Fallout: Beyond Equestria 195: Black Rose (Part 13)

[2016-09-21 13:45:17] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Previously...
[2016-09-21 13:45:29] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Through scattered cloud cover, the group can see into the shadowy bowl of the valley on the eastern side of the ridge.  There, within the dark valley, lies a massive shape -- black and ominous -- dotted with hundreds of small lights: the Enclave's remaining Thunderhead.
[2016-09-21 13:45:56] <Mare-Do-Well> 3It appears to be grounded, and has been turned into a fortress city here at the top of the world.  Get_Lost stares at the thunderhead in awe.  "wow, i don't know what i would pay to have the chance to try and fix that"
[2016-09-21 13:46:06] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Bookwright shivers. "I don't want to find out. I don't even want to go near that thing."
[2016-09-21 13:46:42] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Get_Lost "are you kidding me! that's... a mad scientist's wet dream! a damn flying fortress!"  She quickly adds, "i want to see what its power source is, check its engines, study how it flies, improve those guns!"
[2016-09-21 13:46:47] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Get_Lost asks, "do you think they're recruiting?"
[2016-09-21 13:47:00] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
[2016-09-21 13:47:23] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Captain Fianchetto asks Get_Lost, "Do you think you could help get the Thunderhead airborne again?"
[2016-09-21 13:47:28] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Shatara pomfs.  Mitzi groans. "Great. Bigger flyeen boat."
[2016-09-21 13:47:34] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Get_Lost opens her mouth, then thinks for a moment, then closes her mouth and thinks a bit more "i... uh... yeah. i've seen it once already, it could be able to move again. airborne? depends on a lot of factors, but yes, it could be done, if the generators are still in good condition"
[2016-09-21 13:47:37] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
[2016-09-21 13:48:15] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Mitzi nods. "Uh will return und become alpha. Ur fathur, Mantle, he eez wise und good, but he eez stubborn againt ponees becuz he lost Ur mother. Once Uh take his place, Uh will steer ur kind towards better friendship wit ponees. Frum wut yu said, dey punish yu fur dueen da right ting, den don't let yu challenge alpha to make dem see wut eez right."
[2016-09-21 13:48:36] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Wind Weaver considers that.  "Okay.  I think I get that."  Then, trying a different approach, Wind Weaver tells Mitzi, "You said they are punishing me for doing the right thing, but they aren't.  Not really..."
[2016-09-21 13:49:08] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"In order to do the right thing, I had to disobey my Alpha.  And in the Enclave, disobeying the Alpha is a worse wrong thing than the wrong thing I would have been doing if I hadn't done the right thing."  She asks, "Does that make sense?"
[2016-09-21 13:49:16] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Mitzi shakes her head. "No, but Uh know ponee Rules eez different. Eet's becuz uv dat Uh didn't kill Sonica as soon as Uh saw her. Fur wut she did, no Hound wud fault me fur takeen her head, but eef Uh'm goeen tu wurk wit ponees, Uh have tu considur yur rules."
[2016-09-21 13:49:18] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
[2016-09-21 13:51:10] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Mitzi nods. "Before Uh go, Uh will try tu convince Yur alpha on dis ship dat she needs to be condemned for the criminal she eez. Eef dey will not listen, Uh will have tu come back." She then drowns. "Dere eez not uther hounds on dis flyeen boat eez dere?"
[2016-09-21 13:51:11] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Wind Weaver grimaces and looks aside.  And mumbles, "Two."
[2016-09-21 13:51:20] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Mitzi nods. "Tank yu. Eef uh cannot get yur Alpha tu condemn Sonica, Uh will at least get dem freed."
[2016-09-21 13:51:28] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Mitzi also adds. "Uh will not tell dem yu told me, but while dey eez still captive, yu can show yur uther friends wut dey eez suffereen. Wut Uh suffered."
[2016-09-21 13:51:33] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Wind Weaver nods.  "I'm so sorry."
[2016-09-21 13:51:41] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Mitzi pats Wind Weaver on the head with the flat of a paw. "Yu know dey eez suffereen und yu know wut eez right. Da best yu can du now eez make other Enclave ponees see eet."
[2016-09-21 13:51:53] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
[2016-09-21 13:53:37] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Get_Lost smiles, even if her  eyes can't really convey the emotion "oh, wow! cyberfetishes! i was sure it was a lost thing! where did you find those? i had the chance to study them myself for a while"
[2016-09-21 13:53:55] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Doctor Sonica says, "We got these on a recon mission into the newly-reappeared Crystal Empire."
[2016-09-21 13:54:01] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Get_Lost is honestly surprised "you. don't. say! it reappeared! who would have ever said that!" giggles "yeah, they were working on that for a while, you know? but... i don't kn ow... spirits and science? doesn't it feel a little like cheating? call me old school, but if you can't do it without a circut, it doesn't count"
[2016-09-21 13:54:07] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Doctor Sonica looks Get_Lost over.  "Everything of yours is full earth pony?" she asks.  "Where'd you get your augmentations?  Industry Station?"
[2016-09-21 13:54:16] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Get_Lost "these? they were a... let's call them a n evaluation mistake... they are nothing special, probably i could do a lot better myself... oh right: introductions! i'm get lost solaris, medic, cybermedic and evil genius. and you must be... uh... dr. harmonica?"
[2016-09-21 13:54:43] <Mare-Do-Well> 3There are some chuckles in the science lab.  And at least one gasp at the name Solaris.  "Doctor Sonica," the head of the lab says with a smile and a briefly-extended hoof.
[2016-09-21 13:54:44] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
[2016-09-21 13:56:00] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Golden_Dream unbuckles the briefcase, then with a moment's hesitation and anxiety, flings it open where nobody else would see it.
[2016-09-21 13:56:20] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Inside the briefcase, divided into easy stacks, are tens of thousands of bottlecaps.  63,000 bottlecaps, once fully counted.  And beneath, the are pages of papers giving thanks to each of those who signed their name to the contract, and an extended but vague offer of future employment opportunities within Golden Buckle Enterprises.
[2016-09-21 13:56:28] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Shatara stares and oooohs at all the caps. Did he just win at mercenary?
[2016-09-21 13:56:34] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Bookwright nudges Shatara. "We're splitting them, remember?"
[2016-09-21 13:56:40] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Shatara blinks and pokerfaces. "Yes. Of course." He definitely wasn't calculating if he could buy his own airship.
[2016-09-21 13:56:46] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Golden_Dream just sits and /stares/ for a moment. Goldy had never seen so many caps in one place before. It was beautiful.
[2016-09-21 13:56:50] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
[2016-09-21 13:57:04] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Wind Weaver states, "The captain said that despite Doctor Sonica being on her ship, the Hellhound Obedience Project is above her authority.  You need to speak with... with the real alphas of the Enclave to have the project ended."
[2016-09-21 13:57:09] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Mitzi frowns. "Uh see. Und wut uv da two already here?"
[2016-09-21 13:57:16] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Wind Weaver looks a bit shocked as she says, "The captain said she will arrange for you to have an audience with the General's Council.  You can plead your people's case directly to the pegasi in charge of the entire ELR."
[2016-09-21 13:57:23] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Shatara blinks. "Wow..."
[2016-09-21 13:57:26] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
[2016-09-21 13:58:05] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Fallout: Beyond Equestria, Session One Hundred and Ninety-Five: Black Rose (Part 13) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fus5O8SxUoo
[2016-09-21 13:58:13] <Mare-Do-Well> 3--- Session Begins ---
[2016-09-21 13:59:48] <Mare-Do-Well> 3At dawn of the next day, when the sun has yet to rise high enough to shine above the slate clouds that conceal the mountain crests and valleys below the top of the world...
[2016-09-21 14:01:40] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The black bulk of the /New Cumulus/ glides over the tallest mountain peaks of the Frozen North.  Below, in a valley shadowed deep as night, lies the thousand lights of Lunar Rising, the once-flying fortress city of the Enclave Loyalist Remnants.
[2016-09-21 14:04:43] * Get_Lost joins the others still yawning "hey... i've been thinking...."
[2016-09-21 14:05:14] <Mare-Do-Well> 3In these early hours, few move about in sapping cold.  Most who do are younger soldiers on the earliest of drills or patrols, or those who manage vital stations which operate at all hours.  Guard towers, communications stations, furnaces.
[2016-09-21 14:05:28] * Mitzi looks down at the valley, a mix of determination and nervousness on her face
[2016-09-21 14:07:52] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Aboard the /New Cumulus/, most are awake, but only because of their approach to Lunar Rising.   Many are groggy, acting on rote, or pulling themselves through on the waking power of steam showers.  The ship has run out of the precious small allotment of coffee that it had been afforded.
[2016-09-21 14:07:54] * Get_Lost "i'm going to delay the job on the airship until you fix the issue of mind control, but... i don't think it's sonica's fault. she is...  bit air-headed, you see... i think that she can change"
[2016-09-21 14:09:38] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"Attention.  We will begin docking procedure in thirty minutes.  Every pegasus at their stations.  And welcome home."
[2016-09-21 14:10:02] * Get_Lost goes putting on her winter clothes
[2016-09-21 14:11:36] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The voice on the intercom manages to sound more chipper than the winged ponies moving about the corridors.  Nopony bothers with the mess hall.  There is no time or need to eat before docking, and the last crumbs of the food stores are locked up tight.
[2016-09-21 14:12:31] <Mare-Do-Well> 3One pegasus moves past Bookwright and the others, checking locks and latches, making sure everything is securely fastened.
[2016-09-21 14:12:43] * Mitzi shakes her head. "Sonica eez a criminal, und she will see justice. Eef not frum Enclave, den frum Ur kind."
[2016-09-21 14:13:59] * Get_Lost "no she's not. she doesn't reallyy realizes the implictions of shat she does. she deserves to be shown and to make her choice."
[2016-09-21 14:14:35] * Mitzi looks to Get_Lost. "What do you mean?"
[2016-09-21 14:15:06] * Golden_Dream didn't sleep too terribly well. Had to stay up to protect the briefcase. Briefcase was the light at the end of the tunnel. Briefcase meant life. She had it tucked under her forelegs pulled tight towards herself. Come on. I dare you. I will open up your armor like a tin can and pour steel inside.
[2016-09-21 14:16:38] * Bookwright grimaces. "I had the distinct impression that Harmonica simply doesn't think like that. She sees science as its own end. She's not immoral, she's amoral."
[2016-09-21 14:17:03] * Get_Lost "i mean that she doesn't see what she is doing to your people. she is... very, very alienated in her lab. she probably doesn't even consider what she did as taking freedom from your kin. she... had this idea and wanted to see if it could work, not thinking of where it was really going... and nopony was there to tell her."
[2016-09-21 14:18:01] * Get_Lost "if she had friends, she would have probably made  different choices. i would have probably been in her place if i met the enclave instead of you guys"
[2016-09-21 14:21:38] * Mitzi frowns. "Dat doesn't change wut she did tu me. All uv da Enclave eez guilty, dey have been since dey first put un uv dere helmets on a Hellhound. But Sonica eez een da middle uv eet."
[2016-09-21 14:23:00] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The Raptor slides over the darkened valley, moving towards a towering icicle pillar ringed with clouds, many of which rumble and flash in pattern.  It takes several minutes to dock, bringing the cloud formations that keep the Raptor aloft gently up to the icicle tower.  Clouds merge with clouds, and the ship is anchored.
[2016-09-21 14:23:22] * Mitzi continues. "
[2016-09-21 14:24:21] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Once the ship has fully stopped moving, the intercom announces, "Squads Alpha through Delta, please report to the hanger for disembarking."
[2016-09-21 14:25:02] <Mitzi> *"Sonica eez da most responsible, und ignorance does not change wut she did. Many hounds wud want all uv Enclave pegasus ponees tu pay, but Uh can't let dat happen either."
[2016-09-21 14:27:16] * Shatara quietly observes the enclave procedures.
[2016-09-21 14:29:19] * Get_Lost "look, just don't hurt her unless it's a matter of our own immediate safety. it's all i ask. ok?"
[2016-09-21 14:31:25] * Mitzi nods. "Uh'm not go een tu du anyting tu her. Uh'm go een tu make the Enclave acknowledge dat she has done grievous crime, und punish her themselves."
[2016-09-21 14:34:34] * Get_Lost pauses, then opens her mouth and closes it again. thinks a bit more "yeah, about that... i hink that they see her as an asset more than a criminal..." pauses, than adds "or a pony"
[2016-09-21 14:35:06] * Get_Lost "bookie, what do you think of this story?"
[2016-09-21 14:35:31] * Mitzi nods. "Dat eez wut Ur words will have tu change." She clenches her fists a moment.
[2016-09-21 14:35:35] * CopyCat stands beside Mitzi. "Sonica's misguided ideas do not justify trying to enslave an entire race of beings. This is not something we can take lightly, or simply fix with a few hugs." CopyCat looks down. "Even if I really /really/ like hugs."
[2016-09-21 14:36:07] * Mitzi gives CopyCat an appreciative hug for the support
[2016-09-21 14:36:12] * Shatara applies a hug to CopyCat.
[2016-09-21 14:36:57] * Get_Lost "it's not her fault if somepony gave her a brain and ponies used her instead of helping her, you know...."
[2016-09-21 14:39:53] * Bookwright agrees with Get_Lost. "She could probably devour small cute animals whole and the Enclave would still put up with her. That her weapons are immoral in the extreme hardly matters in comparison to the simple presence of new weapons technology."
[2016-09-21 14:42:17] * Get_Lost "yeah, i'm with bookie on that: they don't care this far."
[2016-09-21 14:42:51] * Mitzi sighs and shakes her head. "Eef dey insist on seeing us as weapons und not people, den dere will be war. Uh must not let dat happen. Uh must make dem understand."
[2016-09-21 14:43:53] * Get_Lost "probably they are desperate. probably, if given an option they would drop that prokect pronto"
[2016-09-21 14:45:27] * Get_Lost "also, it doesn't really work: hellhounds are overrated and aren't that over par... they don't even fly"
[2016-09-21 14:45:32] * Golden_Dream waggles her hind legs a bit. Sitting for so long made her antsy.
[2016-09-21 14:45:41] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Not quite together, Wind Weaver and Star Dust approach.  Even as they near, Star Dust blurs across the intervening space, landing next to Get_Lost.  "um..."
[2016-09-21 14:46:01] * Get_Lost "yes?"
[2016-09-21 14:47:06] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Star Dust says softly, "You're with me... because, you know, I'm with you.  All of you guys, I mean.  You're disembarking with Squad Delta."  She pauses.  "Except the hellhound."
[2016-09-21 14:47:43] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Then, she notes, "Of course, you can just use your ship to get down.  But you're supposed to do so when Delta Squad does."
[2016-09-21 14:48:06] * TenMihara raises an eyebrow at Star Dust. "Wut about me?"
[2016-09-21 14:48:10] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"When we go down," Star Dust clarifies.  "Not when we use your ship.  We're not planning to use your ship."
[2016-09-21 14:48:20] * Bookwright scowls. "We practice the buddy system in our little group. As in, 'buddy, that's not gonna fly.' Mitzi comes with us, or we don't come at all."
[2016-09-21 14:48:40] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Wind Weaver flaps closer.  "You're with me.  We're not going down.  We're going higher."
[2016-09-21 14:48:55] * CopyCat smiles at Mitzi and Shatara then wriggles her nose at Get_Lost. "But it /is/ her fault for denying the evidence in front of her. I've heard her thoughts about the hellhounds, she considers them like domestic pets. Lower, even, since she believes that stripping from them the ability to think is a good thing. Yet," CopyCat continues, "We know for a fact she has met Mitzi. The Dr. has witnessed Mitzi talking, thinking and
[2016-09-21 14:48:55] * CopyCat having hopes and desires for herself, her family, and all other Hellhounds. If she has met Mitzi she has witnessed proof of their intelligence and sapience. Denying the evidence in front of her makes for a very poor scientist indeed."
[2016-09-21 14:49:16] <TenMihara> She looks to Wind Weaver and nods. "Uh will go wit yu."
[2016-09-21 14:50:10] * Get_Lost oh, they are going to see her immediately?
[2016-09-21 14:51:53] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Wind Weaver nods.  Then, with a slight bitterness, notes, "I heard a rumor they used the last of the coffee so they could meet as soon as we arrived."
[2016-09-21 14:52:28] <TenMihara> Mitzi tilts her head. "
[2016-09-21 14:52:45] <TenMihara> *"Wut eez dis coffee stuff anyways?"
[2016-09-21 14:53:41] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Wind Weaver stares, blinking slowly.  "You... don't know what coffee is?"  Then adds, in a mildly joking tone, "Are you sure hellhounds are sentient?"
[2016-09-21 14:53:50] * Get_Lost "that's true, copy... maybe i'm seeing too much into her... still... call me stubborn"
[2016-09-21 14:54:28] * Get_Lost "it is a little like jet"
[2016-09-21 14:54:29] <TenMihara> Mitzi shrugs
[2016-09-21 14:54:49] <Get_Lost> *dash
[2016-09-21 14:55:04] * Bookwright gives Mitzi a look of supreme sympathy. "You've never known the brew of the brown bean? Have you been living under a rock?"
[2016-09-21 14:56:04] <TenMihara> She nods. "Ur home eez under manee rocks."
[2016-09-21 14:59:37] * Get_Lost "don't worry: you probably didn't miis very much"
[2016-09-21 14:59:41] * Bookwright blanches. "Er, right. Um. I'm sure Golden Dream can hook us up, she knows how to kick cook's asses and wheedle ingredients with the best of 'em."
[2016-09-21 15:01:28] * Golden_Dream shifts out of her seat. Too antsy, have to move. She sat,  staring at Mitzi. Yes. Big fuzzy safety. "Dunno about that. That one cook got th' better o' me. Went and did science on her food. Friggin' eggheads."
[2016-09-21 15:01:53] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Wind Weaver looks at Golden_Dream apprasingly.  "Really?  Can you teach them new and fancy recipes for snow?"
[2016-09-21 15:02:07] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"I'm kinda sick of the old ones."
[2016-09-21 15:02:39] * Golden_Dream just gives her a look. It is a looky look. "... You mean as an ingredient, or...?"
[2016-09-21 15:02:52] * Bookwright "Your ration supply isn't that pinched, is it?"
[2016-09-21 15:03:02] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Star Dust ums.  "She's joking... mostly... kinda."
[2016-09-21 15:04:36] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Wind Weaver nods.  "There are a couple bays in Lunar Rising that have been turned into botanical gardens, but they don't produce much.  We suppliment what we can from deals with folks like the Barnstormers and the Water Merchants, but it really isn't enough."
[2016-09-21 15:05:35] * Golden_Dream groans. "Yer' in a jungle. Food's all around. Make yourself a berry-fruit syrup. Pour it over yer' snow. I like it with strawberry. Or hell, you got blenders, don't y?"
[2016-09-21 15:06:32] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Star Dust headshakes.  "No, we're not.  We're on the top of the Frozen North.  The jungle belongs to the zebras."
[2016-09-21 15:08:29] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Star Dust admits, "A lot of pegasi think we should conquer it and move there.  Or the Crystal Empire, now that it's back.  But the General's Council won't agree to it."
[2016-09-21 15:08:35] * CopyCat blinks at Golden_Dream, then moves to peer out a window. "Is this a snow-jungle? Are there snow-berries we can use as snow-berry fruit syrup to pour over our snow-snow? I wanna see!"
[2016-09-21 15:08:39] * Get_Lost "and the creepy town with the living statues"
[2016-09-21 15:09:21] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"Won't agree to it without provocation, you mean," Wind Weaver argues.
[2016-09-21 15:10:01] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"And now... now we've been provoked," Star Dust nods.  "I think... I think we're probably going to try to conquer Roam."
[2016-09-21 15:12:48] * Bookwright "That sounds a lot like a foolish idea. I mean, it didn't exactly work out the first time, now did it?"
[2016-09-21 15:16:39] * Mitzi shakes her head. "Eet's like Yur alphas -want- tu destroy themselves." She sighs.
[2016-09-21 15:17:21] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The pegasus ponies frown, thinking about that worriedly.  "We never really tried to conquer Roam," Wind Weaver notes.  "We didn't even try to conquer Equestria.  The only place we've ever tried to conquer, we did."
[2016-09-21 15:17:37] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Wind Weaver then looks at Shatara and cringes slightly.  "Sorry."
[2016-09-21 15:17:42] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"I don't think the zebras are our enemies," Star Dust says finally.  "We shouldn't conquer them"
[2016-09-21 15:18:58] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The intercom announces, "Squad Delta, prepare for departure."
[2016-09-21 15:19:19] * Shatara blinks and ruffles his feathers a bit, feeling like he should probably be more offended than he is.
[2016-09-21 15:21:14] * CopyCat yawns and does a long decadent kitty stretch (http://womenoutandabout.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/cat-stretch-300x225.jpg) "Conquering sounds lie a lot of work. And then a lot /more/ work after your done. Get yourself into a position to do more trading. Trading is easy."
[2016-09-21 15:22:22] * Get_Lost gets ready for departure
[2016-09-21 15:23:30] * Mitzi looks to Wind Weaver. "Well. Time tu face Ur destinee Uh tink." She smiles nervously
[2016-09-21 15:23:36] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The time comes for the group to leave for Lunar's Rising.  Departure goes smoothly.
[2016-09-21 15:24:31] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Descent into the darkness... the temperature drops wretchedly.  But there is no wind.  The air is still and the cold is sapping rather than biting.
[2016-09-21 15:25:52] <Mare-Do-Well> 3There is more to the E.L.R. city than just the grounded Thunderhead, although the mammoth fortress is the vast majority of it.  Other structures made of ice or clouds ring the valley around it, or float in the air above it.
[2016-09-21 15:27:38] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The Thunderhead looks its age, but in functional repair.  It is clear where some non-essential parts of the ship have been cannibalized to repair more vital ones.  And a small number of patches are apparently from salvage taken from Shattered Hoof Ridge, or even Tragedy's End.
[2016-09-21 15:29:02] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Shatara spots a tank that looks to have been recovered from the Tragedy's End motor pool.  The wheels are rusted solid and the treds are gone, but it looks like it still fulfills a role as a high-powered turret.
[2016-09-21 15:29:26] * Get_Lost "you know... with some har work, you could turn this place into a little paradise..."
[2016-09-21 15:31:06] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The area around the Thunderhead includes a ring of thermal warmers.  They glow orange, but put out barely enough heat to make waypoints in the cold.  Several are failing.  A couple of pegasi can be seen moving between them in a desperate effort to keep them running properly.
[2016-09-21 15:35:17] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Star Dust guides the company to what had been a griffonchaser landing platform towards one corner of the fortress.  It is too cold outside for pegasi to simply stand guard, but as the group approaches, a gun tower tracks them.
[2016-09-21 15:37:08] <Mare-Do-Well> 3And once they touch down, heavy metal doors grind apart.  They seize after a few seconds, but there is enough room for everyone to go inside so long as they do so single file.  With the sound of tortured metal, the doors close behind them.
[2016-09-21 15:37:10] * Mitzi looks out at the conditions and frowns. "Yu can't conquer anyteen. Yu can barely luk aftur yurselves."
[2016-09-21 15:38:00] * Get_Lost mutters "where do i have seen this scene before?"
[2016-09-21 15:38:21] * Golden_Dream blinks. "Why would you want to?" She asks, flatly.
[2016-09-21 15:38:25] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The inside is dark and frigid at first, but a couple thermal warmers rev up to an orange glow, turning the air merely cold.  The hallway was meant for cargo loading, and windows on one side reveal a pegasus soldier whom Star Dust waves to.
[2016-09-21 15:40:17] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"Let's get you situated quickly.  I'm sure we can find someplace for you to stay in one of the west level three hallways," Star Dust says, flapping her wings idly.  "Then I'll find one of our lead engineers," she says to Get_Lost.  "If that's all right with you?"
[2016-09-21 15:40:31] * Get_Lost "how long can a tauntaun go with this cold?"
[2016-09-21 15:41:52] * Bookwright shivers inside his warm clothing, despite the insulation and the space heaters.
[2016-09-21 15:42:50] * Get_Lost "ah, yeah sure. i'm fine with that. i'd like to have news from mitzi as soon as possible, too"
[2016-09-21 15:43:04] * Mitzi seems to be fine in her thick hide and fur.
[2016-09-21 15:44:41] <Mare-Do-Well> 3After the others have left, Wind Weaver guides Mitzi towards the hanger of the /New Cumulus/.  "We're going to be some of the last to depart, but it shouldn't be much longer."
[2016-09-21 15:45:25] * Mitzi nods. "Let us hope Yur alphas eez not too proud ur stupid tu see the truth when Uh tell eet tu dem."
[2016-09-21 15:46:08] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Upon reaching the massive hanger, Mitzy is hit by the exterior cold -- the huge hanger doors are open to the outside air -- but her fur and hide leave her comparatively comfortable.
[2016-09-21 15:46:54] * Golden_Dream grumbles, sidling away from ponies coming close. Protect briefcase.
[2016-09-21 15:47:00] * Mitzi gives a little shiver at the exposure as she adjusts, wishing she did have another layer, but that's all she had at the moment.
[2016-09-21 15:47:06] <Mare-Do-Well> 3They are in time to see Squad Lambda drop off the hanger ramp, falling downward before spreading their wings and flying in formation towards one of the ice buildings.
[2016-09-21 15:47:10] * CopyCat shivers, shaking out her mane and tail and wing feathers. "It's amazing how much being just a /little/ less cold feels." She remarks as the heaters de-freeze the air.
[2016-09-21 15:48:49] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Wind Weaver approached a sky tank.  It is in surprisingly good shape, although riddled on one side with tiny dents and a few actual holes where somepony's shots penetrated.
[2016-09-21 15:49:13] * Get_Lost frowns "mh, from above it looked like a lot better... this place is falling apart... still, maybe something can be arranged"
[2016-09-21 15:49:29] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Wind Weaver waves a wing.  "It's unlocked.  Go ahead and get in.  I'm flying."
[2016-09-21 15:50:25] * Mitzi nods and streps forward, pushing the doors open all the way if they didn't open automatically.
[2016-09-21 15:51:28] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Down below, the ponies and griffin soon find themselves in a hallway made tight from a line of extra beds.  Only a military-like level of order prevents the floor from being covered with personal belongings and the hall nearly impassable.
[2016-09-21 15:52:33] <Mare-Do-Well> 3As it is, however, they occasionally have to squeeze around pegasi who are climbing in or out of bunks, or who are accessing footlockers that are built into the bedframes.  The beds are covered with threadbare and patched blankets.  No pony has a pillow.
[2016-09-21 15:54:39] <Mare-Do-Well> 3They pass by an open doorway to a communal lavoratory where mares and stallions alike take turns standing before sinks and mirrors, preening and making themselves presentable.  From the lack of uniforms, these are civilian citizens, but they tend to their appearance with the same pride and sensibilities as soldiers.
[2016-09-21 15:55:44] * Shatara blushes and tries not to think about the strange mares pushing past him in the tight spaces
[2016-09-21 15:55:46] * Get_Lost frowns "uhm... this place is... in bad need of help...."
[2016-09-21 15:56:31] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Above, once the sky tank's doors are closed, Wind Weaver recommends Mitzi strap in.  The benches that line the sky tank are clearly not sized for hellhounds, much less one with her impressive physique.  And the straps really aren't designed with her in mind.  But it might be possible with difficulty.
[2016-09-21 15:56:47] * Mitzi nods and does her best.
[2016-09-21 16:00:06] * Golden_Dream bites her lip. She always saw these ponies as this overfunded evil force. Mockingly crisp and clean as if the dirt and grime of the world were too good for them. This... This was the kind of poverty she came from. "How long has it been this way?" She quietly wondered.
[2016-09-21 16:00:14] * Get_Lost offers weakly "you know, i'm a medic too, and... uhm... maybe there are things that need work more urgently than the air fortress?"
[2016-09-21 16:06:31] <Mare-Do-Well> 3WIth a few flaps of her wings, Wind Weaver gets the sky tank to lift off, flying it out of the hanger.  Mitzi can feel the small, airborne vehicle cant and yaw, tilting upwards as Wind Weaver carries it higher.
[2016-09-21 16:07:01] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Below, Star Dust blinks at Get_Lost's question. "Like what?"
[2016-09-21 16:07:22] * Bookwright sighs. "I don't know why I thought it would be different. Most of these ponies are citizens because that's all they've ever known. They're just as helpless and trapped as everypony else with nowhere to go."
[2016-09-21 16:07:50] * Mitzi straps herself in as well as she can, gripping two other sets of straps with each paw to stay still. She frowns and tries not to be sick.
[2016-09-21 16:10:25] * CopyCat senses the mood in the air, and, although less susceptible to it's influence than before, she tidies up her already immaculate mane and makes herself look regal and pristine. Alicorns certainly had a natural grace going for them.
[2016-09-21 16:10:42] * Get_Lost "well... there is a lot of metal there, and parts. you could build better structures and make them warmer. also, i think that there is a lot of unused machinery into those stations. the workforce could start salvaging them to expand the base. i'm sure that some sort of natural energy source could be found around these perts. like building a dam downhill, that could power a lot of things up here"
[2016-09-21 16:12:46] * Get_Lost "zebras don't control the whole forest. you could forage there, at least in safe places. with some scouting and some proper exploring you could find food and they wouldn't even notice that you were there. away from roam, the jungle is actually mostly unhabitated"
[2016-09-21 16:13:25] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Star Dust responds, "We are already using the materials we have to create more structures.  There is a lot that we don't have, or have far too little of.  But we have plenty of snow and plenty of clouds.  That means plenty of pure water, both for our own needs and to create ice structures.  We can also build with clouds."
[2016-09-21 16:14:38] * Golden_Dream looks down and feels this gut wrongness with her. Not quite fear, deeper and more subtly wrong. Something like the feeling of being very high and suddenly losing your footing. Dread.
[2016-09-21 16:15:01] * Get_Lost "you need food and power to keep worm. even now you risk to lose ponies because of pneumponia. please tell me that the foals are given better places to live than this"
[2016-09-21 16:15:10] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"Creating more buildings isn't a problem.  Keeping ponies from freezing to death in them is.  We only have so many thermal warmers... it might seem like we have a lot, but there really isn't enough to warm new structures.  Especially when the ones we have are old and keep failing,"  Star Dust says.
[2016-09-21 16:15:37] * Golden_Dream looks at Star Dust, an uncharacteristic gentleness coming from her. "Is it like this everywhere?"
[2016-09-21 16:16:29] * Get_Lost "maybe they can be improved? can i see one of those thermal warmers?"
[2016-09-21 16:16:46] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"We've cannibalized what we have, like blankets, to the point where we cannot afford to lose any more to repair others.  As you can see, the material from pillows has already been used to patch blankets.  And there's really nothing up here that we can burn."
[2016-09-21 16:17:26] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"We've scavenged dead trees from Crescent Moon Canyon for the furnaces," she adds.  "But you really don't want to breathe the nasty, kinda-pink smoke they create when they burn."
[2016-09-21 16:19:13] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Star Dust freezes at the mention of foals.  Then sighs, drooping visibly.  "We don't have any foals here."
[2016-09-21 16:20:30] * Get_Lost doesn't find the guts to reply. simply gulps and doesn't say a word for a while
[2016-09-21 16:20:47] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Star Dust tells Get_Lost, "Procreation is forbidden.  We don't have the food to feed them or the cloth to clothe them, and they probably wouldn't survive the cold.  The General's Council has ordered a moratorium on reproduction."
[2016-09-21 16:21:39] * Golden_Dream 's features sunk. "... I- I need to use the little filly's room."
[2016-09-21 16:21:55] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Star Dust digs a hoof at the ground.  "Although, if we do move, I am on the pre-approved list to have one child."  She gives s sad but hopeful look.  "I'd really like to be a mother."
[2016-09-21 16:22:27] * CopyCat stops, looking at Star Dust in shock. "No wonder everpony's so tense!"
[2016-09-21 16:23:48] * Shatara blinks. "How does that even work? They couldn't possibly have banned..." He makes a...particular gesutre with his talons.
[2016-09-21 16:24:48] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Star Dust looks at Shatara and blushes deeply.  "Oh!  Oh... um... we... we can still do that.  But... our doctors... they make sure any pregnancy doesn't continue past the first two weeks."
[2016-09-21 16:26:16] * Get_Lost nods "i see." sighs and sits, thinking more "i guess that the only way is to move the fortress somewhere else, then... still, you cannot risk a war and lose even that." pauses and mumbles "say, you like punga?"
[2016-09-21 16:26:28] * Bookwright "So this is all very obviously unsustainable. How long have your leaders been allowing things to decline like this?"
[2016-09-21 16:28:10] * Golden_Dream flees to the bathroom, or failing that, a place where she could be alone. And then the heaving of her chest began to intensify. She felt like she was molting from her lungs outward, and she started to make this little sound, not quite a squeak. It wasn't that assertive or definitive.
[2016-09-21 16:28:16] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"We've had the moratorium for a little over twelve years."
[2016-09-21 16:28:22] * Shatara pales and slumps. He'd known mares in the stable who've been forced to take such...measures, for similar reasons. They...they never quite got over it...
[2016-09-21 16:28:48] * Get_Lost "if you move on the borders of the jungle, or at the foothils down the mountains, you could start anew...."
[2016-09-21 16:29:59] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Above, Mitzi feels the sky tank touch down.  A moment later, she hears Wind Weaver exit.  Then the door to the back opens and her pegasus friend's head pokes in.  "This... I'm sorry.  I know you aren't going to like this.  But just be brave, okay?"
[2016-09-21 16:30:51] * Mitzi frowns. "Uh'm braver den most Uh tink."
[2016-09-21 16:31:08] * Bookwright "Actually, I was talking about the literally unsustainable living conditions. You've got non-military ponies sleeping asshole to armpit under too-thin blankets. Your space heaters are stuck together with chewing gum and faint hope. Your buildings are falling apart. Living here just isn't working. Why are you, the Enclave, still here?"
[2016-09-21 16:32:56] * Mitzi makes a point of swallowing her bile from the rough ride.
[2016-09-21 16:34:10] * Get_Lost "because they couldn't leave the fortress here. it was too important, for the generals..."
[2016-09-21 16:36:01] * Bookwright "A healthy, useful military force with a healthy, useful supply chain is more important than a grounded skyship. If they don't have the one, they could never hope to hold the other."
[2016-09-21 16:39:35] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Wind Weaver opens the door.  The building she has landed in is made almost entirely of clouds.   Stretching from the landing platform is a walkway made of clear ice.  It stretches ahead through a cloud doorway and into a huge, circular chamber ringed with columns.  The chamber has no floor.
[2016-09-21 16:40:21] * Mitzi frowns a bit but stretches out her hind claws and goes down on all fours, gently rooting herself on the ice as she moves forward.
[2016-09-21 16:41:31] * Shatara nods in agreement with Bookwright.
[2016-09-21 16:41:55] * Get_Lost "we will try to fix that, i guess..."
[2016-09-21 16:42:29] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The ice walkway stretches across open air to reach a single solid platform just big enough for two ponies (or one Mitzi) to stand on.  The platform is ringed by clouds that hold it suspended hundreds of feet above the dark valley of Lunar Rising.  On the far end of the chamber, three pegasi sit like judges on cloud-seats at a cloud-bench.
[2016-09-21 16:43:05] * Mitzi moves forward slowly, deliberately, with intent. She glances at Wind Weaver a moment. "Dese tree eez yur alphas?"
[2016-09-21 16:44:50] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Each of the three is wearing a crisp purple military uniform covered in medals and symbols.  Wind Weaver nods.  "This is the General's Council."  Left to right, she points out, "General Blockade, General Typhoon and General Debate."
[2016-09-21 16:47:06] * CopyCat points out, "Historically the Enclave have put their faith in symbols and displays of power. I can't imagine those in charge of such a organization are keen to give up their legacy."
[2016-09-21 16:48:24] * Mitzi steps forward onto the platform of ice. She looks up at the trio, meeting each of their eyes. She could not bow, nor show them formal deferrence until she felt they deserved to be treated with that honor.
[2016-09-21 16:51:21] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The pegasi on the far right, a black-coated stallion with a bright shock of silver and cerulean mane leans forward, speaking into a small microphone.  His voice is magnified across the chamber.  "Good morning, hellhound.  We are told your name is 'Mitsee'?  Is that correct?"
[2016-09-21 16:52:01] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Even as he speaks, a deferential pegasus mare flies up to Mitzi and offers a collar with a protruding microphone on it.
[2016-09-21 16:53:17] * Mitzi eyes the collar thoughtfully a moment. It was a very large chamber, and unlike those she might speak in at a Hellhound den, there was nothing solid to amplify her voice. She takes the collar and slips it on. "Ur name eez Mitzi, daughter uv Mantle, Uv da Ponyville Hellhound Pack."
[2016-09-21 17:01:22] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The brick-red stallion on the left manages to look constipated.  The orange mare with the scarlet locks remains impassive.  The stallion on the right smiles.  "Thank you for joining us this morning, Mitzi.  Would you like a cup of coffee?"
[2016-09-21 17:02:24] <Mare-Do-Well> 3His tone takes a reproachful edge when he adds, "Please trust that this is a sign of honor.  Coffee is a precious liquid, and what I am offering you is from the last we have for the foreseeable future."
[2016-09-21 17:04:49] * Mitzi responds curtly. "Eet eez gud tu see dat yu hav at least some idea of honor. Wut ponies und Hellhounds consider tu hav honor may differ, but Uh am glad tu see yu eez not devoid uv eet."
[2016-09-21 17:06:11] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Below, Star Dust seems to have become preoccupied looking for somepony, not answering Bookwright's question.  Finally, she finds an elderly mare with whom she exchanges brief hellos before pointing at the group and requesting accomodations.
[2016-09-21 17:08:06] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The elderly mare looks the group over.  Assessment done, she announces, "We don't have any more bunks at the moment.  We could fashion a few new cloud-bunks, but that wouldn't do for most of you.  And you don't want ones made of ice.  So I hope you're not bothered sleeping on tables."
[2016-09-21 17:10:19] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The elderly mare announces, "We don't have a space left by a thermal, but we do have a room confined enough and solid enough that your mutual body heat should keep it at a fair temperature once you've been in there together a bit.  I'll have the storage in there moved immediately."
[2016-09-21 17:12:45] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"Breakfast starts promptly at oh-four-hundred hours.  I recommend getting there early."  With that, she turns to Star Dust with a smile, "Did you hear the news from botany?  They Generals worked out a trade with the Crystal Empire.  We'll have crystal corn and crystal berries soon.  Already planted the seeds while you were gone."
[2016-09-21 17:13:13] * Golden_Dream steps back with the rest of the group. Her eyes seem bloodshot and watery. Her throat hoarse and tired and rasps as she speaks. "No shit. They owe us a favor anyways."
[2016-09-21 17:13:22] * Get_Lost "i don't think i have time for a bed. can i see the damn not-so-flying thing?"
[2016-09-21 17:16:14] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"We're all at half-rations until the next harvest, so I hope you're not expecting a buffet.  But it's a damn lot better than a can of 225-year-old applesauce."
[2016-09-21 17:17:18] * Get_Lost "got mine. i don't need a place. i need to get all of you out of THIS place. now, may i?"
[2016-09-21 17:18:48] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Above, the left pegasi scowls and the middle one frowns slightly.  General Debate prompts, "So, is that a 'yes' or a 'no' on the coffee?"
[2016-09-21 17:19:57] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Below, Star Dust eeps and nods.  "Follow me, Get_Lost..."  She eeps again at the look the elderly pony gives her and squeaks, "That's her name."
[2016-09-21 17:19:57] * CopyCat nods solemnly to the older mare. "That will be fine, thank you. We shall be able to keep warm in the mean time. Or at least not cold." She then looks to Star Dust, "However, seeing the conditions around here we are more eager to help than ever. I believe Get Lost wishes to see your engineering team at once."
[2016-09-21 17:20:27] * Mitzi nods. "A yes. Now, Uh hav a question fer yu." She gestures to herself, "Und a storee. Furst da question. When yu pegasus ponees look at me, at un uv Ur kind, wut do yu see?" She knew Wind Weaver mentioned many pegasi saw them as animals, but she was curious what response they would give.
[2016-09-21 17:20:39] * CopyCat bows her head at Star Dust, "Thank you."
[2016-09-21 17:21:12] * Get_Lost "totally legit. get lost solaris. if you're looking for me i'll be downstairs making some damage. bookie, shatara, you are both as good as me with technology, if you want to help i'll be happy"
[2016-09-21 17:21:30] * Get_Lost then follows star dust
[2016-09-21 17:22:55] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The differential mare swoops between bench and platform, delivering to Mitzi a steaming cup of thin black liquid.  The aroma of the coffee is not as pungent as it would be if this was the first pot brewed with these beans, but it is still quite noticeable.
[2016-09-21 17:23:27] * Mitzi takes it and has an experimental sip as she listens to the pegasus alphas.
[2016-09-21 17:24:52] <Mare-Do-Well> 3General Blockade says, "Are you expecting us to treat you like an animal?  If we thought that, we wouldn't be talking to you.  As much as I like a circus, I don't get up this early to watch a dog perform tricks."
[2016-09-21 17:25:35] <Mare-Do-Well> 3General Typhoon shoots General Blockade a nasty look while General Debate throws up hooves in exaggerated exasperation.
[2016-09-21 17:27:11] <Mare-Do-Well> 3General Typhoon answers, "You are a hellhound.  One who was part of the Hellhound Obedience Project.  You escaped."
[2016-09-21 17:28:17] * Mitzi nods, not rising to the bait. "Dat eez wut Uh hoped tu hear. Uh was looked at like an animal by manee uv those beneath you." She looks to Typhoon. "Dat eez also true. Uh escaped frum yur slavery. Now, du anee uv Yu know wut Hellhounds see when we look at ponees?"
[2016-09-21 17:28:22] * Bookwright makes a journal update. "Finally down to the grounded airship. It's surreal. Every structure is white, but they come in two flavors: snow or cloud. The civilian population lives in privation little better than the street-dwelling homeless I've seen back in the NCR. Not enough food, blankets, space, or warmth. We've been given a storage cupboard and comfortable tables to sleep on. They're...
[2016-09-21 17:28:22] * Bookwright ...offering us hospitality despite their hardship, which says a lot. Beats sleeping in the snow I guess, but I worry about the sustainability of their population."
[2016-09-21 17:28:39] * Shatara follows the sciencepone, hoping to be useful somehow.
[2016-09-21 17:28:45] * Bookwright snaps his journal closed and follows Get_Lost downstairs.
[2016-09-21 17:29:22] <Mare-Do-Well> 3General Debate hazards, "I suspect they see us as evil.  Oppressors, at the very least.  Monsters, more than likely."
[2016-09-21 17:29:36] <Mare-Do-Well> 3General Typhoon answers simply, "Threats."
[2016-09-21 17:31:35] * Mitzi shakes her head, but looks at Debate, gesturing with a paw. "Yu eez da closest. Dere eez some Hounds who see ponies as monsters. But no, da answer eez simple. When a Hellhound sees a ponee, dey see before anyting else, a Thief."
[2016-09-21 17:35:59] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Below, Star Dust flies ahead until she has lead Get_Lost, Shatara and Bookwrite to the nearest engineering lab.  The lab is in an engine room, the room's label having been painted over with "West Engineering".  Several pegasus ponies look up from the work they are busy with.  At a glance, most are hooves-deep in repair of complex machinery.
[2016-09-21 17:36:31] <Mare-Do-Well> 3One, however, is working on preventive maintenance for possibly the most important machine of all, the still.
[2016-09-21 17:37:44] * Shatara takes a moment to take in the smell of grease and steel. Maybe not as sweet as gunpowder, but it'd do.
[2016-09-21 17:39:32] * Get_Lost "good." takes a look around and frowns "not really... but it will do. where's the problem?"
[2016-09-21 17:42:35] <Mare-Do-Well> 3One of the engineers, the one with the most rank marks on his overalls, stands up and flies up to Get_Lost.  "You're the cyberpony expert they told us was coming, right?"
[2016-09-21 17:44:41] * Get_Lost "i'm get lost solaris. these are my friends. they are as good as me at fixing. if we can help you guys, we will"
[2016-09-21 17:46:08] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The engineer waves a hoof.  "They told us you might get her to fly.  I'm proud to say that we've worked our tails off to get her airworthy again.  She may not look like much up close, but this Thunderhead was constructed two years before the war ended, and we've kept her together and running even when all we had to work with was spit, talent and resolve."
[2016-09-21 17:46:42] * Mitzi adds. "Uh came here today tu tell yu a few truths. Uv tings dat hav happened, Uv tings dat eez happenin, und Uv tings dat will happen. Da tings dat will happen can be changed, eef yu eez willeen, but Uh will tell yu wut will happen eef tings stay as dey are."
[2016-09-21 17:47:36] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Above, the generals all raise eyebrows at the idea that hellhounds see ponies as thieves.
[2016-09-21 17:47:59] * Get_Lost nods "you look like you know what you are doing here, more than me. so, why do you need us? what's wrong?"
[2016-09-21 17:49:19] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Below, the engineer looks at Get_Lost.  "But, to be honest, there are a few systems that are advanced beyond us.  Systems that integrated unicorn magic with earth pony technology in ways we can't even see, much less fix.  But you... you look like you know advanced."
[2016-09-21 17:49:54] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"Tell me, do you have any idea how to repair a medical suspended animation pod?"
[2016-09-21 17:50:11] * Mitzi begins her story. "Dere was a time long ago, when Ur kind wuz known as Diamond Dogs. We tuk dat name fur urselves when we settled een a land uv plenty. Splendid Valley. Eet wuz Ur home, before ponees came, und after. Yu know uv dis place Uh suspect."
[2016-09-21 17:50:40] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Above, General Typhoon nods.
[2016-09-21 17:50:56] * Get_Lost "i..." stops for a moment, then nods "i know the basics. i think i can help"
[2016-09-21 17:52:15] <Mare-Do-Well> 3After a moment, she speaks, "That is the location of the terrorist attack where the surface of Equestria declared war on the Enclave and prompted Operation: Cauterize."
[2016-09-21 17:52:41] * Mitzi nods. "Den yu know wut happened. We lived dere een peace. Ur kind had no part Uv ponee war. We did not fight, und we kept tu urselves. Den ponees tuk Ur home. Dey claimed eet belonged tu dem when we had lived dere so long, und dey forced Diamond Dogs tu leave, so dey cud have all da gems fur dere war."
[2016-09-21 17:53:33] * Mitzi nods to Typhoon's comment. "Uh'll get tu dat."
[2016-09-21 17:55:16] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Below, the engineer pegasus looks relieved.  "Great.  I'm sure you've heard of the Single Pegasus Project, and how the weather for all of Equestria can be run from a modified medical pod?  That technology was first used for the central control system of the Thunderheads.  And ours... well, we know they don't work anymore, but we have no idea where to start."
[2016-09-21 17:56:23] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"No pods working means no pilots.  And the Lunar's Rising can't fly without at least one pilot."
[2016-09-21 17:56:58] * Bookwright "Get Lost here has the earth pony know-how and I've got the unicorn magic. I'm sure between the two of us we can get it running."
[2016-09-21 17:57:18] * Get_Lost "depends on how bad the thunderhead system was damaged. but, you know... we have options."
[2016-09-21 17:58:16] * Get_Lost "let us give a look at it and we will decide how to proceed. in the worst case, i have a backup plan"
[2016-09-21 17:59:14] * Bookwright gently shoves Get_Lost. "No permanent cyberization or installation of other ponies without their /express/ consent."
[2016-09-21 17:59:56] * Bookwright "Also, please don't do something weird like install a soft serve ice cream machine in some unsuspecting pony's torso."
[2016-09-21 18:00:14] * Get_Lost "hey, do i look like your average half-done work mare to you?"
[2016-09-21 18:02:42] * Bookwright sighs. "Right. Obviously you would also install a hot fudge dispenser at the same time."
[2016-09-21 18:04:33] <Mare-Do-Well> 3--- End of Session ---
[2016-09-21 18:04:50] <Mare-Do-Well> 3XP: +2000