Cloudbreak IC: Glimpse of the sky

[BlasTech]

"Thank you, your High Equalityness. C'mon Cap. Let's go put this baby back with her friends." He patted the hover generator lovingly, and sauntered off towards his garage.

Okay, so you're heading back to the garage. Tell me what it's like. Is it on the surface, or underground? How do you get your hoverbike in or out, and how do you lock the place up at night. You probably have to share facilities, in a bunker as crowded as this, so tell me who else works there and what they do with their lives.

And with that, Starlight set off. Ponies to save, traitors to retrain, so much time and so little to do in it.

So, as you're walking off. Protection Racket comes up to report that they've got the divisional assistants all in custody ... well, most of them at least. One of them, Carat, is off in the deep tunnels and the Friendship Patrol hasn't gotten a hold of her yet.

Oh, did I not mention the deep tunnels before? Well, when you're all living underground and looking to perform SCIENCE, there's really only one direction to build. Downwards. Carat is part of the Geology and Gemology department (GG for short), and spends almost all her time down there, hunting pockets of minerals to fuel her experiments.

Do you go down looking for her? Or do you head to interrogate the remaining assistant-heads? Or is there some other destination you have in mind?

"I understand the limited earth pony imagination can only comprehend the act of recovering knowledge from the ancients through the lens of their own stunted familial experience," sniffed Luminark haughtily, turning on hoof and heading for the door with his nose in the air. "But I shall show you - and I shall show them all."

It stung, of course, to be sneered at, but he had a great deal of pride in his apprenticeship. Ponies would - and had tried to - kill for his position so it was hardly his problem if she couldn't see it's value. He just had to make her see it.

So, how are you going to "make her see it?"

Is it time for a visit to your boss, Archmage Moondancer. She of the grounded constellations, and the Eternal Search. She who could turn you inside out with a thought, or curse every waking moment in the long long long life you would then lead?

Or, y'know, are you just going to show Milliway your ant farm?

[Thanqol]

So, how are you going to "make her see it?"

Is it time for a visit to your boss, Archmage Moondancer. She of the grounded constellations, and the Eternal Search. She who could turn you inside out with a thought, or curse every waking moment in the long long long life you would then lead?

Or, y'know, are you just going to show Milliway your ant farm?

"The ant farm is an exercise in precision synchronistic bio-necromantic engineering," Luminark was explaining. "Using necromantically reanimated ants to perform high-risk functions for the benefit of the hive allows incredible durability in times of crisis and the stockpile of potential labour for times of plenty!"

The ant farm was more than just a fascinating marvel of sociology and magic entwined, it was the physical manifestation of a twenty-year old thought experiment his moms had about how they could improve the efficiency of the bunker if they were put in charge. Nopony had yet taken them up on a full scale field test.

Luminark thought that was a fixable mistake.

The archives of the Library were crammed with more than just books. Catalogued Dewey Decimally amidst the stacks were death rays, glowing green vials, potions, medicines, plants, growing networks and vats containing corpses and specimens from all across time and space. The Library itself had that special space-distorting effect that very large collections of books naturally accumulated, with the whisper and murmur of books muttering their secrets to each other and shifting the boundaries of the world according to their own designs. Knowledge is power. Power is energy. Energy is mass divided by the speed of light squared. The interior of the library was bigger than the entire bunker. The last apprentice was said to have gotten lost and eaten by the books.

Now there was no particular need to seek the Archmage out directly. She was working. She was busy. She didn't want to be disturbed, probably. If she wanted something she certainly didn't need to go through the bother of showing up in person, she could just put the thoughts into his head. So why bother her? She was very busy. And as long as she didn't have some project in mind he shouldn't disturb her.

(her mane had started glowing and flowing all princess-y at some point. she still kept it pinned up in an extremely severe bun.)

So Luminark was chattering along the tour, carefully noting every turn he took with a little chalk mark on the floor, browsing the shelves for something. His situation is, essentially, that he figures he's threatened by the large number of armed friendship patrols and wasteland warriors and whatever who might pose harm to his person, so he'd like some way to make sure he can bring them all down.

[Going into my hoard and rolling a 5. Yep, that'd be right - and why I was big on the change to the Hold the MC gets.

You gotta give me something I'd genuinely find useful in that situation, but hunger immediately goes to +4.]

[TheAmishPirate]

Okay, so you're heading back to the garage. Tell me what it's like. Is it on the surface, or underground? How do you get your hoverbike in or out, and how do you lock the place up at night. You probably have to share facilities, in a bunker as crowded as this, so tell me who else works there and what they do with their lives.

Of course it's on the surface. Don't get me wrong; I love tunnel drives. Barreling headlong into the dark, headlights only reaching far enough to see the next stalagmite, death just a moment's hesitation away, mmmmmm! There's nothing like it. Of course, you don't find many ponies or science-y crap down there. Unless you count the skeletons. But the best pickings are on the surface, so that's where my roads lead.

The surface level of the bunker has these huge hangars, back from the war days. I think they used to hold airships, maybe tanks, maybe both. (Ohhhhhhhh baby. If I got my hooves on one of those...) Anyway, they got lots of open space, and gates leading to the outside, so it's the perfect place to stash my bike. And my tools. And my replacement parts. And a hammock for hanging out, if you know what I mean. Whenever I want to make a run, I radio one of the control rooms, and they open the gates for me. There's layers of them, see. One for the hangar, one for the main walls, and one for the outer fences. Good for keeping out unwanted pests, bad when you're coming in hot.

Now, most ponies? They don't like being so close to the surface. Apparently "lethal doses of radiation" and "partial sunlight" are disagreeable to the average labcoat's delicate constitution. Wiiiiiiiiiith one tiny exception. The Environmental Science Division, a sub-branch of Trees' department, Princess rest her soul. All their experiments have to do with weather and storms and how plants grow and crap like that, so they're all too eager to gobble up all the space they can. I think they'd work outside if the Princess let them. Sometimes wish they would. You know how hard it is to entertain company when you got fifteen ponies giving you the stinkeye? Maybe they should try getting a room. We all try to keep to our corners, but the boundaries are fiercely contested. No official complaints yet, though that might be because nopony fancies going in for Friendship Training. Or maybe one of the higher-ups has a thing for leather jackets, dangerous stunts, and cool hero names.

Oh, this does mean that I'd like to make a correction to what I told the Princess. The Biology department also has some amount of control over who gets into my particular hangar. I lock up all my stuff myself, but those are just padlocks.

Now, as for why I'm going to the garage, I'm just looking to drop off this hover projector, and figure out what happened. Did somepony tear this off my bike, or steal a spare? Did they take anything else? If the situation doesn't require my immediate attention, then I should probably go get patched up before dealing with this.

[Elanorin]

"The ant farm is an exercise in precision synchronistic bio-necromantic engineering," Luminark was explaining. "Using necromantically reanimated ants to perform high-risk functions for the benefit of the hive allows incredible durability in times of crisis and the stockpile of potential labour for times of plenty!"

The ant farm was more than just a fascinating marvel of sociology and magic entwined, it was the physical manifestation of a twenty-year old thought experiment his moms had about how they could improve the efficiency of the bunker if they were put in charge. Nopony had yet taken them up on a full scale field test.

Luminark thought that was a fixable mistake.

The archives of the Library were crammed with more than just books. Catalogued Dewey Decimally amidst the stacks were death rays, glowing green vials, potions, medicines, plants, growing networks and vats containing corpses and specimens from all across time and space. The Library itself had that special space-distorting effect that very large collections of books naturally accumulated, with the whisper and murmur of books muttering their secrets to each other and shifting the boundaries of the world according to their own designs. Knowledge is power. Power is energy. Energy is mass divided by the speed of light squared. The interior of the library was bigger than the entire bunker. The last apprentice was said to have gotten lost and eaten by the books.

Now there was no particular need to seek the Archmage out directly. She was working. She was busy. She didn't want to be disturbed, probably. If she wanted something she certainly didn't need to go through the bother of showing up in person, she could just put the thoughts into his head. So why bother her? She was very busy. And as long as she didn't have some project in mind he shouldn't disturb her.

(her mane had started glowing and flowing all princess-y at some point. she still kept it pinned up in an extremely severe bun.)

So Luminark was chattering along the tour, carefully noting every turn he took with a little chalk mark on the floor, browsing the shelves for something. His situation is, essentially, that he figures he's threatened by the large number of armed friendship patrols and wasteland warriors and whatever who might pose harm to his person, so he'd like some way to make sure he can bring them all down.

Milliway followed, largely in silence. She eyed the stacks and shelves and vast stockpile of the potentially valuable to the outright unsettling and was desperately trying to work out the system at work here as they went, but the more she tried the more her brain hurt. Why were those pickled brains with the weird wood and not with those other brain jars over by the... are those eels? And why the different sizes all together?!

Good grief what's that smell?

"Mhm," she agreed, to some more babble coming from Luminark. He seemed to have appointed himself tour guide through this neverending hall of atrociously organised horrors.

Seriously?! Six rows of body specimens like half a mile ago and here, this, this is where he keeps anatomy books!? Look at the state of- wait, ants?

She paused briefly by said ants, eyed them pensively, a red mechanical eye taking quick readings only to conform the little creeps were in fact dead. Dead ants. Working. As an exercise. She swished her tail to disguise a shudder.

Leave. Seriously, leave now. To find anything here clearly demands an outright broken mind or an offensive amount of luck.

"Dead ancestors as slave labour. Yeah. Great," she concluded softly, failing to summon any sincerity to her voice.

I can't believe I hugged this creep.

"So... you really do keep, everything..." Milliway said incredulously and then suddenly stopped, and held up her metal-clad hoof from almost stepping on a freshly made chalk mark. She just stared at him in stunned silence, eyes wide, before slowly turning to see the little strategic marks disappear behind some stacks in the distance behind them.

HE DOESN'T KNOW THE F*CKING WAY OUT OF HERE?!

[Balmas]

So, as you're walking off. Protection Racket comes up to report that they've got the divisional assistants all in custody ... well, most of them at least. One of them, Carat, is off in the deep tunnels and the Friendship Patrol hasn't gotten a hold of her yet.

Oh, did I not mention the deep tunnels before? Well, when you're all living underground and looking to perform SCIENCE, there's really only one direction to build. Downwards. Carat is part of the Geology and Gemology department (GG for short), and spends almost all her time down there, hunting pockets of minerals to fuel her experiments.

Do you go down looking for her? Or do you head to interrogate the remaining assistant-heads? Or is there some other destination you have in mind?

Yes, let's go for Carat. The assistant heads can stew in their guilt. In addition, I tell Protection Racket to make sure that they're split up; it will make it impossible for them to confer among themselves and get their lying stories straight.

And of course we're going downwards. Downwards and outwards. I'm standing on the precipice of the deep tunnels; digging equipment is littered around every place you care to look. I'm ducking backhoes, and examining the drill bits for Big Bertha. My question is, where would Carat be hiding?

(2d6+2)[8] Read a sitch. What's my best way to find Carat?

[BlasTech]

So Luminark was chattering along the tour, carefully noting every turn he took with a little chalk mark on the floor, browsing the shelves for something. His situation is, essentially, that he figures he's threatened by the large number of armed friendship patrols and wasteland warriors and whatever who might pose harm to his person, so he'd like some way to make sure he can bring them all down.

[Going into my hoard and rolling a 5. Yep, that'd be right - and why I was big on the change to the Hold the MC gets.

You gotta give me something I'd genuinely find useful in that situation, but hunger immediately goes to +4.]

I think I need a bit more info as to what you're after here, Luminark. To me, it sounds like you wants to be able to hurt your enemies, no matter who they are. But your last statement could be taken in a number of ways.

What does success in this goal look like?

Oh, this does mean that I'd like to make a correction to what I told the Princess. The Biology department also has some amount of control over who gets into my particular hangar. I lock up all my stuff myself, but those are just padlocks.

Now, as for why I'm going to the garage, I'm just looking to drop off this hover projector, and figure out what happened. Did somepony tear this off my bike, or steal a spare? Did they take anything else? If the situation doesn't require my immediate attention, then I should probably go get patched up before dealing with this.

Well, there's a bunch of ponies in hazmat suits walking around outside the hangar. They seem to be tossing a large amount of junk out of the front doors, including a large number of your spare parts.

I'm guessing that requires your attention?

Whatever the cause, Toxic Goop (The pony, not the substance), is directing the crew who seem to have unceremoniously dumped your livelihood out into the open air.

"So... you really do keep, everything..." Milliway said incredulously and then suddenly stopped, and held up her metal-clad hoof from almost stepping on a freshly made chalk mark. She just stared at him in stunned silence, eyes wide, before slowly turning to see the little strategic marks disappear behind some stacks in the distance behind them.

HE DOESN'T KNOW THE F*CKING WAY OUT OF HERE?!

Well, somepony once said that a good library, due to the accumulation of knowledge, power, energy and mass, was nothing more than a genteel black hole that could read.

They'd never met a library like this.

Knowledge and power had long since taken a back seat to magic and SCIENCE. It was not so much genteel, as unhinged. The books seemed to watch the ponies as they walked along, and Milliway almost had the feeling that the shelves were sliding around behind her. Chittering shadows arced along the aisles, and the air alternated between a musty staleness and the fresh fanning breeze of opening pages.

Behind them, she saw a book fall to the ground. Disturbed by their passage?

Whatever the cause, it landed right on top of one of Luminark's chalk drawings.

Yes, let's go for Carat. The assistant heads can stew in their guilt. In addition, I tell Protection Racket to make sure that they're split up; it will make it impossible for them to confer among themselves and get their lying stories straight.

And of course we're going downwards. Downwards and outwards. I'm standing on the precipice of the deep tunnels; digging equipment is littered around every place you care to look. I'm ducking backhoes, and examining the drill bits for Big Bertha. My question is, where would Carat be hiding?

[roll0] Read a sitch. What's my best way to find Carat?

Finding Carat seems straightforward. She's got a dig crew set up around the entrance to one of the tunnels, and there are power cables and mining lights strung off into the darkness. The two ponies she's got on the door look up from their work as they see you approach and nod respectfully. If anything, they don't seem shocked to see you here, but they do seem to be bustling about their activity with more professionalism now that their administrator is on the scene.

Now, I don't think there's an option under Read a Sitch for "what's the best way to do X", so I'll translate that to "what should I be on the lookout for?", as it seems to be the most relevant to the current situation.

That bit is straightforward: You're heading into a dark underground tunnel. Did you bring anypony with you? In either case, you should be on the lookout for the usual spattering of mine-related hazards (cave ins, flooding, etc.) as well as the potential for ambush. These tunnels aren't part of the bunker complex, and Carat likely has the upper hoof when it comes to knowing where they all lead.

[Thanqol]

I think I need a bit more info as to what you're after here, Luminark. To me, it sounds like you wants to be able to hurt your enemies, no matter who they are. But your last statement could be taken in a number of ways.

What does success in this goal look like?

Oh, Luminark isn't picky. He is happy to be surprised with whatever awful idea your mind conjures, and whatever the library provides. Barf forth some apocalyptica.

[BlasTech]

Oh, Luminark isn't picky. He is happy to be surprised with whatever awful idea your mind conjures, and whatever the library provides. Barf forth some apocalyptica.

Now, bear with me for a moment, because the tale is somewhat convoluted.

The bunker sends out trading parties from time to time, to both survey the land around the mountain and to purchase the supplies needed to keep the place running. They also tend to use the opportunity to pick up any news or interesting geejaws that the wasteland is willing to provide at a reasonable price.

Well, a couple of years back, one of the trading party returned with a couple of items they'd purchased off a trader who said he'd been scavenging in the Canterlot ruins. Now, most ponies say that to hawk their junk off on the next unsuspecting idiot, but for some reason the lead trader decided to believe him. He came back with a book, a vial of green water, and a data tape. All three were sent immediately to the labs for testing.

All three were useless junk.

It took a fortnight of testing, but in the end the results were clear. While the tape played spooky noises when inserted into a terminal, it turned out it had just been mag-scrambled. The book was an old pre-war treatise on lockpicking written in Griffonian, and the water was just five hundred year old food dye from a McHayburgers. The Administrator issued a censure against the salvage team leader for "wilfully wasting the time of the research teams." and ordered him sent to friendship training.

The guards found him dead in his room.

The weird thing was, though, he'd been dead for two weeks.

He was also wearing a vest of bones.

Said vest was tested as well. The results ... inconclusive. There seemed to be some spells woven into it, at least such that whomever wore it found that weapons turned away and blows were softer (2-armour). Also, while most of the bones were bleached white, a dozen of them were pitch black. Two of them were removed for use in tests (one seemed to have been removed at some time in the past), whereby it was found that they burned indefinitely, but without heat, when exposed to fire. And that when crushed or broken, the resultant powder induced absolute terror in whomever inhaled it. Nopony knows what might happen if you use one of the bones as a weapon, but given the other results it's probably nothing good.

Testing was suspended after the results were published, and the vest requisitioned by the Archmage's office.

The vest is sitting on the shelf next to you. When you take it down, there's a shimmer in the shelves. You'd best use it well, because you get the feeling that your boss knows it's gone, and will come looking for it at some point. Maybe. When she finishes the book she's reading.

[Thanqol]

It was time for an evil undead magical pony transformation sequence! Equal parts this and this.

The spine settled all along Luminark's back, running up his neck and vanishing under his headdress. The ribs lanced down around his barrel one by one. Spikes of bone emerged from his tail and long jagged talons settled on the base of his hooves. And his eyes turned into bat slits too why not.

Then came two minutes forty seconds of posing and preening.

Only then did Luminark quietly acknowledge that he had disrupted the Archmage's important schedule. His job was to make her life more convenient and he had just done the opposite.

So he glanced one more time in the mirror, took on the slightly spooked aspect of a pony on a mission, and started to walk back the way he had come.

[Balmas]

Finding Carat seems straightforward. She's got a dig crew set up around the entrance to one of the tunnels, and there are power cables and mining lights strung off into the darkness. The two ponies she's got on the door look up from their work as they see you approach and nod respectfully. If anything, they don't seem shocked to see you here, but they do seem to be bustling about their activity with more professionalism now that their administrator is on the scene.

Now, I don't think there's an option under Read a Sitch for "what's the best way to do X", so I'll translate that to "what should I be on the lookout for?", as it seems to be the most relevant to the current situation.

That bit is straightforward: You're heading into a dark underground tunnel. Did you bring anypony with you? In either case, you should be on the lookout for the usual spattering of mine-related hazards (cave ins, flooding, etc.) as well as the potential for ambush. These tunnels aren't part of the bunker complex, and Carat likely has the upper hoof when it comes to knowing where they all lead.

Well, I'm heading into what may or may not be an ambush, in an area where it'll probably be an hour or so before anyone makes their way down here. I've only brought Wander squadron, but hopefully Friend Pony's upgrades will serve as a bit of an early warning system if anyone. I don't anticipate any problems, but I'm keeping my shield spell at the tip of my horn, just in case.

It's good to see my people engaged in industry. I smile at my little ponies as I stride towards them. "It's wonderful to see you, Amethyst. How is Quartz? I don't plan to take too much of your time; I need to speak to Carat."

[Elanorin]

Well, somepony once said that a good library, due to the accumulation of knowledge, power, energy and mass, was nothing more than a genteel black hole that could read.

They'd never met a library like this.

Knowledge and power had long since taken a back seat to magic and SCIENCE. It was not so much genteel, as unhinged. The books seemed to watch the ponies as they walked along, and Milliway almost had the feeling that the shelves were sliding around behind her. Chittering shadows arced along the aisles, and the air alternated between a musty staleness and the fresh fanning breeze of opening pages.

Behind them, she saw a book fall to the ground. Disturbed by their passage?

Whatever the cause, it landed right on top of one of Luminark's chalk drawings.

Well that was unsettling.

As much as she knew it was impossible for a bunch of stuffy books and bottles of luminescent goop to be collectively sentient-

Pfft!

...it, uh, sure gave a pretty good impression of it. But it was just smoke and mirrors and the product of her ghost story loving subconscious.

It's just a library.

Milliway sniffed to herself to dismiss any creepy feelings down her spine, turned, only to see Luminark dress himself in one.

It was time for an evil undead magical pony transformation sequence! Equal parts this and this.

The spine settled all along Luminark's back, running up his neck and vanishing under his headdress. The ribs lanced down around his barrel one by one. Spikes of bone emerged from his tail and long jagged talons settled on the base of his hooves. And his eyes turned into bat slits too why not.

Then came two minutes forty seconds of posing and preening.

Only then did Luminark quietly acknowledge that he had disrupted the Archmage's important schedule. His job was to make her life more convenient and he had just done the opposite.

So he glanced one more time in the mirror, took on the slightly spooked aspect of a pony on a mission, and started to walk back the way he had come.

Milliway stood square on the floor, watching the entire length of the display. At first she found the sight utterly unsettling (what the hay had he just gone and done to himself exactly?!) but the longer the preening went on the more her expression went from worried shock to unimpressed boredom.

"Done?" she grumbled as he finally made a move. "Look, while we're here, why don't you go ahead and give me back what's mine?"

[TheAmishPirate]

Well, there's a bunch of ponies in hazmat suits walking around outside the hangar. They seem to be tossing a large amount of junk out of the front doors, including a large number of your spare parts.

I'm guessing that requires your attention?

Whatever the cause, Toxic Goop (The pony, not the substance), is directing the crew who seem to have unceremoniously dumped your livelihood out into the open air.

Your guess would be correct!

"Woah-ho!" The Scrapscallion called out, approaching Toxic Goop with the burly Kneecapper trailing close behind. "Hey now friend, why don't you tell me exactly why you're chucking all my stuff out the hangar, and how quickly you can put it all back, capiche?"

[Thanqol]

Milliway stood square on the floor, watching the entire length of the display. At first she found the sight utterly unsettling (what the hay had he just gone and done to himself exactly?!) but the longer the preening went on the more her expression went from worried shock to unimpressed boredom.

"Done?" she grumbled as he finally made a move. "Look, while we're here, why don't you go ahead and give me back what's mine?"

"What?" said Luminark, distracted, having forgotten there was somepony with him. "What, exactly, did I take?"

[BlasTech]

Well, I'm heading into what may or may not be an ambush, in an area where it'll probably be an hour or so before anyone makes their way down here. I've only brought Wander squadron, but hopefully Friend Pony's upgrades will serve as a bit of an early warning system if anyone. I don't anticipate any problems, but I'm keeping my shield spell at the tip of my horn, just in case.

It's good to see my people engaged in industry. I smile at my little ponies as I stride towards them. "It's wonderful to see you, Amethyst. How is Quartz? I don't plan to take too much of your time; I need to speak to Carat."

The two ponies nod happily, indicating the direction that Carat had taken.

[Given you're heading into the tunnels, and you don't know whether you are the cat or the mouse, sounds like a need to roll +cool!]

Your guess would be correct!

"Woah-ho!" The Scrapscallion called out, approaching Toxic Goop with the burly Kneecapper trailing close behind. "Hey now friend, why don't you tell me exactly why you're chucking all my stuff out the hangar, and how quickly you can put it all back, capiche?"

Goop glanced back at the Scrapscallion and approached him. He made shoo-ing gestures until they were at a minimum safe distance before popping the hood on his hazmat suit. It revealed a dark green coated earth pony, with a matted brown mane.

"Hey Scraps." said Goop. "Sorry bout this, looks like there was an experiment breach this morning. Came in to the instruction to scan and toss anything with foreign contaminants until we can lock down the cause. Will probably be about four, five days, to get everything scanned thoroughly."

In the meantime, every moment the pile of valuable junk was outside was another moment that somepony might notice and steal a piece. (not counting the theft of the grav-projector)

[Elanorin]

"What?" said Luminark, distracted, having forgotten there was somepony with him. "What, exactly, did I take?"

Milliway glared an indignant glare after Luminark.

As if the jerk doesn't know. Just look at the primadonna trying to feign ignorance.

"My. Eye," Milliway said between clenched teeth.

He's not scared enough. I should break something.

[TheAmishPirate]

Goop glanced back at the Scrapscallion and approached him. He made shoo-ing gestures until they were at a minimum safe distance before popping the hood on his hazmat suit. It revealed a dark green coated earth pony, with a matted brown mane.

"Hey Scraps." said Goop. "Sorry bout this, looks like there was an experiment breach this morning. Came in to the instruction to scan and toss anything with foreign contaminants until we can lock down the cause. Will probably be about four, five days, to get everything scanned thoroughly."

In the meantime, every moment the pile of valuable junk was outside was another moment that somepony might notice and steal a piece. (not counting the theft of the grav-projector)

Now, it's important to understand that the Scrapscallion was no scientist. Never had that vital spark, that hunger for knowledge necessary for the job. Nor did he have the patience for studies, experiments, paperwork, presentations, proper procedure, department politics, or any of the other trapping mandated for the job. He had his wits, he had his bike, and he had a blithe disregard for his own personal safety. Other ponies might call his lifestyle absolutely moronic, but he found he could make a pretty decent living doing dumb things.

And in his professional opinion, this had to have been the dumbest thing he had ever heard.

"Let me go out on a limb here; you found a ton of contaminated crap around the lab equipment, then a whole lot of nothing, then more contamination on my bike." He looked to Goop flatly. "That sound about right?"

[Thanqol]

Milliway glared an indignant glare after Luminark.

As if the jerk doesn't know. Just look at the primadonna trying to feign ignorance.

"My. Eye," Milliway said between clenched teeth.

He's not scared enough. I should break something.

"Oh, that?" said Luminark. "Why in Starswirl's name are you worried about that? It's not like you were using it or anything. In fact," he adds a bit primly, "it is actually a little weird that you would keep it. But if you're going to go through all this trouble..."

He gives a high pitched whistle stands patiently. After a moment a large, hideous undead Frankenstein's monster of pony, dog and giant radscorpion parts bounds enthusiastically through the stacks and gives Luminark a big lick on the face. It then sees Milliway and, with the blind enthusiasm of a doggy seeing a New Person, it rushes over to sniff and slobber all over her.

It has her eye!

[Balmas]

(2d6-2)[1]

[Whitespace here]

Looks like I'm the mouse, I guess?

[Elanorin]

"Oh, that?" said Luminark. "Why in Starswirl's name are you worried about that? It's not like you were using it or anything. In fact," he adds a bit primly, "it is actually a little weird that you would keep it. But if you're going to go through all this trouble..."

He gives a high pitched whistle stands patiently.

"Because it's mine and it's mi-" she started, before her voice cut off.

a large, hideous undead Frankenstein's monster of pony, dog and giant radscorpion parts bounds enthusiastically through the stacks and gives Luminark a big lick on the face. It then sees Milliway and, with the blind enthusiasm of a doggy seeing a New Person, it rushes over to sniff and slobber all over her.

It has her eye!

Milliway scrambled to get away from- from- from the thing! She backed away, got pounced, tried to wriggle/scrape free only to rear straight in to one of the massive bookshelves. Trapped. Slobber.

Aaaaahhhh! Disgusting!

Milliway let out a shriek trying to shove the beast away while trying not to look it in the eyes, seeing it look back at you with your own eye was creepifying in the extreme.

Once the monster was sufficiently backed off to give her an ounce of breathing room she took a second to gather her breath and glare murder at Luminark, looking a bit like a bull ready to charge.

"You stole my eye, and you put it in that?!" she cried, with a furious shrill voice.

I need to break something. I need to break a lot of somethings. This is war!

Milliway crouched down and gave a violent, proper earth pony, buck against the bookshelf behind her, hoping to send it and all its content crashing.

[BlasTech]

Now, it's important to understand that the Scrapscallion was no scientist. Never had that vital spark, that hunger for knowledge necessary for the job. Nor did he have the patience for studies, experiments, paperwork, presentations, proper procedure, department politics, or any of the other trapping mandated for the job. He had his wits, he had his bike, and he had a blithe disregard for his own personal safety. Other ponies might call his lifestyle absolutely moronic, but he found he could make a pretty decent living doing dumb things.

And in his professional opinion, this had to have been the dumbest thing he had ever heard.

"Let me go out on a limb here; you found a ton of contaminated crap around the lab equipment, then a whole lot of nothing, then more contamination on my bike." He looked to Goop flatly. "That sound about right?"

"Hey, I don't make the rules, I just live by 'em" replies Goop, shrugging. "Rules are, isolate anything that's potentially hazardous, and sift through it later."

"We knew most of your stuff would come up as positive, if not all" he added, after looking the Scrapscallion over "but there's a bunch of our equipment that's had to be tossed as well."

[roll0]

[Whitespace here]

Looks like I'm the mouse, I guess?

Squeak Squeak.

The squad sticks close by you as you follow the trail of mining lights deeper under the mountain. Dirt and rock gets pretty boring after a while, and the trip is pretty uneventful ... right up until a rather solid blast door suddenly slams shut in front of you, blocking the tunnel. Followed by another one right behind.

A grainy monitor, built into the door, flickers into life. A grinning Carat displayed in tones of green.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! YOU'VE FALLEN RIGHT INTO MY TRAP!"

As far as maniacal laughter goes, the earth pony was definitely getting full marks. Although one felt compelled to dock a few points for unoriginality.

[BlasTech]

I need to break something. I need to break a lot of somethings. This is war!

Milliway crouched down and gave a violent, proper earth pony, buck against the bookshelf behind her, hoping to send it and all its content crashing.

The nearest shelf teetered for a moment, in the way that all tall, thin, and above all else - heavy - items do before they fall. It went down, taking the next nearest shelf with it and the next, and the next, and the next. Fortunately, it only lasted about twenty seconds as the library was both too big and too well spaced out for a complete domino effect to take place.

Unfortunately, it was a library full of mad science and magic. And it did not appreciate being hit like that.

A few seconds after the cacophony of noise died away, a terrible chittering noise arose from deeper within the stacks. It brought to mind the idea of swarms and bugs, the kind that devour a pony and leave the skeleton still running. Dewy Decibugs most likely. They were known for breaking a pony up to the third decimal point in under a minute.

[Thanqol]

"You're not the sharpest knife in the crayon box, are you?" said Fluffy to Milliway in an incongruously ordinary and cheerful girl-pony voice.

"Augh! Why would you do that!?" cried Luminark, not entirely appreciating the irony. "Why would anypony do that? That's insane!"

He wasn't worried for the books. The books knew their own. He was worried for himself. And he expressed his worry with the sound of galloping hoofsteps.

[TheAmishPirate]

"Hey, I don't make the rules, I just live by 'em" replies Goop, shrugging. "Rules are, isolate anything that's potentially hazardous, and sift through it later."

"We knew most of your stuff would come up as positive, if not all" he added, after looking the Scrapscallion over "but there's a bunch of our equipment that's had to be tossed as well."

Is Goop part of the Environmental Science Division? I thought he was just a part of the cleanup crew. Doesn't change things one way or the other, just making sure I understand his stake in all this.

In any case, the Scrapscallion wasn't having any of this. He had wayyyyyyyy better things to do than try to sneak his stuff out of containment. "Well here's some new rules for ya; Her Highness wants an expedition out to find why the sandstorms got broke. Meaning I need to be ready to haul flank at a moment's notice. If I gotta ride on a contaminated bike?" He smiled to himself. "Yeah, I think I could manage riding a contaminated bike, that sounds pretty rad. Now you, buddy?" He threw a leg over Goop's exposed neck. "If you want to go tell the Princess that you're terribly sorry, but she's gonna have to wait to fix the storms, then you be my guest. I'm sure she won't mind leaving her little ponies exposed for a whole week."

"Or. We can get a rain check on that bike wash, get all my crap back under lock and key, and I ride out as scheduled. Your call, Goops."

[Rolling to Manipulate Goops: (2d6+1)[12]]

[Balmas]

Squeak Squeak.

The squad sticks close by you as you follow the trail of mining lights deeper under the mountain. Dirt and rock gets pretty boring after a while, and the trip is pretty uneventful ... right up until a rather solid blast door suddenly slams shut in front of you, blocking the tunnel. Followed by another one right behind.

A grainy monitor, built into the door, flickers into life. A grinning Carat displayed in tones of green.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! YOU'VE FALLEN RIGHT INTO MY TRAP!"

As far as maniacal laughter goes, the earth pony was definitely getting full marks. Although one felt compelled to dock a few points for unoriginality.

"ENOUGH!" Starlight accented her thunderous exclamation with a burst of lightning. "You have committed the single most unforgivable sin against anypony: you've interfered with my date tonight! But if you surrender now, I think I can commute the death sentence to something more survivable."

Even as she did so, she was scanning the door for weak points.

(2d6+2)[9] What's my best way past these doors?

[Elanorin]

The nearest shelf teetered for a moment, in the way that all tall, thin, and above all else - heavy - items do before they fall. It went down, taking the next nearest shelf with it and the next, and the next, and the next. Fortunately, it only lasted about twenty seconds as the library was both too big and too well spaced out for a complete domino effect to take place.

Unfortunately, it was a library full of mad science and magic. And it did not appreciate being hit like that.

A few seconds after the cacophony of noise died away, a terrible chittering noise arose from deeper within the stacks. It brought to mind the idea of swarms and bugs, the kind that devour a pony and leave the skeleton still running. Dewy Decibugs most likely. They were known for breaking a pony up to the third decimal point in under a minute.

Oh the sat-is-faction of seeing and hearing the cascading stacks of precious magic and lore crash to the ground by her hooves. He had crossed her and in that moment she hadn't frozen to the spot unable to utter anything even vaguely resembling a clever retort, no, she had smacked him right back. This was a day she'd remember. Her face was the very picture of righteous wicked smugness as the mundane disruption of the uncanny spread. Utterly sublime shivers trickled down her spine from the very moment she felt her hooves pushing the huge and heavy shelf beyond its balancing point to its inevitable graceless fall. The trembles burst in to outright blooming pleasure when it knocked the next shelf over and triggering the sequence. It was like a dream come true. It was only just that she managed to stand still, keep her cool among the rising dust and keep the arrogant smug look on her face rather than burst out in to a girly giggles of delight and do a little victory dance. Perhaps rub his face in it. Oh how she wanted to rub that face. In it.

And then it stopped. Oh she had hit the jackpot and won top prize, but the win didn't last long, and just as she was about to deliver her snappy line to really seal this moment as the most epic slam-dunk ever, the chittering bug-ey sound reached her ears.

Milliway's ears twitched in alarm and the smug was suddenly long gone from her face.

"You're not the sharpest knife in the crayon box, are you?" said Fluffy to Milliway in an incongruously ordinary and cheerful girl-pony voice.

Oh by the power of- it talks?! Could that thing be any more Wrong?!

There was just enough not-fear left in her to shoot the disgusting monster a look of hateful incredulity.

"Augh! Why would you do that!?" cried Luminark, not entirely appreciating the irony. "Why would anypony do that? That's insane!"

He wasn't worried for the books. The books knew their own. He was worried for himself. And he expressed his worry with the sound of galloping hoofsteps.

"I'm insane? I'm insane?! Hey! Wa- You g-" Milliway stopped herself from shouting at him to stop and instead took off after him at top speed to catch up and hopefully get away from whatever was making that sound.

Note to self; next time disable security before kicking shelves.

She ran as fast as she could after Luminark, and really, how hard could it be to catch up with a feeble unicorn, never mind one dressed up in enough 'fashion' to sink a ship? As much as she hated to admit it he was still, despite appearances, probably her best guide out of here.

I'll show him insane.

[BlasTech]

Is Goop part of the Environmental Science Division? I thought he was just a part of the cleanup crew. Doesn't change things one way or the other, just making sure I understand his stake in all this.

"Or. We can get a rain check on that bike wash, get all my crap back under lock and key, and I ride out as scheduled. Your call, Goops."

[Rolling to Manipulate Goops: [roll0]]

Yeah, Goops is part of the ESD and answers up to ... well, it used to be Tree. Right now, it'd be the deputy administrator that's currently under lock and key awaiting interrogation. What was his name again? Do you know him well? What's he like as a pony?

In the meantime, Goop is just looking really embarrassed. "Sorry Scraps. I'd really like to help you. But I've got my orders here; if any of this stuff is found back inside the place it'll be my tail down for Friendship retraining."

"If the Administrator wants a run done, then sure. Go ahead and grab whatever you want, but you gotta get it out of the lab. The orders were pretty specific with regards to your pile of junk. Again, I'm really sorry, if I had any wriggle room on it you know I would, it's just not my call."

It's clear that Goops is reluctant here, and with good reason. You could find yourself in a mess of trouble if you went about overriding specific orders with general ones. "Undermining authority" they call it. Despite all this, you're a pretty persuasive guy. You can probably convince him, if you keep at it, to shelter your stuff somewhere. But if you do, there's a good chance Goop will be up for the high jump.

What do you do?

"ENOUGH!" Starlight accented her thunderous exclamation with a burst of lightning. "You have committed the single most unforgivable sin against anypony: you've interfered with my date tonight! But if you surrender now, I think I can commute the death sentence to something more survivable."

Even as she did so, she was scanning the door for weak points.

[roll0] What's my best way past these doors?

"BWAHAHAHaahwhat?"

Carat trailed off, before looking at the screen and adjusting her glasses.

"Administrator? What are you doing in there? Oh no, this is not useful at all. Let me get the door for you."

She pressed a button offscreen and the blast door began to slowly, and noisily, retract. It got about halfway down to the ground before there was a shriek of metal and the whole thing shuddered to a stop.

"Oh blast." grumbled Carat who shuffled out of view. "Let me check my notes."

Normally these blast doors are pretty solid, and the "best way past one" is to nicely ask the pony who has the key. Otherwise, it takes a lot of firepower to burn through it (or a blind teleport to the other side, assuming you can focus on the location correctly) Fortunately, the door in front is already partially disengaged, with the main clamps now unlocked. A few blasts of magic in key points could break it, and send the whole thing back into the ground. Probably won't work again for a while, but who needs that door anyway?

"I'm insane? I'm insane?! Hey! Wa- You g-" Milliway stopped herself from shouting at him to stop and instead took off after him at top speed to catch up and hopefully get away from whatever was making that sound.

Note to self; next time disable security before kicking shelves.

She ran as fast as she could after Luminark, and really, how hard could it be to catch up with a feeble unicorn, never mind one dressed up in enough 'fashion' to sink a ship? As much as she hated to admit it he was still, despite appearances, probably her best guide out of here.

I'll show him insane.

Books are streaming off the shelves as the two of you run back through the library. Whatever chalk markings that were on the ground are getting buried under a pile of paper. The stacks also look different. Taller. Darker. As if the library has shifted around behind you while you were walking.

This sounds kinda charged, does anypony want to read a sitch?

[Elanorin]

Books are streaming off the shelves as the two of you run back through the library. Whatever chalk markings that were on the ground are getting buried under a pile of paper. The stacks also look different. Taller. Darker. As if the library has shifted around behind you while you were walking.

This sounds kinda charged, does anypony want to read a sitch?

Yes! While Milliway is following Luminark now, it's not as if she ever trusted him to get her out in one piece. Especially not now.

[Rolls Read A Sitch 6+5+0=11; Where's my best escape route? Which enemy is the biggest threat? What should I be on the lookout for?]

[Thanqol]

Books are streaming off the shelves as the two of you run back through the library. Whatever chalk markings that were on the ground are getting buried under a pile of paper. The stacks also look different. Taller. Darker. As if the library has shifted around behind you while you were walking.

This sounds kinda charged, does anypony want to read a sitch?

2d6-1 6

Luminark knew his way around the library, theoretically. But he was too busy thinking about what the Archmage was going to think to really pay attention to what was going on around him.

[TheAmishPirate]

Yeah, Goops is part of the ESD and answers up to ... well, it used to be Tree. Right now, it'd be the deputy administrator that's currently under lock and key awaiting interrogation. What was his name again? Do you know him well? What's he like as a pony?

Shrubs? Don't know him, know him, but I've seen the guy around. Hard to miss a pony with a plant growing on their back. I think he spends more time grooming that thing that he spends grooming himself. Makes you wonder though; does he get the branches pruned when he goes for a haircut?

In the meantime, Goop is just looking really embarrassed. "Sorry Scraps. I'd really like to help you. But I've got my orders here; if any of this stuff is found back inside the place it'll be my tail down for Friendship retraining."

"If the Administrator wants a run done, then sure. Go ahead and grab whatever you want, but you gotta get it out of the lab. The orders were pretty specific with regards to your pile of junk. Again, I'm really sorry, if I had any wriggle room on it you know I would, it's just not my call."

It's clear that Goops is reluctant here, and with good reason. You could find yourself in a mess of trouble if you went about overriding specific orders with general ones. "Undermining authority" they call it. Despite all this, you're a pretty persuasive guy. You can probably convince him, if you keep at it, to shelter your stuff somewhere. But if you do, there's a good chance Goop will be up for the high jump.

What do you do?

"Then I guess you'd better find someplace good to hide this stuff, right?"

"...c'mon, Goops. Don't give me that face. You know the Scrapscallion's always good for it." He checked to make sure Kneecapper wasn't too close, and lowered his voice. "This run, see? I can make it in my sleep. Drive quick enough, and I bet I'll have time for a detour or two." He waggled his eyebrow knowingly. "You're telling me there's nothing the ESD wants from the surface? Nothing you want?"

Now, let me explain a bit about how this works. The Scrapscallion isn't some mail-order catalog you can call up and say, "Hey, can you get me fifteen of those c-bolts, seven rotting plants, and a side of fries?" and I'll say "Sure thing buddy you want me to supersize that for you?" Nah, nah, nah. This is scavenging. I don't control what's out there any more than you control the weather - bad example, but you get what I mean, don'tcha? You want me to bring you something, you gotta work in broad strokes. Rotting plants with such-and-such flowers, generators this size or larger, stuff like that. Unless you're looking for raw materials, don't waste my time with itemized shopping lists.

[Balmas]

"BWAHAHAHaahwhat?"

Carat trailed off, before looking at the screen and adjusting her glasses.

"Administrator? What are you doing in there? Oh no, this is not useful at all. Let me get the door for you."

She pressed a button offscreen and the blast door began to slowly, and noisily, retract. It got about halfway down to the ground before there was a shriek of metal and the whole thing shuddered to a stop.

"Oh blast." grumbled Carat who shuffled out of view. "Let me check my notes."

Normally these blast doors are pretty solid, and the "best way past one" is to nicely ask the pony who has the key. Otherwise, it takes a lot of firepower to burn through it (or a blind teleport to the other side, assuming you can focus on the location correctly) Fortunately, the door in front is already partially disengaged, with the main clamps now unlocked. A few blasts of magic in key points could break it, and send the whole thing back into the ground. Probably won't work again for a while, but who needs that door anyway?

Can I get some background info on this door? Is it load supporting? What all is down here? Why even do I have a blast door in a maintenance tunnel?