[FO:E] The Northern Wasteland of Equestria 1

[PurityIcekiller]

[Girdershade]

Violetta gave Bucky a cold look. "I see what you're offering him. How nice. And what is there for me? Just more big guns that I have no use for? Rejected. Come on." She trotted toward the shed a little faster than expected.

[BladeofObliviom]

[Spring near Girdershade]

"Interesting. I wonder..."

The ghoul thinks a moment.

"...Nevermind. I'll have to get a sample of that stuff next time I'm near Canterlot, though. Might be useful if it can counteract unity somehow.

How about a little about yourself? What do you enjoy doing?"

[Benson]

Originally Posted by Rebonack

[Manehatten - MoM Hub]

"Just a warning everypony, I don't control any of the defenses on this floor," comes Surprise's voice from the elevator. "So there might be some of Pinkie's security robots still lurking around. And... a lot of robots have gone kinda crazy over the past two hundred years. Be careful."

Well.

That's never very comforting.

Blackbeak sighs at Fox Trot's comment. "We're Talons. We always have to consider the possibility that we won't be coming home from a job. Divebomb and Swiftwing were good griffons. And we'll honor their memory by getting this job done and getting it done well."

There comes a crackling sound over the speakers as a song begins to play. It might have been up-beat and cheerful originally. But now... it sounds downright disturbing through the distorted equipment. Here and there charred posters hang, reminding everypony to smile.

Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Ministry of Morale-32th Floor- 10:53 am

Fox Trot

Well frack to Surprise Party's announcement. Frackky frack frack fraaaack. I only looked at the griffon, I didn't feel the same hardness about that as they apparently did, but I could understand their perspective. What a sad sort of life if you think about it. Alas.

I softly sighed and kept my eyes peeled, looking about, right, left, direct, above me and even diagonally.

[Lycan 01]

Girdershade

Buckshot rolls his eyes. "I said I'd pay you, kid. And who cares if you made a deal with Fizz? You're not breaking it. She's still getting the soda, just like she wants. And you're still delivering the normal sodas to her, right? She'll pay you plenty for that. So, if you work with me, you'll actually wind up with a few more caps than you'd have gotten otherwise. You'll also be helping us out with our relationship woes," he says with a crooked smirk. "So, if you help me out, everyone comes out of this happy. Whaddya say?"

[Luka]

Originally Posted by BladeofObliviom

[Spring near Girdershade]

"Interesting. I wonder..."

The ghoul thinks a moment.

"...Nevermind. I'll have to get a sample of that stuff next time I'm near Canterlot, though. Might be useful if it can counteract unity somehow.

How about a little about yourself? What do you enjoy doing?"

"Me?...I don't know, haven't done much"
She says, making her catloaf a bit wider to let water around, she stars kind of crawling towards a deeper part of the spring.

[TheAmishPirate]

Girdershade

Violetta was trotting off towards the shed, and fast; that was all the excuse Fleetwing needed to waffle on this. He started backing off in the direction of the shed, bowing his head apologetically to the shotgun-toting unicorn. "I think her and I need to talk it over just a little tiny bit more, not to mention we don't even got the soda yet, so I hope you don't mind if our answer's delayed just a little, thank you once again for the use of your shed, you're too kind, and you got a good eye for fine guns, bye!" Provided Bucky didn't try and stop him, he'd ramble all the way to the shed, open the door to let Violetta in, and then slip inside himself.

[Lycan 01]

Girdershade

Buckshot shrugs, and goes back to his business.

The shed lives up to expectations. It's a tin shack with a few pieces of farming equipment and scrap metal stuff in the corners, and an old mattress and some tattered sheets strewn about the floor.

Cozy.

[MCerberus]

Manehatten - Office of Suspicious Normality

[Sneak]Scoops goes scooting along the edges of the group generally being quiet and keeping an eye out.

At one point she retreats to the center of the group to have a bit of conversation. "Are we aiming for short kills or going for the inhibitors on the bots? The latter there's a lot of random... like 'rawr the ceiling is a dragon kill it' random."

[Lycan 01]

[Manehatten - MoM Hub]

Sergeant Sprinkles' optic sensors go from a pink glow to a red glow. "Damn that music is creepy..." he whispers grimly. "If things go south with the sentries, go for quick kills. If they're already crazed, the inhibitor will just make them more unpredictable. I'll keep on point, so I'll be the first to find any hazards or contacts. Hopefully, the old rustbuckets won't open fire on me without warning, since they may recognize me as MoM personnel. ... I really hope the password is still 'Chimmycherrychanga'..." he mutters with audible uncertainty.

[Rebonack]

[Manehatten - MoM Hub]

"Chimmycherrychanga...?" Blackbeak echoes incredulously. "Do I even want to know?"

Nope.

You don't.

There are some things that the sanity of mere mortals was never meant to endure.

Blackbeak's mini-gun begins to cycle, ready for anything unpleasant to show itself. Her comrade has hooked the scavenged plasma cannon onto his power armor and is working at reducing the weapon's power output. A full-power plasma blast at close quarters isn't exactly healthy.

The creepy music quickly becomes increasingly discordant as a swarm of sprite-bots begin popping out of vents in the ceiling whilst blaring the garbled tune as well.

[Chaotic Bob]

Spoiler

Originally Posted by Rebonack

[Manehatten - Stable 29]

Swiss looks sickened.

Corn is... not moving.

Rye looks really really angry. She knew something was coming. Something... awful. But that knowledge didn't prepare her for that. Nothing could have prepared her for that.

"Oooh! I LOVE hide and seek! I know all the best hiding spots in the Stable," the abomination giggles. Yes. Giggles. It is a horrible staticy sound that grates at the ears. "Oh Friend Computeeeeer~!" the thing that's wearing a filly lutes. "We're going to play Hide and Seek with our new friends! And you're IT!"

With another staticy giggle the robot goes bounding down the hall, its hooves flopping lifelessly against its spidery legs. It is joined by a chorus of disembodied foalish laughter from round about the Stable.

And then?

There comes a resounding bass THOOOOOOOOOM from the speakers.

"Activating Hide and Seek Sentinels. Seeking Tee-minus sixty seconds and counting. Find your hiding places my little ponies," the voice sounds like a mare's... Though it is clearly synthesized and something about it is more than a little unsettling. The sort of voice that betrays scarcely contained insanity.

[Manehatten - Stable 29]

Down stares after them for a second or two, while her mind wonders how she managed to not shoot the...robot thing.
But then the speakers speak and the expected consequences of her choice arrive.

"...we should probably move."
Getting caught probably isn't a good thing, for them.

Okay. So they should probably hide, one way or another, but also move forward in the process. The search bots should be distracted by the others, for a little while at least...
Just have to be careful.


With that thought, she begins moving forward, intending to use their sixty seconds to make some ground.
Hopefully some ground with hiding spaces.

[TheAmishPirate]

Girdershade - Old Shed

Fleetwing sat himself down on one end of the mattress with a long, drawn out sigh. This morning, he'd planned on asking a few ponies in town about some rumors concerning an old, pre-war office building. Now he was saddled with a clueless filly in a shed in the middle of nowhere. To say that this day had turned out slightly differently than expected was something of an understatement. And on that note, perhaps it was high time to help the filly get a little less clueless. "Alright; I promised t'answer questions later, and it's later. We can check out the van after a while, but for now, ask away." He stretched out his body, weary from the mad sprint earlier, and shifted around to get as comfortable as he could on the decrepit mattress.

[PurityIcekiller]

[Old Shed]

Violetta lay down and took a look around. "Kind of miserable here. Better than nothing, though."

She thought back a bit. "There's a lot to explain here. What are those 'stables' you said you'd tell me about?" She considered some more. "What's been happening in this area? Who has a lot of influence? Where should we go next? And is there anything else you haven't told me about?"

[MCerberus]

Manehatten - Suspiciously Normal Offices

Scoops motions the group into the oncoming swarm, hoping they'd all be drawing their weapons by now. For maximum effect they'd all need to open fire at the same time. Take them by surprise.

Of course, there's nothing that would prevent this, like a non-military pony firing sooner or an over-eager robot.

[TheAmishPirate]

Girdershade - Shed

Fleetwing let out a long breath, running a hoof through his mane. "Tall orders there, but I can't exactly turn you loose with a head full of nothing. Here goes..."

(Spit up to avoid the biggest wall of text ever)

Stables:

Spoiler

"A Stable's a pre-war notion; get everypony living underground, and then once the fighting's over, bring 'em back out and start life over again. They were these huge bunkers, some of 'em going for miles underground, and they had everything a pony needed to survive. Places to grow food, some sorta way to make water, electricity, medicine, all sorts of stuff. And they packed them full of ponies who could keep things running; mayors, teachers, scientists, all sorts of folks. When the war started, the doors closed, and that was that. Only problem is, well, it didn't quite work out as well as they hoped. I don't rightly know much here, but I've heard things. Experiments gone wrong, monsters got loose, stuff that'll keep any decent pony up at night. Odds are, if you run into a Stable, you're better off just moving on if you don't want trouble. Of course, all that fancy gear what got stowed in them makes them prime scavenging grounds. A pony can get a lot of bits from a good Stable run.

Now, there are a few Stables that are still up and running like they should. Sometimes you get a pony who decides they've had enough of underground, and they come crawling out here. In fact, that might make a good cover story until you figure out what's going on in your head."

Those with influence:

Spoiler

"I don't know much about this area, I usually don't go this far north. But I expect it's pretty much the same wherever you go. There's always Raiders, taking what they want and making ponies miserable for kicks. There's always little towns like this one, full of ponies just trying to get by. But for real influence, there's a few I know about:

The Enclave's a bunch of pegasus up in the skies. You can thank them for the constant clouds. They figured they wanted no part of the war, and shut themselves up above the clouds and didn't come back. Anypony who makes it to the surface ain't welcome back there. My paw used to be one of them, worked at one of their mountain mining facilities, until a bad raid forced him to flee for his life. Too much fire for him to take off, so he had to run by land. And that was enough for them to call him 'unclean' and exile him for life. Stuck-up bunch of pegasus, but they got the firepower to back up their threats.

I already talked about the alicorns. They call themselves Unity, and all you need to know is that they're bad news. Well, except for that one we met today, but don't take that to mean they're all good. Nopony knows what they want, only that they don't take to asking politely. If you're in their way, they wipe you out. Or haul you off to Celestia knows where. Unless you're packing heavy weapons, just turn and walk the other way."

I've heard a bit about this group of Griffons - a sort of mix of lion and eagle - who call themselves the Talon Company. Don't know too much about them, only that they hire themselves out to the highest bidder, and they always get their contracts done. On the plus side, if you ain't a target of them, I hear they ain't bad.

There's bound to be more than those folks, but that's all I know. No real central power here anymore."

Possible Destinations:

Spoiler

"I think our best bet is getting you to one of the remaining cities. It'll be a lot to take in for somepony like you, but they're the safest places in all of Equestria now. Well worth the learning curve. There's only a few, and all of them are a bit of a hike from here, but I don't got any better idea..."

(Just assume he gives the basic rundown of the major cities as outlined in the OP. Just common knowledge, he hasn't explored any of them really in-depth. This post ended up being a bit of a monster o.O)

Fleetwing rummaged through his pack and pulled out a canteen, wetting his dried-out throat. "I know I'm not the best pony to give you the crash course of the Wasteland, but that's what I got. I think it'd be easier if you just asked about more specific questions, instead of me just dumping all I know. I don't think you'd want to hear about different types of rubble I've seen." He gave a little chuckle to the filly, offering her a sip from his canteen.

[Rebonack]

[Manehatten - Stable 29]

Don't have to tell TRSG! twice. They quickly set off after the pegasus whilst the synthesized voice continues to count down over the speakers.

As they pass a door a rather loud, "PSSSST!" can be heard from within. "Follow me! I know the perfect spot to hide, the Sententials have trouble fitting in here!"

And then a head pops out of the doorway.

A head with only a few scraps of white hide and stringy electric blue mane clinging to it. It would appear as though its 'skin' has rotted off. The head of the robot is shaped vaguely like that of a pony's with a trio of red visual sensors where each eye should be. Oddly enough the robot is wearing a pair of purple sunglasses that look far too big for it.

Like a foal wearing the shades of an adult.

"Hurry up or you'll get caught!"

[Chaotic Bob]

[Manehatten - Stable 29]

Down could consider the ramifications of a robot in a fleshsuit wearing glasses too big for her.
Or she could consider the fact that she's being talked to by a robot in a fleshsuit.

There's a sharp intake of breath from the pegasus as the head pops out, more distressing than the last due to sheer levels of decay it seems.
No! This is abominable!

"Lead on."
Time is running short and they really should hide...the odds of this being a horrible trap are just as likely as not.
May as well play the odds a little.

Almost certain terrible with the Sentinels, or simply-likely terrible with the shades-robot.
Down chooses the latter.

Hopefully TRSG! can keep calm...

[Rebonack]

[Manehatten - Stable 29]

TRSG! looks fairly mortified. This... this is just wrong. On so many levels. So, so many levels! What kind of sick, perverted monster would sew up robots inside of pony skins?

They reluctantly enter the room. Better than getting caught out in the open by the Sententials, right? And who knows how these machines might react to violence...

Anyway...

The foalbot our heroes are following is nearly skinless compared to the last they saw with little more than a few patches of once-white hide clinging to its lightly armored body. Crudely burned into the armor on the robot's back haunches is a musical note where one might expect to find a cutie mark on a living pony.

"If the Sententials catch you that means you have to help them find everypony else," the robot explains as our heroes enter. "But since you're grown-ups Friend Computer will probably want to make you foals again so you'll be safe here with us. Friend Computer says the outside isn't fit for pony life."

"Sounds like a good reason not to be caught..." Rye mutters.

The machine approaches a panel on the wall and extends the four manipulator cables from its back, unscrewing the sheet of metal and sliding it to the side. Beyond is what appears to be a maintenance crawl-way of sorts.

Clearly designed for an adult pony to fit into, but a tight squeeze none the less. Corn gives it a rather skeptical look. "I doubt I'll fit in there, folks. Not wearin' mah armor at least."

[Chaotic Bob]

[Manehatten - Stable 29]

Sometimes one must tolerate the worst of things, for the greater good...

Or in this case, not dying horribly so they can rescue their missing friend.
Hopefully not dying horribly, anyway.


"Make us foals again?"
Friend Computer...robots acting like children...personalities?
This implies something pretty well, and Down doesn't like what it implies.

It makes this both better and worse.
"Alright. We'll just hide really wel- wait, help find the others?"
Of course they play the version where those caught have to help. It's the best one for large-group games.
Unfortunately...
"This spot isn't going to be safe from the other...foals then."

That! Could be a problem.
But Corn's problem presents an opportunity, of a vague sort.
"Perhaps you should take your armor off then, so you can fit.
Maybe we can use it to block off the entrance, further in. Blended into the shadows?"

[Rebonack]

[Manehatten - Stable 29]

Don't have to tell Corn twice. He quickly begins to doff his armor with some help from Swiss. That magical levitation speeds things up quite a bit! "Hope we can come back fer it," the huge earth pony sighs. "Kinda fond ah this heap ah scrap."

"Ready or not here comes Friend Computer," the emotionless female voice announces over the Stable's PA system. Sounds like the game is ahoof!

The foalbot wiggles impatiently. "Come on, hurry up or you'll get caught!"

Which unsurprisingly encourages Corn to speed up. "You folks go first. Just in case ah get stuck."

With a nod Swiss and Rye duck inside the crawlspace. Hopefully Down doesn't get uncomfortable in tight spaces.

"Don't worry about the other foals! I have some super-secret hiding places where I keep all my equipment. They'll never find us there. But once the game is over you should really talk to Friend Computer. She's been SO busy making new friends for us! It's been a long time since any friends have still had their skin on," the foalbot comments brightly. "Friend Computer can help you out of your skin so you won't get sick anymore!"

...

Okay.

Yeah.

That's really disturbing.

[Benson]

Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Ministry of Morale-32th Floor- 10:54 am

Fox Trot


Waaah....I dove behind a desk and fumbled for my gun. I'm not really sure why I got all panicky but I was and I felt lame. Aw manure...I only had four AP bullets left in the chamber. I knew I was going to be a useless twit in any incoming battle.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Manehatten - Stable 29]

Once upon a time, Down had issues with tight spaces, as many pegasii do.
Constraints upon the wings, their defining characteristic, can be hard on them.

But when you spend most of your time in a nearly skin-tight metal suit anyway, claustrophobia starts to become less of an issue over time.


She lets the others get a little bit further ahead (still issues with touching...), before she squirrels in after them. As usual, Enclave armor seems to still offer some degree of agility.
Although, certainly not as much as a more bare-back individual would have.

And the shades-bot continues to babble.
"...right. We'll definitely meet up with Friend Computer."

Her tone tightens slightly, for the first time out-loud here.
Becoming "friends" isn't likely on her agenda list, with said Computer.

[Lycan 01]

[Manehatten - MoM Hub]

Sprinkles is cautious, be doesn't directly react to the parasprites. He just continues to hover along, prudently making his way towards the Ministry Mare's office, trying not to draw their attention or raise their ire.

[Rebonack]

[Manehatten - MoM Hub]

"Identify!" wheeze all the spritebots in unison.

Sounds like they want the password!

...

Hopefully it hasn't been changed.

Because if it has?

This is probably going to get really messy.

The two griffons exchange a worried glance. That's a lot of robots to deal with.

[Manehatten - Stable 29]

"Great! Once you have a proper foal body we can play together forever and ever!" the robot replies with only the enthusiasm a filly could display at the prospect of playing with a new friend. Forever.

And ever.

"They're brain-bots," Swiss comments out of the blue. Several of her friends glance at her. "Gotta be. I don't ever pick up any emotions from normal robots. But usually brain-bots don't display much in the way of personality. Their mind degrades really fast."

Rye looks sick. "Are you telling me there's actually a filly's brain inside of that thing?"

The robot glances back at our heroes, red optic sensors smouldering dangerously. "I'm not a thing! My name's Vinyl Scratch. And I'm a pony. Just like anypony else."

She then turns, extends the four manipulator cables from her back, and digs them into the sides of an air vent in the ceiling. "Wait there. I'll open the door to my hideout."

[Lycan 01]

[Manehatten - MoM Hub]

"Unit Designation - HK-47, Identification - Amadeus Sprinkles, Rank - Sergeant, Clearance Code - Chimmycherrychanga," the vibrantly pink robot deadpans to the sentries. "And don't forget to smile."

[Benson]

Manehatten Ruins-Horseshoe Tower-Ministry of Morale-32th Floor- 10:54 am

Fox Trot

All I could do was watch in minor confusion, best to go with the flow here....if that didn't work, hide, hide hide behind the desk.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Manehatten - Stable 29]

"Whatever these foals are, mind your manners.
We're treading on thin ice."
Rye is given a look (completely unnoticible due to headgear), but the tone of her scolding is pretty effectively angled at him and a bit at Swiss.

"Thank you Vinyl."
This would be a good time to make sure Corn's actually coming in after them, now that she thinks about it.
So a glance back for him!

Along with a new thought.
"I wonder what happens if we win?"

[Rebonack]

[Manehatten - Stable 29]

Rye winces slightly, then gives a small smile. "You're right, I should be taking my own advice. Play along."

Swiss is busy staring up into the vent. Doesn't even seem to notice Down's chiding.

And Corn is bringing up the rear! He looks rather irritated as she shuffles along. "Confound it all I hate tight spaces," the stallion complains.

Suddenly a clank!

And the floor drops out under our heroes aiming to dump them all onto a metal chute that spirals off through the guts of the Stable! Rye and Corn give a cry of alarm as they go whizzing away into the darkness. Swiss' wings begin to buzz as she holds herself aloft.

"Rye! Corn!" and then an angry hiss up the vent. "What did you do with my friends?!"

"Hey! Relax! Just ride the slide, it's fun!" comes the filly's playful voice from above.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Manehatten - Stable 29]

Speaking of wings.

Like Swiss, Down fails to fall along with the others, her wings immediately picking up the slack against gravity that the floor is failing to give.
It's pretty reflexive.

Although...it's not really feasible for moving around in tight quarters.
So hovering is about as good as it gets.
"Hmm. Calm down, Swiss. Children don't respond well to anger."
Especially crazy death machine ones.

And then she's off down the slide as well.
Although...to be honest, she is fully prepared for something horrible at the bottom. Like more skinbots.
Urgh...this place needs to be burned...

[Rebonack]

[Manehatten - Stable 29]

Swiss closes her eyes and takes a looooong breath out through her nose. No reason to get angry at this thing. It's just being a foal. Follow her friends, it hasn't don't anything malevolent.

Yet.

The changeling tucks her wings and goes skidding down the chute!

"Weeeee!" sounds like Scratch is right behind them. Our heroes will hear a metallic clunk from above as the trap door closes and they're all sent skidding through the darkness. Though like all things in life the ride eventually ends.

By throwing everypony right into a large heap of cushions!

...leather cushions. That are a patchwork of pastel colors. A few patches are adorned with cute little pictures that represent some long-dead pony's special talent.

Down should arrive just in time to see Rye scrambling away from the macabre heap of fluff and trying very hard not to be violently ill. Sadly she loses her struggle (and the strawberry she had eaten) into a waste-bin in the corner.

The room is actually of decent size. From its appearance this must be some hideaway down in the maintenance section of the Stable. Pipes, cables, and magical energy conduits snake alone walls and ceiling. But most eye catching are several pieces of furniture.

Sets of large tower speakers. Musical equipment. Shelves of weird black discs and some sort of odd device that is no doubt meant to play them. Microphones and mixers and who knows what else!

And perhaps most disturbingly? The skin of a white pony hanging on a rack. Judging from the spots of electric blue on the coat the foalbot was dyeing its mane.

"Here we are!" Scratch announces. "My secret hideout! This is where I keep all my music and stuff. And it's the best place to hide in the whole Stable," she explains as she casually pulls a little metal headband off a rack. A headband with a off-white unicorn horn attached to it. The robot snuggly slips the horn onto its head.