"Oh, right..." Scoops had gotten distracted with all the creepy cheerful conversation. The mare looks over to where Nails is looking then back towards one of the turrets.
"Oh, well we should get to the roof to see if the other repair crew is still around. Then we wouldn't have any distractions and give you all the attention you need and somepony to talk to for a while. You know, I don't think I'd be able to last as long as you did for conversation. I mean you're walking alone down the street in the broken barren ruins that was once a major cultural center and it just needs something, you know?"
aaaaaaaaaaand she finally said too much.
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Nails saw no point in lying any more. "Uh, Pink Voice, I'd kind of like to explain this bit properly before things get out of control. You might get the wrong impression here. There was... kind of an actual megaspell attack. And the aftermath has everypony so distracted, they haven't had time for you."
He hoped this was a gentle enough way to break it to her. Otherwise, he didn't have any hoofheld teleportation devices to use.
__________________
When in doubt, use cute little dragons.
Utter silence from the speakers aside from a very slight buzz of static.
And it lasts for a rather uncomfortable amount of time. Data begins scrolling across the various terminals in the room. Personal data.
Of...
Everypony.
Everypony the Ministry had been keeping tabs on. Which is... well... everypony.
Should anyone look close each entry an addition is being added to every file, one at a time.
Date of death.
Two hundred and twelve years ago.
A sniffle. Then a sob.
Then the voice not of an insane AI, but a pony.
A pony so very old and tired and broken.
"They're all dead..." Surprise Party chokes out. "Everypony... I... I was supposed to help keep them safe... Pinkie told me I could still help..."
And then weeping. Deep, sorrowful mourning for friends and family and countless millions of ponies which Surprise knew only as entries in her data banks. Mourning held back by over two centuries of seclusion and insanity.
"Oh Celestia... I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry I didn't do better... I..."
Another pair of doors open. One revealing an elevator and the other a series of alcoves with a number of robots wired up into them.
"I... I need some time to think about this... Mister Sprinkles will help you get to the roof..."
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Zee is a perfectly normal human female. You suspect nothing!
Winifred 'Freddie' Fredrick
Souls Nommed: 657
Days Since Last Nomming: 0
One of the robots hums to life. It's one of those weird spherical ones with the multiple arms and the thruster jet - like some sort of strange, hovering octopus robot.
Only this one is bright pink. Extremely bright pink, with little blue and yellow balloon decals plastered all over his circular chassis. A few dents, scratches, and even a burn mark are two are visible on his frame and bodywork - he's seen action. A lot of it. Probably why he was in the repair alcove.
However, if he has any sort of weapons, they're tucked under his body, since all of his robot limbs are folded in and at rest. His visual sensors - three small robot eye-stalks - are all glowing a soft pink hue.
"Mister Sprinkles" slowly hovers out of the alcove, and gently glides over towards the hapless ponies who've just shattered PV-4's spirit and like fragile glass against cold, hard concrete.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by SilverClawShift
Wizard: Ug. God. Allright. What do you want us to do?
Me: Burn for me.
Wizard: ...what?
Me: I activate the fire ability. "BURN FOR ME!!!!!!"
Scoops just kind of sheepishly goes over to the new robot after realizing what her little slip of the tongue did. She feels the pang of guilt in her gut and mostly feels really bad about doing the opposite of how she likes to think of her interactions with ponies.
After a moment, something comes over the mare and she marches back over to where she knows PV-4 or Surprise or whoever can hear.
"You know what? You didn't do this. You didn't start stockpiling arms or irradiating the countryside. Unless you hit a button or something to start the spellstorm, you did more than most anypony to stop this stuff. You want to feel bad about those that didn't make it, nopony will stop you. Just look up 'Mare-do-Well Complex' and 'Survivor's Guilt' while you're at it."
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Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Minster of Morale - 10:32 am
Fox Trot
Even I couldn't help but feel sorry for this PV-4, I was all surprised by the rather pony voice that came from the speakers. I found myself petting her console even if she couldn't actually feel it.
"Oh sweetheart, it wasn't your fault, it was the fault of those bastard ponies centuries ago who left us, you, this world." I softly sighed shaking my head. Stupid feelings of mine getting in the way, making me feel all namby pamby, even more so....hah...eh.
I glanced over slightly wide eyed as this Mister Sprinkles appeared, it did look mighty intimating, even if it was pink.
"Oh, for crying out loud... Well, at least I'm not getting murdered. That's relatively good."
Nails stood tall. "Look here, you overdramatic automaton, I've hardly accomplished anything at all. In fact, it's a miracle I've managed to keep myself alive at this point. At least you kept things under control here. Compared to me, you're hardly a failure at all, so you can cut out that fretting over all those disasters that were completely beyond anyone's control. You don't need to apologize to me for failing to do something no one could do anyway."
His little speech finished, he turned to Mr. Sprinkles, but couldn't think of any words that could properly express how bizarre it looked that would be consistent with his existing emotional state.
__________________
When in doubt, use cute little dragons.
Swiss purses her lips as Down starts edging away up.
That's cheating!
"It's decided then! You should be the newest member of our team! All you'll need to do is recite the team pledge and the-MMPHF!"
The MMPHF would be the result of Rye stuffing a hoof in Swiss' mouth. "I'm sure our new friend here has other duties that she'll have to attend to, bein' part of the Grand Pegasus Enclave and all."
"Alright everypony, here it is!"
Oh hey! Corn is back! And he's clad in what is very possibly the most imposing set of non-magical armor ever. Or at least it would be if it weren't painted with lots of smiling daises and other such super-happy-sunshine things.
He sets down a little box, pops it open and!
...are those strawberries?
Covered in CHOCOLATE?
Sweet ridged horn of Celestia! Where did he get those?
[Manehatten - Gutterville]
"...I'll think about it."
That's probably the most polite way to effectively dodge a question like this, without dashing the...somewhat insane pony's feelings.
Rye would be getting an appreciative look, but the Enclave armor blocks it a bit.
Also Down has noticed the strawberries.
Now it's Corn's attempt to have some invade his personal space, as the pegasus snaps right up to them.
"How? Where did you get these?"
Don't mind the faintly businessy tone to her voice.
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Shepherd of the Plush Flock
Avatar: Obsidian Block Feia, by Gulaghar Formspring Dealy
There's another pause as the ponies in the room speak up, offering various comforts in various ways. It's hard to tell if PV-4 is listening or not since... well... she seems to be little more than a disembodied voice coming from several speakers.
"I'm... I'm not actually a robot... My name is Surprise Party," she replies somewhat hesitantly. "I guess I've been hiding behind what automation I do have. Trying to hide behind the Pink Voice project so I didn't have to think about what might have happened."
There comes the sound of a deep breath from a pony who probably doesn't really breath anymore.
"It was an attempt to make a computer unlike any other. Six ponies all wired up to mainframes hidden in facilities around Equestria all networked together. We were its processor. We were supposed to do together what Pinkie could do alone."
...wow.
The Ministry of Morale was setting up some sort of super-cyber-pony psychic gestalt. But obviously-
"We were still getting use to it when the fire came. We had premonitions, but everything was in the testing phase still. We couldn't tell how or when it was going to come. By the time we were truly thinking as one it was already too late. Four of us burned. One's pod lost power and she suffocated. Now I'm the only one left."
There comes a low, mirthless laugh from speakers.
"Well... now I've compromised the security of Project Pink Voice. Goldenblood would probably be furious if he weren't two hundred years dead..."
[Manehatten - Gutterville]
Corn gives a low chuckle at the reaction. To be fair it is a pretty common way for ponies to respond to fresh fruit of any kind out in the Wasteland.
Okay.
Well.
Not fresh fresh. But still plenty edible.
"I have a knack for findin' just the right ingredients for the foods I'm makin'," Corn replies matter of factly. "Somethin' of a special talent oh mine."
"It's true!" Swiss confirms between shoveling berries into her mouth. "You wouldn't believe the neat stuff he's always coming across!"
"We came across these in a bunker filled with all sorts of weird agriculture equipment. Place was abandoned, but the plants were all still growing like crazy," Rye says before giving a rather sly smile, meticulously popping a single berry between her teeth. "Of course the location is very hush hush. Only members of Team Ruben Sandwich GO! know about it."
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Zee is a perfectly normal human female. You suspect nothing!
Winifred 'Freddie' Fredrick
Souls Nommed: 657
Days Since Last Nomming: 0
"Strawberries don't hold, which means they grew...hm..."
Down is making notes.
Rather literally! A program in her suit is making very clear notes and bullet points in regards to vegetation and crop growth.
"I assume Sauerkraut would know too?"
And yet, despite her very blatant interest...the pegasus seems to be the one remembering a slightly more important issue.
Maybe it's that soldier mentality. Discipline to the matter at hand, or an inability to see somepony left behind. Or maybe she likes rescue missions.
Or maybe, maybe she's trying to weasel away from the fact that by getting near the strawberries, Swiss has undoubtedly gotten much closer again.
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Shepherd of the Plush Flock
Avatar: Obsidian Block Feia, by Gulaghar Formspring Dealy
"Sour would know, yeah. Speakin' of I'm good to go," Corn says, nodding toward Rye to take the lead with her PipBuck. "Lets find our friend."
With that the box of chocolate covered strawberries is scooped up, closed, and stuffed into Rye's saddle bags.
As opposed to Swiss'.
Probably don't trust her not to eat all of them.
Rye nods and sets off toward the ruined stable! Or at least its icon on her PipBuck. Corn follows along at a measured pace. Long legs and all. And as he trots he hums an up-beat tune that's catchy enough to get stuck in one's head FOREVER!
Swiss takes up the rear, grinning at Down like a compete idiot. "We had to convince Rye not to tell everypony about the garden. Otherwise the place would get ransacked and then there wouldn't be anything left for anypony."
That and they wouldn't be able to make a healthy chunk of caps off selling (reasonably) fresh fruit.
__________________
Warning! Random Encounter™ detected!
Spoiler
Zee is a perfectly normal human female. You suspect nothing!
Winifred 'Freddie' Fredrick
Souls Nommed: 657
Days Since Last Nomming: 0
There we go! Ponies are on their way to rescue a friend.
Down makes a little note about needing constant reminders and nudges to remain on-task.
She takes a spot above the group, all the better to keep an eye on their surroundings.
The EFS does a decent job of alerting to threats, but it does have gaps that only proper observation skills can handle. Won't alert you to a falling boulder, after all.
"I'm more interested in how you've managed to have a garden, than where it is. Soils samples of surrounding areas haven't had particularly promising results for nutrient fertility levels."
Faint technical babble inbound?
"Or something like that like. Vane's brief got interrupted."
The pegasus shrugs a bit and makes a little mark on her internal map.
__________________ Inner Circle
Shepherd of the Plush Flock
Avatar: Obsidian Block Feia, by Gulaghar Formspring Dealy
They needed no prodding! Just waiting for Corn to get back. Now that they know Sour went with the Manticores intentionally they seem quite a bit less worried about her.
Which is... odd.
"Well, we found it," Swiss replies as she trots along. "Some sorta pre-war thingy. Sour said that it's like it is 'cuz of some sort of magic. She knows a whole lot about magic and stuff. But I guess you have lots of time to learn when you're a two hundred something year old ghoul pony."
That gets a laugh out of Corn. "As subtle as ever, Swiss. Don't worry none about Sour, miss," the huge earth pony says, now addressing Down himself. "Sour isn't one of those flesh eating zombie pony monsters. She's a normal pony like anypony else, just looks a little worse for ware."
__________________
Warning! Random Encounter™ detected!
Spoiler
Zee is a perfectly normal human female. You suspect nothing!
Winifred 'Freddie' Fredrick
Souls Nommed: 657
Days Since Last Nomming: 0
Oh wow... this got weird... like 'pull Whadda from the wastes for an entire week of debriefing' weird. She's sort of stunned by the sudden info dump. The best she could do is go back to something less weird...
Alicorns with a shield generator fighting griffons!
"I think we should... give you a minute to think. Like I said, we have some abominations to fight up on the roof. Oh, but don't worry we'll be back soon. Lots of questions questions questions unless you want to just sort of be alone for a while, but that's up to you."
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Evoker avatar by kpenguin. Evoker Pony by Dirtytabs. Grey Mouser, disciple of cupcakes by me. Any and all commiepuppies by BRC
The insane AI is actually a pony... I really hope it's true that she can't access any neurotoxin emitters.
"Well, your secret's safe with me. Now, I'll stick around to make a few more repairs. Might as well make sure you're fully operational if you're going to make an actual difference in the world, right?"
Nails actually wanted to stay inside because "abominations" were not among his favourite things, but he didn't mention it. He merely waved to his companions and set about fixing as much of the computer system as possible.
[Somewhere In The Distant Northwest]
The sky shone silver, shrouded with suppressive sheets of stratus. The fog was unusually thick and damp, and the chill was hard to escape this far north.
A purple unicorn huddled in her cloak as she roamed, looking for... Now that she thought of it, she didn't even know. What was she supposed to look for? Would she know it when she saw it? Her mind was almost as foggy as the day.
Where was she anyway? Who was she? What was her name again? Violetta? That sounded right. But what did the name have to do with anything? What did she do? Was she important? Her clothes seemed like those of a lady or a mage, but they weren't in good enough shape. And that stirred her mind somehow, looking for something to connect the word "shape" with.
At this point, her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden stumble she took as she forgot about the existence of her legs. "Oof!" she gasped. Maybe this wasn't a good time for attempting heavy thoughts.
__________________
When in doubt, use cute little dragons.
Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Minster of Morale - 10:34 am
Fox Trot
"I'm sorry Miss Surprise Party..." That was as far as I got, my silver tongue refused to work properly right now. I didn't really know what to do, I only knew one way to comfort mare and doubt that would be appreciated here. Cough.
I then found myself staring at this Mister Sprinkles.
"I... I think I can help you. But my sensors are still on the fritz. Aiming with ONLY an eyes forward sparkle is really hard. Repair them and head on up. Mister Sprinkles will direct you."
A beat.
"And... thank you for telling me the truth."
There then comes a crackle of static as the speaking begins to play an up-beat polka tune.
March of the Parasprites!
Seems Surprise has signed off for the time being.
__________________
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Spoiler
Zee is a perfectly normal human female. You suspect nothing!
Winifred 'Freddie' Fredrick
Souls Nommed: 657
Days Since Last Nomming: 0
Scoops just simply heads over to the elevator in silence. This all got too heavy too deep, and she ended up really screwing up somepony she thought was just an AI. They're going to have to have a nice long chat later. As opposed to her usual poppyness, the mare is in super serious mode.
"Sprinkles, state primary and secondary functionality."
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The music stops. The optic sensors on "Mister Sprinkles" go from pink to red. And all of his mechanical limbs suddenly unfold and flair, revealing an assortment of weaponry that includes a buzz-saw, a small flamethrower, and a small magical energy ray.
The robot leans in towards Scoops, the saw-blade whirring to life but staying aloft. "That's SERGEANT Sprinkles to you, maggot!" the robot snarls indignantly, his synthetic voice similar to the cliche 'veteran soldier' persona. "And whipe that damn scowl off yer face! Yer supposed to be smiling! Cuz if you ain't smiling, the Stripers are winning! SO SMILE, DAMMIT!!" The saw blade whirs slightly louder.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by SilverClawShift
Wizard: Ug. God. Allright. What do you want us to do?
Me: Burn for me.
Wizard: ...what?
Me: I activate the fire ability. "BURN FOR ME!!!!!!"
The sky shone silver, shrouded with suppressive sheets of stratus. The fog was unusually thick and damp, and the chill was hard to escape this far north.
A purple unicorn huddled in her cloak as she roamed, looking for... Now that she thought of it, she didn't even know. What was she supposed to look for? Would she know it when she saw it? Her mind was almost as foggy as the day.
Where was she anyway? Who was she? What was her name again? Violetta? That sounded right. But what did the name have to do with anything? What did she do? Was she important? Her clothes seemed like those of a lady or a mage, but they weren't in good enough shape. And that stirred her mind somehow, looking for something to connect the word "shape" with.
At this point, her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden stumble she took as she forgot about the existence of her legs. "Oof!" she gasped. Maybe this wasn't a good time for attempting heavy thoughts.
Off in the distance, she'd start to hear the sound of somepony galloping through the mists. Very quickly.
[Earlier that day...]
Spoiler
Fleetwing stood at the threshold of a little hut. A single-room affair, with a mattress lying on the floor, a nightstand with only three legs, and a barely-intact sitting cushion. On the table inside, there was a little, scorched book lying next to a pile of metals scraps, a few caps, and other such odds and ends. Behind him, a mob of ponies, some with pitchforks in mouth, watched his every move with bated breath.
A silver-coated Earth Pony in a fancy, pre-war suit strode up next to him and pointed indoors. "Now look here, see? We aren't asking you to rob a bank or nothing. Old Moonshine hasn't been seen in this town for ages, but we kept his house for him, see? All we want you to do is go in there and fetch out his book, easy as that. Any pony shouldn't have any trouble with that, see?" The crowd murmured in agreement, as their spokespony gave Fleetwing a sly, smug smile. "So go on then, show us what kind of pony you are, Mister 'Fleetwing'. If that's really your name..."
The pegasus gulped, and shook his head. "I ain't doin' it."
A gasp from the crowd; the spokespony made sure to stagger back from the guilty pony's defiance. "Oh? And why's that?"
"Because...because he might come back someday. And then he might wonder who moved his book. A-and then he might worry and fret that pony went through his other things." The pegasus shifted uncomfortably under the weight of the stares on him.
The spokespony tutted as he strutted around him, circling his prey. "That so? You sure it ain't because...you can't? Because you might not be Fleetwing the pegasus?" Now it was time for the clincher. He strode a few paces towards the mob, letting them feed on the strength in his eyes. "Because you may not even be pony at all?!" More angry shouts from his audience, they'd be in a frenzy before too long. Time to give them what they wanted. He whirled around and pointed accusingly. "Because you're nothing more than a no-good, lying, faerie..."
"...dust cloud?"
Where the accused was, there was little more than a poof of dust. From somewhere in the crowd, somepony shouted and everypony turned. Off in the distance, the pegasus in question was running as if the very hounds of hell were behind him. Which they soon were, only instead of hounds, it was an angry mob. They all tore off in pursuit, all except the silver-coated earth pony. Not the outcome he wanted, but it got that troublesome Flitterwing out of town. That'd teach him to spit on the kindness of well-armed, influential strangers. With a slight fixing of his collar, he strode off into town. Working up a mob sure gave a pony a powerful thirst...
[Fleetwing - Having a bad day]
Cold. Why did it have to be cold? He could do warm, he could do windy, he could do rainy if he had to, but buck it all, he hated cold. Cold was a time for huddling up inside, next to a roaring fire, not freezing his pinions off as he ran for dear life from an angry mob. He couldn't even see if they were still behind him, but he wasn't ready to stop running quite yet. His little Peashooter clanked and jangled against his barding as he put on another turn of speed.
Off in the distance, if he'd been looking, he might've spotted a little bundle in the mists. But as he was more concerned about what might be behind him, he wasn't looking. Violetta would certainly catch sight of a figure sprinting through the fog.
[Tag: PurityIceKiller]
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eakin
We're like the weeping angels from Doctor Who, except with cuddling and friendship instead of horrible death. Don't look away.
Nails quickly stepped away from Sergeant Sprinkles and made himself as occupied as possible.
Oh, whoops. False alarm. I thought the universe was actually going to go easy on me for once.
[Foggy Days And Foggy Minds]
Who's that?
Violetta tried to call out to this strange running pony, but it came out sounding more like a cough than words.
Right, right. I need to actually figure out how this "speech" thing works. Shape... The word "shape" set her thoughts whirling away for a bit. That is, actually put my mouth in the right positions, and then try to talk to him. That will work a little better.
Of course, by this point, he was already running past.
"H-hey..." This time, she actually managed to make the right sound, but not loud enough.
She scampered after him. "Wait!" Ah, there she went. It was still a little raspy, but she'd get the hang of speaking soon enough. "Where... are you going?"
__________________
When in doubt, use cute little dragons.
Violetta tried to call out to this strange running pony, but it came out sounding more like a cough than words.
Right, right. I need to actually figure out how this "speech" thing works. Shape... The word "shape" set her thoughts whirling away for a bit. That is, actually put my mouth in the right positions, and then try to talk to him. That will work a little better.
Of course, by this point, he was already running past.
"H-hey..." This time, she actually managed to make the right sound, but not loud enough.
She scampered after him. "Wait!" Ah, there she went. It was still a little raspy, but she'd get the hang of speaking soon enough. "Where... are you going?"
[Fleetwing - Sciophobia]
Fleetwing's heart nearly burst out of his chest. Son of a gun, they found me! How the sun and moon did they-gah, gotta hide! His head darted around the mist-coated wasteland, but there was naught but cold, hard ground as far as the eye could see. Which wasn't much, given the fog, but still, no hiding spots, no holes to duck into, just the ground, dismal whiteness, and a small-ish figure getting clearer and clearer through the mists.
Oh. Just a single filly. So maybe it's not death by angry mob. Somehow, he'd ended up hovering in the mists, wings tensed for a quick takeoff. Still, you never know. He'd heard once, about a group of slavers that trained the more innocent-looking slaves to lure unwary travelers to their doom. Well he wasn't going to be so easily bamboozled. He landed and adopted what he figured was a ready, strong stance, with his pistol clearly showing in its holster. "W-who's there?" he called out, forcing down his nerves.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eakin
We're like the weeping angels from Doctor Who, except with cuddling and friendship instead of horrible death. Don't look away.
The music stops. The optic sensors on "Mister Sprinkles" go from pink to red. And all of his mechanical limbs suddenly unfold and flair, revealing an assortment of weaponry that includes a buzz-saw, a small flamethrower, and a small magical energy ray.
The robot leans in towards Scoops, the saw-blade whirring to life but staying aloft. "That's SERGEANT Sprinkles to you, maggot!" the robot snarls indignantly, his synthetic voice similar to the cliche 'veteran soldier' persona. "And whipe that damn scowl off yer face! Yer supposed to be smiling! Cuz if you ain't smiling, the Stripers are winning! SO SMILE, DAMMIT!!" The saw blade whirs slightly louder.
Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Minster of Morale - 10:35 am
Fox Trot
Greaaaat....just great. I sighed. "Well, Sergent Sprinkles, could you kindly escort us, sir?"
Fleetwing's heart nearly burst out of his chest. Son of a gun, they found me! How the sun and moon did they-gah, gotta hide! His head darted around the mist-coated wasteland, but there was naught but cold, hard ground as far as the eye could see. Which wasn't much, given the fog, but still, no hiding spots, no holes to duck into, just the ground, dismal whiteness, and a small-ish figure getting clearer and clearer through the mists.
Oh. Just a single filly. So maybe it's not death by angry mob. Somehow, he'd ended up hovering in the mists, wings tensed for a quick takeoff. Still, you never know. He'd heard once, about a group of slavers that trained the more innocent-looking slaves to lure unwary travelers to their doom. Well he wasn't going to be so easily bamboozled. He landed and adopted what he figured was a ready, strong stance, with his pistol clearly showing in its holster. "W-who's there?" he called out, forcing down his nerves.
The unicorn's reaction was confusion. Why was he acting so suspicious of her? Was he trying to threaten her? But what kind of pony would threaten her? It was a misunderstanding, wasn't it? Surely he knew not to question his betters...
Well, I've got to say something. He's looking at me strangely when I'm not talking.
"Er... Violetta." She pondered whether she had a title or not, but only ended up with a headache for her trouble. "Who are you? What's going on? And why are you so frightened?"
__________________
When in doubt, use cute little dragons.
They needed no prodding! Just waiting for Corn to get back. Now that they know Sour went with the Manticores intentionally they seem quite a bit less worried about her.
Which is... odd.
"Well, we found it," Swiss replies as she trots along. "Some sorta pre-war thingy. Sour said that it's like it is 'cuz of some sort of magic. She knows a whole lot about magic and stuff. But I guess you have lots of time to learn when you're a two hundred something year old ghoul pony."
That gets a laugh out of Corn. "As subtle as ever, Swiss. Don't worry none about Sour, miss," the huge earth pony says, now addressing Down himself. "Sour isn't one of those flesh eating zombie pony monsters. She's a normal pony like anypony else, just looks a little worse for ware."
"Plant growth magic..."
That would be very, very useful information to have.
Something that would have been taken for granted a couple hundred years ago, perhaps, but not these days.
Which doesn't really segue into this discussion about zombie ponies very much. Might explain why Down's bladed tail twitches slightly, in the air above them.
"I will admit that my knowledge of...ghouls? is fairly bad. Feel free to fix that."
Teach the Enclave something! Go go go!
__________________ Inner Circle
Shepherd of the Plush Flock
Avatar: Obsidian Block Feia, by Gulaghar Formspring Dealy
"No, I don't think that's what it was," Swiss muses, tapping a hoof to her chin as she looks thoughtful. "More like a super-duper purification talismen. That's what Sour said, anyway. She knows more about that stuff. I'm just our team's super-secret spy pony!"
...to be fair Swiss really doesn't seem like she would make a very good spy pony, super-secret or otherwise.
"Ghouls are ponies that got poisoned by magical radiation, but not enough to kill them," Rye explains. "Not all the way, anyhoof. They look like they're dead, but they're still sort of alive. Sour was in Canterlot when that pink gas bomb thing blew. I think she used to work in the Ministry of Arcane Science?"
That gets a nod out of Corn. "Eeeyup."
"Some ponies go insane. Feral. Others manage to keep their minds. Sour has managed to hang onto herself for the last two hundred years."
__________________
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Spoiler
Zee is a perfectly normal human female. You suspect nothing!
Winifred 'Freddie' Fredrick
Souls Nommed: 657
Days Since Last Nomming: 0
The unicorn's reaction was confusion. Why was he acting so suspicious of her? Was he trying to threaten her? But what kind of pony would threaten her? It was a misunderstanding, wasn't it? Surely he knew not to question his betters...
Well, I've got to say something. He's looking at me strangely when I'm not talking.
"Er... Violetta." She pondered whether she had a title or not, but only ended up with a headache for her trouble. "Who are you? What's going on? And why are you so frightened?"
The pegasus huffed; him, scared? Well...at least she didn't have to know his teeth were chattering. "Name's Fleetwing." he said cautiously. He kept his pistol proudly displayed, but made no move to pick it up. This Violetta seemed more lost than anything, and didn't look to be armed, but you never could tell with unicorns. At the end of the day, some spells were just as good as a rifle. "I was just...running. Putting some distance between me and some angry, confused folks." He glanced nervously out into the mists; so far, all was quiet. "Guess they figured I wasn't worth the trouble."
He turned back to the purple filly, making sure that horn of hers stayed nice and dim. "And what about you? You lost? Or just passing through?" Play it nice and cool, don't sound like you're accusing her or nothing, or else folks might think you want a fight.
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Originally Posted by Eakin
We're like the weeping angels from Doctor Who, except with cuddling and friendship instead of horrible death. Don't look away.
Scoops wasn't really in the mood to be threatened by a robot. For one she's pretty sure that they couldn't hold rank. Also there's another matter.
[science]"Well you have orders and a combat inhibitor, so we'll be safe from you making us wipe scowls off."
And then there's at least a sign that she's starting to shrug off the previous encounter: the mare keeps talking. "Of course some of the ministries were known to go all crazy ponquisition all the time. Makes you wonder what kind of crazy stuff goes on. Then all bets are off for the brain-bots. Those are just creepy."
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Evoker avatar by kpenguin. Evoker Pony by Dirtytabs. Grey Mouser, disciple of cupcakes by me. Any and all commiepuppies by BRC
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Re: [FO:E] The Northern Wasteland of Equestria 1
