Fallout Equestria: Meat and Mutilation

[RCgothic]

Shade gave Stellar a gentle smile, and nodded once before replying.

"Well, I was simply wondering if I give you something." Shade replied, tone pleasant, "If the blink dog can serve as a means of reliable transportation, of course."

Shade, promptly, plucked two small objects from the back part of her mane; they appeared to be two small bluish-grey gemstones, entirely mundane.

"Andante forgot these." Shade said, sounding apologetic. "While I imagine that she intends on returning when she can, they are family heirlooms of hers and I would imagine that she would feel better keeping them on her person."

"That sounds like a reasonable enough request," Stellar agrees, holding out a hoof for the gemstones. "Even if Captain Jack can't take me back himself, I am a pegasus. It won't take me long to make my way back to Toronto General by myself if necessary."

[Forum Explorer]

Strata nodded.

"Yeah, I think I'll stick around here if you're going off somewhere that you know for sure is dangerous. Also, I'd imagine that she wouldn't be participating, right?"



Stitchheart paused in her typing, and silently turned towards Moonshadow.

"Preferably, a night's rest." the doctor pony replied, sounding slightly haggard.

Good idea.


Does it have to be in a place like this? We can set up a bed he can rest in while we fly toward the factory.

[Dalinale]

"Well, we're not planning to stay down there forever!" Choro laughs, more for her own benefit than River Stone's. This struck a nerve. She's tense now. But looking at the colt... You're an ambassador of your Stable. Try and explain it to him. The wizard takes a breath, marshalling her thoughts before starting to talk again, "One day, everyone in the Stables will come up and start helping you. We're not supposed to stay underground forever. We'll build new towns, help with farming, work with you to rebuild Equestria."

A different tone works into the unicorn's voice as she speaks. A kind of fervour, or certainty. This matters to her. Choro's eyes drift towards the CNT, looming on the skyline, and she chuckles darkly, "There's some argument about when we should do that. But most of us agree we have to do it at some point."

The colt continued to seem confused.

"Uh..." he replied, eyes wide, "Why?"

Spoiler: OOC

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*nods* That's... not quite an answer though. Both perks imply that you can craft ammo without them, is that correct? (they just help you conserve ammo and make you better at crafting)

Spoiler

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[Crafting ammunition requires the proper ingredients (such as bullet casings), a workbench, and a successful Mechanic's check. The two perks that effect ammo crafting allows one to make most types of ammunition. The rules on the Ammo List page regarding crafted ammo specifies that they apply to those listed with the *crafted* price, as they are not normally available for purchase (or are simply very rare).]

"Charming," Doc said, looking around at the whole lot of flat nothing. He waited to see if Abbaas had a point to make out here.

Doc suddenly found himself standing in a large auster room that consisted of white marble flooring and a large low-lying table made of the same material as the floor. All the walls he could see were seemingly made of glass; Doc would immediately recognize that he was looking at an expanse of tall pillars of light that jutted out a of a sea of fog. It would take some time for his eye to adjust before he would have realized that he was looking at a skyline; the pillars of light were massive skyscrapers of a make not unlike those of Manehattan, but were more sparsely placed. The night sky was closer to purple then black and Doc could not see a single star.

The table in the center of the room had a few odd objects on it; one was a simple portable terminal, although it looked pristine. Another was what appeared to be some sort of recollector, although one that was connected to a small oval machine by a thick plastic cord. The last object consisted of a large glass case that seemed to contain dozens upon dozens of small square plastic sticks, some bearing tiny Ministry symbols while some having tiny flags or more obscure markings dotting the wide side of them.

Abbas was silent, and seemed to be interested in Doc's reaction as he looked out the window.

"That sounds like a reasonable enough request," Stellar agrees, holding out a hoof for the gemstones. "Even if Captain Jack can't take me back himself, I am a pegasus. It won't take me long to make my way back to Toronto General by myself if necessary."

Shade dropped the gems into Stellar's hoof. They felt like little chips of ice more than anything else; very light, but rather cold.

Stellar saw that Glorious Dawn seemed to visibly disagree with the idea of flying from Oakville in the way of looking worried; Nightcore, by contrast, just seemed interested in the sight of the gemstones. Neither spoke before Shade did, however. The priestess, as apposed to worried, just seemed slightly surprised by Stellar's remark.

"I would imagine teleportation would be more forgiving, given that you appear to have just come out of surgery, and even moreso if you are intending to exert yourself very soon. Nightcore, couldn't you send her off towards Tauronto General, if you had to?"

The unicorn blinked when her name was spoken, and scratched the back of her head as she considered the prospect.

"Well, yeah, I guess." she admitted, "I wouldn't have the juice left to teleport back here, though."

The unicorn blinked once, and turned towards Stellar. "Do you guys need anything? Supplies wise, I mean."

Does it have to be in a place like this? We can set up a bed he can rest in while we fly toward the factory.

Stitchheart did not seem thrilled by the concept, but she wearily nodded.

"If he insists, I suppose I could lend him my sleeping mask." she replied, nodding once before going back to carving out Doc's left eye with what appeared to be a collection of tiny lasers and few plastic wiggly bits.

[Forum Explorer]

Stitchheart did not seem thrilled by the concept, but she wearily nodded.

"If he insists, I suppose I could lend him my sleeping mask." she replied, nodding once before going back to carving out Doc's left eye with what appeared to be a collection of tiny lasers and few plastic wiggly bits.

We'll leave it up to him, Moonshadow suggested, feeling confident on what Doc's decision would be.

[Inspector Valin]

The colt continued to seem confused.

"Uh..." he replied, eyes wide, "Why?"

"Erm..." Now it's Choro who looks confused. She studies River Stone perplexedly, trying to smile through the uncertainty. "Well, why would we want to live down there forever? Just to be safe?"

That probably was what he meant, wasn't it? And the colt wasn't too far off with the thought. Choro almost face-hoofed. The young Unicorn takes a breath before continuing, a little calmer now. "That's enough for some ponies, but it wasn't why the Stables were built. We didn't want to leave the surface. We were just supposed to stay in them until it was safe to come out and start fixing things." A little twinkle comes into Choro's eye. She gestures to the surrounding rubble and grimy ruins. "Imagine if we were actually able to fully rebuild this city. If we could negotiate with the pegasi up in the clouds to get the sky to clear. With time and hard work, Equestria could return to the way it was. We could at least make things better. Help clear radiation, work on restoring the soil."

[DigoDragon]

Doc suddenly found himself standing in a large auster room that consisted of white marble flooring and a large low-lying table made of the same material as the floor. All the walls he could see were seemingly made of glass; Doc would immediately recognize that he was looking at an expanse of tall pillars of light that jutted out a of a sea of fog. It would take some time for his eye to adjust before he would have realized that he was looking at a skyline; the pillars of light were massive skyscrapers of a make not unlike those of Manehattan, but were more sparsely placed. The night sky was closer to purple then black and Doc could not see a single star.

The table in the center of the room had a few odd objects on it; one was a simple portable terminal, although it looked pristine. Another was what appeared to be some sort of recollector, although one that was connected to a small oval machine by a thick plastic cord. The last object consisted of a large glass case that seemed to contain dozens upon dozens of small square plastic sticks, some bearing tiny Ministry symbols while some having tiny flags or more obscure markings dotting the wide side of them.

Abbas was silent, and seemed to be interested in Doc's reaction as he looked out the window.

Doc looked around the room, curious what this place represented in Abbaas' mind. ...or wherever they were now. He first walked over to the portable terminal and attempted to turn it on. "Is this a place you keep your ideas?" he asked.

[Dalinale]

We'll leave it up to him, Moonshadow suggested, feeling confident on what Doc's decision would be.

Stitchheart shrugged, and went back to her work in carving up Doc's face.

Strata stared at the surgery in progress; she didn't seem sickened, just fascinated. Bertly was also clearly interested as much as a robot possibly could have been; alternativly; the movements he was making with his eyestalks was some sort of robot mating dance and he was attempting to get the surgical pod to respond. Fan Knife, who was also currently standing next to Viridia, also seemed more or less interested at the sight of the stallion's eyeball getting plucked out and the tiny drills that were currently entering the nape of his neck.

"Erm..." Now it's Choro who looks confused. She studies River Stone perplexedly, trying to smile through the uncertainty. "Well, why would we want to live down there forever? Just to be safe?"

That probably was what he meant, wasn't it? And the colt wasn't too far off with the thought. Choro almost face-hoofed. The young Unicorn takes a breath before continuing, a little calmer now. "That's enough for some ponies, but it wasn't why the Stables were built. We didn't want to leave the surface. We were just supposed to stay in them until it was safe to come out and start fixing things." A little twinkle comes into Choro's eye. She gestures to the surrounding rubble and grimy ruins. "Imagine if we were actually able to fully rebuild this city. If we could negotiate with the pegasi up in the clouds to get the sky to clear. With time and hard work, Equestria could return to the way it was. We could at least make things better. Help clear radiation, work on restoring the soil."

"The Enclave will never help anyone who isn't a Enclave-born pegasus." Cassidy spoke up, "They have a healthcare system and a movie industry. They stay up there and don't give a sh*t about what's down here, because everyone down here could die and it wouldn't hurt a single pony up there. They'd try and bomb out every single thing on the planet that offends them, but they'd run out of bombs. Why wouldn't Stables be the same way, if they had giant warships instead of being stuck in the ground behind a giant steel door?"

The pegasus then took another sip of her Unnatural Ice™ branded beer, and looked at Choro with her eyebrows raised. River Stone didn't reply, shutting up when the Enclave was mentioned and looking at the burly pegasus with wide eyes.

Doc looked around the room, curious what this place represented in Abbaas' mind. ...or wherever they were now. He first walked over to the portable terminal and attempted to turn it on. "Is this a place you keep your ideas?" he asked.

"No. That is." Abbas replied, motioning towards the cityscape in front of Doc, before turning towards the table and stepping up near the terminal.

The terminal, although it turned on, did so slowly and only displayed a screen bearing the six Ministry logos in bright colors. Abbas looked at the screen in amusement, and then trotted over towards the glass case and opened it. It immediately became clear to Doc, as the case folded outward, that it had dozens upon dozens of compartments, somewhat akin to a massively complex jewelry case. The individual drawers were marked with symbols akin to the ones on the plastic sticks, but more apparent; one had what looked like a griffon's head in profile, and another had what appeared to be a globe. Abbas opened the one with the globe, and it became clear that there were hundreds of the tiny plastic objects present within it. Abbas then turned towards Doc; the horse's expression became one of bemusement.

"If you could put that on." he said, pointing to the funny recollector-thing that lying on the table, "It would make demonstrating the concept easier then a verbal explanation would."

[DigoDragon]

"No. That is." Abbas replied, motioning towards the cityscape in front of Doc, before turning towards the table and stepping up near the terminal.

"Looking to rebuild this city?" Doc asked casually. He took another look outside. In a way, his own ideas had similar results.

"If you could put that on." he said, pointing to the funny recollector-thing that lying on the table, "It would make demonstrating the concept easier then a verbal explanation would."

The doctor broke away from watching the city skyline and trotted over to the Recollector thing. He puts it on, awaiting what instruction Abbaas had next. Maybe to remember the last time he saw Sari?

[Inspector Valin]

"The Enclave will never help anyone who isn't a Enclave-born pegasus." Cassidy spoke up, "They have a healthcare system and a movie industry. They stay up there and don't give a sh*t about what's down here, because everyone down here could die and it wouldn't hurt a single pony up there. Why wouldn't Stables be the same way? "

The pegasus then took another sip of her Unnatural Ice™ branded beer, and looked at Choro with her eyebrows raised. River Stone didn't reply, shutting up when the Enclave was mentioned and looking at the burly pegasus with wide eyes.

If Choro had been a pegasus, that would've ruffled her feathers. It was an accurate comment; a lot of ponies in the Stable don't care anymore. Not through... hate, just because they didn't really think everything through. Cassidy's question smarts, but... the Stables were better than that, dang it! And thus with a breath, the young Unicorn smiles across the tire fire, "Different founding principles."

Choro takes a breath before beginning her case, "The Enclave exists as a successor nation. Abandoning Equestria and the rest of us is why they exist to start with. The Stables were made to help rebuild Equestria. We did that by protecting ourselves, our books and technical knowledge, but it was always supposed to be temporary. If they believed the surface world was safe, it should be the duty of any self-respecting Overmare to open the doors and lead her ponies out."

[Dalinale]

"Looking to rebuild this city?" Doc asked casually. He took another look outside. In a way, his own ideas had similar results.

Abbas gave Doc a curious look, as if he was surprised by the question.

"This city in particular has never existed." Abbas replied, shaking his head, "But, Tauronto would be a good start."

The doctor broke away from watching the city skyline and trotted over to the Recollector thing. He puts it on, awaiting what instruction Abbaas had next. Maybe to remember the last time he saw Sari?

The recollector was like a crown made of wire and tubing and the occasional shiny glass bit. It was nearly weightless.

Abbas watched as Doc put it on, and then took one of the tiny sticks and stuck it in the little oval thingy that was connected to the recollector. The horse then mumbled something that, to Doc's ears, sounded like phlegmy gibberish. However, he did understand what the horse was saying, which was-

"The device is not a language learning tool, but a general learning device. It is called a Memory Receiver." the horse said, before motioning towards the case, "Each of those memory sticks contain an encyclopedia's worth of information on a given subject, which can instantly be transferred to the minds of any individual with a functioning brainstem. Such knowledge includes information on seventy major pre-war countries, one hundred and twenty languages, advanced chemistry, practical survival skills, and, of course, the ability to duplicate the memory sticks and Receiver itself."

If Choro had been a pegasus, that would've ruffled her feathers. It was an accurate comment; a lot of ponies in the Stable don't care anymore. Not through... hate, just because they didn't really think everything through. Cassidy's question smarts, but... the Stables were better than that, dang it! And thus with a breath, the young Unicorn smiles across the tire fire, "Different founding principles."

Choro takes a breath before beginning her case, "The Enclave exists as a successor nation. Abandoning Equestria and the rest of us is why they exist to start with. The Stables were made to help rebuild Equestria. We did that by protecting ourselves, our books and technical knowledge, but it was always supposed to be temporary. If they believed the surface world was safe, it should be the duty of any self-respecting Overmare to open the doors and lead her ponies out."

Cassidy took another sip of her drink before she replied.

"If the Enclave believed that the surface was safe, then they'd probably start settling down here too. They already shoot up griffon surface settlements and dragon nests when they spot'em, and they have observation posts all over the place. They're probably running on the idea that what they're doing is temporary, too. At one point, everyone down here will probably starve to death and the radiation will go away, and then the army would give the all clear and start setting up farms and stuff."

Cassidy paused, and Choro would've noticed that her tone turned slightly more gentle.

"Choro, the sort of ponies who had the Stables built would've went to the same parties as the ones who made the Enclave. Heck, Scootaloo could've run both Stable Tec and the G.P.D conspiracy by talking to the exact same pegusi, most of the time."

[DigoDragon]

Abbas gave Doc a curious look, as if he was surprised by the question.
"This city in particular has never existed." Abbas replied, shaking his head, "But, Tauronto would be a good start."

Doc's thoughts trailed off as he put the recollector on. "Hmm, yeah. A good start to rebuild the medical infrastructure... delivering care to all..."

"The device is not a language learning tool, but a general learning device. It is called a Memory Receiver." the horse said, before motioning towards the case, "Each of those memory sticks contain an encyclopedia's worth of information on a given subject, which can instantly be transferred to the minds of any individual with a functioning brainstem. Such knowledge includes information on seventy major pre-war countries, one hundred and twenty languages, advanced chemistry, practical survival skills, and, of course, the ability to duplicate the memory sticks and Receiver itself."

"That is... really fascinating!" Doc said excitedly as he sat back comfortably. "So professor, what's tonight's lesson?"

[Forum Explorer]

Stitchheart shrugged, and went back to her work in carving up Doc's face.

Strata stared at the surgery in progress; she didn't seem sickened, just fascinated. Bertly was also clearly interested as much as a robot possibly could have been; alternativly; the movements he was making with his eyestalks was some sort of robot mating dance and he was attempting to get the surgical pod to respond. Fan Knife, who was also currently standing next to Viridia, also seemed more or less interested at the sight of the stallion's eyeball getting plucked out and the tiny drills that were currently entering the nape of his neck.

You know, I really didn't expect surgery to become a spectator sport. Moonshadow said, glancing around. Oh hey Fan Knife! When did you get here?

[Dalinale]

"That is... really fascinating!" Doc said excitedly as he sat back comfortably. "So professor, what's tonight's lesson?"

Abbas took out the memory stick that was in the interface oval, and swapped it with a white one with a gold band wrapped around it.

Doc, rather swiftly, suddenly knew several facts about the Receiver after a brief moment where his mane felt itchy; it was like having a book crammed into his head, and the experience was disorienting in the way that moderate dosages of dissociatives were.

- The main core of the memory transfer technology was developed by two separate parties; the Ministry of Arcane Science and Stable Tec. Arcane Science simply never got around to pursuing memory technology as a learning tool, while Stable Tec presumably used the technology in several Stables, but not to any widespread degree. From Abbas's own information, he believed that the Ministry of Peace had a inferior equivalent, but it was never put into mass production.

- The Receiver as Doc was saw it was actually created by Saddle Arabia, in that Saddle Arabia bought the blueprints from dissatisfied Ministry of Arcane Science employees and assembled it at home, using imported griffon and pony scientists to finish it. The Saddle government threw a rather ludicrous sum of money at the project as both a means to gain worldwide recognition by the countries that were not Equestria and the Zebra Empire and to prepare the country for a transition to a post-war economy where they could turn several hundred thousand horses who were receiving oil money checks and doing little else into productive members of society, after they kicked out the foreigners who were running the important aspects of the Saddle family business, which was running the country and several other client states.

- The Memory Receiver could be described one of the great projects undertaken by a group of governments that were not directly involved in the Equestria-Zebra war, but was only completed in the waning years of the war. The project was mostly powered by optimism; however, with the proper resources, Abbas personally believes that a working copy of it, having the details of creating many valuable objects and substances, could hold the keys to rebuilding much of the world.

- The Saddle government intended to take the place of whatever government, pony or zebra, lost the war; in fact, they were hedging their bets that both would lose and that they could become the world superpower. With a combination of unlimited information access and unlimited resources, the Saddle master plan was, in essence, to dominate world politics until magic-tech was advanced enough to allow to a complete conversion to a post-scarcity civilization, in which only they would have the ability to distribute the techology which would allow for the creation of unlimited food, drink, and energy.

- Abbas only knew of the existence of the device due to his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather having bought his way into Equestria by smuggling one of the few final versions created with a full memory library into the hands of the Equestrian government.

That was when the flow of information ended, and Abbas coughed the moment when the surge of data into Doc's head ceased. The look of his face was one of interest in Doc's reaction.

You know, I really didn't expect surgery to become a spectator sport. Moonshadow said, glancing around. Oh hey Fan Knife! When did you get here?

"Five minutes ago." said the ghoul, before glancing at Tenaculum's corpse and then at Bertly.

The robot did not seem to acknowledge the filly's presence. Fan Knife stared at the back of the robot's body for a few moments before focusing her attention at Moonshadow. Moonshadow would've also have noticed that Strata was staring at the ghoul filly like she was a ghost and that Stitchheart was currently focused on being a doctor.

"I couldn't find anything, except for a raccoon. But I killed it, so no issues there." Fan Knife continued, looking back at corpse. "So, uh, sis, did you-"

"No, Naifu, the nurse stallion and the unicorn filly did." Stitchheart replied, turning towards the ponies in the room; her face was in a rigid look of concentration and her eyes, while bloodshot and , were streaked with lines of black instead of red. "If you could, please assist the two pegusi and the unicorn in tracking down some environmental protection suits."

Fan Knife, seemingly startled at being interrupted and then looking more alarmed by several incremental degrees as her sister spoke, just nodded, and looked up at Moonshadow and Viridia. She look on her face went from seeming surprised to diplomatic, and she motioned towards the door.

[Forum Explorer]

"Five minutes ago." said the ghoul, before glancing at Tenaculum's corpse and then at Bertly.

The robot did not seem to acknowledge the filly's presence. Fan Knife stared at the back of the robot's body for a few moments before focusing her attention at Moonshadow. Moonshadow would've also have noticed that Strata was staring at the ghoul filly like she was a ghost and that Stitchheart was currently focused on being a doctor.

"I couldn't find anything, except for a raccoon. But I killed it, so no issues there." Fan Knife continued, looking back at corpse. "So, uh, sis, did you-"

"No, Naifu, the nurse stallion and the unicorn filly did." Stitchheart replied, turning towards the ponies in the room; her face was in a rigid look of concentration and her eyes, while bloodshot and , were streaked with lines of black instead of red. "If you could, please assist the two pegusi and the unicorn in tracking down some environmental protection suits."

Fan Knife, seemingly startled at being interrupted and then looking more alarmed by several incremental degrees as her sister spoke, just nodded, and looked up at Moonshadow and Viridia. She look on her face went from seeming surprised to diplomatic, and she motioned towards the door.

Moonshadow walked outside the room, and turned to Fan Knife. That's the second time today I've seen her eyes do that. Do you know what's going on with that? she asked softly.

[DigoDragon]

That was when the flow of information ended, and Abbas coughed the moment when the surge of data into Doc's head ceased. The look of his face was one of interest in Doc's reaction.

Doc's eyes widened when the info crammed into his mind like an injection. As it ceased, his dilated eyes slowly regained control and he turned toward Abbaas with a look of absolute amazing wonderful joy. "Whoa. I know what this is now. Amazing." After a moment to take all that info and organize it in his head, Doc added,

"What else you got to teach me?"

[RCgothic]

Shade dropped the gems into Stellar's hoof. They felt like little chips of ice more than anything else; very light, but rather cold.

Stellar saw that Glorious Dawn seemed to visibly disagree with the idea of flying from Oakville in the way of looking worried; Nightcore, by contrast, just seemed interested in the sight of the gemstones. Neither spoke before Shade did, however. The priestess, as apposed to worried, just seemed slightly surprised by Stellar's remark.

"I would imagine teleportation would be more forgiving, given that you appear to have just come out of surgery, and even moreso if you are intending to exert yourself very soon. Nightcore, couldn't you send her off towards Tauronto General, if you had to?"

The unicorn blinked when her name was spoken, and scratched the back of her head as she considered the prospect.

"Well, yeah, I guess." she admitted, "I wouldn't have the juice left to teleport back here, though."

The unicorn blinked once, and turned towards Stellar. "Do you guys need anything? Supplies wise, I mean."

Stellar concedes the point that she probably shouldn't be exerting herself with a head tilt. "You're right, I have just been through a major surgery. It's easy to forget." Really, the weirdest part about this whole thing is how the sleeping draught seems to have had no effect.

"I think we're actually doing okay for supplies right now," Stellar replies. "We found a large cache of food not long after we arrived at Toronto General, and with River we were never going to be short of weapons, even before all the new ones we've acquired. Really the only thing we could use for the trip to the cannery are those hazard suits."

[Dalinale]

Moonshadow walked outside the room, and turned to Fan Knife. That's the second time today I've seen her eyes do that. Do you know what's going on with that? she asked softly.

Fan Knife seemed reluctant to reply for quite some time, before shaking her head.

"Right now, it's the second busiest time of the year for her, and she hasn't slept in about a week. Sometimes I just sneak a diazepam tablet in something she's drinking when she gets like this and close up shop for a few days, but I haven't gotten around to it yet." she replied, sounding rather guilty.

Doc's eyes widened when the info crammed into his mind like an injection. As it ceased, his dilated eyes slowly regained control and he turned toward Abbaas with a look of absolute amazing wonderful joy. "Whoa. I know what this is now. Amazing." After a moment to take all that info and organize it in his head, Doc added,

"What else you got to teach me?"

Abbas frowned at Doc's reaction.

"Little else. I shall remind you that this is a dream, and that machine is merely a construct of my mind. Doc Wagon, I do not know where my ancestor's machine is, only that it is in Tauronto. Finding it is my end goal, as expending every last piece of gold that I own would be worth obtaining it, for a brighter future. But in ten years of searching, I have come to the conclusion that it is in a place where lead, not gold, is necessary to reach it. As such, that is the reason I am having this conversation with you."

Stellar concedes the point that she probably shouldn't be exerting herself with a head tilt. "You're right, I have just been through a major surgery. It's easy to forget." Really, the weirdest part about this whole thing is how the sleeping draught seems to have had no effect.

"I think we're actually doing okay for supplies right now," Stellar replies. "We found a large cache of food not long after we arrived at Toronto General, and with River we were never going to be short of weapons, even before all the new ones we've acquired. Really the only thing we could use for the trip to the cannery are those hazard suits."

Nightcore, after taking a few moments to think over Stellar's words, nodded.

"Alright, sounds good to me." she said, standing up and scratching the back of her head, "They dropped off all their stuff in the basement, including the suits, so you could just pick through what they brought over too."

Nightcore then glanced at Shade, and looked at the mare's mug.

"Do you want more wine while I'm down there?"

Shade blinked. "I never drink wine, Nightcore." the priestess replied, sounding surprised at the suggestion.

Nightcore glanced at the mug's contents again.

"Brandy's just a type of wine." Nightcore replied, sounding rather amused.

"It is a distilled spirit. But, no, I could not have any more." Shade said demurely, and then taking a small sip of her drink.

Nightcore glanced at Glorious Dawn, who hesitantly nodded at Shade's reply. Nightcore looked back at Stellar and shrugged, as if the exchange with Shade didn't mean much to her.

"Alright, basement's down thataway." she said, motioning vaguely over towards the hallway leading away from the library, and promptly began walking in that general direction.

[Forum Explorer]

Fan Knife seemed reluctant to reply for quite some time, before shaking her head.

"Right now, it's the second busiest time of the year for her, and she hasn't slept in about a week. Sometimes I just sneak a diazepam tablet in something she's drinking when she gets like this and close up shop for a few days, but I haven't gotten around to it yet." she replied, sounding rather guilty.

Ah. That makes a lot of sense. Moonshadow said, mentally reevaulating all of her recent interactions with Stichheart. Well, I'll try and stop her workload from increasing then, from my friends anyways. In the meantime, I've got to get prepared to attack a meat-packaging factory. I wonder if any of the merchants are selling anti-matrix grenades?

[Inspector Valin]

Cassidy took another sip of her drink before she replied.

"If the Enclave believed that the surface was safe, then they'd probably start settling down here too. They already shoot up griffon surface settlements and dragon nests when they spot'em, and they have observation posts all over the place. They're probably running on the idea that what they're doing is temporary, too. At one point, everyone down here will probably starve to death and the radiation will go away, and then the army would give the all clear and start setting up farms and stuff."

Cassidy paused, and Choro would've noticed that her tone turned slightly more gentle.

"Choro, the sort of ponies who had the Stables built would've went to the same parties as the ones who made the Enclave. Heck, Scootaloo could've run both Stable Tec and the G.P.D conspiracy by talking to the exact same pegusi, most of the time."

The young unicorn taps her hoof in the silence. Cassidy is speculating, but her speculation makes sense. She's still on the same point of similarity. The Enclave and the Stables come from the same place. Could Scootaloo have really done that? "Perhaps. But the principles behind the two are very different. Even if they started with the same intent; protecting 'their ponies' from the war, we went down opposing paths in every sense."

With a glance to her pack, Choro returns the flare gun, and brings out her primary weapon. It's a rifle, white and sleek, but an obviously different design. The 54 is absent: instead it's got a dragonfly atop a cogwheel - a manufacturer's mark. Looking over at Cassidy, Choro's eyes are... a little pleading. She has to be able to explain this, right? "The Stables aren't militaristic at all. At least mine wasn't. If you handed most of those ponies a gun, they wouldn't know what to do with it. I've had to learn, find a gun, practice my aim. That took time, and I'm still not sure how good I am in a real fight. I can believe the Enclave doesn't care about us, would be happy to wipe the surface out, but no pony I grew up with thinks that way. We want Equestria back. And that means all of you too."

[DigoDragon]

"Little else. I shall remind you that this is a dream, and that machine is merely a construct of my mind. Doc Wagon, I do not know where my ancestor's machine is, only that it is in Tauronto. Finding it is my end goal, as expending every last piece of gold that I own would be worth obtaining it, for a brighter future. But in ten years of searching, I have come to the conclusion that it is in a place where lead, not gold, is necessary to reach it. As such, that is the reason I am having this conversation with you."

A slight chuckle escaped the doctor's lips. He slowly removed the crown portion. "Ah, I reckon that's an interesting proposal for a doctor. Still, I am intrigued by your ancestor's machine and would like to recover it for you. What have you found out in your ten years search about it's possible location? Or who may know of its existence besides yourself?"

[Dalinale]

Ah. That makes a lot of sense. Moonshadow said, mentally reevaulating all of her recent interactions with Stichheart. Well, I'll try and stop her workload from increasing then, from my friends anyways. In the meantime, I've got to get prepared to attack a meat-packaging factory. I wonder if any of the merchants are selling anti-matrix grenades?

"The last weapon merchants left a few days ago, but if you want grenades, I'll sell you some." Fan Knife replied, shrugging once, "Because I know where you're going to use them, I mean."

The young unicorn taps her hoof in the silence. Cassidy is speculating, but her speculation makes sense. She's still on the same point of similarity. The Enclave and the Stables come from the same place. Could Scootaloo have really done that? "Perhaps. But the principles behind the two are very different. Even if they started with the same intent; protecting 'their ponies' from the war, we went down opposing paths in every sense."

With a glance to her pack, Choro returns the flare gun, and brings out her primary weapon. It's a rifle, white and sleek, but an obviously different design. The 54 is absent: instead it's got a dragonfly atop a cogwheel - a manufacturer's mark. Looking over at Cassidy, Choro's eyes are... a little pleading. She has to be able to explain this, right? "The Stables aren't militaristic at all. At least mine wasn't. If you handed most of those ponies a gun, they wouldn't know what to do with it. I've had to learn, find a gun, practice my aim. That took time, and I'm still not sure how good I am in a real fight. I can believe the Enclave doesn't care about us, would be happy to wipe the surface out, but no pony I grew up with thinks that way. We want Equestria back. And that means all of you too."

Cassidy looked into Choro's eyes, and the calm look on her face did not waver.

"You can't tell me that Stables are just one big group. The only thing they have in common is that they've been apart from the rest of the world since the bombs dropped. I'v seen four in my life, and every one was different then the last. Have you been to the Stable in this city? Does that metal box," she said, glancing at Choro's Pipbuck, "tell you where others are, or anything like that?"

A slight chuckle escaped the doctor's lips. He slowly removed the crown portion. "Ah, I reckon that's an interesting proposal for a doctor. Still, I am intrigued by your ancestor's machine and would like to recover it for you. What have you found out in your ten years search about it's possible location? Or who may know of its existence besides yourself?"

Abbas glanced out towards the dream-city, and closed his eyes.

"It is likely in a secure place, guarded by individuals who have a vested interest in such a item. At the moment, I can only assume that it lies in the possession of the Guild, or is at least sequestered in one of their holdings, as they are one of the few groups who's internal security I have yet to find a fault in. It may have once been present in either of the Stables present in the city, but if that was the case it has since been smuggled out. If it is still present in Stable 84, it would be entirely out of my reach entirely."

[DigoDragon]

"It is likely in a secure place, guarded by individuals who have a vested interest in such a item. At the moment, I can only assume that it lies in the possession of the Guild, or is at least sequestered in one of their holdings, as they are one of the few groups who's internal security I have yet to find a fault in. It may have once been present in either of the Stables present in the city, but if that was the case it has since been smuggled out. If it is still present in Stable 84, it would be entirely out of my reach entirely."

"Hmm, so look into the guild. I'll see what I can do on that front," Doc says, mentally taking notes. "As to the device, anything I should know about it's operation or danger? Can it erase someone's memory or break it if used improperly? I'd like to be aware of any risks associated with those who may be using it before I can recover it."

[Inspector Valin]

Cassidy looked into Choro's eyes, and the calm look on her face did not waver.

"You can't tell me that Stables are just one big group. The only thing they have in common is that they've been apart from the rest of the world since the bombs dropped. I'v seen four in my life, and every one was different then the last. Have you been to the Stable in this city? Does that metal box," she said, glancing at Choro's Pipbuck, "tell you where others are, or anything like that?"

"No. The Stables themselves are each supposed to have a direct line to StableTec, who will give us the all clear when everything's over. Overmare Glass never heard anything from them and I suspect the Overmares before her didn't either."

Choro glances down at her PipBuck, the shiny star underneath the screen glinting in the firelight. Wouldn't it be wonderful if they could do that? If she could just... contact home again, whenever she wanted? Sighing at the pleasant dream, Choro looks back up to Cassidy "You've seen four different stables?" That's surprising. So many had opened up? The young wizard hums, "I'm... a little surprised they were that different. StableTec built them all, and a lot of our parts and supplies came directly from their catalogue. It's been hundreds of years, different ponies go in different directions, but they started in the same place."

[Dalinale]

"Hmm, so look into the guild. I'll see what I can do on that front," Doc says, mentally taking notes. "As to the device, anything I should know about it's operation or danger? Can it erase someone's memory or break it if used improperly? I'd like to be aware of any risks associated with those who may be using it before I can recover it."

Abbas raised an eyebrow.

"I have little information about the technical details; if I did, I would have had someone attempt to recreate it long ago. However, memory magic is always dangerous."

Abbas paused, and then looked briefly at the computer on the table, and then at Doc.

"However, I would imagine that, unless tampered with, it would not."

"No. The Stables themselves are each supposed to have a direct line to StableTec, who will give us the all clear when everything's over. Overmare Glass never heard anything from them and I suspect the Overmares before her didn't either."

Choro glances down at her PipBuck, the shiny star underneath the screen glinting in the firelight. Wouldn't it be wonderful if they could do that? If she could just... contact home again, whenever she wanted? Sighing at the pleasant dream, Choro looks back up to Cassidy "You've seen four different stables?" That's surprising. So many had opened up? The young wizard hums, "I'm... a little surprised they were that different. StableTec built them all, and a lot of our parts and supplies came directly from their catalogue. It's been hundreds of years, different ponies go in different directions, but they started in the same place."

Cassidy took another sip of her beer as Choro spoke.

"You really don't think that the ponies who built the giant underground shelters didn't come up with their own to keep in contact with what they spent decades building?" Cassidy replied, raising a eyebrow, "I mean, was that Glass mare the only one who would know? Could you've walked into wherever room they kept the special TV and checked yourself?"

[Inspector Valin]

Cassidy took another sip of her beer as Choro spoke.

"You really don't think that the ponies who built the giant underground shelters didn't come up with their own to keep in contact with what they spent decades building?" Cassidy replied, raising a eyebrow, "I mean, was that Glass mare the only one who would know? Could you've walked into wherever room they kept the special TV and checked yourself?"

"I was her assistant. I knew every part of her office and equipment. We had a line to StableTec, who presumably did have their own Stable. We sent reports once a month. But we never heard from them." Choro withdraws one of Strata's books, the one of the Unicornian excavation, flipping it open. She skims the introduction as she continues talking to Cassidy. "Either everything was fine as far as they were concerned, the communications were damaged, or their central stable didn't survive. I've considered all three possibilities, but can't think of anything to prove one above the others."

[DigoDragon]

Abbas raised an eyebrow. "I have little information about the technical details; if I did, I would have had someone attempt to recreate it long ago. However, memory magic is always dangerous."

Abbas paused, and then looked briefly at the computer on the table, and then at Doc. "However, I would imagine that, unless tampered with, it would not."

Doc nodded at the reply, accepting what it is. "Fair enough. I'll see to having it boxed up so no one plays around with it." He makes another mental note, one to talk to Choro about memory magic and how to mitigate damage from it.

"Oh, one thing with your sister--While I am happy to rescue Sari from her predicament, I may want to hire some help in the attempt. Think you could arrange a few caps so I can grease a couple hooves? I know the right ponies for the job."

[Dalinale]

"I was her assistant. I knew every part of her office and equipment. We had a line to StableTec, who presumably did have their own Stable. We sent reports once a month. But we never heard from them." Choro withdraws one of Strata's books, the one of the Unicornian excavation, flipping it open. She skims the introduction as she continues talking to Cassidy. "Either everything was fine as far as they were concerned, the communications were damaged, or their central stable didn't survive. I've considered all three possibilities, but can't think of anything to prove one above the others."

The introduction to Strata's book was rather dry, but concise; the excavation took place about fifteen years into the war and was funded primarally by the Equestrian government to explore a site that was believed to have been a Unicornian outpost located to the the north of the Crystal Empire's borders.

Cassidy was silent as Choro spoke and flipped through the book, and then coughed.

"So, you haven't been to another Stable."

It didn't sound like a question.

"Oh, one thing with your sister--While I am happy to rescue Sari from her predicament, I may want to hire some help in the attempt. Think you could arrange a few caps so I can grease a couple hooves? I know the right ponies for the job."

Abbas gave Doc a curious look.

"I am several days of travel away from you." the horse replied, "But, I will reimburse you for any money that is spent in saving my wayward sister."

[DigoDragon]

Abbas gave Doc a curious look.

"I am several days of travel away from you." the horse replied, "But, I will reimburse you for any money that is spent in saving my wayward sister."

Doc chuckled. "Err, right. Dreamwalking. A reimbursement is what I meant to say. That will suffice for who I have in mind," the stallion says. He glances over out to the cityscape out there in.... the mind's eye.

"Curiosity question--how many equines can you reach out to at once with this dream?"

[Forum Explorer]

"The last weapon merchants left a few days ago, but if you want grenades, I'll sell you some." Fan Knife replied, shrugging once, "Because I know where you're going to use them, I mean."

Very cool. Do you have any anti-matrix grenades? Moonshadow asked.

[Dalinale]

Doc chuckled. "Err, right. Dreamwalking. A reimbursement is what I meant to say. That will suffice for who I have in mind," the stallion says. He glances over out to the cityscape out there in.... the mind's eye.

"Curiosity question--how many equines can you reach out to at once with this dream?"

Abbas briefly glanced at the dream-city at the same time Doc did.

"Assuming I have the correct materials, as many as the dream could hold without becoming unstable." the horse replied.

Very cool. Do you have any anti-matrix grenades? Moonshadow asked.

Fan Knife shrugged.

"Probably. I'm pretty sure that regular grenades would work just fine on robots, though."