Fallout Equestria: Pie and Predation

[DigoDragon]

"I asked the green earth pony mare, she had much to say on the subject."

Doc would nod with understanding. That made sense.

"Tell us about the Oakville situation, now." Northern Light said bluntly, "I don't give a whit about the factory, Viridia didn't get a suit of armor that ****ing sparkles from a factory. Snowflake rose from the dead, didn't she?"

"No, Snowflake is still dead as a door nail; V said she found that armor in a cave somewhere in town. But Oakville is still there, mostly in the condition y'all left it," Doc answers. He delves further into detail. "Livewire used Andante's explosives to blow up most of the Olives. The survivors were stuck on a pirate boat until we arrived and worked things out with the townsfolk. The Olives were allowed to sail off, with the understanding that Oakville is off limits to them in the future. Also, Andante, your tavern is still there, un-exploded. I saved Livewire's life from a drug overdose. She's an odd one, but she has some pretty good ideas to improve the water system in town if given a chance. Seaweed is fine, Glorious and Nightcore are fine... the town just needs a bit of clean up is all."

[Forum Explorer]

Would you accept those who hold the values of the Northern Legion in their hearts instead of Equestria?" Caesennia asked, sounding as if she saw no reason to mince words, "It is within my rank to allow a settlement of those under Legion protection elsewhere, and if it is labor you seek, the Northern Legion has much in bovine bodies. However, I would wish to see the site and assess it's resources; once I arrive at Oxbridge, I will know better what such a new settlement lacks and what excess marepower could be diverted towards this new settlement."

I follow the Enclave's values not Equestria's. Moonshadow pointed out. And I have no idea if the two are compatible. For the Enclave it basically breaks down into three main things. Security for all civilians, Loyalty to your protectors and each other, and Independence to put yourself first.

[Dalinale]

"No, Snowflake is still dead as a door nail; V said she found that armor in a cave somewhere in town. But Oakville is still there, mostly in the condition y'all left it," Doc answers. He delves further into detail. "Livewire used Andante's explosives to blow up most of the Olives. The survivors were stuck on a pirate boat until we arrived and worked things out with the townsfolk. The Olives were allowed to sail off, with the understanding that Oakville is off limits to them in the future. Also, Andante, your tavern is still there, un-exploded. I saved Livewire's life from a drug overdose. She's an odd one, but she has some pretty good ideas to improve the water system in town if given a chance. Seaweed is fine, Glorious and Nightcore are fine... the town just needs a bit of clean up is all."

Andante and Northern exchanged quick looks of mild amusement, while Shade just appeared slightly puzzled.

"I am quite glad that the ponies who's names you know are still alive, Wagon, but I am rather more concerned about the rest of the citizens, and of leadership." Andante replied, sounding as if the topic was somehow funny to her, "Especially given that the town has just isolated itself from the local food merchants. Who is in charge at the moment?"

I follow the Enclave's values not Equestria's. Moonshadow pointed out. And I have no idea if the two are compatible. For the Enclave it basically breaks down into three main things. Security for all civilians, Loyalty to your protectors and each other, and Independence to put yourself first.

"The values of the Northern Legion are more removed from that of Roam, but I can say that they are known for their strength, humility, and austerity in the capital, for if they were not they would have been destroyed by the frozen north long ago." Caesennia replied as she looked towards the bus, apparently observing the movement of her troops from the small window available, "However, I say that as a zebra. In truth, the Northern Legion's official name is that of the Taurus Legion, for while much of it's composition is that of zebras, it's survival has been guaranteed by it's minotaur converts and the tribes of wood bison it has gained the favor of; that has been the case for the last century. Would you tolerate unequine settlers? I ask this as it might very well be easier to convince a herd of auxilia than to convince standing legionary families to migrate. Tribal loyalties can be erased, no matter how primitive, but the matter of species can be more...problematic in hard times such as these."

[Forum Explorer]

"The values of the Northern Legion are more removed from that of Roam, but I can say that they are known for their strength, humility, and austerity in the capital, for if they were not they would have been destroyed by the frozen north long ago." Caesennia replied as she looked towards the bus, apparently observing the movement of her troops from the small window available, "However, I say that as a zebra. In truth, the Northern Legion's official name is that of the Taurus Legion, for while much of it's composition is that of zebras, it's survival has been guaranteed by it's minotaur converts and the tribes of wood bison it has gained the favor of; that has been the case for the last century. Would you tolerate unequine settlers? I ask this as it might very well be easier to convince a herd of auxilia than to convince standing legionary families to migrate. Tribal loyalties can be erased, no matter how primitive, but the matter of species can be more...problematic in hard times such as these."

I already invited a bunch of goats, so I suppose everything goes.

[DigoDragon]

"I am quite glad that the ponies who's names you know are still alive, Wagon, but I am rather more concerned about the rest of the citizens, and of leadership." Andante replied, sounding as if the topic was somehow funny to her, "Especially given that the town has just isolated itself from the local food merchants. Who is in charge at the moment?"

"Everyone else seems fine, though I've only talked to the ones I've named. I reckon they're all just happy to be rid of the Olives. As for who's in charge, Salt Marsh is running things. Seems he's doing fine job about it."

[Dalinale]

"Everyone else seems fine, though I've only talked to the ones I've named. I reckon they're all just happy to be rid of the Olives. As for who's in charge, Salt Marsh is running things. Seems he's doing fine job about it."

Doc's words got a odd reaction from Northern Light, if a gruff nod and a quick sidestep away from the entrance could've been considered odd. Meanwhile, Andante and Shade made moves to enter the bus, issues of space and time be damned, while Laupula was just a little behind but seemed to be carrying a roughly Laupula-sized load of plastic wrapped goods with him, and his entrance, while not frantic, was more painful to look at.

I already invited a bunch of goats, so I suppose everything goes.

Caesennia, after a few moments, nodded.

"Ah, I suppose I must see this Cabbagetown, then.", and then she did very little except head for the bus and step inside it.

[DigoDragon]

Doc's words got a odd reaction from Northern Light, if a gruff nod and a quick sidestep away from the entrance could've been considered odd. Meanwhile, Andante and Shade made moves to enter the bus, issues of space and time be damned, while Laupula was just a little behind but seemed to be carrying a roughly Laupula-sized load of plastic wrapped goods with him, and his entrance, while not frantic, was more painful to look at.

Doc shrugs and enters the bus to ensure bags are secure (or at least zipped up and not loose). He then stands by the bus entrance waiting on Fan Knife to swing by. Hopefully she doesn't take much longer. Herding cats is a difficult task!

"Hey Moonshadow, we're almost ready to go. Just waiting on Fan Knife to swing by and deliver my healing potions. We'll need all pegasi on deck with the bus packed as it is."

[Forum Explorer]

Doc shrugs and enters the bus to ensure bags are secure (or at least zipped up and not loose). He then stands by the bus entrance waiting on Fan Knife to swing by. Hopefully she doesn't take much longer. Herding cats is a difficult task!

"Hey Moonshadow, we're almost ready to go. Just waiting on Fan Knife to swing by and deliver my healing potions. We'll need all pegasi on deck with the bus packed as it is."

Cool. I'm ready to go as well. No sense letting such a perfect fly day go to waste. Moonshadow said.

[DigoDragon]

Cool. I'm ready to go as well. No sense letting such a perfect fly day go to waste. Moonshadow said.

"Yeah, everything but the clear skies. If it holds, we might get up to Last Stop with enough time to consider a quick search of Hog's Hollow before nightfall. There's a pipbuck-wearing agent that might be connected to that factory we burned down and... I'm rather curious to find out."

[Hazuki]

Viridia decided that she was going to follow through with her idea to pay a quick visit to Armoise, so she did just that. Her plan was to approach him straight-up, which was probably good enough, seeing as she was who she was.

[Dalinale]

Cool. I'm ready to go as well. No sense letting such a perfect fly day go to waste. Moonshadow said.

"Yeah, everything but the clear skies. If it holds, we might get up to Last Stop with enough time to consider a quick search of Hog's Hollow before nightfall. There's a pipbuck-wearing agent that might be connected to that factory we burned down and... I'm rather curious to find out."

River, poking her head in between the two, seemed confused by what she was hearing.

"Hog's Hollow? That's a pig farm, some ponies go around it because of how bad it smells." River said, sounding concerned about her immediate well being, "Why's a stable pony working at a pig farm?"

Viridia decided that she was going to follow through with her idea to pay a quick visit to Armoise, so she did just that. Her plan was to approach him straight-up, which was probably good enough, seeing as she was who she was.

Viridia found herself walking for some time, around ten minutes, until she started to feel a somewhat present breeze, which, while quite nice, was normally not something one would expect in a rather poorly ventilated hospital that usually alternated from being stuffy to dusty.

Four dozen ponies and few donkeys and zebras were in the remains of what was once a impressive atrium. Little remained of the glass dome that once covered the area and dead trees, dead shrubs, and the rust-red remains of what was likely once some small park were all that stood the test of time. The ground was currently a slushy, muddy mess. A large tapered rock that looked somewhat like a triangle was in the rough off-middle of the room, near the remains of some old benches but away from the playground, and carved into it were the weathered names of old rich ponies of ages past and some barely-there butterflies and little birds on branches. Around the stone was about the most food Viridia had ever seen in her entire life, with five very large wooden crates, each wide enough for two ponies to stand in without touching each other, stacked to the brim with canned vegetables. Nearby there was a a collection of plastic water bottles strapped to a wooden pallet about as high as a tall stallion. There was a cacophony of silence; tins being opened, tin being tossed in a slowly growing pile, ponies eating like that hadn't eaten in days, and subdued, happy chatter.

There wasn't a guard in sight, and the only obvious ganger was the head cheese himself; Armoise was, at the moment, some weathered-looking older mare with a look of tearful, all-consuming gratitude on her face shaking his hoof while a colt who was probably, like, three staring up at him in wonder while the elderly stallion gave him a small nod and a wink. Worse, there appeared to be some sort of informal line.

Armoise seemed to notice when Viridia noticed him, and when he was finished speaking with the other mare she had rounded up the young colt and put him in a sling around her back, the stallion turned towards her but didn't approach, apparently noting her armor and wishing to respect the possibility that she came to kill him or something.

[DigoDragon]

"Why's a stable pony working at a pig farm?"

"You know that factory we burned to the ground a couple days ago? The one turning ponies into meat patties? Yeah, we never found out who turned that place on to begin with," Doc answers, "But we did get a tip that the pony responsible might be hiding in Hogs Hollow at the moment."

[Hazuki]

Armoise seemed to notice when Viridia noticed him, and when he was finished speaking with the other mare she had rounded up the young colt and put him in a sling around her back, the stallion turned towards her but didn't approach, apparently noting her armor and wishing to respect the possibility that she came to kill him or something.

Viridia flew over to Armoise with a speed that hopefully wouldn't be seen as deadly. Not that she expected Armoise to have a good gauge for the various Pegasus flight speeds, but not barreling towards him at full speed would probably have been enough.

'"Sup, Armoise?" Viridia asked, after briefly glancing at the departing mare. "I hear you've been a busy dude."

[Forum Explorer]

"Yeah, everything but the clear skies. If it holds, we might get up to Last Stop with enough time to consider a quick search of Hog's Hollow before nightfall. There's a pipbuck-wearing agent that might be connected to that factory we burned down and... I'm rather curious to find out."

Actually I want to stop by Cabbagetown first. Get the robots fixing things, see if the goats came along, things like that. Moonshadow said. Though I agree, I'd want to track that guy down as well.

[DigoDragon]

Actually I want to stop by Cabbagetown first. Get the robots fixing things, see if the goats came along, things like that. Moonshadow said. Though I agree, I'd want to track that guy down as well.

"Err, how long is the flight there, you reckon?" Doc asks, "Because I gotta meet up with Abbas tonight. He's offering to hire us as his personal bodyguards and I personally accepted. I'm guessing Last Stop is only two, maybe three hours at the longest, so if going to Cabbage Town and then north takes longer than this evening I'd miss my meet up. Maybe you should drop me off? Some of the passengers can get out at L.S. too so that'll lighten your load considerably. Dunno how long this bus can handle the group we got now."

[Dalinale]

"You know that factory we burned to the ground a couple days ago? The one turning ponies into meat patties? Yeah, we never found out who turned that place on to begin with," Doc answers, "But we did get a tip that the pony responsible might be hiding in Hogs Hollow at the moment."

River Moss's face turned a slightly darker shade of green, and she looked almost as upset at Doc reminding her of previous events as she did at the existence of a perpetrator to the whole mess.

"Stupid Stable ponies." River grumbled, idly kicking at a loose bit of gravel and looking pretty annoyed, all things considered, "A underground pig farm might remind them of home, so we got to check up on it to make sure they haven't moved from burgers to porkchops? Bleh."

Actually I want to stop by Cabbagetown first. Get the robots fixing things, see if the goats came along, things like that. Moonshadow said. Though I agree, I'd want to track that guy down as well.

River blinked at the word 'Cabbagetown', and then at 'goats'. She looked like she was going to respond, but then Doc spoke before her.

"Err, how long is the flight there, you reckon?" Doc asks, "Because I gotta meet up with Abbas tonight. He's offering to hire us as his personal bodyguards and I personally accepted. I'm guessing Last Stop is only two, maybe three hours at the longest, so if going to Cabbage Town and then north takes longer than this evening I'd miss my meet up. Maybe you should drop me off? Some of the passengers can get out at L.S. too so that'll lighten your load considerably. Dunno how long this bus can handle the group we got now."

River raised a hoof before speaking up.

"I'd like to go to Last Stop." she said, sounding as if the fact that she had to say so was slightly annoying to her, "I have the money for it."

Viridia flew over to Armoise with a speed that hopefully wouldn't be seen as deadly. Not that she expected Armoise to have a good gauge for the various Pegasus flight speeds, but not barreling towards him at full speed would probably have been enough.

'"Sup, Armoise?" Viridia asked, after briefly glancing at the departing mare. "I hear you've been a busy dude."

A good minority of the ponies in the room stopped and stared at Viridia as sge glided into the room (one rather old stallion seemed to be double-checking his pulse, possibly to make sure that he was still alive and wasn't getting scooped up to one of the good afterlives) but Armoise simply did a little bow of his head, his hat lifting upward off his noggin slightly for a little flourish.

"I imagine the day I decide to lay and rest will be the day I'll become a invalid." Armoise replied, chuckling as he manually moved his tophat back in place, "The bounty before you was obtained through the means of plunder, taken from local brutes. They seemed emboldened by the knowledge of a certain rich donkey being present here and wished to hold him for ransom. I quickly arranged a meeting outside and had them destroyed there. A crate went to the Talons who half the work, a crate went to my own associates, and the rest were brought in as you see before you. If you care to inspect the scene, the boys are disposing of the remains through fire, as to not attract monsters. I suppose you have had an adventure yourself, hmm?"

[DigoDragon]

Doc nods to River when she mentions reaching Last Stop as well. "So how about it, Moonshadow? You could drop us off and spend the evening at Cabbage Town. We promise to save you some trouble."

[Hazuki]

"I imagine the day I decide to lay and rest will be the day I'll become a invalid." Armoise replied, chuckling as he manually moved his tophat back in place, "The bounty before you was obtained through the means of plunder, taken from local brutes. They seemed emboldened by the knowledge of a certain rich donkey being present here and wished to hold him for ransom. I quickly arranged a meeting outside and had them destroyed there. A crate went to the Talons who half the work, a crate went to my own associates, and the rest were brought in as you see before you. If you care to inspect the scene, the boys are disposing of the remains through fire, as to not attract monsters. I suppose you have had an adventure yourself, hmm?"

"Had them destroyed?" Viridia raised an eyebrow at the stallion. "You mean you murdered the **** out of them, right? 'Cause I'm pretty sure that's the more accurate term. Anyway, I don't have long - so, y'know. Stay out of trouble. Don't be a ****. Or we'll come and, uh, how would you put it? Erase the problem. That sounds about right." She smiled at him. "Got it?"

[Dalinale]

Doc nods to River when she mentions reaching Last Stop as well. "So how about it, Moonshadow? You could drop us off and spend the evening at Cabbage Town. We promise to save you some trouble."

River was silent, but turned and glanced at Moonshadow, apparently hoping the pegasus wouldn't object.

"Had them destroyed?" Viridia raised an eyebrow at the stallion. "You mean you murdered the **** out of them, right? 'Cause I'm pretty sure that's the more accurate term. Anyway, I don't have long - so, y'know. Stay out of trouble. Don't be a ****. Or we'll come and, uh, how would you put it? Erase the problem. That sounds about right." She smiled at him.

Armoise's smile turned into something closer to a knowing smirk as Viridia continued. The look in the stallions eyes wasn't threatening, but it was clear that he wasn't apologetic.

"Got it?"

"Oh yes." Armoise replied, looking as if he was about to turn around before stopping suddenly; it seemed practiced. He raised his head slightly as he looked back at her, from the quiet crowd, "But one thing before you go; haste makes waste, but I haven't seen a day like this since I was a little younger than you. If you would accept a piece of advice, enjoy the fine weather we are having. A delightful day such as this is a truly once in a lifetime opportunity; I will also speak from experience that the pegasi truly do like to over-correct things when occurrences like this happen."

[Forum Explorer]

Doc nods to River when she mentions reaching Last Stop as well. "So how about it, Moonshadow? You could drop us off and spend the evening at Cabbage Town. We promise to save you some trouble."

Cabbagetown isn't that far out of the way. We can stop by there, quickly check on things, and still make it well before our deadline to meet Abaas. Moonshadow protested.

River was silent, but turned and glanced at Moonshadow, apparently hoping the pegasus wouldn't object.

Don't worry though, we'll definitely make it to Last Stop today. I just want to get the robots started on repairs instead of just having them sit around waiting for orders. Moonshadow assured River.

[DigoDragon]

Doc side-glances to River, and then nods slowly to Moonshadow. "Alright then, we'll do that. Let's get Stellar and Strawberry suited up and then we'll take off as soon as Viridia gets back."

[Hazuki]

Viridia sighed, then flew out of the room to go find the rest of the group. When she found them, she cleared her throat. "So, yeah, Armoise is going to be a problem. Started doing that I'm so clever you definitely won't see this veiled threat I'm making thing With a side of Ooh, I didn't kill those people, I just destroyed a problem. Can we go and kill him now or wait until he becomes a problem for Cabbagetown or somepony else?"

[DigoDragon]

Doc's eyebrows rise a bit. "Doesn't Armoise have more guns and able bodies than we do? I wouldn't recommend starting a fight in the hospital without the robot army."

[Hazuki]

"Where're we gonna get a robot army from?" Viridia asked. "And as far as I know, they don't even have any good guns. And we're only trying to get him, and he's not exactly in a fortified location, y'know? I bet we could hit and run." She paused. "Oh, but he did mention some Talon mercs nearby. We can probably hire those...people. Maybe we can use Stellar's newfound fetish to our benefit."

[DigoDragon]

"I refer to the army Moonshadow had sent to Cabbage Town. They're worker types, but they are armed," Doc explains. "Oh, and important note--When I went inside to deliver the cuties to Dr. Stitch, I noticed several defense turrets in place. Unless Stitch or Fan Knife give us the 'ok' to kill someone in their hospital, I wouldn't go in there to shoot someone right now."

[Forum Explorer]

Viridia sighed, then flew out of the room to go find the rest of the group. When she found them, she cleared her throat. "So, yeah, Armoise is going to be a problem. Started doing that I'm so clever you definitely won't see this veiled threat I'm making thing With a side of Ooh, I didn't kill those people, I just destroyed a problem. Can we go and kill him now or wait until he becomes a problem for Cabbagetown or somepony else?"

Who is Armoise again? And couldn't we just leave them to Fan Knife? Moonshadow asked.

[Hazuki]

"I refer to the army Moonshadow had sent to Cabbage Town. They're worker types, but they are armed," Doc explains. "Oh, and important note--When I went inside to deliver the cuties to Dr. Stitch, I noticed several defense turrets in place. Unless Stitch or Fan Knife give us the 'ok' to kill someone in their hospital, I wouldn't go in there to shoot someone right now."

"I don't think Fan Knife will mind."

Who is Armoise again? And couldn't we just leave them to Fan Knife? Moonshadow asked.

"Ganger dude, sold him River's surplus, and it's where I picked up Choro." Viridia explained. "And, yeah, I can ask Fan Knife, but it's not something I expect her to do just 'cause I say so, y'know?"

[Dalinale]

Cabbagetown isn't that far out of the way. We can stop by there, quickly check on things, and still make it well before our deadline to meet Abaas. Moonshadow protested.

Don't worry though, we'll definitely make it to Last Stop today. I just want to get the robots started on repairs instead of just having them sit around waiting for orders. Moonshadow assured River.

River, with some amount of delay, nodded in what was probably approval, if someone squinted.

Viridia sighed, then flew out of the room to go find the rest of the group. When she found them, she cleared her throat. "So, yeah, Armoise is going to be a problem. Started doing that I'm so clever you definitely won't see this veiled threat I'm making thing With a side of Ooh, I didn't kill those people, I just destroyed a problem. Can we go and kill him now or wait until he becomes a problem for Cabbagetown or somepony else?"

River looked somewhat dismayed at the mention of killing in a earnest way, not ironically or anything, which, sadly, was a distinction that had to be made these days.

"Where're we gonna get a robot army from?" Viridia asked. "And as far as I know, they don't even have any good guns. And we're only trying to get him, and he's not exactly in a fortified location, y'know? I bet we could hit and run." She paused. "Oh, but he did mention some Talon mercs nearby. We can probably hire those...people. Maybe we can use Stellar's newfound fetish to our benefit."

"I refer to the army Moonshadow had sent to Cabbage Town. They're worker types, but they are armed," Doc explains. "Oh, and important note--When I went inside to deliver the cuties to Dr. Stitch, I noticed several defense turrets in place. Unless Stitch or Fan Knife give us the 'ok' to kill someone in their hospital, I wouldn't go in there to shoot someone right now."

River blinked a few times and glanced at Stellar again, her thoughts of murder apparently being taken off course by the concept of griffon-banging.

"I don't think Fan Knife will mind."

"Ganger dude, sold him River's surplus, and it's where I picked up Choro." Viridia explained. "And, yeah, I can ask Fan Knife, but it's not something I expect her to do just 'cause I say so, y'know?"

Viridia found that someone was poking her in the shin; yep, Fan Knife, standing right in her shadow. The filly had a small piece of laminated white paper in her mouth, which she spat out into her hoof and handed it over to Moonshadow. Under her right leg was a six-pack of purple healing potions, which she placed on the ground near Doc.

"If you need to make a appointment, use that Pipbuck thing to send a audio file saying what you need, there's about a days delay before it'd reach us but it'll get through no matter where you are. If you get a microphone or something, that'd work too, but I don't think those things actually work as radios unless you fiddle with them, so talk that up with that Choro wizard." Fan Knife said, pointing at the paper in question, which had a rather long series of numbers on it that, presumably, was the ID of some terminal, somewhere, "And the hospital radio's on there, too, it's easy to intercept and jam remotely so if you really need to talk to us personally or get our attention, you could do that, but only do that if you have a really good reason to. Also, no killing in the hospital. If you just rough him up or you get him outside, that's good enough for me, but no killing. That stallion's old enough that if you give him a good beating he'd probably not recover unless my sister saw to him, but that's all I can say about that now that we're here."

[Hazuki]

"If you just rough him up or you get him outside, that's good enough for me, but no killing. That stallion's old enough that if you give him a good beating he'd probably not recover unless my sister saw to him, but that's all I can say about that now that we're here."

"How are we meant to get him outside?" Viridia pouted. Fan Knife's sneaky ninja tricks were more endearing than anything. "He could just sit in there forever doing nefarious deeds and we can't do anything about it? ...besides, didn't Doc blow out Other Doc's brains in the hospital, or am I misremembering?"

[Dalinale]

"How are we meant to get him outside?" Viridia pouted. Fan Knife's sneaky ninja tricks were more endearing than anything.

Fan Knife, although her face was stony, had to look away from Viridia's pout slightly.

River gave Viridia a look of confused bemusement, although she also seemed sort of weirded out by the magically appearing filly and seemed keen to distract herself from that.

"He could just sit in there forever doing nefarious deeds and we can't do anything about it? ...besides, didn't Doc blow out Other Doc's brains in the hospital, or am I misremembering?"

"Flagon was here to steal things, I would've killed him anyway." Fan Knife said, "Armoise's been here for about two weeks and he hasn't really done anything except recruit for his gang and send in one his followers to get dental work done. He's bad, but not exactly a raider, he's too old and cautious to do anything to hurt the ponies here cause he'd get kicked out or get turned on by his gang, no way nopony's thinking about what's going to happen when he croaks."