tends a text to Star Chaser through her laptop: "Hey, are you free? I have a comm issue. I'm in the infirmary. "

[D.KnightSpider]

Hey, at least his music choice got a chuckle out of her.

"I can respect that." Sniper says whilst subtly trying to get his pelt to behave. "So I won't try to force any attachment or answers from you. I came here to say my piece and make sure no pony was hassling you. We can leave it at that if you want, although I'm... Uncertain which 'home' you mean."

Ghosts. At least the song was nice.

[Elbeyon]

Love taps her chin. "How interesting! I'm glad they were kept entertained while I was away today." She chuckles. "They can come talk to me directly if they want. I'll look into things for them though." She smiles at him. "Hey, I was going to visit you later today. You actually caught me at the perfect moment. I'm going to make muffins for some very special people. Would you like to come help? Anyone is welcome to join! I'd appreciate your company."

[Miltonian]

“Oh no,” Lullaby says with a chuckle, “My tail would be a normal length if it was.” She nods towards her bobbed tail. “I was...one of the showmares.” She’s using tact and the small, frozen smile on her face to cover a wince. “I’m just helping out because if I wash one more set of sheets my hooves will soak off.”

Rose is making no progress on this right now. She just doesn’t have the skills for it.

--

“Ponyville,” Octavia says simply. Her voice turns sad. “I moved there for awhile and met Vinyl. Moved away when my career took off. Moved back when we retired. If the old Church of the Sun is still there, you might find our bones out back if you dug enough. If there’s one place on this world I want to be, it’s back in Ponyville.”

--

Love’s comm dings. A text from Happy. “Sure! I’m already in the kitchen cleaning up the other dishes. Come on up!”

Needles blinks. Standing like she is, Love is in a unique position to appreciate how large the twins really are. Changelings have a reputation for being smaller and sneaky, somewhat scrawny, especially unreformed ones. But Needles is at least a head taller than her current body and has very wide shoulders. “Um, I dunno. I’m not good at baking. Now.” He grins and bares his teeth. “If you need a guard, I can make sure you’re not disturbed.”

[D.KnightSpider]

"Ah." Sniper says equally simply. "I was stationed at Ponyville for a week prior to coming here. I could tell you a little bit about it if you'd like."

The back of his neck hitched. Out of habit, Sniper took a quiet look around the area.

Observation:
[roll0] VS 14 (13 Skill + 1 Extra Time)

[Elbeyon]

"One moment, Needles. I need to reply to this text." She texts Happy, "Needles and I are on our way! Thanks a ton for helping out. xoxo"

Needles is a big stallion. She looks up to him and keeps smiling. This right here is a happy moment. "Ah, I don't care if you're not good at baking. It's about having fun and giving gifts! I'd be honored if you guarded me, but you have to stay within conversation range! Though, Happy and I would be glad to have you help us bake! We can figure everything out and make amazing muffins at the same time! Whatever you want to do!" Love waves him forward toward the kitchen. "Will Pins be joining us? You're welcome to invite whomever or whomever you think would have fun!" She chuckles. "Any chance that would include Dagger or Cloak?"

[DigoDragon]

“Oh no,” Lullaby says with a chuckle, “My tail would be a normal length if it was.” She nods towards her bobbed tail. “I was...one of the showmares.” She’s using tact and the small, frozen smile on her face to cover a wince. “I’m just helping out because if I wash one more set of sheets my hooves will soak off.”

Rose is making no progress on this right now. She just doesn’t have the skills for it.

"Oooh. Well I think the new management won't be as strict with the dress code. I can't attest much about dishpan hooves though." Rose puts her tools down and holds up her hooves. The metal dull and scratched under the desk light. "Lost all four legs in a crash. And some other inside parts. I've learned to live with it, though some days can be harder than others."

She sighs at her failed experiment and sets it all aside. At this point she should ask Star put her comm back together before it's irreparably broken. No response yet though. Hopefully she's awake.

Rose pivots the chair towards Lullaby. "Well, how good is your typing? You could help me transcribe my writing to my computer here. It'll certainly get the work done faster."

[Miltonian]

Rose’s fiddling, for all it was worth, did accomplish something. Trying to interface with the thing and, worst of all, hooking it up to something with a power source eventually triggers a minor, magical explosion. It washes over Rose and tears the world away.

In that moment, she sees the stars. Millions upon millions of stars with all their planets circling around them. Countless races, many like ponies but many not as well, live their lives on innumerable worlds. The galaxy is alive, but it is not a peaceful life. War, war on a scale Rose could never have imagined, stretches across the galaxy.

She sees whole races trained from birth to fight and kill, to march and die without question. She sees planets, no, whole solar systems stripped of materials and pumped through factories the size of suns to produce ships, vehicles, and munitions in numbers she never would have thought possible. Great ships larger than Equestria itself carry them to the countless legions scattered across the stars, fighting on and on into eternity.

And who could lead this numberless host? The stars themselves. Alicorns of countless shapes and colors, enough to outnumber the Royal Guard itself. Each one carries with it the power and majesty of a star, one of those shining beacons guiding ponies through the dark void. And for just a moment, Rose feels connected to them all, part of a song that spreads beyond her little world and off into eternity.

In that moment, as she sees the forces of Order arrayed out before her, she knows a terrible truth. They’re losing.

For as quickly as they are built, those ships and guns and tanks are destroyed. Empty hulks drift between stars, burned and blacked or, worse, inhabited by skittering, feral things that were once like ponies. Alicorns fall one by one, crashing to the surface of the planets they fight for like meteors and moving no more. The stars they were linked to grow faint and become mere memorials to the spirits they once were bound to. Races die in fire and shadow, for it is a shadow that hunts them. The shadow that comes from beyond the stars themselves. Chimerical, many formed, it stalks the alicorns and, with a snap of its claws, creates horrors or twists things that were already there into shapes that please its dread sense of humor. As Order fights and dies, it laughs.

But from the ranks of the alicorns, two rise up. One, a stallion with a white coat and red mane. The other, a mare with a white coat and pink mane who looks suspiciously like--

Rose snaps out of it. She comes to with her gun pointed at Lullaby’s wide-eyed face.

--

“I would love that, actually,” Octavia says, “How has it fared?”

Sniper’s sharp eye catches what normally stays out of sight. Those are ponies swirling in and out of existence around him, some young, some old, some too young to even have a cutie mark. Their expressions are blank and faces almost featureless. They don’t seem real at all. They try to play the instruments handed to them, but only barely manage to keep up with Octavia. She is the master of the show.

In other words, ghosts are weird.

--

It is a happy moment, in contrast to everything else going on at the moment. Needles nods in assent. “I think I can manage that. Pins is, uh, resting right now. His injury gave him a little more trouble than he realized. Aaaand I don’t think Cloak and Dagger like you much right now.”

The two of them walk side by side into the kitchen and find that Happy has already laid out everything for muffin baking. “Love!” she says and runs forward to give her a hug.

[D.KnightSpider]

Right. Because if they were normal, no pony would fear them.

"I was only there for a week and most of that was spent on mission, so I don't know too much. But the town seems to have stayed relatively the same size through the years. Most ponies aren't too eager to live next to the EverFree Forest. The Castle of Friendship is still there-- as is Sweet Apple Acres, although I'm sure there's more technology integrated into the farm than in the past. It's still run by the Apples. Pinkie Pie re-opened Sugar Cube Corner and has a thing for trying to hook ponies up from what I hear. The citizenry still panics and stampedes the drop of a hat. Overall, it seemed like a nice place." Sniper says.

[DigoDragon]

"What?"

Rose puts the gun to the floor and kicks it away, pushing herself in the opposite direction. "What?" She falls out of the chair. Her training pulls the leg motors into action against her body and she rolls away until she stops in a crouched position. She's shaking, her eyes darting around trying to reacquire her position against the entire enigma of the universe. "What?"

She slowly sits up. Rose hugs herself, trying to stop her shaking. "Wha... I don't... I was seeing things... just now..."

"...my Luna, it's full of stars." Rose's heart rate races like a Wonderbolt. The shaking won't stop. Something dug into her brain. She didn't want it in her brain. She didn't give it permission in her brain. Rose's muscles tense up. She is in the infirmary. In the DW bunker. In the wasteland. But her mind wasn't inside her head for a moment. It should always be there. Rose's shaking slows down, but there is a change in the intricate rhythm of her shakes. She isn't scared. Not now, if she ever was. Maybe? But no, not now. Anger fills her mind. Anger against Polaris. Against everything he's done; he's doing. Was this truth or propaganda? no, it doesn't matter, does it? Polaris doesn't care about ponies. We're just tools. Pawns.

Rose's shaking is now transformed. Her heart is full of rage. Polaris is using all these poor ponies. Chips in their necks taking away their lives. Throwing themselves against whatever campaign Polaris is waging. Saving them may be too late. Maybe killing them all is mercy. Yeah, it probably is. And Hyper Thought... well. Death would be too good for him!

"FFFfffff..."

Rose sits up. She puts her hooves together in front of her. Rose reaches inside and finds her 'center'. She takes in a deep breath and holds it. She holds herself together tightly, grabbing that rage and compressing it tightly into a ball. No, a bullet. Focus it. Turn it into a weapon of determination. Pierce the armor of Hyper Thought's machinations and destroy everything He. Has. Built.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Control.

Calm.

Determination.

"I'm so sorry, Lullaby," Rose finally says in a weakened voice. "When that chip popped, it gave me a bad vision. Something tried to speak to me, take control of my actions. You might want to keep my gun away from me for a little while. Just to make sure I have control of myself now. Don't worry. No one can fire that gun but me, so it's safe in your hooves."

[Elbeyon]

That's worrying. "Is Pins alright?" He seemed in good health yesterday. "We have really good doctors. Rose should take another look at him. She can probably help him and anyone else that gets injured."

Love grabs her into a hug and tries to pick her up but weakly fumbles around. "Happy!" She snuggles her friend before releasing her back into the kitchen. "It's so good to see you! I've missed you since this morning! I had a great idea."

She introduces the two in case the party wasn't sufficient. "Happy, this is Needles. Needles, this is Happy."

"Cloak, Dagger, and I aren't getting along the best. I don't think we understand each other very well yet. Maybe, they'd like some sweets too."

[Miltonian]

Octavia stops playing abruptly and stares at him. The illusory ponies fade slowly from existence, the last echoes of their music languishing before dying off. Octavia's metal face cannot show much emotion, so Sniper is unsure what she's thinking. Then, she snorts and quickly dissolves into a fit of laughter, rolling on her back and pounding the floor with one hoof.

"Sorry, sorry," she says when she manages to pull herself together, "It's just...oh that was perfect. I remember those stampedes. They were often over the stupidest things. Like the time we thought Rarity had been replaced by a changeling because she styled her hair differently. Or when Sugar Lump ran out of sugar lumps and panicked. We thought something was attacking, so we panicked. Pinkie Pie joined in 'for fun', and poor Fluttershy was shopping that day, so she panicked. Twilight saw us running around, so she thought something bad was going on and so she panicked. Lyra thought some calming music would help, but that only started a town-wide musical number about how we were all panicking. It took Celestia charging in with the Royal Guard, ready to take on whatever had caused the entire town and HALF the Elements of Harmony to run around screaming their heads off before we finally sorted the whole thing out."

--

Lullaby snatches the gun up faster than a foal placed before a bowl of candy. She holds it awkwardly, unused to holding a weapon. "Right," she says, "You just...stay there and I'll...call for help."

On the plus side, the chip won't be doing that ever again. The discharge fused its parts together in one, melting lump.

--

"He overtaxed himself," Needles says, choosing not to elaborate further than that.

Happy is a bit too heavy to pick up. Not only is Love weak, Happy is not exactly slender. Not chubby either, but certainly not slender.

"Ooh!" she says, "What's the idea?" She looks to Needles, grabs his hoof, and shakes it vigorously. "Hi! I'm Happy!"

"You certainly are!" Needles declares, chuckling as if he'd just told the world's funniest joke. His ears droop at the mention of giving the two hacker-lings food. "I'm not sure...I mean, they don't like anyone. Not sure that muffins will make a difference."

[DigoDragon]

Lullaby snatches the gun up faster than a foal placed before a bowl of candy. She holds it awkwardly, unused to holding a weapon. "Right," she says, "You just...stay there and I'll...call for help."

On the plus side, the chip won't be doing that ever again. The discharge fused its parts together in one, melting lump.

"Yeah, actually, do so. Call Angel back to have her check my head and... if you know who Red Tape is? He's sort of my boss? He'll want to talk to me."

Sigh. Rose can't even glance more than once at the slag on the table. She sits there on the floor, waiting for Lullaby to get help.

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper stares at Octavia.

That is all.

Except not really because then we'd have a pretty bare bones post. Eventually, he clears his throat and nods slowly.

"I was thinking of growing out my mane, but, given that I'm scheduled to return to Ponyville soon, I think I'll abstain." It's a deadpan joke. "I'm guessing that random public musicals were an accepted practice approximately two hundred years ago? Every pony from that generation seems to be fond of them."

[Elbeyon]

Love chuckles at Needles' joke. Amazing! The two are getting along perfectly. She turns on a confident air and stance. "The idea is to make muffins for Queen Chrysalis and the 5th floor!" She puts a hoof up to her mouth and laughs.

She taps her chin at Needles' point. "Hackers, hackers. Wait! I'm a hacker! What would I like?" She starts thinking real hard with a hoof to her head. "I enjoy hardware, software, and a good challenge. Robots! Oh! No long night of programming is better met than by an amazing cup of coffee! Oh, oh! I know! Napping supplies. They might really enjoy earplugs or a good blindfold or sleep mask." Love rubs her hoof against her temple. "A blindfold isn't hard to find. The earplugs might be more of a challenge."

[Miltonian]

Without taking her eyes off Rose, Lullaby steps over to the intercom and calls for 'bucking anypony else, you hear?!' She's a little freaked out right now.

In short order, Card Ace, Angel, and Red Tape pile into the room. Card Ace immediately checks for magic while Angel rushes over and checks Rose's vitals. Red Tape...awkwardly stands guard.

"How are you feeling?" Angel asks.

--

Octavia composes herself a bit more, putting a few strands of wiry mane back in place. "You mean you don't?" she asks, sounding genuinely surprised, "I mean, I assumed that nopony around here did because they wouldn't know fun if it came up and decked them in the nose, but they don't do town-wide songs back in Equestria either?" She shakes her head in dismay. "Truly," she says in a mock-serious tone, "This is the worst news of all."

--

Needles blinks. "You're making the Queen...muffins?"

"She loves them!" Happy declares, "Ate as many as I could slip her back on..." Her bright, cheerful demeanor dims for a moment. "Back on Tartarus Station."

Fortunately, Needles declines to comment. "Oh, I'm sure they'd love a way to tune us out. Especially mentally. They sometimes shout at the rest of us if we're chatting thinking too loud over the hivemind. They're not...adapting well to it. I like it because the Queen helps make all the hard decisions for me!"

[DigoDragon]

"How are you feeling?" Angel asks.

"Violated," was Rose's response. "I was sitting there at the desk studying one of the CPI's chips and not making any progress. It then exploded on me and gave me this... odd vision to put it nicely. I saw planets around stars with all sorts of alien life and they were at war with some kind of darkness. Like a shadowy, all consuming chaos, and then Polaris went to war with it and it was a mess with billions dying and... well, it be easier to write down I think. But when I came to I had my gun out and pointed at Lullaby over there. That's not like me at all. Whatever was in that chip had momentarily taken control. So yeah, I feel violated."

She shudders at remembering the vision in her head.

[D.KnightSpider]

"It's possible that the still do them in Ponyville and I simply missed them. I don't get out too often." Sniper says. "I feel reasonably certain about Canterlot, however. I'd say the tradition died off during the Corvid Wars, but that's pure conjecture on my part."

Sniper has the distinct feeling that their culture is falling apart around them.

[userpay]

--

As Brazen checks over his equipment, Seafire plops down beside him with an exhausted huff. "If anyone tells you," she says, "That Kittyhawk has skinny legs and should be easy to overpower, tell them they're a big fat liar."

--

Brazen can't help but laugh a little at Seafire's plight and wraps a leg around her in a hug. Probably getting a little bit of gun grease on her unintentionally in the process. "Oh? What did she manage to do?"

[Elbeyon]

Love says really excited, "Yep! We're going to make a ton of muffins!"

Happy's flashback to less fun times causes Love to move next to happy and give her a warming hug. "It's because I went to Tartarus that I got to meet you, Queen Chrysalis, Bristle, and so many other awesome people. I'll always owe Queen Chrysalis for everyone meeting." Love gives her a good 'strong' squeeze. "Let's give her some muffins!"

Love puts a hoof up to her mouth, "Shh. The muffins are a surprise!" She chuckles at her antics. She says more mellow, "That sounds really difficult for them. I have an idea. Here, would you be alright with me putting something in your ears?" If Needles agrees, she steps up to him and gingerly puts earbuds in his ears. "Let's try some music." Love will play a soft piano music over the comms.

[Miltonian]

Card Ace studies her a moment longer before letting out a sigh of relief. "I'll have you know," he says with a wry smile, "I left three very interested mares in order to run to your rescue. But according to my abilities, you're fine now. The spell doesn't seem to have had a lasting effect."

"Vitals are good," Angel says, "You seem alright. Physically."

"Mentally?" Red Tape asks, more posing the question than answering it.

--

"Pity," Octavia says, "They really were something. If you ever get the chance to see one, you should check it out. They did seem to be more common around Pinkie Pie, so find wherever she's hanging out if you're interested."

--

Seafire huffs. "Hey, I just got clean." But she accepts the hug anyway. "Well, she dented my armor, that's what," she grumbles, "Bucked in right in the face. If I hadn't been wearing a helmet, I'd be minus one head right now. She apologized after she calmed down, but I think I strained a muscle or two trying to hold her down."

--

"Muffins!" Happy cheers in agreements.

In the corner, Needles bobs his head to the music as the two mares begin setting up for another round of baking. "This stuff is pretty good," he calls over.

[Elbeyon]

Love works with Happy on the muffins.

She calls out to Needles, "Great! Do you think it'll be useful for Cloak's and Dagger's needs?" Hopefully, Needles with be joining them in baking.

[DigoDragon]

Card Ace studies her a moment longer before letting out a sigh of relief. "I'll have you know," he says with a wry smile, "I left three very interested mares in order to run to your rescue. But according to my abilities, you're fine now. The spell doesn't seem to have had a lasting effect."

"Vitals are good," Angel says, "You seem alright. Physically."

"Mentally?" Red Tape asks, more posing the question than answering it.

Rose thinks for a moment and cannot find a satisfactory answer for Red Tape. So she defaults to that lie you give when something feels wrong, but you don't know what it is. "I think I'm okay. Unless you know a good wasteland shrink that can get into my head and check... and don't worry, Ace. If you like nerdy red-heads, I'll give you my sister's number."

She looks over to Lullaby. "So, can you go over what happened from your perspective? Start from the explosion--what did you see, and what did I do? Did I just pull the gun out immediately? I don't know how much time passed until I came to my senses."

[D.KnightSpider]

"I'll keep that in mind the next time I'm in Ponyville."

He was treated to the unenviable flashback of Brazen throwing Pinkie Pie in his face... And Pinkie Pie shaking him like a bobble head doll on Tartarus. Sigh.

Sniper considered the situation for a moment. The conversation seemed to be concluding. It was probably better to end on good terms before he started rambling.

One check of the time and: "Well, I should report back. If any pony gives you trouble then let me know and we'll get it sorted out."

[Miltonian]

"I dunno," Needles says, "I try not to talk to them if I can help it. I like it though, so that's something. If they don't, then it's just them and not a changeling thing."

Happy guides Love through the steps of making muffins. Love gets the feeling she could to it all herself, but she enjoys having Love to keep her company. It helps the time pass quickly.

--

"Well," Lullaby says, "I started to answer your question when the chip exploded you went all stiff. I asked what was wrong and if you were alright but you...pulled your gun on me. You told me not to move, so I didn't. And then...you woke up?"

Ace grins. "But why would I need her number when I have yours already?" He chuckles. "Alright, well if you're sure you're feeling better, I'll get back to winning over the locals to our cause."

"Oh is that what you're doing?" Angel says with a smirk.

"I'm multi-tasking. i'm a very talented stallion." He leaves with a wink.

--

"See that you do. It's a strange place, Ponyville, but I love it for its strangeness." She chuckles. "It's the one place in Equestria where ghosts might NOT be out of place, given everything that happens there."

She nods. "Have a good night, then. And...well, thank you for the talk."

[DigoDragon]

"Well," Lullaby says, "I started to answer your question when the chip exploded you went all stiff. I asked what was wrong and if you were alright but you...pulled your gun on me. You told me not to move, so I didn't. And then...you woke up?"

"I said not to move? Hmm, I didn't say anything when I have having that vision. Or... hallucination?" Rose sighs. "Alright, well... no more messing with these chips until we can get a proper lab with a blast-proof container to work with. Give Red Tape my gun. He'll keep it locked up until we're sure I'm okay."



Ace grins. "But why would I need her number when I have yours already?" He chuckles. "Alright, well if you're sure you're feeling better, I'll get back to winning over the locals to our cause."

"Oh is that what you're doing?" Angel says with a smirk.

"I'm multi-tasking. i'm a very talented stallion." He leaves with a wink.

Rose shakes her head after Ace leaves. "Alright, so... what should we do now? I trust Angel and Ace to find something if there was anything."

[D.KnightSpider]

"I don't doubt that at all." Sniper says about her former residence.

"the conversation was my pleasure. I'll try to check in with you tomorrow as well."

If there's nothing else, Sniper will head toward the infirmary. One eye is kept on the rafters. Just in case.

[Elbeyon]

Love smiles at him. "I'm glad you like it! I have a whole bunch of songs you could listen to if you want!"

Baking is actually pretty fun. Love has enjoyed "engineering" a good muffin or even trying her hoof at turkish delights. She is happy to accept the tutelage of the muffin master, but Love isn't completely inexperienced to the task at hoof. She shows off some basic technique and know how as they work to let Happy know she can handle herself. Love wants Happy's partnership in this endeavor because they are making muffins together for the Queen. She pours some positive thought and emotion into the batter. Love also takes the time to have some fun with happy since they haven't seen each other as much as Love wants. Love's laptop is put in a safe place nearby and she puts background music on for all of them (instead of entirely through the earbuds). She sings a few words, adds some physical humor, and dances to the process.

Needles is very welcome to join them if he wants. She does throw him a prompted song line to test his singing mettle and a few dance steps if he seems interested.

[Miltonian]

Lullaby looks at the gun and remembers she still has it. She hurriedly hands it over to Red Tape. He catches it with his magic and stows it on his back.

The stallions shifts uncomfortably. "Well you're not in charge of the infirmary, that's for sure." He nods to Angel, who steps forward. "You're...going to be under observation for tonight."

Sniper passes Card Ace on his way to the infirmary. The stallion nods with a grim expression, but doesn't stop him.

--

Needles shifts between several songs, dancing a little in place when he finds one he particularly likes. However, he doesn't join in on the baking.

The muffins are soon ready and piping hot. Happy sniffs them carefully and nods, satisfied.

[DigoDragon]

Rose nods to Red Tape. "Yeah, I'd suggest that myself. Best to keep me in a box by myself for a while to make sure I don't... hurt anyone. Um, do we still have one of those... horn arresting..."

She's unable to finish her question, feeling a bit down about what transpired. But like, she couldn't have known the chip would explode like that... sigh.

[D.KnightSpider]

Two steps after returning Card Sce's nod, Sniper stops in place. A half-circle into turning after Ace, Sniper stops again. This was a horrible idea. The realization of his near miss puts Sniper back on course for the infirmary.

Banish it, Scope. Get your head together.

No amount of pipe dream or empty promise would change anything.

[Elbeyon]

Love tries to do some busy / computer work over the wireless for Dagger and Cloak during baking. She'll text whoever was in charge of security to see if they ran into any issues today. They should have spotted Love and Needles together. Needles seems happy so she tries not to badger him so he can do the things he enjoys.

Love sniffs the muffins and returns a couple excited nods of her own. She pulls in happy and whispers in her ear, "Needles and Pins - Pins is Needles brother - are two of the people I wanted to make muffins. Would you help me surprise him?" If Happy agrees, Love wants to 'hide' the gift until they present the muffin in front of him. "Ta da! We made you a muffin!" Love smiles real big. "Thank you for guarding us! I had a lot of fun last night!"

She will help haul the muffins for everyone down to the 5th floor. A couple of robots can airdrop her requested supplies on the way down.

[Miltonian]

It was an unforeseen outcome that Rose could only have guessed at before doing an examination. So in order to know the exam was dangerous, she had to do the exam. Bit of a Catch 22 there.

"Yes," Red Tape says slowly, "And I'm sure we can cart a bed into the...brig or something for you. Something comfortable." Sniper steps into the infirmary. "I'm afraid you'll be sleeping alone tonight," Red Tape finishes.

--

Currently in charge of security is Green Pine. Though not the most adept with computers, he rewinds the footage and says that Needles just...appeared. In the middle of a hallway. It's as if he popped up out of a vent, but they checked those. It's way too small for a pony his size. Too small for anyone but a foal less than a year old, really. There's no way he could have come through there.

Happy eagerly agrees to this plan. Together, they sneak up on Needles and catch him off-guard...which isn't the best idea. He whirls, a snarl on his face and teeth ready to bite into whatever's nearest. Happy jumps back. He blinks and his ears go down. "Sorry," he says. The muffin brightens him up again. "Oooh. Pony-food," he says.

[DigoDragon]

"Yes," Red Tape says slowly, "And I'm sure we can cart a bed into the...brig or something for you. Something comfortable." Sniper steps into the infirmary. "I'm afraid you'll be sleeping alone tonight," Red Tape finishes.

"I'm used to sleeping alone," Rose comments with a dry wit, glancing at sniper's presence. We'll call it self-depreciation humor.

She takes in a deep breath and starts removing every remaining piece of gear from herself and drops it in a pile. "Hey, Sniper. You missed the fireworks." Rose points to the slag on the table. "Apparently running an electric current through one of the CPI's chips makes them explode. I got hit by... geas shrapnel. And that's the first time I thought I'd ever say such a concept."

[Elbeyon]

Could Needles have turned into a mouse to infiltrate the vents? Love had checked the vents on more than one occasion at this point. Or, perhaps the hacker twins really did breach the security in their playing around. Her appeared in the middle of the hallway? Curious. Love will have to check the cameras herself it seems. Still, she sends a thank you to Green Pines. The stallion always seemed helpful.

Love's ears go down as he snarls at the two. "I'm sorry", she apologizes as well. Her ears go back up. "I didn't mean to surprise you that much." She chuckles. "We're surprising each other all over the place today." Love holds out the muffin in her hoofs and presents it to him with a smile. "Yep! One pony-food-muffin! Made by Love and Happy for Needles. A gift from us to you. Thank you for being around!"

[D.KnightSpider]

By the time he reaches the infirmary, Sniper'd managed to achieve a better mental state. Mastering his thoughts was proving to be a more difficult, and constant, process than he'd ever anticipated (it was certainly a far cry from the epiphanies and instant character changes in books). But it was well worth it to regain his sanity. It was nice not having the depression and fear eating at him.



Sniper steps into the infirmary. "I'm afraid you'll be sleeping alone tonight," Red Tape finishes.

Sniper looks at Red Tape as his expression becomes: 'Did things escalate that quickly?'



"I'm used to sleeping alone," Rose comments with a dry wit, glancing at Sniper's presence. We'll call it self-depreciation humor.

Si-- Y'know what? No. Rose's dry spell was not his problem. He refuses to guilt himself over it.




She takes in a deep breath and starts removing every remaining piece of gear from herself and drops it in a pile. "Hey, Sniper. You missed the fireworks." Rose points to the slag on the table. "Apparently running an electric current through one of the CPI's chips makes them explode. I got hit by... geas shrapnel. And that's the first time I thought I'd ever say such a concept."

"I'm guessing from the lack of urgency that no pony was physically hurt." He looks around to inventory every pony's state of being. One hoof taps his chin. "To make sure that I understand correctly. You and Angel tried to reverse engineer at a Control Chip, tripped a failsafe, and you took a Geas spell to the brain so we have a new area for concern."

He frowns. Lullaby is still in the room. That hampers their ability to talk freely for the moment.

[DigoDragon]

"I'm guessing from the lack of urgency that no pony was physically hurt." He looks around to inventory every pony's state of being. One hoof taps his chin. "To make sure that I understand correctly. You and Angel tried to reverse engineer at a Control Chip, tripped a failsafe, and you took a Geas spell to the brain so we have a new area for concern."

"No, just me. Love ran out of the infirmary shortly after I arrived and I let Angel have a break while I watched the patients. I'm surprised they're still quiet after the ruckus," Rose corrects. "As to the 'hurt' part... well, I was having a very surreal vision about Polaris and something took control of my body. It pulled my pistol out of its holster and pointed it at Lullaby. Had I not regained my senses in time, I..."

Rose winces.

"Let's not think about that what if scenario. Ace and angel can't find anything wrong with me now, but I agree with RT--Its best to lock me up in the brig overnight to make sure I'm still in control while asleep."

[D.KnightSpider]

"I see."

Sniper looks at Lullaby and frowns. "I didn't expect this sort of trouble at the infirmary. Normally, it's not like this."

Private comm. to RT: "Captain, perhaps we should move this conversation to more secure surroundings?"

[DigoDragon]

"I'm sure Lullaby can attest to the fact that the infirmary didn't have unusual events like this before we arrived," Rose says. She scratches her snout. "Silver lining--the explosion only affected me. It could have been much worse had more ponies been gathered around."

[Miltonian]

Needles takes the muffin eagerly and bites into it. "Mmm," he says, "It's good!"

"Sorry about snarling at you two. I wasn't paying close enough attention to see you two sneaking up on me."

--

Red Tape nods. "Yes, I think Angel has this well in hoof. Let's leave Lullaby in her care and move to a place where we don't have to worry about disturbing the patients." Or spilling things to Lullaby, but he doesn't say that.

If there are no objections, the team will adjourn to Wire's room to continue this conversation.

[DigoDragon]

If there are no objections, the team will adjourn to Wire's room to continue this conversation.

Rose asks Angel to watch her things until tomorrow, unless RT has a batter idea. She follows the group without complaint to the camp at Wire's room.

[D.KnightSpider]

Likewise, Sniper has no objections.

He'll give Lullaby an apology for the situation, but it couldn't be helped. Then he'll follow the others to Wire's room.

[Elbeyon]

Love puts a hoof up to her mouth. "Mwhaha. Thank you. We put our best into them." She smiles at him.

She looks to Happy and sees if she needs comforting. "It's alright Needles. The wasteland is a tough place to grow up and people instinctively develop reflexes to protect themselves. We didn't mean to surprise you that much, and I'll be more thoughtful in the future. I don't know much about your life yet. Though, I'd like to learn. I know you didn't mean anything by snarling at us, but even if it was reflex I want to bring up that I wouldn't try to hurt you."

[DigoDragon]

"So... you two want me to give a recorded attestation on what I saw in the vision?"

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper frowned. He was now in a very difficult position.

"Before we get to that. Captain, I realize that this is extraordinary and outside normal procedure, but these are extraordinary events. I need to request a few moments alone with Lt. Croix. I have some very precise instructions from the Princesses and they very well might become relevant depending upon a few factors."

He looked between Rose and Red Tape. This was a course of action from which he could not retreat.

[DigoDragon]

"Sniper, I rather RT stay here with us. I wasn't in control of myself when I pulled a gun on Lullaby. RT has my gun now and it will fire for him. Let him back you up. Wild Cat would probably approve of that."

[Miltonian]

Red Tape nods. "Yes, I believe an attestation would...of course, Lt. Scope, go right ahead." He frowns when he hears Sniper's request, but nods doubtfully nonetheless. "I...will allow it. I'll be right outside though. If I hear, well, something like gunshots, I'll come running. Not that I think there would be, but you never know."

He pauses at Rose's protest and raises an eyebrow. "Up to you two," he says, "Princesses orders trump me, after all."

--

Needles looks happier than before. He licks his lips, getting the crumbs off his face. "I can see why you like those," he says.

"Want to help us deliver them?" Happy asks with a smile.

"Sure, why not?" Needles replies.

[DigoDragon]

Come on, RT. How did you make Captain without a spine?

Rose sits down and relaxes. "Well... since RT recused himself and my decisions might be compromised, I guess we will do it Sniper's way."

[Elbeyon]

Muffins have really being growing on Love too since Pinkie Pie made the group her special batch. "Yeah! They're delicious. And, there are thousands of different flavors too! A muffin for every person."

When Needles agrees to help them she says, "Awesome! Let's pack up and go knock on the hive's door!"

The gift for the hacker changelings gets delivered to Love on the way there.

Love will ask Needles on the way there, "Is there a story behind how you found out you weren't good at baking?" She tilts her head at him and looks at him with curious eyes. "My mom always tried to get me to help her out with baking." Love thinks longingly back. "She was a really good baker."

[D.KnightSpider]

"Unfortunately, I don't have any room for flexibility." Sniper says. "I'm not expecting violence or anything of that nature but this discussion must be private."

He looks at the situation through their eyes then adds: "I'm sorry, but it has to be this way."

[DigoDragon]

"It's fine. If it's a mandate from the princesses, then we shouldn't argue. They are the commanders in chief."

[Miltonian]

"Indeed," Red Tape says, "I won't be far, but I will be too far to hear anything. If and when you are finished, shout or give me a call." With a nod, he leaves the room.

--

"Burned down the kitchen!" Needles says cheerfully, "Got pinned on Pins, though. We looked more alike back then. Now I'm the handsome one." He struts a little, walking in a silly, faux-dignified fashion. "Can't you tell?"

Happy giggles.

Their arrival in the Hive is heralded by a loud shriek from some corner of the hall. "Don't worry," Needles assures them, "That's the lookout. He does that."

[DigoDragon]

"Indeed," Red Tape says, "I won't be far, but I will be too far to hear anything. If and when you are finished, shout or give me a call." With a nod, he leaves the room.

Rose nods to RT and watches him go. After that, she looks at Sniper and waits for him to begin.

[D.KnightSpider]

Oh, he was so far off the Buffalo reservation on this one it wasn't even funny. Sniper was operating off of an implied technicality rather than a direct order. But what else could he do?

He pulls out his laptop, sets it on the desk and turns in on. Once it finishes booting up, he opens up a word processor and types in a line. He then gestures for Rose to operate the device while he shields the screen.

Type out exactly what you saw.

[DigoDragon]

Type out exactly what you saw.

Type the vision out? Is he serious? ...well, yeah, he's Sniper. Duh. Rose sits up and begins typing away. It's gonna a long haul, as Rose isn't the fastest typist.

When the chip exploded, it was as if the room around me tore apart and revealed... space. The titanic expanse of the galaxy with millions of stars. And around many of the millions of stars were millions of planets, and living on them were... aliens. Some looked pony-like, others very strange. So many races, too many, to count.

But in this galaxy teeming with life there was war and strife. Worlds would conquer other worlds and strip resources from them. Billions of lives that are born, fight, and die. There were titanic fleets of ships that met in great battles. I saw an empire among the throes of war. Led by what I think were alicorns, although most did not look like them. Yet, they were alicorns. hundreds of them, like generals and admirals, each with fleets at their disposal to lead the wars against others. Each connected to one another in a kind of... bio-network with songs. Perhaps this is what the chips do?

But this empire is losing the war. There is a creeping shadow from beyond the darkness of space, engulfing entire stars. The empire is unable to win. One by one I saw alicorns fall like shooting stars, dead upon the worlds they fought over. There is a laughter. A cruel, sinister laughter by the darkness. It corrupts and twists things into horrible shells of what they once were. Pony-like aliens become skittering dark masses.

Two alicorns have taken up the mantle of this war; a stallion in white with a red mane and a mare in white with a pink mane. Could they be Polaris and Celestia? The vision ended here, and I found myself in control of my own body, in the infirmary. I had my pistol pointed at Lullaby. Whatever this dream was, it had control over my for the time it had me. It told Lullaby, in my voice, not to move.

Rose finishes typing and steps back.

"Okay, that's everything."

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper studies Rose's recorded recollection. It wasn't near enough to go on, so all he could do was follow his gut-- and hope that his interpretation of other glimpses and inferences was correct. A frown forms around a deep breath. Time to roll the dice and hope he could cover the bet.

He added another line to the document: Call them whatever you must, but do. not. mention. other alicorns by name or suspicions of Celestia's origins. Keep it secret.

[Elbeyon]

Love chuckles and puns, "I'd Pins you as the real fire starter."

That alert. Ouch. "He has some pipes on him." Love jokes, "He could join a metal band." Love doesn't seem to be bothered or worried. She waits for security to process them and plays a mental game of trying to put the voice to the changeling. She teases, "Remind me to make a simple cold dish with you instead of using the oven." She smiles. "Ice cream is pretty fun to make."

[DigoDragon]

Call them whatever you must, but do. not. mention. other alicorns by name or suspicions of Celestia's origins. Keep it secret.

Rose is seeing the game here, so she types another line,

'Wasn't planning on letting anyone outside our team know. I cannot even be sure what I saw was anything other than false propaganda Polaris is using on CPI conscripts.'

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper nods.

He adds another line to the screen: "Good thinking. We'll have to erase this document, but if we stick to the agreed information then we'll be alright. Anything else?"

[DigoDragon]

"Good thinking. We'll have to erase this document, but if we stick to the agreed information then we'll be alright. Anything else?"

Rose thinks for a moment, then types,

'Make sure they feed me when I'm put in the brig.'

[D.KnightSpider]

Priorities.

Roger, I'll send Happy. Give Princesses full story when possible.

After giving Rose time to digest the message, Sniper will clear the text and close the program without saving anything. The laptop is shut down, closed and stowed in his gear.

He travels to the door and knocks on it.

"Everything is fine, Captain. Thank you for your indulgence."

[DigoDragon]

Roger, I'll send Happy. Give Princesses full story when possible.

Rose smiles, showing that her line was more jest than anything. An ice breaker in the tension if you will. Though the second part about giving the princesses the full story? Well, if Rose had the ability to call them, sure, but as things stand now...

"You think I should get my head examined by a... dream specialist?" Maybe not very subtle, but it was a valid question. She knew what Princess Luna could do. Much less so what Rem could do, but let's assume that Wild Cat would veto the idea of letting a nightmare-eating spirit peek into someone's memory. Luna on the other hoof, would be fairly trust-worthy and likely the idea that Wild Cat could live with.

[Miltonian]

“Ice cream,” Pins repeats, “Huh. Heard of it, never had it before.”

He leads the way through the perimeter. The changeling guards give him some form of salute Love is unfamiliar with as he passes and don’t give the three of them any trouble. They pass through to a changeling-style infirmary, where Pins floats inside a large cocoon. Needles walks over and knocks. His brother’s eyes snap open and he looks around.

“Oi sleepyhead,” Needles says, “Get up! Got a treat for you.”

Pins blinks and says something, but the liquid-filled cocoon stifles it. After a moment, he floats towards the top and slowly emerges from the cocoon, which folds away for him to let him out without spilling the liquid inside. He flops to the ground, carapace glistening with...whatever was in there and takes a deep breath. “Whoo,” he says, “Head spinning. Gimme a sec.”

Happy trots up. “Muffin?”

“Muffin?” he repeats.

Perception Check, Elbeyon

--

Red Tape returns, uniform straightened and loose hairs in his mane put back in place. “Right,” he says, “Now then, shall we begin?”

He places down a recording device on Wire’s old coffee table and takes a seat in the chair opposite the couch. He gestures for Rose to sit. “This is Captain Red Tape,” he says in a loud, clear voice, “I am about to interview Lt. Rose Croix concerning the incident which took place in the the infirmary of Down to the Wire at 20:21 this evening. Also present is Lt. Sniper Scope, who will serve as a witness to the veracity and unaltered state of this recording. Do the two of you acknowledge?”

[DigoDragon]

"Do the two of you acknowledge?”

"Yes sir, I acknowledge," Rose answers.

Ah, so she will give a recorded attestation. Okay, so all rose has to do is just repeat what she typed, but leave out names and descriptors as Sniper asked. Can do!

[D.KnightSpider]

"Yes, sir." Sniper says.

He pays attention as the scene plays out before him.

[userpay]

"Fear has a funny way of bringin out more strength than a pony has right to." Brazen muses. "Mothers liftin cars off their foals and what have you. Though if you came away with some strains ah can't help but wonder what she came away with, ya'll get checked by medical yet?"

[Elbeyon]

"It's delicious! It's easy and fun to make!"

Love's idea was to give a muffin to every changeling. The changeling guards get a wave from her. Love tries to say hello to the changelings by name, but she will exchange names if she doesn't recognize them.

Her enters the barracks and her eyes light up when she sees the large cocoon. She excitedly asks, "Wow! What is that!? Is that some type of healing cocoon!?"

Love smiles at Pins and waves to him from behind Needles as he gets woken up. "Good morning Pins!"

She puns, "Take your time to recover. It looks like you were in a sticky situation."

"Muffin!" She continued the chain. "Happy and I made muffins for everyone. Would you like one? They've been getting good reviews!"

[roll0] vs 13 (Perception)

[Miltonian]

Red Tape nods to them both. “So Lt. Rose, please describe exactly what you experienced in detail.”

He listens to Rose’s edited version of her vision with rapt attention. His face betrays concern, both for Rose and the implications of what she saw, whether it was a true vision or not, but he keeps his voice even and level. After she is done, he leans back and lets out a breath he’d been holding for a long time. “And these...aliens,” he says, “The ones that looked like ponies. Did any of them look like anything we’d be familiar with? In other words, if we saw one of them walking down the streets of Canterlot, would we notice them in the crowd?”

--

“Oh yeah, I’ve heard those stories. And now I know firsthoof what exactly them mean by them.” Seafire chuckles grimly.

“Our suits have an onboard diagnosis tooltip,” Seafire says, “I took a healing potion though, just to be safe.”

Healing potions are ludicrously expensive pieces of first-aid equipment that few regiments keep on hoof. Only elite groups, like the Wonderbolts, can afford to keep them in a large supply.

--

Everything looks fine to Love. Nothing to see here!

The changelings aren’t the most talkative group, most of them scurrying this way and that with little time to talk, but they stop and say a few words to Love when she speaks to them.

“Heh, sticky,” Pins says with a groggy smile. “More wet and warm, maybe a little slimy, but yeah. Yeah, it's a healing cocoon.” He sniffs the muffin, interested but a little confused.

“You eat it,” Needles whispers.

“Ohhh.” Pins grins lopsidely at Love and Happy. “Sorry. Still waking up.” He takes the muffin and bites into it with gusto. “Mm, also really hungry, so this is good.”

[DigoDragon]

“And these...aliens,” he says, “The ones that looked like ponies. Did any of them look like anything we’d be familiar with? In other words, if we saw one of them walking down the streets of Canterlot, would we notice them in the crowd?”

"Many of them would stand out; they're larger and carry about a... sort of other-worldly presence about them. I had no trouble picking them out as aliens in the vision. That could be the chip's geas spell imparting that knowledge to me, but even so, when I say they were akin to alicorns, I mean that they were like a perfect example of their species. Something about them just made me take notice."

There were a lot of questions Rose couldn't answer. The top being if this vision was factual or just propaganda.

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper remarks silent throughout the exchange. His emotions are tucked into their box in the back of his mind. He can't afford distractions right now, nor can he afford to wince as Rose uses the 'A-Word'.

Poker face.

[Elbeyon]

Love continues onward, business as usual, because she didn't see that interesting thing!

The changelings seem busy. Love engages in conversation where possible. The muffins aren't getting to end up in changeling hoofs by themselves.

"I heard you were resting. The situation sounded sticky at least. Please, be careful not to push yourself too hard! I hope we didn't wake you up too early." Love nods her head in agreement. "It's for eating! Go ahead! Happy and I made it ourselves." Love is happy he is enjoying the muffin and smiles. "We're here to deliver muffins to everyone!"

She looks at the healing cocoon. "Wet, warm, and slimy?" Love steps up to him and wipes a bit of the goo off him and rubs it around on her hoof. She smells the substance. She is tempted to canister a good sample size away for study, but she doesn't want to be rude. "A healing cocoon is fascinating!"

[Miltonian]

"Mmm," Red Tape says, not really phased by this information, "Interesting. And did that menagerie include...foxes? Like the one you encountered at Night Skye station?"

To Sniper's relief, he seems to have brushed right past Rose's alicorn comment.

--

"I can crawl back inside when we're done," Pins says, "We're good on that end." He finishes up the muffin with relish and licks his lips and fangs appreciatively.

"We make do with what we can make ourselves," Needles says, "But generations of trial and error give us some pretty good techniques when all is said and done."

The liquid is slimy, but slips off Love's hoof like warm oil.

[DigoDragon]

"Foxes? Um... to be honest I saw so many different creatures that I cannot remember if there were foxes," Rose answers. She struggles, but nothing sparks the memory. "If there were, I don't remember. Sorry."

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper stays silent.

Just because RT doesn't pick up on the comment doesn't mean that others won't.

[Elbeyon]

He ate the entire muffin! Love smiles real big. "Good, no harm done then."

"It looks amazing! It sounds wonderful!" Love lets the precious goo drop off her hoof before wiping her hoof on her coat. "I'd really like to talk to the person who build that thing." Love chuckles. "Another time? We still have muffins to deliver. How about we request an audience with Queen Chrysalis? We still have Cloak's and Dagger's muffins too." Love looks to Happy.

[Miltonian]

"Hmm. Pity. Still no explanation for where exactly that one came from." Red Tape taps a pin to his chin. "Lt. Scope, any analysis to add?"

--

Both brothers blink and take a deep breath. "Right. The Queen," Needles says ruefully, "Uh, well, I guess we can...take you to her. Or I can and Pins can crawl back into bed."

"It's a little cold out here," Pins admits.

[DigoDragon]

"Hmm. Pity. Still no explanation for where exactly that one came from." Red Tape taps a pin to his chin. "Lt. Scope, any analysis to add?"

Rose idly digs at one hoof with another as she listens to Sniper.

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper popped the lid to allow some emotion to surface.

"My only comment is that this story correlates to the other stories and/or propaganda put forth by Polaris. Polaris seems bent upon casting himself as the most great and powerful of creatures. Perhaps his pride can be used against him."

He frowned. "I'll need time to do a more in depth analysis to say more than that."

[DigoDragon]

"Well, Polaris is consistent, if nothing else," Rose adds.

She leans forward a bit in her chair. "But there is an unanswered hole in his words created by his actions. At least, I think so. See, in the back of my mind while we were exploring the zebras' temple, I had this question on why Polaris, Hyper Thought, and the CPI have placed a high priority on obtaining Marelantis artifacts and anything associated with the late King Sombra. If Polaris is some kind of alien leader of an empire that spans the galaxy, why would he care so much about a group of small and difficult-to-work-with magical items? Or to put it as the famous Star Trot Captain James T. Kick once said--

What does god need with a starship?"

Rose leans back in her seat again. She speaks with an air of undercooked calm plated with a sprig of nervousness. "Obvious we don't have an answer to that or this or anything else right now. I just want to bring up that if Polaris is what he claims to be, he should have magic and technology at his disposal far surpassing anything we could defend against. Yet, he seems keen on cribbing our own resources. The Pacification Protocol? That was the old Equestrian airship Armitage, just with an advanced energy weapon bolted to the artillery deck. He could have this fight in the bag with one ship from his empire."

"And I'm not going to buy an excuse of 'maybe he crashed here and has to work with the local tech'. No, he's been here a long while. If he runs a galactic empire and this was important enough that he showed up personally? Then he has ships and resources he can spare. Something in his story doesn't add up in my opinion, and you can quote me on that."

[Miltonian]

Red Tape’s lips twitch upwards into a smile. “Great and Powerful?” he repeats, “Like a certain blue-coated AI, I presume?”

He shifts in his seat as Rose talks, resuming a professional stance. “Indeed. And that brings me to the last question here. How long ago were the events shown to you supposed to have happened? It seems to me they are in the past, but do you have any sense of the time?”

[Elbeyon]

Aw, they sound sad. "I'd really like to spend more time with you! My schedule is..." Love shakes her head. "I could stay a while longer. We can listen to some music." Love dances with her back legs. "We can play some games!" She looks to them for input. "I'd like to visit everyday."

[DigoDragon]

Red Tape’s lips twitch upwards into a smile. “Great and Powerful?” he repeats, “Like a certain blue-coated AI, I presume?”

Heh, the cute one that's full of herself? Well, birds of a feather...



“Indeed. And that brings me to the last question here. How long ago were the events shown to you supposed to have happened? It seems to me they are in the past, but do you have any sense of the time?”

Rose takes in a deep breath. "No, I could not tell any sense of time specifically. It appeared to be past events played out in quick succession, like a... like one of those time-passing montages you see in the movies."

[D.KnightSpider]

"What does god need with a starship?"

What did Celestia need with the Elements?



Red Tape’s lips twitch upwards into a smile. “Great and Powerful?” he repeats, “Like a certain blue-coated AI, I presume?”

Sniper shrugs. If the comparison fits...

At this point, nothing surprised him. Trixie could be behind the whole scheme for all he knew.

[Miltonian]

“Maybe not everyday,” Needles hedges, “But we can slip up to you easily enough. We’re not really needed around here except for lifting heavy things and putting them down again somewhere else.”

“And holding up fallen support beams with our backs,” Pins mutters under his breath.

Happy doesn’t seem to have picked up on any sadness and is all smiles. “So!” she says, “To the Queen?”

--

“Hmm,” Red Tape says, “So according to this hallucination, an indeterminate amount of time ago Polaris and others were major players in a war across the galaxy. We have no way to confirm this and nothing adds up anyway.” He closes his notebook. “Right. Well then, we’ll make sure you remain in control of yourself while you sleep and hope this all clears up by morning.”

[DigoDragon]

Rose nods her head slowly. "Yeah, that's pretty much the long of it, so... let's get me locked up while I'm still in control of myself. I can do a lot of damage if I lose it again."

[D.KnightSpider]

"Yes. Unfortunately, it's better to play it safe than be sorry later."

Sniper nods, stands and then gestures at the running recording device. "Does this conclude the interview?"

If yes, then Sniper sends a comm. message to Love: We have a situation. I need to talk to you and Happy. Meet us at the brig.

[DigoDragon]

Having never been arrested before, Rose holds out her forelegs with the expectation that she'd have hoof-cuffs or bindings of a sort to restrict her mobility to a walk.

[Miltonian]

Red Tape flicks the recorder off. "Yep. We're done here."

Red Tape blinks and stares at Rose's extended hooves. "What are you--oh! Oh no, no, no. That won't be necessary." He smiles at her and pushes her forehooves back down. "Just a locked room and somepony standing guard I think."

[DigoDragon]

"Oh, heh. Well if you say so." Rose gives a sheepish smile and gets up to follow. "Okay, lead the way."

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper sets his rifle so that it's loosely in hoof. He checked to make sure it was set to stun. Just in case.

"Agreed. I doubt that taking Whiskey Rose to the brig in chains would sit well with the locals. She's somewhat of a hero in these parts."

It looked like Rose had only understood half his meaning. The more important information had slipped out while the lesser was obscured. He m mentally sighed. He'd tried. It was the best he could do.

[DigoDragon]

"Agreed. I doubt that taking Whiskey Rose to the brig in chains would sit well with the locals. She's somewhat of a hero in these parts."

"Aww, you know how to sweet-talk a trouble-maker," Rose says in jest. She takes a step to the side so as to be between the stallions. Rose clears her throat. "Okay, it's out of my system. I could probably use a forced rest now that I think about it. I work pretty hard, right?"

[Elbeyon]

"I can slip down to here sometimes too." Pins expunges some worry with his light. "Oh! You got hurt doing construction. How is your back doing? It sounds like a dangerous job. Please, be careful." Love starts thinking about what she can do to help. If they're tunneling or clearing collapses that could be dangerous for Pins. She looks warmly at Pins as she tries to send him some good luck.

Love moves to squeeze Happy into a half hug. "We shouldn't keep her waiting. To the Queen!" She looks to pins and gives him a smile.

She focuses in on her ear for a moment. "Excuse me, I have a message I need to answer." She texts Scope back, "Happy and I are down in the Hive delivering muffins to Queen Chrysalis." She really wants to deliver these muffins. It's been on her mind all day. She waits for the next text to say: her plans are canceled.

[Miltonian]

"Right," Red Tape agrees. However, he does extend a foreleg to escort her in a more gentlestallionly fashion. "Don't worry. Sgt. Corby should be up for the first watch. You can sleep or talk to her, whatever you want to do. I might sleep, though. You'd be surprised how tired sitting around all day can make you."

---

"Yeah! To the Queen!" Pins, Needles, and Happy cheer in unison. The enthusiasm is dimmed, but not destroyed, by Love's announcement. They are headed to Chrysalis' chamber and will arrive there if she doesn't decide to break away.

[DigoDragon]

"Right," Red Tape agrees. However, he does extend a foreleg to escort her in a more gentlestallionly fashion. "Don't worry. Sgt. Corby should be up for the first watch. You can sleep or talk to her, whatever you want to do. I might sleep, though. You'd be surprised how tired sitting around all day can make you."

Well, he offered. Rose takes his leg and walks with him. "Oh I'm sure you do a lot of brain work; crunching numbers and moving intel around. We couldn't work without you, RT. Between you and Sniper I think home gets all the info on our little adventures they need to keep us in business."

Hmm, St. Corby. Well, guess Rose could get to know her a bit more.

[D.KnightSpider]

That gesture was a little... uh, okay. Guess he missed a relationship update or something?

Under the pretext of answering Love's text message, Sniper slows his walk and falls behind the other two. Number one: putting a 'prisoner' between two soldiers was a bad idea. (Pointless justification? Yes.) Number two: well, his preparations for their interaction were turning out to be insufficient..

No. Walk it off and get on with your life. Sniper kicks the depression out of his mind before it can take hold.

Comm. to Love:Be quick. Need you ASAP.

[Elbeyon]

"Scope wants to see me later." Love doesn't want to darken the mood with the urgency of the request. She playfully wobbles her hugged Happy. She chuckles. "I've written him in my schedule book."

She motionlessly texts Scope, "Sorry. I'll hurry and be up ASAP. Text me if the situation change." If Scope requests her now, she'll cancel her plans and head up stairs.

She puts that business aside and focuses back at the task at hoof.

She restarts the cheer, "To the Queen!" She smiles and hoof bumps toward the ceiling.

[Miltonian]

"Yeah, that's, uh, that's right," Red Tape says. He sees Sniper fall back and clears his throat awkwardly. "In hindsight, I should have my hoof on your shoulders to, uh, guide you."

Fortunately, it's a short walk. Red Tape lets her hoof go. "Alright, here we are," he says with a wry chuckle. He holds open the door for her.

--

"To the Queen! To the Queen!" the four chant on their march through the hive. The other changelings look on in confusion, but a few of them join in. By the time they arrive, a small crowd has gathered around Love and Happy, chanting alongside them.

Chrysalis' chamber is apparently in the old 'Hydroponics' bay, which has the most secure door still standing on this part of the casino. However, it slams open to reveal a scowling changeling queen behind it. "WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT RACK- Oh hello Happy."

"Hi!" Happy says with a wave.

[DigoDragon]

"Yeah, that's, uh, that's right," Red Tape says. He sees Sniper fall back and clears his throat awkwardly. "In hindsight, I should have my hoof on your shoulders to, uh, guide you."

Fortunately, it's a short walk. Red Tape lets her hoof go. "Alright, here we are," he says with a wry chuckle. He holds open the door for her.

Rose steps into the brig cell. Her ears drop down a fraction; there's a sudden feeling in the pit of her stomach. No, not hunger, but... danger? Dread? It's as if something is wrong, but she couldn't quite put her hoof on it. Fortunately or not, that feeling passes as fast as it arrived. Rose turns and takes a seat on the cot.

"Well, it could use some towels and a nice throw rug." Rose was obviously kidding.

[D.KnightSpider]

Affirmative. Comm. to Love. Sniper hesitates, internally debates and then decides to add: Tell Chrysalis I said hello.

Sniper hangs back and let's the twitterpated do their thing. He stays on the alert.

[DigoDragon]

Rose sits there, thinking between several topics in her mind as a train station juggles arrivals and departures. She turns to Sniper. "Hey, I just had a really bad idea. Emerald's mind broke when I showed her the recorded media of the chips and the battle with the Pacification Protocol. The truth seemed to have triggered dormant programming in her head. Why don't you get a laptop and play that media for me? See if that triggers something in my mind?"

[Elbeyon]

Love pulls Happy in for a hug and any other changelings for the same fate if they seem interested (and agree to a hug). As they make a lively noise, she energetically passes out muffins to the changelings they see and meet. The crowd makes it a harder to handle introductions, but she tries to reference the changelings by name when they get a muffin. Love sounds a bit like a muffin street vendor. She arrives at the door giggling and happy.

The doors opening alert Love. "Hello Queen Chrysalis!", Love says with a happy feeling and smile. She puts a hoof on her chest in a respectful manner. She keeps her words light, "I apologize about my rowdy appearance so late in the day. Yesterday's games, being so great, had me wishing to return as soon as possible. We brought muffins." Love looks up at the tall Queen.

[Miltonian]

“I’ll kick that on up to Cmmd. Wildcat,” Red Tape says with a chuckle. His face goes pale at Rose’s suggestion. “Rose,” he says, “That could be extremely dangerous. Emerald almost went into a coma afterwards. Please think about what you’re suggesting here!”

--

Love meets a lot of changelings, too many to list by name. She knows a good portion of the hive right now.

Chrysalis’s eyes narrow. “Muffins,” she says, “You disturbed the first good sleep I’ve had in YEARS for muffins?!”

Happy’s ears droop. “We...thought you’d like them. You liked them back--”

“I KNOW I LIKE THEM!” Chrysalis screams, “GO AWAY AND DON’T--” She pulls up short when she sees Happy’s eyes filling with tears. The queen’s shoulders slump and she lets out a long-suffering sigh, feeling very put-upon right now. She extends a hoof. “Give me a muffin,” she says through gritted teeth.

[DigoDragon]

“Rose,” he says, “That could be extremely dangerous. Emerald almost went into a coma afterwards. Please think about what you’re suggesting here!”

"I did preface my idea by saying it was bad," Rose counters, "But suppose there's something in my head that could disable me like that. Would you rather that I risk a coma now, where you have Angel to try and undo the damage, or when I'm assaulting Ashtown in the middle of a gun battle? Which scenario do you think I'm more likely to survive?"

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper unhooked his laptop.

"It's complicated to explain, but, as I understand it, Emerald Sheen nearly went catatonic because she was forced to remember all of her suppressed memories and trauma all at once-- similar to how Merry Melody did. Her mind wasn't able to process the resulting trauma and shut down until it could process the fear. In your case, Rose, I doubt that showing you any footage would trigger a similar reaction." Pause. "But I'm not always right."

He accessed the archival footage and reports.

"By way of suggestion, perhaps we should contact Princess Luna and ask her to check your dreams? She was able to separate the Elements from Chrysalis' influence on Tartarus, so I would assume she could separate you from any lingering Control Chip influence. I'd volunteer our other dreamwalker for the job but there are too many variables for me to feel comfortable with that course of action."

[DigoDragon]

"Sure, I'll subject myself to a 'dream exam' from Luna. I'm willing to try anything and everything just to be sure I'm not compromised," Rose says. "We might even learn more about how the chips work with memory if we do find anything. Or how they don't work if we find nothing."

[Elbeyon]

Love's attention shifts from Queen Chrysalis to Happy as Happy's ears droop and her eyes begin to water. She embraces her and rubs her shoulder as she tries to comfort and support her friend. She looks back up to Chrysalis.

Love doesn't say anything and reaches into her bag to present the muffin. There is a ribbon around it and a piece of paper attached.

To: Queen Chrysalis
From: Love & Happy

P.S. Enjoy the loaf. No bun intended. (Love signed her message)

[Miltonian]

Red Tape looks between them as if they've both gone crazy. His mouth works silently. "That's...that's...perfectly logical and I hate you both for it." He looks plaintively at them. "Can I count on you to at least wait until I send a message back to Canterlot and see if Luna is willing to be on standby?"

That was the most roundabout way of ordering someone to 'hold their horses', so to speak.

--

As Love hugs Happy, a fierce light enters Chrysalis' eyes. For a moment, Love sees something there, something that she does not recognize for what it is but wrongly diagnoses as pain and longing. If only she'd accept friendship, she'd be so much happier. And she knows it. All she requires is a little push in the right direction.

She takes the muffins quietly, reads the note, and opens the bag. A single treat levitates out and up to her mouth. She takes a bite and chews slowly. At last, she swallows and clears her throat. "It's good."

The changelings erupt into cheers.

Chrysalis' eyes settle on Love. "Could I speak to you in private for a moment?" she asks calmly, politely, almost professionally.

[DigoDragon]

"Yeah, that's fair. We can wait until we have Luna on standby tonight. Or when she visits me in my sleep. I'll be flexible."

Rose lies down on her back to get a feel for the cot. Good thing she's used to roughing it on the field. "Alright well, if either of you have anything more important to do, feel free to go. I don't want to hold anyone up from my little stunts." She seems to be taking the present situation well.

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper nods and closes the laptop. RT was finding out first hoof just how crazy they really were. This says what happened when you created a team of four loose cannons.

He gestures at a group of invisible ponies. "Welcome to the 'I Hate Sniper' club. You'll have to wait in line. U it starts here and stretches down to Canterlot... and back again." He jokes. Mostly. The members of that club were numerous. The saving grace was that most of the membership didn't know who he was and he didn't know who they were. He preferred to keep it that way lest he deal with another Rip.

"We can't leave until a permanent guard arrives. So you're stuck with us for a few more minutes.." Sniper replies to Rose.

[DigoDragon]

"Does the I Hate Sniper Club sell t-shirts?" Rose asks. "I'll take a medium. Don't worry, my front end actually fits in one of those."

[Elbeyon]

Love watches Queen Chrysalis with her attention half divided. The note being read has Love all antsy as she hopes for at least a smirk. The muffin pinch and subsequent mouth opening have Love lean forward as she awaits the call. When Queen Chrysalis says it's good and the Changeling's start cheering, Love happily rattles Happy to reinvigorate her. "Queen Chrysalis likes our muffin!"

Love quickly nods to Queen Chrysalis. "Yes, of course, Queen Chrysalis." Love takes the rest of the muffins and hoofs her bags over to Happy. She smiles at her, "Have fun!" Love trots to where Queen Chrysalis directs. She isn't sure what to expect.

[Miltonian]

Red Tape puts his ears down flat and looks pained. "No, no! Sniper, how could you say such a thing? I don't hate you! You're...I mean, the lot of you, I..." He clears his throat. "Suffice it to say that I'd be very put out if any of you died. And I really don't hate you. Any of you."

Sgt. Corby's head pops in from above. "You called?" she says to Red Tape.

"Yeoo-esss," Red Tape says, turning a shout of surprise into an answer, "Would you mi--I mean, you're going to be guarding Lt. Rose here for a few hours. Making sure nothing suspicious happens while she's asleep."

Corby blinks slowly. "What sort of suspicious?"

--

"Thank you," Chrysalis purrs and gestures for her to come inside. Happy waves as Love slips through the door. Before she can ask any questions, Chrysalis' horn lights up and her eyes take on a green glow. Love feels a presence overwhelm her mind, bending her to the changeling queen's will. Chrysalis smiles, baring all her teeth.

"Now Love," she says, "I want this conversation to be private. Just between you and me. So please, if you would be so kind as to remove any recording devices or comms from your person and turn them off."

This seems reasonable. And Chrysalis is so happy to be talking to her for once! Yay! Love sees no reason to resist. She wants, no, needs to do this! She wants to be friends with Chrysalis and to do that she needs to keep the queen happy!

[DigoDragon]

Corby blinks slowly. "What sort of suspicious?"

"Like me suddenly spewing CPI propaganda," Rose answers. "I'll fill you in on the story later. It's quite interesting."

She points to RT. "And for you, don't take Sniper too seriously. Sure, he can get under a pony's skin, but he's a good stallion."

[Elbeyon]

Love looks up at the light and her eyes take on a subtle green as her will bends.

She feels all warm and smiles at the thank you. Chrysalis wasn't even the tinniest bit upset with her. "I'm glad you enjoyed the muffin." Love tries not to go overboard with declaring her feelings. She put a lot of feeling into trying to make Chrysalis a tasty muffin though.

"We can have a private conversation," Love agrees. Yay! Love has been wanting a private conversation with Queen Chrysalis. She reaches up to her neck to turn off her primary comm device and gently pulls out the small device. She takes out each earbud and turns their comms off. The transponder rings on her hoofs come off. "I normally have more comms, but I gave my bags to Happy", she tries to explain so Chrysalis feels comfortable with the minimal disarmament. "I'm capable of recording my senses. I'm not recording, but there is no device to remove from my person."

[D.KnightSpider]

Wait a moment... Did Rose half stick up for him? That had to be his imagination. Or the Control Chip was already affecting her.

"It was a joke, RT. You can laugh at it, like Sgt. Corby does on occasion." Sniper says. Now he knew what it felt like to be on the receiving end of a lack of humor. Karma.

"Lt. Charge and Happy were supposed to meet us here. They shouldn't be long, but knowing Love, she could get distracted and be a few hours yet."

[Miltonian]

"He is," Red Tape agrees. He turns to Sniper. "You are." He sighs. "It...wasn't a funny joke."

"That was a succinct and disturbing answer," Corby says, "Thank you. Now, is it contagious?"

"Not to our knowledge," Red Tape says, "And not according to any current theory of magic."

"That's not exactly reassu--"

"Also, I order you to."

Corby's mouth snaps shut. She salutes. "Yes sir. I'll look after everything, sir."

--

Chrysalis chuckles. "Well, we can hardly scoop your brain out." She sweeps all of Love's devices up and sets them on a table behind her. "Now Love," she says, "I've been thinking a lot about you and the problems you cause. I was thinking of simply having you suffer a tragic accident and be done with it, but that's a rather permanent solution. One I'd rather not take given the adverse emotional effects it would have on your team."

She pats Love on the head, still smiling. "Your skills are useful, but your personality is a hindrance. Every chain has a weak link and, in this operation, that's you, Love. If we fail, it will probably because you screwed everything up. Not just something, everything Love. You screw up everything you touch."

She leans in and pulls Love close. "I want you to listen very carefully to what I have to say. No one loves you. Sniper tolerates you, Rose sees you as a nuisance, Brazen ignores you when you're not actively annoying him, and Star is wondering how she can get out of the massive mistake that dating you was. Happy likes you, but she likes everyone. You're nothing special to her. And deep down, you know it. You hide behind your bucking and your incessant need to meddle with everyone around you, and if you ever stop, you'll be left alone with that single fact. You're tolerated, like an annoying, yapping dog."

She smirks. "You think everyone needs 'fixing'? Then maybe you're the one that's broken."

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper shrugs and lets the matter go.

"The short version," He explains for Corby's benefit. "Is that Lt. Croix attempted to reverse engineer a Control Chip and took some magical backlash. We're taking some precautions to ensure that she's not affected by any mind control."

[DigoDragon]

"Aww, spoilers," Rose playfully whines. "Well, I'll try to keep some of the surprise when I tell the full version, Corby. Pull up a chair, we haven't talked much at all during this mission."

[Elbeyon]

Love chuckles alongside her. "We'd need a brain-sized spoon! I've had a lot of organs taken out and replaced. I've never lost my brain, but I have on occasion lost my mind." Love puts a hoof up and laughs. Aw, Chrysalis is being really nice to her. "I've thought a lot about you too." Love rubs her mane in embarrassment. "I don't want to cause problems." Love agrees, "Me getting in a tragic accident would hurt my friends."

Love smiles up at Chrysalis as she pats her head. "Thank you. Oh..." Love seems troubled. "My personality is a hindrance." She confesses while looking up at her, "I'm trying to become strong. I don't want to screw everything up. I need strength. If we fail, so many ponies will get hurt and die. Even if I screw everything up, am a failure, and weak, I can never stop trying."

"What?" Love seems confused. She looks toward the ceiling. "Scope asked me to go into publishing with him. He said we're getting along really well. Rose wants me to help her teach. She is always happy when I work on her legs." She searches as Queen Chrysalis list continues. "Brazen hits the bars with me in our off time. Star cares for me with all my mistakes." Her ears flick. "Happy bakes me muffins when I'm upset." Love grips her head. "I only want to help people."

She lowers her head between her hoofs. "People aren't things that need fixed. I only want everyone to find their happiness."

[Miltonian]

Red Tape nods to Sniper. "We can wait for Love in a more comfortable setting, if you're settled in Rose. Any place strike your fancy, Sniper?"

Corby drops down from above and scoots a chair over from down the hall a little ways. "Alright," she says to Rose, "I'm listening."

She's not the most talkative mare.

--

Chrysalis nods. "Yes, you must be strong. And I am here to help you with that, but we will get to that in a minute."

"They don't need your help," Chrysalis says, leaning in and bringing Love face to face with her. "And how could you understand? You weren't born in Equestria. You were raised out here, in the sand and the heat. Equestria and everyone in it was fine without you. But they're raised from birth to be warm, friendly, courteous even to strangers, and kind even to those they dislike. Out here in the Wasteland, ponies are only kind to those they actually like. No wonder you confused their polite niceness for genuine friendship. It's not real, Love. They think you're a fool, but he can't get rid of you so he might as well make you useful. Someone to help with editing or upgrade cybernetics. A body to keep the sheets warm, someone who'd never refuse a request to go drinking. You're a useful pony to them, Love, just not in the way you think."

"I've done this for a long time, Love. Longer than you've been alive." She smirks. "And no one knows ponies better than me. So trust me and all my years of experience when I say these things." She takes a deep, satisfied breath. "But if that's not enough, consider this. I've talked with each of your friends recently, in person or by proxy, and you want to know what I sensed in them? They love many things, but not a single one of them has any directed at you."

She leans further in, pushing her face past Love so she's whispering right in her ear. "Know this," she says and it rings through Love's mind as a command, "No. One. Loves. You."

She pulls back and rises to her hooves. "I'm afraid I'm incapable of love, but I can offer you advice. Be useful to them. Do everything in your power to make this mission a success. No method, no matter how horrible, must be off the table. Do it in secret if you have to." She lifts one of her hooves and regards it impassively. "Call up the darkness within yourself and--" Her hoof slams back down against the cold ground. "Use it to crush those who dare threaten this world we all share. If people question your new attitude, you will say that you finally realized how serious the threat we face is and are prepared to do whatever it takes. At no time will you mention my name or betray my trust in you. If ponies knew that this advice came from me, they would get the wrong idea."

Her eyes turn cold and fall on Love again. "But be warned. Happy Hooves is mine. You are to slowly, carefully, remove yourself from her friendship forever. Do it over time so that she feels no pain."

She takes a deep breath. "You will also kill that abomination you call a brother. Wait for the opportunity to strike. Do it in a way no one suspects. I suggest waiting until you return to Equestria, when he is likely to be placed solely in your care."

"This is not an order, yet, but I hope you will make the right choice. You should break up with Star Chaser. Your union is causing her pain. It would be kind of you to end it." She smiles wickedly. "And Equestria is all about Kindness."

[DigoDragon]

She's not the most talkative mare.

Oohhboy, this is gonna be a long shift for Corby.

Rose turns on her side to better look at her bat-guard. "Alright, I hope you know about the CPI's implanted chips in their necks that control their soldiers. I've been collecting a few, and one thing that I have learned is that the chips allow soldiers to speak to each other over long distances. Sort of like an implanted radio. Well, I was fiddling with one of the chips, trying to power it in such a way as to see if I could access that radio frequency. I thought that if I could figure that part out, then I could enlist Star or Love to help build a jammer against it. Cut off one form of communication the CPI uses."

"Instead, the chip blows up in my face. Now here's where it gets interesting. Those chips have a geas spell, a kind of brain-washing magic to keep soldiers loyal by removing their free will. Well when that chip exploded on me, it seemed to have imparted a glimpse in my own mind of what the soldiers get. I saw this vast... galaxy of alien races together as an empire. They were fighting off this great void of chaos somewhere and they were losing the war against it. I guess this is part of the propaganda Polaris uses to gain recruits."

"When I came to, I had my pistol pointed at a civilian's head. Freaked the buckling out of her and I was certainly surprised myself. Well, I turned in my weapons and surrendered to RT just in case that explosion left any lingering magic in my mind. We figure that if I get through the night without any further ill effects, I should be okay.Angel and Ace didn't find anything with their tests, so that's promising."

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper checks the time and frowns. "I suppose we could head towards Rem's hangout as I'm going to have to feed her before too much longer. Let me update Love on where we'll be."

Comm. message to Love: Update: I'll be with Rem. Hurry.

"Corby," Sniper says to the batpony. "have a good night. And there's no hard feelings for that incident in the basement. As far as I'm concerned, we're square."

And back to RT. "After you, Captain."

He might as well give RT his final bit of advice while in transit.

[Miltonian]

Corby nods back to Sniper. "Just following orders," she says, "I'm glad I didn't have to follow them all the way."

She listens with attentive ears to Rose's story. "Uh. Huh." Corby says in response. She doesn't say much, but Rose can see the gears turning inside her head, processing this information. "Well," she says at last, "it could have been worse, I guess."

Red Tape leads the way, walking in an unhurried manner. "I think we could make a few laps around the casino and still arrive before Lt. Charge," he says, bemused, "I'll have to work on her punctuality somehow..."

[DigoDragon]

Corby nods back to Sniper. "Just following orders," she says, "I'm glad I didn't have to follow them all the way."

She listens with attentive ears to Rose's story. "Uh. Huh." Corby says in response. She doesn't say much, but Rose can see the gears turning inside her head, processing this information. "Well," she says at last, "it could have been worse, I guess."

"It could have, yeah. I'm rather glad no one came over to help me with that project. Least now we know not to run power through those chips," Rose agrees with bemusement. She, too, pauses for a moment as her mind shifts gears. "Hmm. Wonder what Chryssi did with that last prisoner? Oh well, maybe he's in a cocoon for snacking on later."

Rose props her head on a forehoof. "So, tell me a little about yourself. Is Corby your actual name? What do you like to do for fun?"

[D.KnightSpider]

"Good luck. In my experience that's an exercise in futility." Sniper replies.

He follows RT, and then takes a breath. "Red Tape, I have one more bit of advice for you, if you want it, and then I'll leave you and Rose alone for the duration. I promise not to meddle in things. It's your call."


If RT says yes: "Don't make my mistake. As your relationship with Rose develops, there might be times when you feel you've made a mistake and that the spark is gone. If you react in that moment, you might say things you regret or-- or dissolve a relationship in error. Once it's gone, you can't get it back, and... the unrequit love is... painful. Be careful, because the love may still be there underneath all the frustration and difficulty. Instead, take a step back. Deal with the frustrations but remember why you pursued this in the first place. Be committed to your decisions to love her and the rest should work itself out."

Sadness overtook him. The truth hurt at times.

[Elbeyon]

Love echoes her words. “I need strength to help everyone. I want you to help us. Yeah, we can talk about this later.”

“I want to help them though,” Love keeps her position under Chrysalis’ face and stares into Chrysalis’ big green eyes. “I think I understand them. I was born in Junk Town. It gets really hot, but the sun feels cozy warm on my coat. The sand is so soft compared to the hard ground in Canterlot. Even if Equestria and everyone is fine without me, I want to make things even better.” She agrees, “Equestria is kind. Wastelanders can be blunt.” When Chrysalis says her friends were being polite she asks, “I'm confused?” Love becomes very confused. “I thought it was real.” She defends her friends, “I do foolish things sometimes. I try to be helpful. I wouldn’t mind helping Scope with his editing. I never helped Rose get more sophisticated cyberware. I try to be helpful. I’ve been wrong?”

“You have a lot of experience. I can’t even imagine all the stories you could tell.” Love nods. “You’re very good at reading ponies. I want to trust you.” Love listens to her at intention as she takes her deep breath. “What did you sense?”, she asks nervously. The revelation causes Love’s heart to ache. “They don’t love me?”, she asks confused and in disbelief.

Love focuses in on her ear as Chrysalis whispers to her and hears her command that no one loves her. She listens to her command like a small dog would and quietly obeys. She watches Chrysalis back away and emote. The orders come one by one. Love wants to follow her friend’s advice. It’s good advice. She feels off. There is that nagging feeling deep that something is wrong, and she can hear her hoofs inside of her pounding for her to snap out of it. Her head is all fuzzy. She doesn’t want to do any of those things yet a part is fighting for them. Something is wrong. That’s not her that wants to stop loving people. Everything snaps into place. Chrysalis is trying to control her!

Her heart starts to mellow. She speaks calmly with a strong voice that lacks anger. “Queen Chrysalis, you’re idea to control me never would have worked because you don’t understand me.” She takes a formal stance to display herself with dignity. “You’re going to let me go, and I’m going to tell you why. I am from the wasteland, and the wasteland is a gift within me. I am resistant to mental manipulation. I have spread my minds and bodies all throughout Equestria. I do not sleep. There is not a moment when I’m alone or isolated. I told Scope that I was meeting with you. I will interact with dozens of ponies all around the world tonight. I have schedules and expectations all around Equestria that when left unfulfilled will cause immediate suspicion. I am a strange workaholic pony with mission vital skills that is difficult to replace not only once, but that would need replaced over and over in front of friends and family. Scope is already suspicious why I am so late in meeting his urgent request. The wasteland raised me paranoid, and I’ve set contingencies. You don’t need to worry.”

“I’ll tell you why: I have no desire to tell anyone that you tried to control me here tonight. Me telling others would help no one. This news would only serve to hurt my friends. It’s for the same reason Happy never found out you were putting ponies to death. I like Happy. I know you like Happy in some capacity. I don’t think you’d ever do anything to purposefully hurt her. She is safe. You and I don’t want to hurt my team. And, there is the fact that I like you too. I know that’s probably confusing. Call it unconditional.”

“I’m glad to see this side of you. We can drop etiquette and be frank with one another now. I have things to say to you. Everything you said to me? If you believe even a fraction of what you said applies to yourself, you’re very mistaken about a lot of things. Even if you are incapable of love, others can still love you deeply. Equestrians are very polite, yes. They’re also quick to make friends. That niceness and friendship? It’s genuine. It was hard for me to believe at one point too, but they really are friends.” She keeps herself measured.

“Scope really does like you. He doesn’t simply ‘tolerate’ you. He thinks about you a lot and wishes you good fortune. He actually sent a message down to me to say to you before I entered through the door. He said to say: Hello. It is a short message, but it shows he cares and thinks about you. Rose – Rose became your lover. You’re no 'nuisance' to her. I know she enjoys you being around and wants you happy. Bristle is always talking about you. Even separated, you are in his mind and heart. He adores you. He won’t stop telling me as much. This hive feels the same way. You may not realize it, but they like you and look up to you like a mother. Happy likes you. Oh, does Happy like you. You’ve been her friend for a long time. You’re very very special to her. I’m not sure you see it. She loves you."

[Miltonian]

"I think Love picked him up," Corby says, "He's being held in a cocoon, though, in some secure corner of this place."

"Wheeling Corby, if you want to get technical," she says, "Never liked 'Wheel' or 'Wheelie' or 'Wheeler' much, so I go by Corby." She takes out her gun and begins disassembling it for a good cleaning. "The Night Guard was my life for the longest time. Didn't do much outside it except read and go to the odd indie concert."

--

Red Tape smiles. "Of course! I'm always eager to hear your advice." The contents of Sniper's message, however, make his ears droop. "I...think I understand," he says quietly, "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry. I...hope you find someone who makes you happy."

--

Chrysalis leaps back, startled when Love speaks out of turn and not under her domination. Her eyes are wide. This was not what she expected! Not from such a weak, useless excuse for a pony. She stares at Love like she's either a ghost or the world's scariest puzzle, letting the long speech wash over her. But towards the end, the surprise wears off. Her face returns to one of schooled indifference and then her lips begin to curl into a sneer of contempt. The moment she mentions Happy, however, that sneer turns into a snarl.

In the silence that follows she stalks forward a few steps. "It would be so easy," she says, halfway to herself, "To kill you right now. And I really, really want to. You've been nothing but a pest. No, worse than a pest. Everything you do makes my life harder."

"You corrupt my Hive. You steal Happy from me." She seethes. "You walk around with this...idiotic idea that the world is bright and colorful and that you can do WHATEVER you want without consequences! I hate you and everything you represent! I hate your stupid face, the way you style your mane, and I hate, hate, HATE your smile! Oh that smile, so bright and cheerful when it has no right to be."

"So let me tell you something. Something that I think will wipe that smile away forever." Her eyes burn like twin pyres, boring into Love's skull with the heat of their gaze. "I can destroy you, and I don't need mind control to do it! I can do it with lies."

"I'll start by pinning you down and cutting a slit down the back of your neck. Then, I'll take a control chip I dug from the back of one of those scientists and spread a thin layer of webbing over it before sticking it inside you. I'll rip it out moments later, but the sticky webbing will take some of your flesh with it and it will be your blood on the chip. Then, I'll cover the wound with webbing and wrap the chip up in a bit more. That way, if they ask why there's changeling webbing in your wound and on the chip, I can just say I didn't want you to bleed too much and certainly didn't want to touch an active control chip."

"I'll drag you upstairs and, chip in hoof, frame you as one of Polaris' spies, one that I uncovered. And I can do it too. Then I'll watch as they drag you away, lock you up, and all your friends abandon you, believing you betrayed them." She smiles wickedly. "What do you think of that?" Her body is tense, ready for combat, expecting Love to lash out at her or run, one of the two.

[D.KnightSpider]

"I...think I understand," he says quietly, "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry. I...hope you find someone who makes you happy."

"What's done--" Sniper stops the reflexive deflection, is silent for a moment, and then continues. "I appreciate that. But the Wasteland has enough dour ponies; it doesn't need any more.so don't let your mood sour."

He holsters his rifle and stretches his neck. Then he drops to all fours.

"Anyway. We should probably give the cybernetic members of our team a tune-up before the assault."

As nice as RT's wishes were, Sniper was in no hurry to find romance. He actually hoped he never slipped up like he did with Rose. Rose and Love's near experience with his abusive nature... well, actions had consequences. Between his past indiscretions and present circumstance, there was no metric that justified putting a pony at risk of life and limb by forming a deep attachment.

He didn't like it, but he could accept it.

[DigoDragon]

"I think Love picked him up," Corby says, "He's being held in a cocoon, though, in some secure corner of this place."

"Wheeling Corby, if you want to get technical," she says, "Never liked 'Wheel' or 'Wheelie' or 'Wheeler' much, so I go by Corby." She takes out her gun and begins disassembling it for a good cleaning. "The Night Guard was my life for the longest time. Didn't do much outside it except read and go to the odd indie concert."

"Not sure if that's better or worse than the guillotine..." Rose ponders. She chuckles and dismisses the thought.

She leans in on the batpony talk. "Corby... corbie... old Prench Corp or Corb. Another word for crow, isn't it? Latin Corvus... Well, certainly better than Wheeling. My sister's name is Red, which she finds to be the most boring name in all of Equestria. Dunno about that, but she sends you sympathy. Corby is pretty cool though."

"So what kind of indie music are you into? My musical tastes are pretty lame, but my sister got me into Ska not long ago."

[Elbeyon]

Love walks to the side to engage Chrysalis in a circling match. She has no intentions of running away nor does she want to step into brawling range. "Your Hive is loyal to you. They aren't going anywhere. If you're worried about them, I can help quell that fear with you. They're ready to like you more than you ever realized. Did you not hear their cheers for you liking a muffin!? They were so happy you enjoyed a treat you made their wings flutter. Imagine how much they must like you that such a short phrase brings such joy. You said it yourself Chrysalis: Wasteland ponies are only kind to those they actually like. They are kind to you and actually like you. You can embrace them and be happy with your Hive. They want you to embrace them."

"I grew up in the wasteland. I've seen the horrors the world has to offer. I've experienced and committed unimaginable horror and dread. That's why I can find brightness in its simplistic forms. Not every moment is bright or colorful, but I want to change the world's settings towards bright and colorful. I want people to experience a happy joyful life, including you. I'm not free from consequence. I will suffer them. I devote my life to a better world. I accept your hate. If you think my face is bad, you should have seen me after my wreck. I looked stupid! Ugly! My mane and style? It didn't even exist! It looked like a foal put some scissors to a doll. I couldn't even smile! I made children cry by looking at me!"

Chrysslis threat isn't working on Love, and Love isn't going to lash out at her. Love seems serene, warmth and caring directed at Chrysslis. "You're dealing with paranoid ponies. Your lying won't work. The EDF has constantly been checking everyone's neck. We've been bathing in magical scans. Scope is too clever to not logic out the truth no matter how well crafted the lie or what you do. I'm also a paranoid wastelander whose entire body is a recording device. We have information and plans you won't be able to predict. The only trap your lie would create is one for yourself."

"I'd never take Happy from you! I see the two of you together, and I'm happy. She is my dear friend, and I'd never want her to lose you. She is happy whenever she is with you. Every time you bite into one of her muffins she is filled with joy. She likes - loves you more than you admit to yourself. Yes, Happy likes most ponies, but I can see the love in her eyes for you. You're so special to her and you don't even realize it. You make her happy. A hug from you would make her month. She'd cheer and squeal in delight in your hoofs."

[Miltonian]

Red Tape chuckles wryly. "It's very hard to keep in good spirits around here, it seems."

He nods. "Yeah, some simple diagnostics would work. We can all get in a line and have Angel check us over or...something." They arrive at their destination and, surprise, surprise! No Love.

--

"Yeah. Another word for crow," she says, "If you saw me at the dinner table growing up, it would have fit to. Always took everyone's leftovers. Got an appetite bigger than my body needs."

"Electronic stuff, mostly. Not the heavy pounding stuff in clubs, but the relaxing sounds. I sometimes pretended I was a robot, listening to them," she says with a slight smirk.

--

Chrysalis gags. "Enough with the goody-two-shoes talk! I had far too much of it from Twilight and her little cadre of super-ponies! You're starting to remind me of--" She breaks off suddenly, face going blank. It does not stay blank for long. Her mouth twists into a feral snarl. Green fire flickers across her form, adding spikes and giving her a feral, evil look. Well, more so than normal.

"PINS! NEEDLES! IN HERE NOW!" she bellows. The two changelings scramble through the main door. "Pins, guard the door. Needles, grab that insufferable mare and MAKE HER KNEEL BEFORE ME!"

Both brothers' eyes go wide. They exchange glances and their faces fall. They like Love, they really do, but it's not even a contest. "Yes, my queen," they say in unison. Pins hangs back while Needles advances on Love, a sad expression on his face.

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper frowns and checks his comm. No response to his last message.

Tactical mode takes over.

"Star, I need an immediate comm. check on Love's gear." Sniper says over EDF comm. "Lt. Charge was escorting Happy Hooves to see Chrysalis. In the past few moments, she has stopped responding to text."

Run through the options. Angel was in the infirmary. Pines had security. Corby was watching Rose. Ace was... somewhere. Rose was in lockup. Love MIA. Brazen most likely hoofing Seafire.

Comm.: "Brazen, Ace, standby."

He begins walking toward the hive. Not racing, but quick.

[Elbeyon]

Love asks in doubt, "Are you really incapable of love Chrysalis? I know it's scary to trust others and make yourself vulnerable. That's the secret. You have to trust others and be vulnerable to get what you want. It's alright to be afraid, but you're the only one that can take that step." The transformation and demand for assistance is not a good sign. The call for force threatens to change the conversation. She is calling Pins and Needles?"

Love turns her head when the main door opens. She looks at Pins and Needles, and her eyes focus on Pin's sad expression. She looks right at him and says aloud to him, "I surrender." It's all she can do to protect them.

She faces Chrysalis and repeats herself again, "I surrender, Queen Chrysalis" She kneels down in front of her. "I kneel before you."

[DigoDragon]

"Yeah. Another word for crow," she says, "If you saw me at the dinner table growing up, it would have fit to. Always took everyone's leftovers. Got an appetite bigger than my body needs."

"Electronic stuff, mostly. Not the heavy pounding stuff in clubs, but the relaxing sounds. I sometimes pretended I was a robot, listening to them," she says with a slight smirk.

Rose chuckles. "Oh, you're a big eater too? If you're ever in Canterlot after this mission, look me up and I'll take you to the Solar Corral. All you can eat buffet, and they have the best fried onion rings in the city." She rotates onto her back and stairs at the ceiling. There's a goofy grin on her, imagining herself and Corby getting their fill.

"My sister would get along with you. She's always up for indie stuff like that. As fillies she often pretended to be a robot. She was the brains between us. Well, I was brains too, but nothing like her, so I settled on brawn. We were grounded so many times... so many... heh. You have any siblings?"

[Miltonian]

Star leaps into action and looks really cool doing it. Unfortunately, no one but Green Pine is there to see it, and he’s not a main character in this story. She brings up Love’s info and replies back over the general comms, “Love’s down there still on level five. All the way at the bottom. Let me see if I can raise Happy. I’ll report back in a moment.”

Red Tape moves alongside Sniper. “I’ll come with you,” he says, “Juuust in case.” He smiles, but it’s a thin smile. “It’s probably nothing. Probably.”

Ace sends a non-verbal ‘acknowledged’ sign, but doesn’t take the time to write out a full reply.

--

“I live at the Canterlot Guard Base right now,” Corby says, “Ever since we began training. Don’t have a place of my own yet. Green Pine snores. I want out of there as quickly as possible.”

“Both of them are ten years younger than me,” she says, “Twins, not identical ones though. Haven’t seen them in a while. They’re in high school now, I think. I mean, they might have been held back. I don’t know. I never asked.”

--

Chrysalis’ hoof comes down on Love’s neck, pushing her all the way to the ground. “That will do,” she says, a satisfied tone in her voice. “Remember this,” she hisses, “You are weak, pathetic. If you weren’t so useful, no one would want you around.”

She feels something sharp press against the back of her neck, drawing a mere drop of blood. For now. “Unfortunately,” Chrysalis says, “I don’t believe your promises. I think you’re going to go right to Sniper Scope and tell him all about how ‘evil Queen Chrysalis’ tried to take you over. And so, I’m going to have to destroy any shred of credibility you might have.”

[DigoDragon]

“I live at the Canterlot Guard Base right now,” Corby says, “Ever since we began training. Don’t have a place of my own yet. Green Pine snores. I want out of there as quickly as possible.”

"Oof, yeah I can imagine that Green does. Loudly," Rose says. Her tail flicks in thought. "Hmm, I live in a little one-bedroom apartment, but since it's just me I don't use up the entire space. I can take you in for a while if you need to get out fast. It's a decent place; the maintenance is good, decent shelving, I rarely if ever snore... maybe if I have a cold. But yeah, consider it if you need a fast out. I don't throw wild parties or anything like that."



“Both of them are ten years younger than me,” she says, “Twins, not identical ones though. Haven’t seen them in a while. They’re in high school now, I think. I mean, they might have been held back. I don’t know. I never asked.”

"No? I guess the age gap is a bit of a wedge." Well, it could be other things like divorce, but Rose went for the friendlier guess. "My sis and I are about two years apart. We often got mistaken for twins. Well, not these days. She wears glasses and I'm half machine. I remember encouraging her to join the military. She's make a great operations specialist. Radio operator. Heck, she could be part of the intelligence command or cyber-security. Well, she didn't like the outfit. I don't blame her. It takes a lot of personal discipline to join and stick with it. Least she's happy working cyber-security commercially."

[D.KnightSpider]

Star was able to tell that his comm. was disabled at the Castle of Friendship. She should be able to find out the same about Love's.

Sniper seals his suit-- he needs a HUD. He accesses Love's bug network and checks for any active feeds from the Hive.

No response to RT. Can't be distracted.

He keeps moving.

[Elbeyon]

Love's head meets the ground. She warmly speaks, "You're not evil Queen Chrysalis. I believe in you even if you have trouble believing in yourself. I promise you that I don't want my friends hurt." Love focuses on her friendships. Scope asking her for a hug right before they entered Down to the Wire. Rose and the small happy moments they shared in the hospital. Brazen and her playing power armor Frisbee. Her parents moving to Equestria. Happy scarfing down pancakes with her after a long night of fun. Pins and Needles long chat with her, and them hugging. Star confessing her feelings. The feelings of twelve ponies surrounding themselves with friends and family. "Can you feel that? I love my friends!" Love's broken horn glows. "You can hurt me, torture me, but don't hurt my friends. You're going to hurt my friends. You're going to hurt Scope, Rose, and Happy!"

[Miltonian]

Corby doesn’t even hesitate. “Yes,” she says, “Yes please. Hay, I’ll take a couch. I want more than a small trunk to store my stuff in.”

She shrugs. “They’re both a pair of little--” Her comm chimes. She looks at it and frowns. “Huh. Got an alert from Wildcat. Everyone’s on standby. Apparently Love’s gone missing down in the Hive.”

--

Star calls Sniper. She doesn’t text, she calls him. “Love’s comm is turned off,” she says, sounding worried, “Happy says they went down to deliver muffins and Chrysalis pulled her aside for a ‘private conversation’. It...it would be just like her to turn her devices off if Chrysalis asked her to.”

Red Tape panting behind him, Sniper arrives at the borders of the Hive. Two unfamiliar changelings stand guard and nod to him. “Lt. Scope,” the one on the left says, “What brings you down here?” They aren’t making any moves to stop him. In fact, their posture is relaxed, casual. One of them has a crumpled up muffin skirt sticking out of his saddlebags.

--

Chrysalis lets out a long, slow hiss. She grabs Love’s horn with one hoof and spins around her, bringing them face to face once more. Her other forehoof plays with a dagger, spinning it around dexterously, dangerously. She licks her lips. “I feel it. And it smells delicious. No. No, I’m not going to hurt them. It’s you I want to hurt.” She ponders for a moment. A low, dangerous cackle slips from her lips. “Alright, I’ll let you go. But first! Let me set up a little, shall we say, mutually assured destruction.”

Her knife slides across Love’s throat, not drawing blood, but enough to put anypony on edge. "Let me tell you something. Those bosses you freed? The ones you told yourself shouldn't be locked away in cocoons? You have no idea what they're like, do you? Let me tell you exactly what you've done."

The knife travels up and over Love’s cheeks, almost as if Chrysalis is practicing carving up her face. "The friendliest and most moral of the lot are the gangsters. They rule their little fortresses with iron hooves, murdering any opposition. They've burned down farms that refused to join them, locking the family in the barn and standing outside just in case they happen to slip out. They've ripped children from their mothers, shot fathers in front of sons, and executed sons in front of fathers. And for what? To live at the top of some town made from trash and the wreckage of a dead nation."

The knife hovers in front of Love’s eyes for a moment before travelling up to her forehead instead. "Then you have the Raiders, those who don't care about ruling and just take whatever they want. Those are the real monsters. Gangsters will only enslave you if you give into their demands. Raiders will take what they want and then string you up anyway. Like Pike. You remember Pike?” Love remembers Pike. She met her when she introduced herself to all the kidnapped gang leaders.

Chrysalis goes down the list of every raider boss she’d captured, listing their many crimes and the ways they brutalized their fellow ponies for fun and marginal profit. It’s on a much smaller scale than what Hyper Thought and Polaris are doing, but just as evil. Powder Keg’s Red Skorpions, with their tearing off of ponies’ wings and horns, are square in the middle of the atrocities. Love remembers whole towns pooling together their money to hire mercenaries just to drive these sorts of ponies off.

At last, she is done. The knife retreats and twirls around her hoof. Chrysalis snarls. “And you know what? I was poised to eliminate them from the face of the earth. My infiltrators would have sent their entire gangs to their deaths fighting the CPI and then faked the deaths of their stolen identities. In one, fell swoop, I would have eliminated two great evils in this land. I could have been a hero, Love. But you…” She chuckles darkly and runs the dagger down over Love’s nose. “You ruined that. And generations of Wastelanders will feel the consequences.”

“If you breathe a word of what happened here tonight to Sniper, Rose, or anyone else, I’ll make sure they all know it. I’ll make your name the most reviled name in this entire. Miserable. Wasteland. Ponies everywhere will curse you. Not just here. I’ll make sure everyone in Equestria knows it too. Everyone will hate you. Not me, not Rose, not Sniper, not Brazen, you and only you.”

Teeth bared, she pulls Love’s head up until their faces are mere inches apart. “Do you understand me, Lt. Partial Charge?!”

[DigoDragon]

Corby doesn’t even hesitate. “Yes,” she says, “Yes please. Hay, I’ll take a couch. I want more than a small trunk to store my stuff in.”

Rose grins. She didn't expect such a quick answer, but she's more than happy to help a fellow EDF member find-



“Huh. Got an alert from Wildcat. Everyone’s on standby. Apparently Love’s gone missing down in the Hive.”

-wait, what?! Rose slowly sits up on her cot.

"Gone missing in the hive? The heck is she doing in there? Oh geez, Love..." Ugh, and of course it HAD to happen when Rose was locked up in the brig for observation. "Could you keep me appraised on what's going on? I mean, obviously I can't do anything about it, but it's nice to know what's going on."

[D.KnightSpider]

"I know. I don't like it either. " Sniper says to Star. He throttles up his emotions so that he doesn't sound like a complete automaton. "But try not to worry. I'll get her back. Gotta go."

As he approaches the Changelings, Sniper runs through his tactical options before clearing his visor. Since there was no concrete suspicion of foul play on any pony's part, he wasn't here to pick a fight. Yet.

"I'm trying to find Lt. Charge." Sniper replies to the Changeling. "Lt. Croix was injured in a CPI booby trap and we need Lt. Charge's help to repair the damage. Lt. Charge appears to be having comm. difficulties but he GPS transponder puts her location in your hive."

He lets his gaze fall to the muffin wrapper and become quite pointed.

(Got interrupted. Submitted post early. Clarified an action. Rolling in other thread. /OoC)

[Elbeyon]

Chrysalis' hoof grab disrupts the magic in Love's horn. Love looks up from the ground into Chrysalis' big green eyes as the changeling queen decides her fate. The knife playfully murmurs nearby into her ear. The speech is Chrysalis' to give since Love surrendered. She carefully listens to the Queen say all she has to say. The news about the gangs is surprisingly unsurprising. The Queen must think Love doesn't know what actions those gang leaders have committed. She grew up in the wasteland. She knows. Love and Scope crawled through a personal detailing of their misdeeds. The Queen may have written them off and decided they are better off discarded, but Love isn't giving up on them. They aren't trash to discard. They are people.

The Queen is unsparingly forcing her head around. Love lets out a pained sound as Chrysalis pulls her head up. The rhetorical questions seem to have stopped. Love breaths out and looks into Queen Chrysalis' eyes. "I understand you, Queen Chrysalis. We've been very candid with each other. Mutually assured destruction. I won't retaliate in any form. You won't retaliate in any form. We're working together to stop the CPI." She focuses in on her eyes (not like there is much else to look at anyway). "That's why you can still be a hero Queen Chrysalis. We're going to stop the CPI together, and you can be a hero for saving the Wasteland like you want. I want what you want here. I can support you. Work closer together with us. Let's do this by the book, and you are a hero. The wasteland will know of your deeds. Deeds as great as they are. People will praise your name."

[Miltonian]

Corby takes a deep breath. "Yeah. Yeah I'll let you know as stuff comes in." She smirks. "Looks like we're both sidelined though. I can't just abandon my post without someone to take watch."

--

The changeling guard shrugs. "Yeah, she's...somewhere in there. Look for Pins and Needles. They're, uh, best friends or something now, I guess."

"You! What do you two think you're doing?!" a voice shouts from behind them.

Both guards freeze. Their ears droop and looks of dread come over their faces. One lowers the visor on his helmet and says under his breath, "Oh no, please no. Not this again."

An old changeling hobbles towards them, fire in his eyes and with an expression so tense he looks like he's about to have a heart attack. "You better not be letting anymore ponies in the Hive, you miserable little sacks of goo! Why, back in my day, we'd shoot any of them that tried! Nasty, good for nothing, little--" He rants on and on while the two guards stand there stoically, eyes front and not saying a word of protest.

--

Chrysalis studies Love's face carefully, watching her for any sign of treachery. Her face becomes a blank mask for a moment. She lets Love go and the knife disappears. "This used to be more fun," she mutters.

Grabbing Love by the horn with her telekinesis, she starts dragging her towards the door. "Sniper's here for you," she growls, "Let's go greet him, shall we?"

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper would love to arrange a heart attack for the Changeling. But that wasn't permissible under these circumstances.

He glances at RT. Subvocal comm. to the Captain: "Mind distracting these three?"

Note to self: work out new procedures that took advantage of smart grenade capabilities.

[DigoDragon]

Corby takes a deep breath. "Yeah. Yeah I'll let you know as stuff comes in." She smirks. "Looks like we're both sidelined though. I can't just abandon my post without someone to take watch."

Rose slowly slinks back down into her cot. "Yeah... sorry about that. If I knew the chips would explode like they did, I wouldn't have powered them. Unfortunately, we really know nothing about how these things work. The technology is bleeding edge. Yet... it seems to have a magic component. Without the magic I don't know that these chips would work like they do. And you know, with all those marelantean artifacts that Hyper Thought keeps going after, I have to wonder if he somehow cheated to make these?"

"Sorry, I like to ramble on magical theory. Didn't mean to bore you."

[Elbeyon]

She doesn't easily process 'things use to being more fun'. Love didn't mean to be a downer.

Love gets pulled along by her horn. "Oh, we're going that way now." She tries to scoop her stuff from the nearby table as she gets pulled away toward Scope. "Scope is here." She says in acknowledgement and a warming heart. She hopes he isn't too distressed. "I'd like that." She agrees with the Queen. She better put her comms back on.

When she sees Scope she'll give him a comforting wave.

[Miltonian]

Chrysalis lets Love grab her things and leads her out the door. Her expression is grim.

--

Red Tape replies. "Sure thing." He steps forward and finds a pistol pointed at him, courtesy of the old changeling. "Now now," he says, "That's not necessary, good sir."

"Shaddup, pony," the changeling snarls.

One of the guards clears his throat. "Sniper, Captain, this is our quartermaster, Draw." He smiles weakly. "He's a formidable personality around the Hive."

"Darn right," the old timer says, spitting on the floor, "And I won't have more than two ponies in here at once, especially not if you're planning on waking up the whole hive too."

"Of course not," Red Tape says smoothly.

Before Sniper really needs to slip away, he sees Chrysalis storming towards them, pulling Love along behind her. She locks eyes with him and scowls. "Sniper Scope!" she calls and tugs Love forward, "Here's your hacker back. Keep her out of my Hive! She's done quite enough damage already."

--

"The only thing I know about magic is 'don't let the enemy hit you with it'," Corby says, "And how to avoid a few defensive spells." She shrugs. "Comes with the territory."

[DigoDragon]

"The only thing I know about magic is 'don't let the enemy hit you with it'," Corby says, "And how to avoid a few defensive spells." She shrugs. "Comes with the territory."

"Best way to avoid getting hit is to stop the caster. Hit that unicorn on the horn!" Rose says in singsong. "It works pretty well. Yes, that's personal experience."

She chuckles. "So if Ace ever bothers you, give him a good flick up here." She points to her horn.

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper returns Love's wave with a nod. Otherwise, he doesn't react to her, his attention is fixated on Chrysalis. Their stares meet and the old territory returns: each knows that the other is conniving and neither will retreat.

"I'm glad to see our hacker in one piece." Sniper says. "As soon as Happy Hooves is returned to us, I have every intention of keeping every pony away from your hive on a permanent basis. We won't disturb you for social calls again."

[Elbeyon]

Love nods back to him.

Love moves closer to Chrysalis and whispers to her.

She doesn't seem happy that Scope is saying everyone will stay away.

[Miltonian]

"I did do that once," Corby says, "With the handle of my knife. He said it hurt almost as bad as getting kicked between the legs. He didn't elaborate on how he got kicked there, but..." She shrugs. "Seen him get slapped several times."

--

Chrysalis takes a sharp breath. "Just...give us a break from her," she growls, pushing Love past the guards and over to Sniper, "Happy is...I don't know what she's doing." She turns. "WHERE'S HAPPY?"

"Here!" Happy calls and comes galloping down the hall. She trips and slips, rolling head over hills and coming to a rest at Red Tape's hooves. "Hello!" she says cheerfully.

"Good. Great. Thanks for stopping by! Now GOODNIGHT!" Chrysalis huffs and turns on her heels, striding back into her hive.

[DigoDragon]

"I did do that once," Corby says, "With the handle of my knife. He said it hurt almost as bad as getting kicked between the legs. He didn't elaborate on how he got kicked there, but..." She shrugs. "Seen him get slapped several times."

"Ha, oh I'm sure I can imagine what Ace did to get kicked there," Rose says with a sly grin. She shakes her head. "He's a nice stallion, but he tries too hard to be smooth."

[D.KnightSpider]

"Hello." Sniper says to Happy.

"Goodnight." Sniper says to Chrysalis.

"Gentle creatures." Sniper says to the Changelings.

He looks Love over and the nods his head for them to get clear of the bugs. Once they're away, they can talk.

Subvocal comm. to the EDF: "Lt. Charge and Happy Hooves have been collected. They appear unharmed, but as a precaution, I am escorting them to the infirmary. I recommend that the Hive be left alone and strongly recommend a strict policy of utilizing the buddy system method should a trip to the Hive be necessary."

Text to Love: Call Star.

[Elbeyon]

Love accepts being pushed away by Chrysalis over the 'line' and back outside the Hive. She doesn't offer her any resistance or further annoyance as Chrysalis calls the adventure to a close.

After Chrysalis is gone, Love looks down to Happy with a smile. "Hello, Happy." Love will help her to her hoofs. "Did you have fun?" She pouts. "I wanted to see Cloak and Daggers face when they got their headphones and music players." Love even had some coffee prepared for the nightbugs! Oh, well. She smiles at Happy again. "I hope they enjoy the music." Love gives her a quick hug.

She walks with Scope out of the Hive.

Love subcomms the EDF, "Hey, everyone. We're completely fine." They aren't harmed.

Love texts Scope, "I'll call Star. Thanks."

Love subcomms Star, "Hey, Sunshine. We're heading upstairs."

[Miltonian]

"Works for him sometimes," Corby grumbles, "Has three mares with him tonight. Does a good job about not shoving all the details on the rest of us, though, so thank Celestia for that. Only thing we ever hear is what intel, if any, he gathered."

She checks her phone and sighs with relief. "Good. They found Love and Happy. They're fine."

--

Red Tape turns around, giving up on talking to the Quartermaster, and leaves. Everypony else is welcome to follow him, though Happy will wave as she does.

"Good job, Lt," Wildcat replies over the comms, "Angel is already prepping the infirmary to check them over."

"They were surprised," Happy answers to Love, "But I didn't see if they were happy about it or not."

"Thank Celestia!" Star says, sounding relieved, "Love, please, please, PLEASE don't turn your comms off again!"

[D.KnightSpider]

"Thank you, sir." It wasn't like he had done anything, but he'd take what he could get. "I'm confident that their testing will come back clean."

Sniper didn't elaborate. He knew that particular mood of Chrysalis'. Whatever she'd wanted, she didn't get. Love must have disappointed her and Sniper was fine with that.

He removes face plate and gives RT a nod. Everything was going to be fine.

Outside of the dreadfully short night this was shaping up to be. But some things couldn't be helped.

[DigoDragon]

"Works for him sometimes," Corby grumbles, "Has three mares with him tonight. Does a good job about not shoving all the details on the rest of us, though, so thank Celestia for that. Only thing we ever hear is what intel, if any, he gathered."

She checks her phone and sighs with relief. "Good. They found Love and Happy. They're fine."

"I guess if he just wants the thrills without the commitment... I tried it once, but it wasn't my thing," Rose confesses. She sighs. "T'was a low point in my life. Trying to get my personal drama cleaned up. Doing my job for the EDF. Staying out of Wild Cat's naughty list."

Rose nods on the news. "That's good to hear. Hopefully Angel checks them over. Chrysalis doesn't get along with Love's... overly forceful personality."

[Elbeyon]

Love will wave alongside Happy. She says goodnight and recognizes/mentions the changelings by name.

Love smiles real big at Happy. "Good! Surprise is a good reaction." Love puts a hoof up to her mouth and laughs. "I owe Pins for the gift idea." The hacker changelings can be a little crabby. If they weren't being crabby, that's a good sign... Probably.

Star must have been scared. Love didn't mean to do that to her. What would have happened to Star if Queen Chrysalis went through with her threat? Love scomms Star, "I didn't meant to make you worry. I'm sorry. I'll keep my comms on from now on."

She scomms Scope, "You wanted me to head up to the brig? And, meet up at Rem's?" She asks, "Is something going on?"

[Miltonian]

Sniper walks on in silence as Red Tape cautiously pumps Happy for details of what they were doing down there, which she is more than happy to provide. It's a tale that has him shaking his head in bewilderment and dismay.

"You better," Star growls, "Or I'll come find you and smack you upside the head with...a wooden spoon or something!"

The group will arrive at their destination shortly.

--

Corby shakes her head. "Well, he seems happy with himself at least...And it does turn up useful info, every once and a while."

Her lips twitch upwards into a smile. "Forceful. That's the perfect word for it. 'Forceful'.

[DigoDragon]

Corby shakes her head. "Well, he seems happy with himself at least...And it does turn up useful info, every once and a while."

Her lips twitch upwards into a smile. "Forceful. That's the perfect word for it. 'Forceful'.

"If it floats his boat," Rose says, sounding agreeable. "How about you? Any special somepony in your life, or...?"

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper mentally sighs and answers Love's silent comm.: "Rose tried to tinker with one of the Control Chips and tripped a failsafe. The chip exploded, magically, and melted physically. Rose was given a vision of Polaris' origins. She under observation in the brig until we can verify that she isn't compromised.

"But that will have to wait. You're going to medical for a full exam: physical, blood work and psyche test. You were alone with Chrysalis while your comm. was off. We have to establish for every pony else that you're not compromised."

Pause.

"But I know you didn't give in to her. I guess you've got more spine than I initially credited you. Good job Love."

[Elbeyon]

Love cheerfully listens to Happy's adventures of her hoofing out muffins down in the Hive. She left the group in a joyous cheering state last she saw Happy and the Hive.

Scomms to Star in surprise, "A wooden spoon!?" Love tries to ease her, "I haven't been smacked with a wooden spoon since I was a foal!" Love has trouble thinking of a time she was hit like that since she moved to Equestria. Love repeats herself in a calm more serious voice, "I'll make sure to keep my comms on. I wouldn't want to upset the comms officer."

Scomm to Scope, "Oh, wow. That's something. If she is voluntarily in the brig under observation it seems like everything will be alright." She hopes so anyway. She answers his instructions, "I have no right to complain." Love will go to the infirmary for a full examination with no complaints. "Two potential compromises in a single night." Love rubs her mane. "We're not even on a mission tonight." She replies after his pause, "I'm sorry, Scope. I didn't mean to make you worry. Two troublesome teammates..." She tries to cheer him up, "My medical report is going to be spotless! You won't need to lock me in the brig."

[D.KnightSpider]

"I know I won't. This hasn't been a good night for us. My hope is that this doesn't jeopardize our future missions." Sniper replies to Love.

[Elbeyon]

Scope has a lot of confidence in her spine. He even gave her a compliment! It feels good. Hopefully, she'll be able to alleviate his concerns. Love smiles at him. "Tonight was also a good night. Good things happened!" Stay positive! She feels like she understands Queen Chrysalis now. It was an important first step. "And, the night is still young!" She chuckles. "I wish I brought my lab coat. I'm going to do so much SCIENCE and even more MAGIC!" Tonight is the night Love and Scope unlock the secrets of Rem's Pedestal. The CPI chips won't stand a chance! There are so many computer projects she needs to work on too.

[Miltonian]

Corby clams up very quickly. "No. No there is not," she says, "Not anymore."

--

Upon arrival in the infirmary, Love and Happy are both given a quick but thorough check up by the resident pegasus doctor. She quickly confirms what Sniper hopes for. Both have a clean bill of health. No undue influence on either of them. Wildcat sends out an all-clear signal and the EDF stands down, resuming normal business.

[DigoDragon]

Rose winces slightly. "Ah. Sorry if I touched a sore spot. Somethings us doctors can't heal."

She quiets down a bit, thinking of a change in topic. "Well, food? You hungry? Maybe we can call for something to eat?"

[D.KnightSpider]

Tempting as it was to ask Angel for stronger pain relief, Sniper readily dismissed the notion as his second bad idea of the night. Asking for pain relief would necessitate an explanation of why he needed it, which would necessitate an explanation of why he hadn't informed Rose yet and that would cause more rift between them. Better to just plow through it.

"It looks like you're good to go." Sniper comments to the two. "Happy, it's a long story but Rose is spending the night in the brig under observation. I know she hasn't eaten yet and would appreciate something to eat if you're up to it. Corby is with her and would probably like something as well."


While he hasn't eaten either, he's also cybernetic and can more easily skip a meal than others on the team.

"Meanwhile, I need to feed Rem."

While on his way back to Rem's room, Sniper will call Star and check up on her post-fright. Any pony is welcome to join him but they'll have to wait until after the call is concluded to talk.

[Elbeyon]

She gives Scope a hoofs up. His confidence in her wasn't misplaced.

Love does three things (somewhere during the infirmary trip). She searches for bugs and turns off everything that went down into the Hive (except she keeps on the comms she had on her person). She concentrates on mage sense while Red Tape is with them to search for CPI chips. And, she concentrates again to start a general hidden magic search with mage sense by not specifying the search for a particular hidden item. If the stairs up from the Hive didn't wipe her out, she is exhausted. Two spells are all she can handle in this body. She could use a nap. Third! She grabs Happy into a hug and says, "I had a lot of fun baking muffins with you! I had a great time with you going downstairs." She puts a hoof up to her mouth, laughs, and jokes. "Going down the stairs was the easy part. It's climbing them that's difficult." She pokes at her noodle arms. "Scope needs me for something now, but we should definitely do something together soon again." Love squeezes her tight. "I love you." She breaks away and after any farewells, she'll leave with Scope.

Love gives Scope a nod to signal she'll be heading to Rem with him.

She texts Star, "Scope and I are heading to Rem's room." Love wouldn't mind Star joining them, but it's Scope's social function.

[Miltonian]

"It's fine," Corby says with a sigh, "He was a jerk anyway." She lapses into silence alongside Rose, content to leave it at that.

"Well...I am kind of hungry," she says, "I may be up most of the day, but I have trouble eating breakfast at the right time. This is...kind of a very early breakfast, I guess." She grins. "Want me to order room service?"

--

Happy nods seriously. "Hunger is no joke! I'll get to work right away." She lets out a yawn. "And then I think I'll crawl into bed..."

Star is in a much calmer state of mind right now, as evident by her answer. "Joe's Bar and Grill! How may we make your day absolutely fabulous?" she says when she picks up Sniper's call. She assures him that she's fine, this is what she expected when she fell for someone on the same squad, and she now understands the reason behind the old adage against it.

Love turns off the bots without any issue, scans without finding anything, and leaves Happy with a cheerful smile on the pegasus' face and assurance that all is right in the world, even if it isn't.

Star texts back. "Well...have fun! Don't be a stranger now."

They arrive in Rem's 'room'. For lack of a more secure place, she's been returned to Wire's old bathroom, which is out of sight and secured behind the EDF's 'best and finest'. Wire's corpse has, in the meantime, been moved to a more appropriate location in an unused portion of the casino's freezer. Other than being remarkably resistant to necrosis, there's nothing interesting about the body.

Rem sits with her back turned to the door, draped in a cape that flutters in an unseen breeze. The mirror shows no sign of her. "So!" she says, "How was your day?"

[DigoDragon]

"It's fine," Corby says with a sigh, "He was a jerk anyway." She lapses into silence alongside Rose, content to leave it at that.

"Well...I am kind of hungry," she says, "I may be up most of the day, but I have trouble eating breakfast at the right time. This is...kind of a very early breakfast, I guess." She grins. "Want me to order room service?"

"Sure, now that one crisis seems over, I would presume that everyone stood down by now." Rose stretches her back and rolls to a sitting position.

"Anything is fine for me. I'm not a picky eater."

[D.KnightSpider]

"It was," Sniper hesitates for a moment. "something. A reminder of our mortality, I suppose. How was yours?"

He glances at the cape, that was new. "Are you going in for the royal look, now?"

He steps inside the washroom and moves aside to make room for Love.

[Elbeyon]

Love feels a painful longing in her chest. She texts Star, "I'd have more fun with you here. I'll work hard so I can get back to you. Have fun. I'm missing you." Love punctuates the text with a heart and star.

She follows Scope into the room. She brings her LoveBot too. It can stand in the bathtub or something to give them more room.

"It went mostly as expected." Love listens in and stays excited to hear about Rem's day.

She gives Rem a hoofs up at her new cape. "You look absolutely super!"

Love starts sorting through her equipment and controlling her LoveBot.

[Miltonian]

"I'll put the call in." She raises a hoof to her ear and brightens. "Hi Happy. Yes, I do happen to be here with Rose. Oh we'll take whatever. Surprise us."

She turns back to Rose. "Happy was already in the kitchen, prepping to make you something."

--

"I'm busy too," Star says, "Have to do some maintenance on the 'bird. Don't want our patch job falling apart on us now. See you later."

--

"Boring." She flips her head around, straight backwards and evenly between both shoulders, an unnatural angle. "Nothing much to do. Not that I mind. I am used to boredom."

She twists her body around, cracking her neck back into place. "Mm-hmm," she says to Sniper and struts a little, "do you like it?"

[DigoDragon]

"I'll put the call in." She raises a hoof to her ear and brightens. "Hi Happy. Yes, I do happen to be here with Rose. Oh we'll take whatever. Surprise us."

She turns back to Rose. "Happy was already in the kitchen, prepping to make you something."

"Dang, she's on the ball," Rose says. "Guess whatever happened didn't set her back any. Guess that's good."

Rose slinks to the floor and stretches. She walks around, inspecting the walls. She wonders what kind of ponies these walls have seen held in this cell over the decades... "How long is your shift?"

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper starts at Rem's extreme chiropractic display. That was... unsettling. And an unusual twist on her normal jump scares.

"I wish you could get out and about more, someday that will happen."

And Rem had to ask about appearances. Stereotypically, this was a minefield-- especially for a married couple. While they weren't married, this was no less a minefield.

He suppresses a helpless shrug at the cape. "Since Princess Luna's your relative, I guess that would make you royalty? So the cape suites you."

[Elbeyon]

There's scary. Maintenance work. The ship repairs were fun though. She texts back, "Take care of her. Your beautiful wings deserve flight. I'll see you later."

Love watches with big eyes as Rem swivels her head around. That's different. The realistic neck cracking sends a shiver up her spin. Of course, Rem is board. Love tries to drop a beat, "Sounds like a real pain in the neck!" She notices Rem is getting along really well with Scope. She puts some stress in her cheek over Rem's boredom and decides to look into doing something about it.

"Hey, Rem. I brought some magic items to look at things again. Would you feel comfortable with me taking a peek?"

[Miltonian]

"Seems so," Corby agrees, "Glad to hear it."

She kicks back and sighs. "Fraid you're stuck with me for a few hours yet. Least till two in the morning. Too bad this door isn't set up to play cards throug--" She looks at Rose's horn and jumps to another train of thought. "Hmm...how late you planning on going to bed?"

--

Rem's grin widens horribly. "Oh I'd love that. But I'm not sure the world will."

It's the wrong answer. Her smile disappears and becomes a blank spot on her face. Her eyes turn dark, pits of blackness. She stares at Sniper and, very seriously, says, "Thank you. I will take that in the spirit it's meant."

She blinks and her eyes return. "Well I'd prefer you take me out to dinner first, but that's Sniper's job, so go ahead," she says to Love.

[Elbeyon]

Love smiles real big. "I'd love that too! I have some friends that would be really interested to meet you." Rem will get out of this bunker one day. A few gaming friends would really love to meet Rem. They see all types of wild stuff on VR. Rem did say her and Luna didn't get along on account of Luna trying to kill her. Love isn't stepping in between this little quarrel.

Love giggles at Rem's joke. "I can take you out to a meal some day. I know some good restaurants. It could be fun even if you it wouldn't fill you up."

She adds, "I'll get started. Don't mind me. I'll need to focus for a second." Love winks at Rem. She moves on over to the two magical items and checks out Rem's battery and electrical set up to make sure everything is in order before she starts. She used her old laser rifle's battery as an emergency energy supply to power the pedestal's magic. She only would have had a couple of rifle shots without the main battery. Luckily, she never had to fire that rifle again. It'd be nice to say that about her current rifle too. Love will go slow and take out her spell stone. She wants to do everything in her power to make sure this goes right with Rem. Stone in hoof and if all lights are green, she wills the first stone into action. She focuses and the stone dissolves in her hoof.

Analyze Magic on the pedestal (I messed up the roll here and rolled in the dice thread)
Rolled 14. (Should be a success)

Analyze Magic:
Identifies exactly what spells are on the subject. If the subject has more than one spell on it, Analyze Magic identifies the one that took the least energy, and tells the caster “there are more spells.”

It can then be cast again to determine the next spell, and so on. Name and Password enchantments (p. 68) count as separate spells that resist at +5; any individual wizard may only attempt to Analyze a Name or Password once. Like Identify Spell, above, it will give limited results when the caster is faced with an unknown spell.

[DigoDragon]

She kicks back and sighs. "Fraid you're stuck with me for a few hours yet. Least till two in the morning. Too bad this door isn't set up to play cards throug--" She looks at Rose's horn and jumps to another train of thought. "Hmm...how late you planning on going to bed?"

Rose shrugs at the question. She hadn't thought that far ahead. "Dunno, I haven't thought that far ahead," she repeats the narration. "What idea did you have in mind?"

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper blinks at Rem's expression and then tilts his head. Something had gone awry somewhere.

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

He quietly strips out of his gear and assembles his morning kit. A seat on the side of the tub brings a round of thanks from his weary bones. Sniper waves Rem over to join him.

"I hope you can put up with a clueless stallion for a few minutes. My comments bothered you and I'm not entirely sure why, although in hindsight, I can make a few guesses. But guesses are all I've got. Could we talk about it?"

[Miltonian]

As Love gets to work, Rem turns her attention to Sniper. She silently regards him. “Luna,” she says, “Is Luna the reason the cape looks good? Or does it look good because it looks good?”

Love’s check of the battery reveals that it has drained half the remaining charge. This pedestal was not meant to be portable, but advances in battery technology means that it can be so long as you keep careful watch on the remaining charge. As for the magic present, either the spell is weaker than before or Love is lucky because she gets a good reading. There is a basic spell in place designed to foil the attempts of mages studying the inner workings of the pedestal, a sort of magical password-protection that needs to be bypassed before the rest can be examined. It functions at several levels of intensity, all weaker than the spells that comprise the matrix itself, so that further uses of Analyze Magic will just pick up one of the stronger versions. However, the correct input will disable all of them. The question is, what is the proper input?

Normally, it’s another spell, linked by the caster at the casting. However, there are a lot of spells out there and the team only has access to a few of them. Studying the spell itself is no help. The answer must be elsewhere.

--

“You could play cards using your magic,” Corby says, “You don’t need to…” She looks closer and sighs. “Horn cuff. Nevermind.”

She lets her head fall backwards. “Welp. Guess you’re stuck with my lovely conversation skills.”

Happy pops her head around the corner. “And my taco soup!” Corby almost jumps out of her skin. Happy giggles. She pulls a cart laden with a steaming pot of soup and several bowls.

“That was...fast,” Corby says, which is a grave understatement.

[D.KnightSpider]

"It looked good because of you." Sniper says. "Not Princess Luna, or your origin, or the clothing, just because of you. It's the pony that makes the clothes, not vice versa."

Another glimmer of truth lifted a little bit more of his inner darkness. He felt himself relax ever so slightly. It wasn't an altogether comforting truth, but there was a certain freedom in finding it.

[DigoDragon]

"I heard the song soup of my people," Rose says in delight. She prances up to the door and tries looking out. "Happy, it's nice to see you again. Heard you and Love had some trouble down in the hive."

[userpay]

Healing potions... Come to think of it shouldn't they have some healing potions? Brazen might need to talk to Red Tape about that later...

When the call goes out about the changeling situation however it breaks up the moment with Seafire. Not that it could have gone far in the armory. Brazen reassembles his equipment while listening to the calls. His suit earns several glances, did he have time to get in? Eventually the moment passes however and the all clear is given. Great two incidences in one night... With a sigh Brazen sits back down. Well on the plus side at least neither involved him.

When Sniper and Love come through he gives them a wave.

[Elbeyon]

Love and her LoveBot give Brazen a wave on their way through. "Good evening, Brazen. I hope you're having a good night."

===

Love tries not to pay too much attention to Scope's and Rem's conversation.

Love's check on the battery has her worried (not too worried though). She follows the wires, inspecting them, as she makes sure Rem is properly plugged into DW. Love should switch Rem over to one of her new adaptive batteries. Her patch job with Equestrian standard batteries doesn't look like it'll hold indefinitely (without maintenance anyway).

It looks like Love won't wrap up this riddle tonight. How many layers could there be on Rem's pedestal? Too many is likely the answer. She isn't going to give up on the first go though. She takes out another stone and crushes it between her hoofs. She will likely pick up the next stronger obfuscation, but Love is here to do SCIENCE! Science requires repeated testings.

Anaylize Magic
[roll0]

[Miltonian]

Happy tilts her head to the side. “Trouble? In the Hive?” she repeats, “No. There was no trouble down there. Everything was fine. The changelings loved our muffins!” Corby says nothing and looks sideways at Rose.

Happy sets the pot down and gets the bowls out. “Alright, how much do you want, Rose?”

--

Wire’s room has been turned into an armory, given its secure location and the fact that having all the munitions there gives them a nice excuse not to let anyone else in. They’ve commandeered the nearby bedrooms as well, moving the former inhabitants into the much nicer guest rooms. Down to the Wire’s security forces give their area a wide berth and the EDF mostly avoids their operations, so everyone’s happy and no one has to call Cabal.

Seafire begins cleaning her suit in the meantime, getting all the sand and random scouring off of it. Absorbed in her task, she lapses out of conversation and enters that almost-zen state that happens when you’re doing a familiar task that no longer requires conscious thought or attention.

--

It won’t hold forever, but it’s holding for now. Love has a few more days to rig up a replacement.

Love, unfortunately, just encounters another ‘layer’ of the spell.

Rem nods to Sniper, mollified. "Like I said. I took the compliment as it was meant."

[DigoDragon]

Happy tilts her head to the side. “Trouble? In the Hive?” she repeats, “No. There was no trouble down there. Everything was fine. The changelings loved our muffins!” Corby says nothing and looks sideways at Rose.

Happy sets the pot down and gets the bowls out. “Alright, how much do you want, Rose?”

Rose returns Corby's glance, then nods to Happy. "I'll take a full bowl, please. I haven't had dinner yet."

The trouble with Happy is that she's an 'unreliable narrator'. Often trouble goes over her head.

[Elbeyon]

Love dedicates a spare battery to Rem's device and will label it for the EDF later tonight. She'll make a note for command that the battery needs replaced within a couple of days. She sets the pedestal into its previous position.

She puts some stress in her cheek. She tells the group the news, "I did figure something out. The pedestal is enchanted with a bunch of dummy spells that are redirecting my spell to them. I don't know how many are warding the device. I can't learn anymore unless I brute force my way through every dummy spell, or I figure out the key spell that will unlock, dispel, all the dummy spells. I'm not sure how long it'll take me to brute force my way through." And, even though Rem might know the key spell she probably can't tell them. Maybe, she should go back down to the computer room and take another look around.

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper nods to Rem and then slowly huffs at Love's news. A huff is intricately different from a sigh.

"So Wire or Sombra went to a lot of trouble to keep the pedestal's secrets under wraps." He taps the top of the tub and then looks at Rem again. "Perhaps you-- well, no. That wouldn't work. If you tried to give us cryptic clues about the pedestal, to bypass its control, you wouldn't be able to tell us if we guessed right."

He picked up the computer tablet and kicked the problem around a bit. There had to be a solution.

Intelligence Analysis
[roll0] VS 14

[Miltonian]

Happy spoons out a full bowl and Corby puts it through the open slit at the top of the brig's door. Following protocol and all. Not that there's any suspicion of Happy trying to help Rose escape or Rose even wanting to escape but...wait, what?

There's a note stuck to the bottom of the bowl. "Say 'Cinnamon Sprinkles' if you want a jailbreak! - Happy Hooves"

--

Rem's ears droop at the news. "That would explain things that I do not know, all hail Sombra." Her face contorts into rage for a second, but she takes a deep breath and lets it out slow, calming herself. "It would be irresponsible of me to I can't give the spell away to unauthorized personnel people not in Sombra's bucking cult!"

Sniper hits a blank wall on this one. He just can't make heads or tails of it. And no matter what else he tries in the future, he will not be the one to figure it out.

[DigoDragon]

Happy spoons out a full bowl and Corby puts it through the open slit at the top of the brig's door. Following protocol and all. Not that there's any suspicion of Happy trying to help Rose escape or Rose even wanting to escape but...wait, what?

There's a note stuck to the bottom of the bowl. "Say 'Cinnamon Sprinkles' if you want a jailbreak! - Happy Hooves"

Rose... doesn't know what to make of this. She stuff the note quietly under her armor and eats the soup. "Great as always, Happy!"

Seriously, what did the note mean? I mean, yeah Rose knows what the words mean and the full thought pushed through lexicon was an offer to break out of jail, but... why? That didn't seem like something Happy would usually do. would it?

"I hope you're trying this, Corby, this is great," Rose says. She's halfway though the bowl already. "This cheers me up, Happy. I uh... well, I suppose you're curious about why i'm on this side of the door?"

[D.KnightSpider]

Sniper puts the tablet down in disgust. Stupid magic users and their stupid magical antics.

He puts a foreleg 'around' Rem in an effort at comfort. It was strange how much Rem had come to mean to him in a short amount of time.

"We'll get this, Rem. Little by little, we're chipping away at that pedestal and we'll get it solved. We won't quit. In the meantime, let's get you fed and rested. I've got to be up and going in a few hours so we should make the most of it."

I'm fine dropping out until the next in game day if need be.

[Elbeyon]

The condition forced upon Rem is frustrating. It isn't easy for her. Love looks at her with sympathy.

Love echoes Scope. "We'll get this Rem." They're going to free Rem one day! She just hoped today would be that day. The night isn't over, but the pedestal is more of a challenge than she thought. They know how to disable the magical circuit, but they can't do that without knowing what danger that'd pose to Rem. They need to act with tactical precision.

The scene is heart warming. Love unconsciously smiles at the two. "The two of you enjoy your night. Rem, I'm going to leave an insect here that can talk to me. I'm going stay awake all night. If you want my attention, say my name." Love will grab a bugbot from her lovebot and put it in the bathroom. She nods at Scope. "Goodnight, Scope." She nods at Rem, "Goodnight, Rem." Love will leave the two in peace if they let her.

[Miltonian]

"Oh yes I am," Corby says with a smile. She takes a spoonful and licks her lips appreciatively. "Mmm. Tasty."

Happy blinks several times. Sweet Celestia, is she trying to communicate in Morse Code? Aloud, she says, "Yeah...what's up with that?"

--

Rem's shoulders slump. "Sombra had very smart ponies. All wonderful and brilliant people complete and utter jerks. but smart."

Sniper's hoof feels cold, but Rem reaches for it and tries to grab it with hers. She looks so sad, so despondent. "Alright," she says, "Thank you both for trying. I AM hungry, I guess."

She fades away in preparation to enter Sniper's dreams.

Love leaves in peace.

[Elbeyon]

Love will step into the armory/wire's room with her LoveBot. She takes some time to run over her equipment and make sure everything is as intended.

Let's see: She visited the hospital, checked up on the farm town, and made muffins for Queen Chrysalis (and some other special ponies). That mostly leaves her with magic/science work unless she decides to spend time with someone else now. She needs updated on the gangs. The CPI chips need unraveled. She should do a security diagnosis to make sure everything here at DW is running right. The next step should probably be the gang check up. That means she needs to check in with... Red Tape? He ran comms last time Star was away from the base. Wildcat or some pony else might have handled things this time though.