[FO:E] The Northern Wasteland of Equestria 1

[Benson]

Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Ministry of Morale- Elevator- 1:40 PM

Fox Trot

"Right, yea...special somepony, sure," I half mumbled and looked away. It felt like any conversation, accidental or not would give Sprinkles excuse to kill me. I pretended to be more occupied looking at the recollector. Though I really didn't have to pretend. I honestly didn't think it was going to be this easy to aqcuire this, it felt like a pipe dream, but here it was, dangling on my hoof, looking like a....tiara. Really, who's idea was that??...Feh.
============


Outside/Outskirts of Manehatten


Gwendolyn looked over at the relic of the past and pursed her mouth in a thin line.

"I suppose, if anything for scavenging any parts as well." She said looking it over again.

[BladeofObliviom]

Spoiler

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"And what happens if-"

Violetta nodded. "Right. And more usable by both of us. You get your fancy shotgun? You benefit, you get whatever you want out of it, and I'm stuck with nothing but aggravation at having to do something... What's the word I'm looking for? Well, it's something I don't really think is a good thing to do. We help Fizz properly? We both benefit in a significant way. All of us. Including Gleam."

[So, uh, we're not even at the Gas Station anymore. New pun source?]

Swift Hooves raises an eyebrow, almost as if to say that she's a lot better with guns than grenades and just a tad annoyed at having words put in her mouth.

She doesn't voice these concerns, though. She merely lets the argument play out, silently hoping that it comes to an agreeable conclusion. Do these ponies really have any hope, or are they merely more Raiders waiting to happen?

The ghoul sincerely hopes not.

Spoiler

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[Canterlot]

"Blasphemous servants of cosmic evil!" one of the zebras hisses. "Vile Nightmares and thralls to the Stars! I pray for swift judgment and justice you!"

Anoma regards the zebra curiously as she does her best to remain calm and collected despite the insanity that her sisters are following. "Why do you call myself and my sisters Nightmares?"

The zebra fixes the purple alicorn with a look of raw hatred. "Because that is what you are! Empowered and driven by the bones of the Stars! Nightmares consumed by the madness of the cold blackness beyond the moon!"

"We serve the Goddess and the Goddess alone," Anoma states, her tone emphatic.

"You and your foal of a goddess are unwitting slaves to the Stars!" the zebra spits back. Anoma doesn't seem terribly happy about this flagrant disrespect.

[Canterlot]

Ebony hears the words, but tries to avoid really listening. Nevertheless, each mention of the word "Stars" brings forth a new surge of painful memories. By the last mention, she's been thrown off-balance enough for a twinge of mild pain to be visible.

Hopefully the Zebra doesn't pick up on that, because memories of countless raiders and their atrocities are not precisely fun for anypony, and even the somewhat cathartic memories of having destroyed those same madmares do not sufficiently offset the pain.

Ebony says nothing, but fixes the Zebra with an annoyed frown.

[Lycan 01]

Outskirts of Manehatten

"This is true," Lucky nods, before hopping up to hover back towards Flim and Flam's caravan. "I trust there's a market for scavenged parts at Tenpony?"

Flim and Flam exchange glances. "Well..." Flim shrugs.

"You might could get a few caps," Flam frowns. "Non-residents don't really get the best deals on traded goods."

"Great," Lucky deadpans.

"And you'd have an easier time finding a buyer for things like weapons and food," Flim explains.

"Except for Crazy Wolfgang," Flam observes with a wave of his hoof. "He buys everything."

"Crazy Wolfgang?" Lucky asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Flim and Flam nod.

"They don't call him Crazy just for his deals," Flim shakes his head.

"They say he got his name..." Flam whispers in awe, "Because he was raised by Hellhounds."

Flim and Flam both shudder slightly. Lucky just raises his eyebrow further. "What's a Hellhound?"

Flim and Flam stare.

[Chaotic Bob]

Spoiler

Show

[Path to Tenpony Tower]

"Ah find it works might fine fer everypony if Ah can keep the attention on me," Corn drawls. "Don't go thinkin' Ah aint thinkin' things through. Ah know mah limits well enough."

Aaaand then Down speaks with Vinyl.

"Aaww... fiiiine..." the foalbot complains as she drops the stick on the ground. Probably worth noting that she has ditched that skin-suit that she was wearing. Though judging from how she's sulking she isn't too happy about it. Now she just looks like a vaguely creepy robot with a pair of purple sunglasses instead of an extremely creepy robot wearing a dead pony in addition to a pair of purple sunglasses.

Sour is still seeing to minor medical issues. Or what would be major medical issues for anypony that isn't Corned Beef.

As for Swiss? She still laying on her back and staring up at the clouds. "Hey Down?" the changeling calls out. "If I mimicked you and flew up there do you think I would be able to get a look at the clear sky without getting shot?"

[Path to Tenpony]

A vaguely creepy robot is much more tolerable to Down than...whatever she was before.
A lot of robots look creepy. Her suit looks vaguely creepy.
But! None of those involve wearing dead ponies' skin.

This is an immense improvement.

"You'll want to be polite in the company of older ponies, makes them more likely to be nice to you."
And less likely to turn you to scrap out of fear or greed.


Swiss asks a question that makes Down incredibly uncomfortable!
Which is evident in the hesitation in her voice.
"For...a few moments, maybe. Until you failed the callsigns and were taken in for quarantine, or shot for evasion of protocol."

That sounds swell.

[Rebonack]

[Ministry of Morale Ground Floor]

"Well, I DO like parties as much as the next pony," Surprise says with a wide grin. "But mostly I like surprising other ponies with them. Y'know, making them happy with a wonderful thoughtful gift. Surprising ponies has always been my special talent. Hehe... that's how I made it into the Ministry in the first place! When Pinkie first came to Cloudsdale to see the Ministry Hub there I threw a surprise party for her that TOTALLY caught her off guard! So she liked it so much she asked me to be a party technician for her!"

Back during the innocent days of the Ministry. Back before Pinkie got hooked on Party Times. Before the spying. Before the assassinations. Before all the smiles became fake and the laughter hollow. A mask worn to ward away the insane wrath of Pinkamina.

"I don't know how my cybernetics work, though. I'm no engineer pony. I just..."

She trails off for a moment before sloooooooowly turning toward Foxtrot, her eyes wide.

"Did you say it or think it?" she asks, an honestly frightened edge to her words. "Did you say this was too easy or did you think it? If you only thought it then we might still be-"

DING!

Ground floor!

The elevator opens up.

And in perfect unity three green alicorns turn to face our heroes and throw up their shields.

Sven summarizes the situation perfectly. "Oh buck me..."

[Manehatten - Near Stable 29]

The lively conversation may or may not be interrupted by the glorious sound of explosions. Followed by more explosions. Followed by a pillar of black smoke slowly twisting into the sky. Whatever happened over yonder might be something best avoided...

[Path to Tenpony Tower]

Currently nearing the Manehatten city center! Still in the outskirts at the moment.

"Uuugh... I hate stuffy rules like that," Vinyl complains. "But I guess I can try..." the foalbot is none too happy. She's being forced to make all sorts of terrible concessions! Eventually she decides to occupy herself by experimenting with some WUBS. Apparently her body can function as a sound synthesizer. Who knew?

Swiss kicks to her feet as the others set off once again toward Tenpony. Everypony is a bit beat at this point. Hopefully more encounters can be avoided...

"Well, as I was falling to my death in horrible pain from that giant wasp poison," the changeling recounts. "It occurred to me that I've never seen the clear sky before. And I think it would be great if I could fix that problem. I mean... I've got wings and all."

She gives the limbs a buzz. Before bathing herself in a blaze of livid green faerie fire and transforming into a pegasus in her usual golden-yellow/strawberry-red coloration. "And looking like a pegasus is easy enough. But I have no idea how to get up there without getting myself killed by a patrol. I could probably baffle them into leaving me alone with my Glamor, but if there was some way I could avoid suspicion completely. Just long enough to see the sun set? That would be great."

[Canterlot]

...their sisters may be under the sway of...

Something unpleasant. Something other than the Goddess. And that's bad. Dangerous.

"We should leave immediately," Anoma says, spreading her wings and taking flight away for the palace without even waiting for a reply from Ebony.

[MCerberus]

Manehatten - Alicorn Fight... of Morale

Welp, time to get to work. In a fluid motion, Scoops takes out Surprise's old rifle and fires right at center-mass. The first shot was just trying to hit the shield with the magic bullet at a 90 degree angle, because the Rangers teach physics. Whadda flips the bolt and fires into the chest of the alicorn with the second (and non-magical) bullet.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Path to Tenpony Tower]

"Sorry, but it pays to be on the good side of ponies these days."
Which is strange coming from an Enclave soldier, hated by a large part of the Wasteland!
But then again, maybe she's just referring to being on the good side of said Enclave.

Down gives Swiss' question a respectably good think.
She might be slightly more okay with Swiss going up without looking like her, but...
"I'm...not sure how possible that would be. There's a fear of ground-world contagions and risks above the cloud cover."

Still, she sounds hesitant to being saying any of this at all. But it seems better than just having the changeling go up and die.
As disturbing as she is...that wouldn't sit well with Down.

[Rebonack]

[Path to Tenpony Tower]

Tra la la, trotting along! The city center begins to loom before our heroes, towering forsaken monuments to a bygone age. Desolate and blasted by balefire and the ravages of times alike. Except, of course, for Tenpony Tower. It still looks remarkably intact in the ruin all around.

Soon the ponies will have to head up onto the raised train tracks to reach the tower.

Regardless!

Swiss seems... disappointed.

"Well... if I make myself look like just any regular pegasus," she reasons. "And then pop up through the cloud layer in a relatively populated area I could probably use my Glamor to divert attention away from my arrival," the changeling muses. "And of course I don't have any contagions. I don't think changelings can even carry the same diseases as normal ponies."

[PurityIcekiller]

"That...that..." Fleetwing sputtered, but words stubbornly refused to come out. A part of him wanted to say that he'd done most of the work, she'd just tagged along, but the other parts of him knew that was pure, undiluted bullcrap. If it hadn't been for her, he wouldn't have been able to heft that crate out of the way, and he would've stumbled right into those bear traps. In fact, with no way to free his leg, he would've either bled out or starved, just another random corpse to adorn the Wastes. As much as he wanted that shotgun, his fickle honorable side wouldn't let him shortchange her like that. She had him nailed but good.

"Well...how does that help 'Gleam'?" he protested weakly, features twisting with his conflicting emotions.

"Knowledge can be shared. Your gun won't be. If we all know how to make these grenades, we all can use them, whereas only one of us can use that gun at once. It's fair, it's honest, and it's more of a net benefit for all of us."

Violetta swished her tail triumphantly. Through her combination of logic, manipulation and just plain stubbornness, she was nearing victory. It seemed she had unrealistic priorities, but her tongue and mind were quite willing to back them up.

[Benson]

Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Ministry of Morale- Elevator-Ground Floor-Bucked- 1:42 PM

Fox Trot

"I only thought it I swear! It shouldn't count!" In a panic after Whadda shot at the center with her super ammo'd rifle, I bit down on the Bit and let out a bullet stream towards the middle one's head in an arc.
========

Outskirts of Manehatten-

"Its a deadly creature with razor sharp claws that could cut through power armor, so I heard," Gwendolyn commented. "Never fought one myself, but, its not something on my bucket list anyway."

And then explosions somewhere within the city somewhere, in the distance. Gwendolyn's feathers ruffled her eyes focused over there. "Seems the city is lively."

[Lycan 01]

MoM Hub - Ground Floor

Ding! Door opens.

And there are alicorns.

Time for Sergeant Sprinkles to do his thing.

The robot instantly goes into hostile operations mode. His flamer and MEW both whip out, and he unleashes a wall of flame and a burst of energy beams at the trio of alicorns. At the same time, his two manipulator claws reach under him and pull out the party cannon, since he can't pull it out from behind his back due to having ponies behind him. He levels the party cannon with the alicorns and fires it off at the one on the right, since everyone seems to be targeting the one in the middle. His only remaining weapon, the buzz-saw, whirs to life, and he begins to wave it threateningly in front of the doorway.

Oh, and the Equestrian National Anthem begins to blare through his speakers. WOO PATRIOTISM!!


---

Middle of Nowhere---->Girdershade

The group of travelers can see Girdershade up ahead.



---

Outskirts of Manehatten

"Huh. Sounds like a lovely critter," Lucky says with a frown.

And then explosions!

"Huh," the pegasus tilts his head. "Well that ain't good. Doesn't sound like it's on our path, though. You think one of us should go scout it out, Miss Gwendolyn? Or should we just get a move on, and hope whatever caused it stays out of our way?"

[Rebonack]

[Ministry of Morale Ground Floor]

Couple things to keep in mind about Going Away Party.

First, it is a bolt action rifle. That means it holds one round and only one round. It has no clip what so ever and a new round needs to be hoof-loaded into the breach after every shot. Firing it more than once an action just isn't going to happen.

Second, it is designed to be fired from prone whilst using its built-in bipod. The gun is heavily enchanted to improve power, accuracy, and silence. But that all comes at the cost of kicking like a drunken mule. Shooting the thing like a normal rifle takes a huge hit to its precision. And also a hit to the face.

The kick from the gun just knocked Scoops in the nose. Ouch...

Though the shot wasn't a total loss. With a sound like a muffled balloon pop the round leaps from the rifle and bursts the shield of the middle alicorn like a soap-bubble prodded by a curious foal.

And takes her wing clean off.

The limb is straight up blown from her body, the force of the impact knocking her prone and leaving her stunned. And then she gets ripped apart by Fox's rifles whilst being set on fire by Sparkles.

Party cannon and railgun both crash into the shield of the alicorn on the right, causing her barrier to flicker but hold. She retorts with a lightning bolt, but the arc of electricity is dampened by all the confetti and streamers in the air.

As for the last alicorn? She was winding up for her own bolt of lightning when the party cannon blew garishly colored paper everywhere. And unfortunately for her that broke her line of sight with the cyber-pegasus for a few moments. Now against most other ponies that wouldn't be an issue.

But with Surprise?

The lightning bolt lances through the spot surprise had just been standing a few moments prior, likely making our heroes manes stand on end in the process. But the party pony is gone. Where could she have vanished off to, you ask?

"SURPRISE!" comes a gleeful voice as the pony of the same name somehow pops out of the alicorn's billowing mane and rams a MEW blade through her throat and into her brain-stem. The alicorn is dead before she even registers what happened.

Well!

They're down to just one alicorn out of three! That's progress ri-

Oh.

Three more just appeared. A purple and two blues. Two more bolts of lightning lance out at the ponies as the purple alicorn begins charging a batch of arcane energy arrows. Surprise yelps in pain as a lightning bolt courses over her.

[Benson]

Outskirts of Manehatten

"Huh. Sounds like a lovely critter," Lucky says with a frown.

And then explosions!

"Huh," the pegasus tilts his head. "Well that ain't good. Doesn't sound like it's on our path, though. You think one of us should go scout it out, Miss Gwendolyn? Or should we just get a move on, and hope whatever caused it stays out of our way?"

"I don't mind scouting on ahead, but I do suggest you still move on a little, if it turns out not to be in our path," Gwendolyn said and flapped her wings in flight prep. A sudden pang hit her on the bottom of her abdomen as she twitched an eye. She clamped her beak and opted to ignore it. She flapped again and took to ten feet in the air waiting for Lucky's or the twin's comment.
==============

Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Ministry of Morale- Elevator-Ground Floor-Bucked- 1:42 PM

Fox Trot

Crap sack manure left burning on your door step!

Waaah..Surprise...! I hopped over to the cyborg-mare and activated my shield dome in mid jump. It covered the both of us and blocked entrance into the elevator a bit Though it also blocked a good portion for my allies here. Though, Whadda did need sufficient time to set up her fancy rifle.

"Surprise!...You alright?" I asked the cyborg, worried.

[Luka]

[Not-fuel station]

Gleamy is now at least in the conversation, isn't she? :smalltongue
"uh... I don't know how that would help... I just remember that grenades are stronger, and a shotgun works best when close, doesn't it?"
She...May have just hit Fleetwing's fear zone while trying to remember

[TheAmishPirate]

"Knowledge can be shared. Your gun won't be. If we all know how to make these grenades, we all can use them, whereas only one of us can use that gun at once. It's fair, it's honest, and it's more of a net benefit for all of us."

Violetta swished her tail triumphantly. Through her combination of logic, manipulation and just plain stubbornness, she was nearing victory. It seemed she had unrealistic priorities, but her tongue and mind were quite willing to back them up.

[Not-fuel station]

Gleamy is now at least in the conversation, isn't she? :smalltongue
"uh... I don't know how that would help... I just remember that grenades are stronger, and a shotgun works best when close, doesn't it?"
She...May have just hit Fleetwing's fear zone while trying to remember

Getting advice from an alicorn...just what had he done to deserve such a bizarre fate?

Fleetwing was silent, chewing on their words like a stubborn bit of 200-year-old snack cake.

Middle of Nowhere---->Girdershade

The group of travelers can see Girdershade up ahead.

Only the timely arrival of the town on the horizon spares them all from a long, boring journey. "Y'know," Fleetwing started with a sigh, "I did promise t'Miss Fizz that I'd look into the truck. We shook on it under her own roof and everything. And while I never actually said I'd give the bottles straight to her...giving them to Bucky'd be against the spirit of the deal. And I ain't about to go back on my word like that."

The pegasus wanly smiled at Violetta. "And...you got a point there too about the payment. If you really think it's a fairer deal this way, then...*gulp* then we'll give the sodas to Fizz." Even as he spoke the words, he could feel the weight of that shotgun leave his side. And it hurt, oh it hurt so bad to see it go. But at the same time, a little twinge of something light flickered in his heart. He may not have realized it at the time, but just a little bit of pre-emptive guilt he was feeling on his choice was lifted. It eased the pain of losing that fine, fine shotgun...slightly.

[Lycan 01]

MoM Hub - Ground Floor

Lightning dances across Sergeant Sprinkles' armor and chassis. Thankfully his internal systems are shielded and properly protected from electrical surge, but it still fries a few circuits and sends sparks flying from several joints and optical units.

"YOUR ARE TRESPASSING ON MINISTRY PROPERTY!!" the old robo-soldier bellows, his audio-output cranked up to max.

And that's all he says. He's not warning them to leave. He's warning them they're about to die.

The purple alicorn becomes his priority target. She's hit by a burst of fire and magical energy. Sprinkles isn't sure whether or not the party cannon needs reloading - but he pulls the firing lanyard anyway, trusting Pinkie Pie.



---

Outskirts of Manehatten

Lucky frowns, noticing Gwendolyn's eyetwitch of pain. He hops up and hovers after her, unslinging his sniper rifle. "Nah. You watch the boys," he states flatly, giving her a knowing look. "I'll go scout around, and we'll meet back together a few blocks North of here. If I run into trouble, I'll fire two shots in quick succession. Or start blowing stuff up. One or the other," he shrugs.

If Gwendolyn doesn't argue or try to stop him, Lucky tips his hat to everyone, and then flies off to see what the heck is going on in this town...

[Benson]

Outskirts of Manehatten

Lucky frowns, noticing Gwendolyn's eyetwitch of pain. He hops up and hovers after her, unslinging his sniper rifle. "Nah. You watch the boys," he states flatly, giving her a knowing look. "I'll go scout around, and we'll meet back together a few blocks North of here. If I run into trouble, I'll fire two shots in quick succession. Or start blowing stuff up. One or the other," he shrugs.

If Gwendolyn doesn't argue or try to stop him, Lucky tips his hat to everyone, and then flies off to see what the heck is going on in this town...

Gwendolyn sighs and sighs again. "Very well...Just be careful, or else." She semi playfully shook a fist at him. A small little smile followed afterwards.

When Lucky leaves she turns to the twins and tell them and their Brahmin to saddle up and starts hovering five feet above them, moving forward on the road, her sniper rifle in hand, shot gun slung on her back, The Splitter holstered on her side.

[Rebonack]

[Manehatten - Scouting Ahead]

Looks like Lucky is going to be going on a bit of an adventure! Thankfully it isn't toward evening. Because that's when the bloodwings come out. And Lucky would look like lunch to those disgusting mutated bats.

Anyhoof, up he goes!

The view is pretty decent from up here. He'll be able to see the source of the smoke easily enough. There's a huge sink-hole some distance away belching thick black smog. Every now and again another explosion rocks the ruins and the pit settles a little more. Some shapes are moving away from it and gunfire can be heard between bone-rattling blasts. Area is apparently hot with action.

[Manehatten - Near Stable 29]

Which leaves Flim and Flam back on the ground. The perfect place for the perfect predator to strike! The creature stalks through the ruins, slipping like a shadow from one pile of rubble to another. From the darkness slit, yellow eyes watch the ponies...

And then!

It strikes!

A manticore cub wiggles his hind end in the air before charging from his cover and aiming to pounce on Flim! Rawr! The creature is tiny, not much bigger than your average cat.

[BladeofObliviom]

[Canterlot]

...their sisters may be under the sway of...

Something unpleasant. Something other than the Goddess. And that's bad. Dangerous.

"We should leave immediately," Anoma says, spreading her wings and taking flight away for the palace without even waiting for a reply from Ebony.

[Canterlot]

Well, that was... ...abrupt. And now Ebony is awkwardly left alone.

"Erm, please give Nightseer my apologies."

And then she rockets off as well. Run, Nightmare Moons! RUN!

Spoiler

Show

"Knowledge can be shared. Your gun won't be. If we all know how to make these grenades, we all can use them, whereas only one of us can use that gun at once. It's fair, it's honest, and it's more of a net benefit for all of us."

Violetta swished her tail triumphantly. Through her combination of logic, manipulation and just plain stubbornness, she was nearing victory. It seemed she had unrealistic priorities, but her tongue and mind were quite willing to back them up.

[Not-fuel station]

Gleamy is now at least in the conversation, isn't she? :smalltongue
"uh... I don't know how that would help... I just remember that grenades are stronger, and a shotgun works best when close, doesn't it?"
She...May have just hit Fleetwing's fear zone while trying to remember

Getting advice from an alicorn...just what had he done to deserve such a bizarre fate?

Fleetwing was silent, chewing on their words like a stubborn bit of 200-year-old snack cake.



Only the timely arrival of the town on the horizon spares them all from a long, boring journey. "Y'know," Fleetwing started with a sigh, "I did promise t'Miss Fizz that I'd look into the truck. We shook on it under her own roof and everything. And while I never actually said I'd give the bottles straight to her...giving them to Bucky'd be against the spirit of the deal. And I ain't about to go back on my word like that."

The pegasus wanly smiled at Violetta. "And...you got a point there too about the payment. If you really think it's a fairer deal this way, then...*gulp* then we'll give the sodas to Fizz." Even as he spoke the words, he could feel the weight of that shotgun leave his side. And it hurt, oh it hurt so bad to see it go. But at the same time, a little twinge of something light flickered in his heart. He may not have realized it at the time, but just a little bit of pre-emptive guilt he was feeling on his choice was lifted. It eased the pain of losing that fine, fine shotgun...slightly.

[Approaching Girdershade]

Swift doesn't say anything, now that the argument's complete and a consensus has been reached. However, anypony paying attention to her will almost certainly notice that there's a spring in her step now, and something about her just seems warmer and happier than before.

It is perhaps just a tad strange, but she's smiling properly all the way back to Girdershade. Not her usual creepy grin, mind you, but a very genuine and kind smile. Overall, she just seems... ...pleased.

[MCerberus]

Manehatten - Alicorn Killing of Morale

Ow that kind of smarts. At least Scoops has surprising strength for her frame, as noted by her ability and desire to use melee weapons when there are perfectly good guns around. Otherwise she might have lost control and concussed herself.

Anyhoof, another magic bullet into the chamber. Whadda moves up to any convenient non-suicidal cover to deploy the thing on so she doesn't bop herself again. Something smells like... her nose is bleeding.

Sure she's not likely to be able to move and shoot or do more than one shot a round, but it looks like if the alicorns line up neatly...

[Rebonack]

[Canterlot]

Fly away! FLY AWAY!

Anoma slows just enough for Ebony to catch up with her, though she quickly picks up to full speed again soon there after. "If Nightseer has fallen under the influence of other beings then it isn't safe for us here. She may see our continued loyalty to the Goddess as a threat."

And that would be terrible.

"We should return to Unity quickly so our knowledge can be shared. If we have any hope of returning our sisters to Unity the wards must be strengthened significantly."

A rather awkward pause.

"...or... the Goddess may have to employ ponies outside Unity to carry out the task..."

She gives a sidelong glance to Ebony. "What... do you know of these Stars, sister? I'm finding my memory of them fading along with the Dream."

[Ministry of Morale Ground Floor]

Fox shields Surprise! She's glad that she isn't getting toasted with more lightning. "Ah, I'll live. Nothing the repair talismen can't take care of right?" the cyberpony replies as she rises shakily to her hooves. "Those shields they have are the big problem. If they're up most weapons are going to have trouble getting through."

Lightning dances along the barrier and Surprise pokes at it curiously. "I'll need you to drop this thing for me. We don't want to let up the pressure," she then yells at the alicorns cheerfully. "HIYA! I'm Surprise Party! What's your favorite color?"

Then Sprinkles the Party Cannon again. And this time? It launches a classy mahogany coffee table loaded down with various types of cake at one of the alicorns. While the projectile doesn't break through the shield the impact is still enough to send the monster-pony tumbling end over end awkwardly. She loses concentration on her spell and peppers the ceiling with magical lances of energy. A second round from Sven slices through the weakened barrier and pulps her.

Scoops goes running off to find a place to set up Going Away Party! And gets another lightning bolts flung at her for her trouble. This rifle is not suited for chaotic fire-fights. It isn't some run-and-gun style military weapon. It's a precision assassin's tool. Though she does find a pretty thick steel table to set up behind. The gun is deployed and a round chambered, now she just needs to pick a target in the tussle.

Two greens down and one purple thus far. Leaving one green and two blues left. The green alicorn smirks a nasty smirk and lights up her horn, causing Sven to suddenly gasp and clutch at his chest. Wuh oh! Somepony had better stop her!

[Lycan 01]

Scouting Ahead

Lucky ascends higher and moves closer, so he can get a bird's eye view of the scene playing out below.


---

Near Stable 29

Flim and Flam both scream like little fillies, and run to take cover behind their brahmin.

"Seriously?" one of the brahmin grunts.



---

MoM - Ground Killing Floor

"Heart attack spell?!" Sprinkles snarls as Sven grabs his chest. "NOT ON MY WATCH, BITCH!!"

The green alicorn finds herself the target of fire, magical energy beams, and whatever else the party cannon wants to cough up.

[MCerberus]

Manehatten - Killing Alicorns of Morale

Alright, just rely on the training. Time seems to slow down as Scoops focuses. I mean, by standards of a *real* sniper she's going pretty slow. Unfortunately, they need the shield poppers for this fight. Ignore the pain, ignore the lightningbolts flying around you.

Try and line up two of them.... straight... through... the chest.
*pow*

Then Scoops tries to minimize her exposure for the reload time.

[PurityIcekiller]

[Coming To Girdershade]

Violetta gave Fleetwing a smile. "Good. You can stick to principles. If we later get a chance to get a gun like that without being dishonest, you have every right to take it."

She was glad to get back to Girdershade. It had already been a pretty long day, and she was ready for a bit of relaxation.

[Chaotic Bob]

[The Path to Tenpony]

Down doesn't seem particularly enthralled by the sight.
But that's possibly because she's seen it before, either during earlier scouting or earlier adventures.

Or maybe just because Swiss is continuing to make her rather uncomfortable.
She's directly planning out something that, by duty, the pegasus should probably shoot her for.

"I...maybe...I really don't recommend it. At least not in the mainland."
The closest to a suggestion she can make.

What if her Glamor didn't work on every soldier up there? She'd cause an Incident, one way or another...and what if she did carry some sort of communicable contagion, without knowing, that surfacers are immune to?

The pegasus ruffles are wings a bit, stretching the aching left one out to distract herself.

[Rebonack]

[Toward Tenpony Tower]

Doubtful that anypony is impressed by the state of Manehatten. The place is really rather depressing.

Up onto the raised tracks they go! Sure is a good thing none of the trains are running anymore. Getting flattened by a train after fighting off killer robots and giant wasps all day would be terrible. The occasional train station can be found along the way. Nice little shelters that could keep off the rain. Pony remains are suspiciously absent up here. Probably got blasted down to the ground when the bombs dropped.

"It would just be nice to see a sunset. Even just once," Swiss sighs. Then shrugs her feathery pegasus wings and smiles. "Ah well. I guess I can figure it out later. How is your wing feeling, anyway? Did the potions help? If anything is broken Sour has got this amazing regeneration spell that fixes broken bones like... well... Like magic!"

Why the sudden subject change?

Swiss is picking up on the cold, sticky emotion of nervousness from Down.

[Benson]

Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Ministry of Morale- Elevator-Ground Floor-Bucked- 1:43 PM

Fox Trot


I nodded at the cyborg mare with likely me sporting a dumb expression with my mouth hanging open a little. "Uh huh...r-right...!" I dropped the shields and attempted to fire at the alicorns again with attempts to avoid lighting bolts. And damnit, my mane was standing up on ends...my poor...beautiful wavy bishounen mane. Sob.
====

Near Stable 29-Gwedolyn

The griffon attempted to fly over it and fling it away with her rifle.

"Boys, get your flanks moving, its mama could be near by!" She ordered keeping an eye out for mama manticore.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Toward Tenpony Tower]

Down takes to the topic change quite happily!
Although happily probably isn't the best word. Gratefully, is closer.

It also reminds her of something.

"Somewhat stiff, but my wing is doing better than it was. Thank you."
On that note, she puts said wings to work!

Up into the air she goes, slowly at first, but then then more naturally.
"Which reminds me that I should probably be keeping a watch on our surroundings."
Eyes in the sky are always a nice thing to have.

Also just...nice to be flying outside of combat. She's been so caught up in everything that's happened recently, that the pegasus hadn't even noticed she'd been walking just because everypony else was.


So up she goes.

[TheAmishPirate]

[Coming To Girdershade]

Violetta gave Fleetwing a smile. "Good. You can stick to principles. If we later get a chance to get a gun like that without being dishonest, you have every right to take it."

She was glad to get back to Girdershade. It had already been a pretty long day, and she was ready for a bit of relaxation.

Yeah, 'cause when will that ever happen again?

Oh, just shut up, me.

All Fleetwing could offer in return was a lame half-smile. "Yeah, well, I'll hold y'to that then." With that, he headed off for the town proper, wondering if they'd be lucky enough to avoid Bucky long enough to find Soda Fizz.

[Tag: Lycan]

[Rebonack]

[Ministry of Morale Ground Floor]

pop! goes the sniper rifle.

Pop! goes an alicorn's heart. The pony's eyes go glassy as the force of the round impacting her lifts her straight off her hooves and hurls her over onto her side. Absolutely dead.

Sprinkles fires the party cannon once more! This time around it belches forth a disco ball and a full set of surround sound amplifiers. WUB WUB WUB WUB! Again the force of the impact does a number on the pony's shield and the follow up fire from Sprinkles and Fox are giving the barrier more than it can take. She quickly retreats around a corner to try to get a breather. What she gets instead is a swift death.

"SURPRISE!"

One more alicorn down.

One left.

The remaining blue kicks in her stealth and absconds the hell out of there. No reason to let these bodies be destroyed if no good will come of it.

Sven is gasping and generally looking uncomfortable, but he's managed to lift himself back to his feet again. Probably going to recover. Probably could also use a potion.

[Manehatten Scouting]

Gettin' a closer look!

Aside from the ruins there are ponies down there shooting at manticores. And getting eaten by manticores. It looks to be a pretty bloody, unpleasant ordeal. By the look of them they're mostly Raiders. But a few at least could very well be decent ponies.

[Manehatten Near Stable 29]

The cub is buffeted away! The creature is so weak and emaciated that it offers little resistance to being shooed by the griffon. It mewls pathetically.

Apparently the back-half of Gwen smells liony enough that the monster sees her less as a food source and more as someone to get food from.

[Toward Tenpony Tower]

Down is followed, perhaps to her dismay, by the currently-a-pegasus changeling. Why? Because Swiss is chatting with her, that's why! Yelling at her from the ground would be kind of silly after all.

"So you've gotten to know us at least decently, yeah?" the changeling asks. "How about you? Is there anything about you or your home that you're allowed to talk about?"

She sounds genuinely curious. As opposed to fishing for tactical information. Why would she, anyways? It isn't as if a swarm of changelings could fly up above the clouds and systematically replace important ponies in the Enclave government, right?

"I've been stuck down here in irradiated wastelands all my life. Hearing about some place a little brighter would be a great change of pace."