[FO:E] The Northern Wasteland of Equestria 1

[Benson]

Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Ministry of Morale-Basement Floor- 12:01 PM

Fox Trot



"I feel like I won the sweeps or something....whatever that was," It was like an all you can shoot buffet or something. I looked over at all that was available. I only wished I could carry it all.

A moment later I was fitting in a set of shiny new light armor and testing my movement, all felt good. And look...shiny battle saddles, those gave me the image of looking like a badflank, I just needed a five 'o clock shadow and an eyepatch, haha. I tried one on, no weapons loaded onto it yet and played with the bit piece in front of my mouth.

I turned to the others. "Yo, can someone help me load up some of these sexy assault rifles?" I asked as I grabbed several ammo packs for the assault rifles and ooh! a case of AP rounds for my silenced 10mm!

[Lycan 01]

MH - MoM Basement

Sprinkles sticks the cannon behind his back. It disappears.

His eyes turn blue.

"01010111010101010100010101010110," he begins to rattle off methodically. "010101001001110101-"

Sprinkle's eyes turn pink again. "Logical process failure filed away under subject code 'Pinkie Pie,' subsector 'Physics.' Paradox nullified," he mechanically drones.

The robot then hovers over to Fox Trot to help him with his guns. "Right, hang on a tic..."

[MCerberus]

Manehatten - Basement of Gunlust

"Yah just give me a second here," Whadda replies to Fox. With rather odd speed, she disassembles her standard issue sniper rifle and assembles the bolt-action. And now it's on her back. Unfortunately, the revolver doesn't quite work, even if it has speed-clips. She'll just take a 10mm. Ooh, is that a laser sight?


Final loadout: Going Away Party, Katana, Assault Rifle, 10mm pistol, combat knife. Some of that can be sold, but she doesn't risk loading her down with extra rifles for that purpose.

Loading down Fox Trot as a gun mule, that's a good idea though.

[Rebonack]

[Manehatten - MoM Hub]

There are ten rounds of ammunition for Going Away Party in the case as well. Bullets with a teeny tiny little crystal talismans embedded in tip of each slug. There's no indication what the talisman is for.

As far as gun mules go Sven could probably cover that decently. He seems like a strong griffon! He's also stocked up on spark batteries for his plasma cannon. Because everypony loves a charged plasma cannon!

"Okay everypony. There's a patrol of protect-a-ponies heading your way. I think they might have heard you poking around in here. Take some cover and let 'em have it once they come through the door," PV-4 speaks up from Scoops' radio. "Hopefully you all found some stuff to help you out. Once you're clear of the cache I'll direct you to the medical bay."

[MCerberus]

Manehatten - Basement of Morale

As much as testing out magic .308 bullets sounds, Whadda has more tactical sense than to use a sniper rifle in this situation. "Well if they're passing by we can take out the combat inhibitors from behind. They'll start sparking and go 'halt citizen' and start shooting. Like I did with the owls intentionally."

[Lycan 01]

MH - MoM Basement

Sergeant Sprinkles flexes his new weapon arm. "Sounds good. We'll sit back and let you work your magic, Miss Ranger."

[Benson]

Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Ministry of Morale-Basement Floor- 12:09 PM

Fox Trot

Well I felt ready, with two shiny new assault rifles set up on my shiny new battle saddle, over my shiny new set of armor, butt tons of ammo for my shiny new twin assault rifles and AP and regular ammo cartons for my silenced 10 mm, I felt ready, and good.


"Hey, I won't stop ya sweet hooves," I smirked and Whadda.

[PurityIcekiller]

Fleetwing drooped his ears in embarassment and mumbled a sheepish, "Thanks...."

But once the spell was done, he had to marvel at his companion's magical ability. For somepony found out in the wastes with no memory, she sure could be useful. "Shoot, it's like it weren't even there. That's something else," he mused as he rubbed his healed chin. "When we get back, I'll make sure you get a lot more time t'practice this magic stuff. But first, we gotta disarm these here traps."

"You like this more than fireballs, don't you," laughed Violetta. "I'll keep that in mind when practising."

Breaking off a few wooden planks from the opened crates, he passed one to Violetta and stepped towards the first trap. "Nasty as these things are, they're the easiest thing t'disarm once you know they're there. Just watch this;" He carefully maneuvered the board and pressed down on the pressure plate in the middle of the trap. "Just aim for that bit there, and you're golden. They don't reset unless a pony comes along and does it by hoof."

"Got it." Violetta applied her plank to a second trap, and smiled at the ensuing sound. "Hmm. This is kind of fun, actually."

[Lycan 01]

Ravine

~kachunk~

The bear traps slam shut, splintering the planks and shattering the glass bottles resting atop them. Other than a few straw splinters or shards of glass, they pose no threat to the ponies disarming them.

[TheAmishPirate]

"You like this more than fireballs, don't you," laughed Violetta. "I'll keep that in mind when practising."

"I like things what don't fry, burn, zap, disintegrate, or do any sorta harm to a pony when they shoot off-target." Fleetwing nodded sagely. "I'm a pony of simple tastes like that."

"Got it." Violetta applied her plank to a second trap, and smiled at the ensuing sound. "Hmm. This is kind of fun, actually."

Ravine

~kachunk~

The bear traps slam shut, splintering the planks and shattering the glass bottles resting atop them. Other than a few straw splinters or shards of glass, they pose no threat to the ponies disarming them.

A little smile crept onto Fleetwing's features as he disarmed the last trap. "Guess there is a bit of satisfaction knowing you outsmarted whatever messed-up pony put these here in the first place."

With the traps cleared, the way was safe to the long-awaited loot. Fleetwing rubbed his forehooves in anticipation of cracking that safe open, making this whole trip worthwhile. "Alright, it might look safe now, but they might still be a few more tricks left for us. I'll head to the safe, you take those unopened boxes. If you find soda, bag it up carefully in these," he took off his saddlebags and laid them on the floor of the truck. "If you see anything that looks even the slightest bit suspicious, just book it. Don't touch it, don't mess with it, just run, and I'll be right behind you."

[Lockpick/Perception] With his final warnings out of the way, Fleetwing plucked a few bobby pins out of his pack and crept along to the safe, keeping an eye out for any more hidden traps. Red lights from mines hidden behind crates, the shimmer of a tripwire, anything out of the ordinary. Once he made it, he'd start to try and jimmy the lock open. After giving the safe a thorough examination for traps, of course.

[Rebonack]

[Manehatten - MoM Hub]

Aaaaand here come the robots!

A trio of robotic ponies come clomping into the cache, visual sensors scanning for any filthy zebra sympathizers that might be lurking around in the secret labs. Clearly their beloved ministry has been compromised and it is up to them to cleanse it of the striped menace!

"Attention filthy zebras and/or zebra sympathizers!" one of the robots drones. "Surrender yourselves at once and be vaporized!"

The robot next to it glances over at its companion. "Wait, isn't it supposed to be 'Surrender OR be vaporized'?"

The other two robots stare at it silently for a good five seconds before screeching "ZEBRA SYMPATHIZER DETECTED!" and reducing the poor robot to a pile of sparking slag with a flurry of incinerator blasts.

[MCerberus]

Manehatten - Basement of Morale

See, robots love incinerating each other. That's why the whole owl ordeal was necessary. Anyhoof, [sneak/melee weapons] Whadda dashes out of the shadow to attack one of the combat inhibitors on the back of a robot. Naturally, she'd dash right back into the shadows.

[Lycan 01]

Manehatten - MoM Armory

Sprinkles watches, processing and computing various tactical responses.

He's about to open fire, when a certain detail suddenly computes.

They're in an armory.

Shooting in an armory is a bad idea.

A very, very bad idea.

So he recomputes the situation, and decides to go for the Hail Mary Celestia play.

Without hesitation, Sprinkles dashes forward, places himself between the two distracted robots, puts his manipulator claws on their shoulders... and bursts into song.


"All you have to do is take a cup of flour, add it to the mix
Now just take a little something sweet, not sour, a bit of salt, just a pinch

Baking these treats is such a cinch, add a teaspoon of vanilla
Add a little more, and you count to four, and you never get your filla

Cupcakes -- so sweet and tasty
Cupcakes -- don't be too hasty
Cupcakes -- cupcakes, cupcakes, CUPCAKES!"

[Speech] After a short pause, he states: "Zebras and Zebra Sympathizers hate cupcakes, after all. And look at that griffin over there. He's got cupcake icing on his beak. Definitely not a Zebra Sympathizer. So why don't you fellas just roll on along, and maybe go scope out some of the upper floors. I think there are some heretics up there trying to parody the Princesses, actually..."

[Benson]

Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Ministry of Morale-Basement Floor- 12:013 PM

Fox Trot


I tried not to laugh, it was a little funny. However, I stayed out of view for the moment, for one I did not have frosting on my face, and two, I was in ready action mode in case their ploy didn't work, to provide cover fire so that they could well, not get incinerated immediately.

[Rebonack]

[Manehatten - Mom Hub]

As is required by the programing in all Ministry of Morale robots the two protect-a-ponies are required to sing along with Mister Sprinkles when he breaks out into the Cupcake song. Even so far as ignoring the fact that one of them just got stabbed in the combat inhibitor.

"You raise a fine point, fellow robot," the first PaP comments.

"Agreed, comrade. And I AM detecting frosting on the beak of that griffon. Clearly no filthy zebra sympathizer would ever dream of partaking in such pure cupcake goodness."

"Doesn't eating pure cupcake goodness cause filthy zebras and zebra sympathizers to burst into flames due to their filthy evil nature?"

"I HAVE heard rumors that evil beings are unable to stand the touch of cupcakes. And all posters depicting filthy zebras and zebra sympathizers clearly display their evil nature."

"We will investigate these blasphemous Princess mockers immediately, fellow robot. No doubt only zebra loving scum would do such a vile thing."

And with that the pair of robots tromp out of the room and down the hallway.

Sven just blinks at the scene before laughing. "Well! That just happened."

[Lycan 01]

Manehatten - MoM Basement

Spinkles waves the robots off, then hovers back over to the rest of the group. "Sorry 'bout that, but I realized a gunfight in an armory full of explosives would be hazardous for our health. Self-preservation and all that jazz. Plus, haven't had a chance to sing in 57 years..." he explains.

[MCerberus]

Manehatten - Basement of Morale

Whadda looks a little weirded out, but that's mostly because one of the robots isn't going all berserk murdering the world. Whatever. "Alright, I guess that would make sense. Ministry of morale putting singing subroutines in all the robots. It's really to be expected... really."

[Benson]

Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Ministry of Morale-Basement Floor- 12:015 PM

Fox Trot


"Hahe....well....that was an interesting sight to behold," I chuckled as I stepped out, gave a glance at Sven with a small smile as I walked towards the other two.

[Rebonack]

[Manehatten - MoM Hub]

Sven is about to wipe the frosting off his beak, but thinks better of it. May come in handy again later.

"Best not to question Pinkie Pie's way of doing things," PV-4 laughs over the radio. "Down that path lies madness."

MADNESS!

"Okay. The medical bay shouldn't be too far from here. Out the door, hang a right, and then take the second hallway on your left. I'll relay the next set of instructions once you get there," the radio continues. "There are more protect-a-ponies and I wouldn't rely on song and dance to distract all of them."

Once our heroes leave the weapons cache they'll find that Surprise is quite correct! Though apparently she wasn't aware of that turret in the ceiling that will pop out as soon as they round the corner and open fire upon them.

Incinerator beams! Pew pew! The magical death is abuzz with a green haze. Seems the incinerator talismans have been corrupted with radiation.

[Lycan 01]

Manehatten - MoM Basement

Sergeant Sprinkles chuckles darkly. "Oh, you'd be surprised what the Ministry of Morale was capable of. Song-and-dance programming, anti-personnel donuts, party ninjas..." he idly explains. "Kept the Zebras guessing. And paranoid. Hee hee..."

And then they're off.

And then they're being shot at.

"Buck it all!" Sprinkles snarls, his thrusters firing off a quick burst to hurl him out of the way of incoming fire. He cracks off a couple of energy beam shots of his own, then zooms back around the corner to take cover. "Well. That ain't good."

[MCerberus]

Manehatten - Basement of Morale

"Well here's a new way to test out your new armor and saddle. Of course it's just a turret, but then you don't want a big sentry bot or something until you know what you're doing."

Brevity in combat situations, right?

"I'll run past it try and distract the sensors, then hit it." Once somepony is in position to shoot, Whadda will roll past the doom zone, hopefully not taking a hit.

[Benson]

Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Ministry of Morale-Basement Floor- 12:018 PM

Fox Trot


"Aw crapsacks...!" I dashed away behind some cover when the ceiling turret starting firing at us. "There's gotta be a console though nearby for it right?" I briefly glanced over and then hid back as the turret fired my direction. I then positioned myself so that one assault rifle was peeking out from cover on my battle saddle and fired that one towards the turret.

[Rebonack]

[Manehatten - MoM Hub]

"No consoles! If those would work I could just take control of the defenses remotely," PV warns.

And then Scoops runs for it!

PEW PEW PEW PEW!

The turret rains a hail of burning death upon the pony as soon as it has a clear shot at her. Avoiding all of those beams is going to be pretty much impossible.

Sven doesn't waste a moment as the scribe breaks cover and pops out himself, lobbing a plasma blast at the turret.

Between the explosion of heat, force, and lightning in addition to a flurry of rifle fire the turret gets scrapped pretty solidly.

...But at what cost?

"Scoopy? Scoopy why did you do that!" her radio crackles at her. "You're the LEAST well armored one in the group!"

[MCerberus]

Manehatten - Basement of Morale

"Well I wasn't least armored... like 5 minutes ago..." Scoops replies to the disembodied voice after taking a solid hit to the flank. Well there's still some toastyness from the laser strike, and she can't really see how much synthleather was burned off... but... hopefully this is one of those walk it off things.

[Benson]

Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Ministry of Morale-Basement Floor- 12:18 PM

Fox Trot

"Ack!" The whole ordeal sounded thoroughly unpleasant. When all was said and done I cantered over to Whadda Scoops.

"Are you alright?" I asked as I assessed the damage done to the mare, and I swear I remained non lecherous about it.

[Lycan 01]

MH - MoM Basement

"Good thing we're heading to the medical center anyway..." Sprinkles gruffly observes as he hovers ahead to take point.

[Rebonack]

[Manehatten - MoM Hub]

Thankfully the medical bay isn't too far. And unlike the weapons cache it isn't hidden at all. Our heroes make it without much in the way of incident. The walls here are painted in bright and garish colors. Pastels depicting a cheerful meadowish landscape.

With smiling everything.

Smiling clouds, smiling trees, smiling sun...

The colors are all faded now and the walls are cracked in many places. Gives it a terribly depressing feel.

Cabinets everywhere! All containing chems of various kinds. Plenty of potions and supplements to deal with radiation. Though it's clear that the radiation supplements have been broken into.

By who you ask?

Well.

There's a skeleton of an earth pony slumped against the wall missing most of the back of his skull. Behind the corpse the wall is stained a muddy brown and a pistol lies discarded near his hoof.

Seems he tried to survive off cupcakes and chems for a while and eventually just... gave up...

"While you're collecting supplies could you grab some tins of Mint Als for me?" PV-4 asks over the radio. "I'll be a complete mud-for-brains without them once you get me out of this pod."

[MCerberus]

Manehatten - Basement of Morale

Whadda gets up and moves towards the med station a little slowly. Have to make sure nothing is that broken. Oh then she gets to look around for a potion... and fitting all the radiation fixing stuff she can find in her pack... and also all the chems because they're light and small and valuable and useful.

[Lycan 01]

MH - MoM Hub

Sprinkles checks the skeleton for an ID badge or dogtags.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Manehatten - Stable 29]

Following along with everyone else along the catwalks (terrible ideas they may be), Down fails to be surprised that Vinylbot chooses her to ask about the outside.

That seems to be the theme of her with this group.
Acquire the attention of the highly disturbing things.

Carefully restraining a sigh, it takes her but a moment to produce a supply that isn't terribly cruel.
"It is much more open. Plenty of room to run and jump and play.
It is also full of many more ponies and not-ponies than you have here.
The world outside is very..."
Deadly? Only-slightly-less horrifying? Vindictive?
"Quiet. No hissing steam."