[FO:E] The Northern Wasteland of Equestria 1

[Chaotic Bob]

[Manehattan Scouting Mishaps]

"Break, that's just..."
Down sighs.

Okay, nothing weird in the air (other than what's usually in it...), so obviously these two are just being idiots.
Not sure why Swiss was woozy earlier, but she certainly seems fine now.

"Very well. I shall 'save myself', as you so sweetly suggested.
But I'm taking your gun.
When you two are ready to be sane again, I'll be waiting outside with the others."
Spoilsport!
But then again, she was faintly worried there for a second...so maybe she's just grumpy about the false call.


With that, the pegasus will be flying out of the building, Lucky's rifle in hoof.

[Lycan 01]

Manehatten Scouting Mishaps

Lucky staggers away from the wall, still blind. "Sane?!" he yelps incredulously at Down. "It's a Changeling! It'll eat your soul and make you part of its tortured thrall!" he frantically yells. "Gah, whatever, just get out of here!"

He hops up on his hind legs, and holds his forehooves out in front of him, striking a fighting stance as if preparing to box or something. "I'll hold it off as long as I can!" he proclaims. His gallant attempt at self-sacrifice would likely be more impressive and imposing if his eyes weren't squinted shut, as he is still blind from the soda.

"C'mon then! I'm not going down without a fight!" he snarls, taking a few steps back away from the cackling monster. "Bring it on, you- bwuah!?"

And down he goes, having fallen over an old computer while backpedaling. Lucky finds himself sprawled out on his back, blind and tangled up in old wires. "OH COME ON!!" he growls at nopony in particular.


---
Manehatten - To the Scav Post

"Yeah, like me. Heh..." Sergeant Sprinkles chuckles.



---
Manehatten Merchant Misadventures

"Why's Mister Lucky asking for it?" Flim asks curiously.

"He's always asking for it," Flam grins with a roll of his eyes.

"Seriously, he's like the universe's punching bag," Flim shrugs.

"Yeah, he's probably off being eaten by ghouls or something right now," Flam smirks.

"Or being turned into a ghoul," Flim grins.

"Maybe they'll elect him their king?" Flam shrugs.

"Or queen, hah!" Flim chuckles.

Both twins share a laugh, before frowning. "I hope he's okay..." they both mutter in unison.



Fun fact - he's totally not okay.

[Rebonack]

[Manehattan Scouting Mishaps]

Swiss is finally starting to calm down. And then Lucky has to go and make a fool of himself some more. She's really trying though! Really truly honestly trying to calm down and explain to this pony that she's isn't going to eat him. It is an amazing effort on her part.

"Hee... hoo... wow... I haven't laughed that hard in, heh... in forever Mister Break. Thanks," Swiss manages to wheeze as she slowly pulls herself to her hooves. "Sorry about the face full of sparkle cola. You, hehehe, you kinda caught me off guard with your butchered version of the pass-phrase. Changelings use that rhyme to identify each other since we can't see through each other's disguises. What did you expect it would do?"

Probably something absurd.

"Changelings don't even eat souls. Who told you that, anyway? We feed on emotions. And even if it's a bit gross all that hilarious fear is making me feel a bit better. I burned a lot of faerie fire blowing up all those killer robots that were planning awful things for the surface and I guess those giant wasps took a bit out of me too."

Swiss grins at the blind pegasus.

"So what do you say, Break? Stop flailing around like a frightened filly and I'll share my soda with you. Then we can go get your gun back from Down."

[Manehattan - Foot of Fourstar Tower]

Down will return to an interesting sight!

"-and we have no idea how long Down and Swiss are going to be up there. So we may as well use the time to smash the door down and see what's in there," Rye reasons, trying to convince Corn and Sour that they should break into the Fourstar building and figure out what's up. Even if there are killer robots inside...

"Well, Ah think waitin' on it is the better bet," Corn replies. "'specially since it looks like Miss Down is comin' back."

Rye glares up at the sky. "Ugh, Celestia's flaming climax that has to be the worst timing ever."

[Chaotic Bob]

[Manehattan - Foot of Fourstar Tower]

Down does return to an interesting sight.
Rye seems grumpy.

Loosely holding Swiss' rifle in hoof, she flutters close to the group.
"I'm going to make a wild guess here: you all were planning to be just as dumb as those two up there."

She sounds vaguely grumpy, in a very faintly sardonic sort of way.

[Rebonack]

[Manehattan - Foot of Fourstar Tower]

Rye opens her mouth to reply, only to have Corn step in. "Miss Rye just gets a bit hasty when there's loot to be had, Miss Down. Ah reckon you know how it is when a pony sets 'er mind on doin' somethin' they enjoy."

He certainly makes it sound a lot worse than it was.

"Don't you worry none 'bout us doin' stupid things. We got plenty ah experience with that."

Eeeeyup!

Plenty of experience doing dumb things.

Rye glowers at Corn and mutters something under her breath that isn't particularly foal-friendly.

Sour coughs slightly. "And what was found up there? Was the pegasus injured?"

[Lycan 01]

Manehatten Scouting Mishaps

Lucky lets out a defeated sigh, and gives a weak kick of one of his hind legs, which are propped up on top of the overturned computer. "Welp. I'm screwed. Guess this is the end then..." he laments weakly, as the Changeling finally ceases her maniacal cackling at his expense.

And then she starts talking to him. "Oh. That wasn't poison? Huh. Thought it tasted familiar..." he mutters. And when she tells him what the rhyme really does, he puts a hoof over his face in embarassment. "Dammit. It was supposed to... I dunno... banish you, or scare ya off or something."

And then she tells him that she's eating his fear. "Wonderful!" he flails his limbs in an exasperated gesture. "My fear is a tasty snack. That's nice to know..." he groans. "Yeah, I knew about the emotions thing. Though I've heard that if a Changeling eats all your emotions, they eat your very soul too. And then some nasty stuff involving them enslaving your soul to their eternal thrall, bla bla bla, nightmares and gloom..." he mutters, giving a few idle waves of a hoof. "I'm just going with secondhand rumors here, ya know... Old folktales learned around the campfire in the Deadlands."

And then she offers him a soda. Lucky lifts his head up a bit, and stares at her warily for a moment. He then plops his head back down onto the floor, and sighs. "Sure. What have I got to lose? I'm either gonna be eaten no matter what, or I've managed to meet the one non-predatory Changeling in the Wasteland, and she genuinely wants to share a soda with me."

A small chuckle.

"With my luck, it can actually go either way..."

[Chaotic Bob]

[Manehattan - Foot of Fourstar Tower]

Corn makes a much better diplomat than Rye probably ever will.
At least, he's good enough to keep Down from getting any grumpier.

The important thing is that no more hellish robots, or demon bugs, or whatever have been unleashed.

"This place will still be here later..."


Off in the distance a recently exploded building's upper floors begin to collapse in on themselves with a screeching groan and more than a little dust, dirt, and general filth.

"...probably."

The pegasus ponders that for a moment, before looking over at Sour instead.
Safer question! Albeit a somewhat frustrating one.
"The pegasus is perfectly fine, his name is apparently, and fittingly, Lucky Break.
He is also convinced that Swiss is a demon from Tartaurus or something and that Sparkle Cola is acid. I have no idea. Tried to banish her with a rhyme.
She's busy laughing herself to death I think."

With a little "I wash my hooves of them" shrug, Down begins to once more scan their surroundings.

[Rebonack]

[Manehatten Scouting Mishaps]

"Not a tasty snack," Swiss is swift to correct. "Fear tastes disgusting. But I think I was on the edge of magical burnout and I needed something to tide me over until I can get some hugs from my friends."

See?

Hugs fix everything.

At the mention of folk-tails and so forth Swiss' eyes light up a little. "Oh! You are from the-" Swiss says something in that weird chittering language of hers. "-then? I guess that makes sense that ponies from our old homeland would know misinformation about us at least. And nah, draining somepony dry is just lethal."

She doesn't mention anything about what happens if a drained to death pony is stuck inside a cocoon. Validating Lucky's fears right now is a terrible idea.

Swiss lights up her horn with livid green fire and levitates her half-empty soda bottle over to Lucky. "We're actually about as common as griffons. And about as likely to straight up eat somepony as a griffon, too. I mean, sure. Some of us are nasty. But you can say that about any of the races, right?"

A beat.

"Y'know... Is there a Taint problem down in the Deadlands? Because if there were then that would explain why your stories about us are so nasty. Tainted changelings go bucking insane and their shape shifting ability... well... the less said about that the better. I still pray to Celestia that I don't have to face a Skinwalker again..."

Swiss shudders involuntarily, obviously shaken by whatever memories are drifting up to the surface of her mind.

[Foot of Fourstar Tower]

It should be noted that if the caravan of a griffon, two ponies, and a manticore cub are still moving along they should be coming into Down's visual range soon.

Rye peers up at the slooooowly collapsing building. "I... uuhh... That does look pretty dangerous doesn't it? Knowing Allomyrina she would probably want to blow the thing up the rest of the way. Make the excuse that we could control which way it falls."

Secretly (or not so secretly) Swiss just likes blowing things up.

Sour hrrms at the pegasus' reply. "Lucky indeed... Knowing Swiss she'll aim to make fast friends. It's something she's quite skilled at. Though I suppose given her nature that's somewhat required for her survival. I don't doubt that she'll be fine."

[Benson]

Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Outside the Ministry of Morale- 2:07 PM

Fox Trot

I simply nodded my head to Surprise about the curbstomp thing.

<Don't wait up for Fox, he's pretty much auto follow for now unless directly spoken to>

Manehatten Merchant Misadventures

"Why's Mister Lucky asking for it?" Flim asks curiously.

"He's always asking for it," Flam grins with a roll of his eyes.

"Seriously, he's like the universe's punching bag," Flim shrugs.

"Yeah, he's probably off being eaten by ghouls or something right now," Flam smirks.

"Or being turned into a ghoul," Flim grins.

"Maybe they'll elect him their king?" Flam shrugs.

"Or queen, hah!" Flim chuckles.

Both twins share a laugh, before frowning. "I hope he's okay..." they both mutter in unison.

Fun fact - he's totally not okay.

Gwendolyn frowned seeing the cub all boo hoo. She petted the cub on the head with the butt of her rifle.

"I'm sure Lucky's fine, if not, we'll, he probably won't be hard to find. Come let's go, collect your poison glands."

[Lycan 01]

Manehatten Scouting Mishaps

Lucky manages to untangle himself and sit up. "Yup, I'm from the Chitter-chitter-squeak-screech, down near Southern Rawr-click-click," he says with a lopsided smirk. "Used to be called the Badlands. Now it's just the Deadlands. And yeah, there's a lot of legends and rumors 'bout Changelings down there. Many... less accurate than others, apparently," he muses, before catching the bottle of soda between his hooves. "Thanks..."

And then she tells him about the rarity, or lack thereof, of Changelings. "Huh. That's... comforting, I guess?" he says with an unsure expression, before taking a sip of soda. "Oddly enough, my best friend is a griffin," he muses. "We're supposed to be guarding a caravan, and I flew out to see what all the explosions were about. She's probably worried about me by now." He pauses for a moment, takes another sip, and smirks. "Actually, no. She's probably enjoying the silence..."

"As for the Taint, it's bad in a few places, but... uh..." he furrows his brow, pondering for a moment. "No, never heard of a Skinwalker. And kinda wishing I hadn't. I have enough trouble sleeping as it is, you know," he smiles mirthlessly. "Though I guess my nightmares could use a bit more variety. The Enclave ones are gettin' kinda old..." he mutters, casting a glance towards the window Down previously disappeared through.



---
Manehatten Merchant Misadventures

Flim and Flam shrug, trusting Gwendolyn's judgement. They gather up the wasp organs, pack them away, and then resume their trek towards Tenpony Tower...

[Rebonack]

[Manehattan Scouting Mishaps]

"The Cursed Tombs," Swiss translates. "There was a kingdom there a long, long time ago. Hearts and Hooves day celebrates its fall in a perverse sort of way..."

The changeling makes a rather sour face. "But eh... that was ancient history even before the War ever started," she shrugs. "Don't mention it. I was planning on making explosives with that. Though I think I owe it to you for the mental distress. Sorry about losing my skin in front of you. It wasn't intentional."

She just waves a corroded hoof at the mention of Skinwalkers. Seems she wouldn't mind letting that subject die. Once Lucky is done with the soda she'll lift herself up and pops open her beetle-like wings, giving them an experimental buzz. Then comes a flash of faerie fire and Swiss is once again an attractive pegasus mare.

"We're headed to Tenpony as well. Got some deliveries to make. And DJ Pon3 is expecting us!" she practically squees. "We'll hook up with your caravan and escort you the rest of the way. Safety in numbers, right?"

[Manehattan Merchants Marching!]

Oh hey!

Tenpony looms in the distance!

And is that a bunch of ponies milling around in the middle of the tracks? Sure looks like they're milling around. And not the bandit or raider sort of milling around, either. Quite the motley crew. A huge earth pony in equally huge armor. A lithe earth pony mare. A white unicorn with a curly pink mane. A... is that a pegasus in Enclave armor? And some sort of creepy looking brain bot.

The pegasus is holding Lucky's gun.

That may have negative connotations.

[Toward Scav Outpost]

Surprise...

Falls silent.

How very uncharacteristic of her!

She just quietly trots along, glancing at the sights every now and again. Do they arrive at the Outpost? Rebo has no idea! Nor what the place looks like nor where it is located! Someone else will have to cover that.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Foot of Fourstar Tower]

Soon Down gets to meet even more surfacers!
She's undoubtedly overjoyed with this prospect. Or would be, if she could see the future.


"Perhaps she should hurry up then."
Down adjusts the rifle she's taken hostage, awkwardly lifting it up to borrow its scope.
Those lovely little devices make seeing into the distance much easier!

At least, while things aren't obscured by dust clouds yet.

"They'll both likely be along shortly. I'm holding Break's rifle hostage, after all."
And such a pretty gun it is too. Well maintained, decent weight...shame she has no idea how to use a weapon like this.

Only been trained for energy weapons and hoof-to-hoof combat!
She could figure out how to fire a standard gun simply enough, but she'd be far from an expert. Recoil might freak her out.


Continuing to cradle the gun in a way that is most certainly incorrect, she sweeps her sight around a bit as she rises further in the air.
"And while we wait, there appear to be more travelers along that direction."

Down jerks her head in the direction of the FlamFlam caravan, before resuming her long-distance observation.
"Mixed group, not all ponies."

[MCerberus]

Manehatten - Scav Post

The scav post of which they were traveling to is in the middle of Broadmare, or 'Theatre Row' as it sometimes goes by now. For two of the party, it might look like a welcome sight, but for the ministry members, it's a dump. The one building that can pass for 'not going to collapse' is boarded up and barricaded.

And the guards don't know what to make of the group. The one set up in the ticket office does a spit-take. There's a rather intimidating robot, the now famous dandy of an earth pony armed to the teeth, that crazy mare that shows up, and a robo-pony. And they've all got an intimidating battle-scarred look.

Whadda hasn't exactly cheered back up yet. It's gone all amazingly drama-bomb.

[PurityIcekiller]

[Girdershade]

"Oh, I'm honoured to help you " Violetta bowed slightly. Fleetwing was right about the satisfaction of making others happy. "If I truly am what I think I was, then I'd best show myself as helpful."

She nodded at Fleetwing. "Right. Payment. And once that's done, we'd like to talk to you a bit about Bucky."

[Lycan 01]

Manehatten Scouting Mishaps

Lucky chuckles at her offhand "losing my skin" remark, and gives a flippant wave of his hoof. "It's alright. I've been in worse situations-"

Like being hogtied by a squad of Enclave troopers, or having a Mister Gutsy cram an MEW in his face, or being bought by the Legion, or getting chased by Cazadors..... the list goes on.

"-so it's nothing to feel bad about. Like you said, it was a total accident. And sorry for freaking out like that. I, uh..." he averts his gaze. "I hope I didn't insult you or anything."

The pegasus rises to his hooves, and dusts himself off, before beginning to trot around the wreckage and recover his equipment and personal effects. "I think your friend borrowed my rifle. Not sure I like the idea of asking for my gun back from an Enclave trooper..." he mutters uncertainly. "Not sure I like the idea of asking a member of the Enclave for anything, actually..."

"Anyhoo, what was that about DJ Pon3?" he asks as he grabs his hat and puts it back in its proper location. Tipping the brim back a bit, he smirks in mild satisfaction. "I've heard his show a few times since waking up in New Appleloosa a few days ago. Long story, involves amnesia and being lit on fire. Anyway, yeah, I'm sort of a new listener, since it seems his station doesn't cover the Deadlands, apparently. OF course, maybe that's also why he seems to think the Legion is just a bunch of bozos..." he mutters, the last part mostly to himself as he trots towards the window.



---
Manehatten Merchant Madness!

Flim and Flam notice figures in the distance, and exchange uneasy looks. They can't make out the details of who, or what, they are. "Well that's ominous..." they both mutter in unison.



---
Manehatten Scav Post

Sprinkles waves enthusiastically at the guards. "Howdy! Y'all ain't Zebra Sympathists, are ya? Cuz if ya are, I might have to kill ya!" the gruff old soldier exclaims with warm enthusiasm.

[Benson]

Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Outside the Scav Post 3:219 PM

Fox Trot {nvm, i got time]

After a long, quiet, uneventful trek in the urban wasteland of Manehatten we found ourselves coming upon the Scav Post in Theatre Row. I looked back at the two gloomy mares and frowned. 'Come on...cheer up...I mean...right now you have a chance to make new friends here, Surprise." I gave the cyborg mare a small smile.

To Whadda I gave her a pat on the back of her neck. "Show me a little smile and I'll make that two cups of coffee and a Sparkle Cola to boot." I tried in earnest.

The Scav Post got closer. I took a glance at where the pony in the ticket taker booth would be and gave a slight nod of my head to them. I was also wearing a tiara on my head.
==========

Griffons, Merchants, and a Manticore Cub

"What in the?..." Gwen squinted her eyes and then pulled out her rifle and took off the scope. "You two, find some cover.....something's....up." She scrambled off behind some debris and took a peel with the scope for a better, closer view.

[Rebonack]

[Manehatten Scouting Mishaps]

"Don't think anything of it! Most ponies are usually somewhere between disgusted and terrified when they see me without a disguise for the first time. I know we aren't exactly the most attractive things in the Wasteland," Swiss replies with a grin that's now thankfully composed of normal looking teeth. She plops the cap from the soda into her bags.

That done the mock-pegasus begins trotting toward the nice hole in the wall Lucky provided them with and peers over the edge. "Down seems like a really decent pony to me. I mean... I've met a whole lot of ponies that are way worse. Judging from the condition her gear was in when we first met her she must have been through something nasty recently. Sparkle generator was down. Communications was shot. But even in rough shape she decided to lends us a hoof without us so much as asking."

There's another one of those broad smiles. "I'll bet if more pegasus got a chance to see what it's really like here they would want to help just like Down has."

Swiss sure is optimistic!

"If you like I can get the gun for you," she continues as she hops out the shattered window and begins winging her way toward the ground. "DJ Pon3 reports on stuff going on around the Wasteland and plays music. ...come to think of it I don't think he's ever really said anything about the Deadlands. At least not aside from a few tidbits here and there. It's like he's got eyes everywhere here though. Wonder why..."

[Speaking of the Ground!]

Rye just peers off into the distance. "Cautious. I don't think they're hostile. EFS seems to agree. It looks like they've got a brahman with them, so it's probably a merchant group."

She waves a hoof.

"Nothing to get uptight about."

[Speaking of Merchants!]

Onward! The manticore cub is riding on a particularly soft object he found in the cart. Now he's curled up on the thing snoozing. Now that the kitty has gorged himself on meat from various sources it is most certainly time for a nap.

[Scaver Post]

At the mention of friends the cyberpony immediately perks up. "Ooooh! You're right! And everything here is so drab and dreary, too! I know just how to fix that!"

And without giving anypony a chance to dissuade her she darts off behind a dumpster-

-before popping up in the ticket booth along with the guard pony. "SURPRISE!"

Oh dear Celestia confetti and streamers everywhere!

"HIYA new friend! I brought you some cupcakes!" delicious confections are brandished at the no doubt shocked guard pony.

[Luka]

Girdershade

Gleamy just remains shy and kind of calm through it
"Uh...I guess I am?"
She just responds to Fizz comment, hopefully that means the cloak's effectively concealing her wings

[Chaotic Bob]

[At That Ground Place]

Gwen is treated to the view of an Enclave pegasus aiming a sniper rifle in her general direction.


Down holds this position for a few moments after Rye says her piece.
"Griffin."

After another little moment, she lifts the rifle up, pointed towards the sky where it can't be construed as a threatening gesture anymore.

"Do we make contact?"

[MCerberus]

Manehatten - Broadmare Scav Post

Either Whadda has suddenly gotten used to Surprise or she's too distracted by moping about and waiting for a voice to start yelling at her over the radio. It's obviously the latter, as the mare gives a fake empty-hearted smile to make Fox Trot feel better. "Maybe later, I've got to make sure nothing bad's going on on their end."

So hopefully that will be settled before Fox Trot's best opportunity to flirt since being kicked out expires.

Surprise would find three guards are on duty right now. The one in the ticket office panics, instinctively noms a cupcake, then panics again wondering what horrible poison is in it. The two at the door can deal with the good sergeant.

"Oh, uh, yes we hate..."
"Zebras, we hate zebras."
They begin to open the door, but one must wonder if it's for fear of being blasted in by the robot, or having an escape route from Surprise.

[Lycan 01]

Manehatten Merchant Madness

Flim and Flam do as they're told, and quickly drag their two pack brahmin behind some piles of rubble.



---
Manehatten Scouting Mishaps

"I will say that Miss Down is the nicest Enclave member I've met," Lucky observes aloofly as he approaches the window. "Though considering my previous experience with the Enclave, she didn't have to do much to earn that honor." He pauses, and frowns slightly. "In fact, she's actin' very different from the ones I've met. And you said she was in a bad way when ya found her, right? Hmmm..." he ponders, working his jaw thoughtfully. "I don't suppose she's a Dash-ite, huh? Would certainly explain some things..."

"Anyhoo, if Mister DJ wants to know 'bout the Deadlands, I'm the stallion to ask," he muses, hopping out the window behind Swiss. "Lived there most of my life. Though, can't say I miss the place..."


---
Scav Post

"Huzzah!" Sprinkles cheers. "It does my programmin' proud to see ponies still loyal to the great nation of Equestria, opposed to them foul, striped bastards who threaten our very way of life!"

He pauses to look around. "Or what's left of it."

[Benson]

Manehatten-Gwendolyn

Still filled with uncertainty, the griffon kept a distance and cautiously put her talons up, the scope on the ground, and waved them to signify she is not hostile. Well until they try to pull something funny first.


Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Outside the Scav Post 3:21 PM

Fox Trot


Poor guard on duty. Oh well, at least its not me this time getting the end of the butt monkey stick. I gave Whadda a small nod in regards to her response. A a sad mare makes me a sad Fox, believe it or not.

I walked inside, or rather I strutted inside, head tilted up.

[Rebonack]

[Manehattan - At the Foot of Fourstar Tower]

"I have no idea what a Dash-ite is!" Swiss replies as she wings her way down toward the ground. "Maybe we can set up an interview between you and Homage, DJ Pon3's assistant. The DJ is a bit of a recluse, so Homage covers all the public appearances and so forth. I'm sure they wouldn't mind some more information on the south."

Swiss descends!

Her friends glance up at her!

Well! It looks like she and Lucky are quite alive.

"We've got a caravan incoming," Rye yells up at them. "Got a griffon with them. Friends of yours?"

"I think Break mentioned them. And... uuh... Not to be awkward or anything but I just about clobbered myself with magical burnout. I think I might need a-GAH!" Swiss is cut off when Corn throws his forehooves around the mock-pegasus in an embrace. Sour soon follows suit.

Rye rolls her eyes, sighs, and does so as well.

Group hug!

The a rather sappy grin slowly spreads across Swiss' face. "Thanks... you ponies are awesome..."

[Scav Outpost]

The cupcake is delicious! And it doesn't taste stale in the least, either. How many of those cupcakes did Surprise grab, anyway? ...and where is she keeping them?

No.

Best not to think about it.

Down that path is only madness.

"Have fun! Enjoy your cupcakes!" the party pony says as she bounces out of the ticket booth and into the building proper. "That was great! They responded to the surprise waaaay better than those grumpy Steel Rangers did!"

[Chaotic Bob]

[Manehattan - At the Foot of Fourstar Tower]

Down is now looking away from Gwen-way-over-there, to give a somewhat incredulous look at the display below.

...group hug?

"I don't really need the reminders ever few minutes that I have met the most insane surfacers in Equestria, but thanks anyway."
Sarcasm! That's much better than the grumpiness she had earlier, right?


Without really looking in the caravan's direction, she throws a one-hoofed wave at them.
Hopefully Gwen can interpret that well enough.

[MCerberus]

Manehatten - Scav Post

The ticket-office guard is frightened and tickled with tasty delight. An odd confusing experience, especially considering free food was had in the wasteland. The door guards let our heroes through without so much as a peep.

Inside is what you would well expect from seeing the outside. Recent patch-work helps keep some walls and pillars up. Several areas have been repurposed. A stallion has setup a makeshift kitchen, that would be Ladle. Pop Rock, the mare that seems to run the place has a nice wall of scavenged stuff to buy. And hey, Ladle found some pre-war industrial cheese tonight. That'll be fun.

The few other ponies here look at the group as if they were ultra-patriotic cyborg famous alicorn-slayers. It's a mixture of awe, fear, and in the case of one of the mares there, humble pie. Ask Fox about that one.

Meanwhile, Scoops isn't in the mood to celebrate right now. She just sort of slinks off to the roof access to await the fallout of what happened. Hopefully Surprise was right and nopony was hurt.

[Benson]

Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Outside the Scav Post 3:23 PM

Fox Trot


I flash that mare, you know which one, a knowing smirk to put her in her place. I then flipped my head and caught the Recollector on my hoof and spun it around for a sec before putting it in my bag. I did still had some semblance of my dexterous agility, I was just forced to downplay it taking on the temp role of a battle saddle user.

Right now, acting the opposite of humble, I hadn't noticed Whadda slink away.
=======

Gwendolyn-Manehatten Stuff Somewhere

The griffon narrowed her eyes and cautiously returned a wave, and slowly returned over to where the twins were trying to hide at.

"You boys alright?" She asked in a standard manner.

[Rebonack]

[Manehattan Scav Post]

Isn't Surprise technically a patriotic cyborg alicorn killer?

Regardless!

She's bouncing around the room and introducing herself to everypony and asking them what their favorite flavor of cupcake icing is. She'll even continue to do this if she's told by several ponies that they have never had a cupcake before.

Should they admit this to her she'll shove one in their mouth. Seriously. How many of those things does she have?

Probably however many is comedicly appropriate.

As for calls from the big-wigs.

It won't be too long before Star Paladin Onion Dip calls back... He doesn't sound terribly amused. "If you have any way to explain how the hell that pony got into the middle of Bucklyn Cross without being noticed I would appreciate an explanation."

[Lycan 01]

Manehatten Merchants

Flim and Flam both poke their heads out of a pair of trash cans nestled in amongst the rubble. "We're good!" the both state in unison.

"What's going on?" Flim asks.

"Yeah, what's the situation?" Flam inquires.



---
Manehatten Meetings

Lucky flies down after Swiss, and hovers off to the side, on the other side of the group from Down.

Yeah, he's in no rush to ask for that rifle back...

"Howdy," he tells Team Ruben Sandwich GO!!, tipping his hat to them out of respect. "Name's Lucky Break, and-"

He notices Down wave at someone. He looks off in the distance to see what she's waving at... and sees a familiar griffin.

"And that's Gwendolyn! HEY MISS GWENDOLYN!!!" Lucky exclaims loudly and cheerfully, grinning widely and giving a VERY enthusiastic waving of his hoof. Actually, 'flailing of his foreleg' may be a more accurate description of his gesture...



---
Scav Post

Sergeant Sprinkles hovers inside. "Wooooow, this place needs a makeover..." the neon pink robot observes critically as he hovers inside. "Needs more pink. And balloons. Maybe a dartboard in the shape of a zebra. Or a zebra to use as a dartboard. Either one works just dandy!" he exclaims with a cheerful wave of his weapon-limbs.

[MCerberus]

Manehatten - Scav Post

Aside from Scoops, Surprise, and Pop, there are three mares to observe Fox's showboating. One of them was, once again, face-first in humble pie... and a cupcake. Another one is currently trying to chew and digest a vanilla cupcake, a chocolate cupcake, and a marble one, assuming that surprise would be that generous. That does leave a pretty (wasteland pretty, a 5 by pre-war standards) pink unicorn to fawn over him.

Sprinkle's desire to decorate the place with depictions of Zebra murder go generally unanswered. Ladle though, since he hasn't really had a speaking role so let's get the ball rolling on that, looks up from his wasteland veggie and government cheese soup for a moment. He's a slightly chubby (wasteland standards once again) earth pony that has a simple question. "What's a Zebra?"

Educational standards have really sunk in Equestria. They don't even know who to hate.

Since the consumer versions of the ministry tech weren't as good, some of the ponies even said they don't like cupcakes! They're stale and hard and just taste like crumbly sugar. One stallion even went so far as to run off screaming at Surprise's antics.

Meanwhile on the roof: Whadda is very very relieved that she wasn't greeted by a casualty report. It's still sensitive, so she doesn't even ask if there was an issue with the channel encryption. Eggshells to walk on. She may disagree with some of the upper-level decisions, but the Rangers are still all family.

"Sir, after your transmission cut off, VIP was in the exfil group. Permission to speak freely."

[Rebonack]

[At the Foot of Fourstar Tower]

Swiss decides to take the mature path in response to Down's snark. She sticks out her tongue and says, "You're just jealous that you didn't get in on the group hug action!"

Eventually the absurd sight breaks up and the various ponies turn their attention to the griffon Luck Break is flailing at. They must know each other! Because acting that way toward a stranger is usually a good way to get a bullet in the brain-pan.

"Alright! Introduction time! You already met me," Swiss rattles off. "These ponies are Corned Beef."

"Howdy."

"Sauerkraut."

"Hello."

"And Rye!"

"'sup."

"And together we're... TEAM!" Swiss strikes an absurd ridiculous pose.

"RUBEN!" Corned Beef follows suit!

"Sandwich," Sour comments softly with a small smile. It looks like she's just indulging the other two.

"I refuse to take part in your dumb team-spirit nonsense, Allomyrina," Rye deadpans.

Swiss responds by making puppy eyes at her friend. Rye gives a dejected sigh and waves one hoof flaccidly. "Goooooo..."

[Scav Outpost]

One can almost hear Onion Dip's brain breaking on the other end of the line. But... how did she...? There's no way... Eventually he manages to sputter out a, "Permission granted."

Maybe it'll shed some light on this insanity. Meanwhile music begins thrumming from downstairs.

Back at the PARTY!

"You should use the Party Cannon, Mister Sprinkles!" the cyberpony laughs, clapping her hooves in delight. So many fun new friends to meet! And so many haven't ever had cupcakes! What is WRONG with this world!? Maybe she'll have to head back to the Ministry hub after all and secure some of the kitchens and ingredient supply depots. It would just be TERRIBLE if she were to run out of sweets before she runs out of new friends to make!

"It might not paint anything, but it'll decorate the room for sure! Who knows with what! It'll be a SURPRISE!"

Just make sure not to hit anypony...

"Come on everypony! It's time to have some fun!" and with that Surprise's wings fold in on themselves as the repulsion jets reconfigure into... speakers? And start blasting a funky tune!