Fallout: Beyond Equestria, 62: The Top of the World (Part 4)

[2013-11-27 13:36:41] <Kkat> 3The door in the hallway ceiling opens, revealing what at first appears to be a bare room.  Shatara can see his breath.  There is frost on the walls in here.  He spots a door higher up on the far wall -- one that should open into the vertical hallway.  Then, he sees the corpse in the near corner.
[2013-11-27 13:36:51] <Kkat> 3The pegasus is definitely dead.  The gaping pit in his head, blood frozen red, proves there is no need for Get Lost to give a second opinion.
[2013-11-27 13:37:44] <Kkat> 3Golden_Dream does see something that Shatara could not, however.  At the point where the hallways intersect, Mare-Do-Well is standing on the edge of the horizontal hallway, staring downward.  She looked up at Mare-Do-Well. "How ya'll doin', friend?"  Mare-Do-Well doesn't respond.  Doesn't move.
[2013-11-27 13:38:32] <Kkat> 3Golden_Dream blinks. Wait, what's wrong with her? Ugh. She walks over to Mare-Do-Well and pantomimes patting her back. "Hey. Hey." She looked back and ushered Shatara closer.  Shatara backs away from the body towards Golden_Dream's more...alive concerns.
[2013-11-27 13:38:40] <Kkat> 3The floor and ceiling of the horizontal hallway end, only to begin again a couple yards away across the gap.  Above, the vertical hallway rises up as far as Shatara's light allows them to see.  There are doors in the walls, the one directly above presumably the second door on the room where Shatara found the corpse.
[2013-11-27 13:38:58] <Kkat> 3Below, the hallway extends down less than a pony's height, a space that would have been an alcove (perhaps a reading nook or a place for potted plants) at the end of the vertical hallway.
[2013-11-27 13:39:00] <Kkat> 3On the floor (which had formerly been a wall) of that alcove is a framed photograph -- the glass shattered and the frame broken --of a young pink pony covered in flour in front of two laughing baby ponies.  The background, while blurry, is multicolored and bright.
[2013-11-27 13:39:06] <Kkat> 3Golden_Dream looks down at the picture. "... How'd you know her?"
[2013-11-27 13:39:11] <Kkat> 3Mare-Do-Well finally manages, "That's Pinkie Pie."  She gives a painful smile.  "You can't tell because she was so much younger then.  And covered in flour."
[2013-11-27 13:39:16] <Kkat> 3Golden_Dream looks back at the picture. "... I'm sorry." She says. "I bet she's somewhere better now." Not that it was too terribly hard.
[2013-11-27 13:39:21] <Kkat> 3Mare-Do-Well brushes a ghostly hoof over her non-crying eyes.  "Heh... as if that's terribly hard."
[2013-11-27 13:39:29] <Kkat> 3Golden_Dream blinks. Holy shit, that was weird. She sort of pantomimes touching her
[2013-11-27 13:39:39] <Kkat> 3shoulder. "Hey, if you want t' talk, me 'n Shatara and all th' others are willin' t' listen. But we do care about you, alright? 'Cause you're a friend."
[2013-11-27 13:39:47] <Kkat> 3Golden_Dream looks at Shatara. "Ain't that right, Shatara?"
[2013-11-27 13:39:54] <Kkat> 3Shatara blinks. He trusted his friends that this invisible companion did, in fact, exist, but it didn't make this much less awkward. "Uuh...sure?"
[2013-11-27 13:39:59] <Kkat> 3Mare-Do-Well turns to Golden_Dream and decides not to mention that the others cannot see or hear her.
[2013-11-27 13:40:04] <Kkat> 3Golden_Dream just shrugs and looks down. Odd how expression can yell so loudly. "I know, I know. But it don't mean that they don't believe you exist. And even though I have t' be your mouth, I really wanna help you get through this. Alright?"
[2013-11-27 13:40:10] <Kkat> 3Bookwright can't really tell what's going on down there. But it looks important.
[2013-11-27 13:40:16] <Kkat> 3Mare-Do-Well exaggerates sighing, then nods.  And looks up the shaft above.
[2013-11-27 13:40:21] <Kkat> 3CopyCat has settled down with her forehooves just over the edge of the 'outer' door, peering in.
[2013-11-27 13:40:30] <Kkat> 3Golden_Dream shifts a little, looking uncomfortable. "When they come down, and after I ask 'em, could y' possess a friend? I promise not t' do what I did last time."
[2013-11-27 13:40:41] <Kkat> 3Noble_Heart sits not far from CopyCat, keeping an eye back down the tunnel.
[2013-11-27 13:41:05] <Kkat> 3Fallout: Beyond Equestria, Session Sixty-Two: The Top of the World (Part Four) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LETrhOP90p4
[2013-11-27 13:41:21] <Kkat> 3--- Session Begins ---
[2013-11-27 13:48:13] * Get_Lost sits where se was told to and waits for the others to decide a decent place where they will spend the night
[2013-11-27 13:48:54] * CopyCat looks back the way they come through the giant hollow tower and wonders idly to herself. "So many floors in this place are unfinished. I wonder what they would have been if they were."
[2013-11-27 13:49:49] * Noble_Heart sat in the hallway, giving a steady gaze down the path they followed to reach here. She looked up towards CopyCat. "We are uncertain. Perhaps it was used as maintenance area? Or a convenient place to stockpile supplies as upper floors were built. Such a large tower would surely require work crews to transport great deals of material far into the air. Even pegasi would need
[2013-11-27 13:49:49] * Noble_Heart breaks doing that much labor."
[2013-11-27 13:54:34] * CopyCat nods and turns around, letting her tail dangle over the edge of the door. She glances at Noble_Heart for a moment, before biting her lip and looking at Get_Lost instead. "Get, I wanted to ask you what life was like. When you were at the orphanage, I mean."
[2013-11-27 13:54:57] * CopyCat adds, "If you don't mind talking about it, that is."
[2013-11-27 13:56:52] * Get_Lost shrugs "i've never been in an orphanage. i was a scrusader.... you know, a group of foals all looking for their cutiemarks and... well, all orphans, but with no adults... ah... actually there was one, but he died before i arrived... was some sort of priest..."
[2013-11-27 13:58:12] * Get_Lost "by the way, we scavenged a lot and made a lot of contests... you know, spitting contests, singing contests, cuteness contests.... breath holding contests... oh, and we tried not to die... that is mostly all we did."
[2013-11-27 13:59:24] * Get_Lost "i was the medic, r at least i wanted to, but nopony wanted me to use a scalpel because they knew what happened when i did practice on my dolls... it was frustrating. then i got my fail cutiemark and they chased me away"
[2013-11-27 14:00:26] * Golden_Dream continues to attempt to investigate the area with Shatara, pretty much from left to right.
[2013-11-27 14:00:37] * CopyCat frowns. "They chased you away because of your cutiemark? I think it's quite stylish."
[2013-11-27 14:01:59] * Shatara searches through the wrecked tower with Golden_Dream.
[2013-11-27 14:02:39] <Kkat> 3The air is freezing, but at least the wind seems to have died down.  Winterized barding and Equestria's Love keep out the worst of the chill.  Back the way they had come, the world grows darker.
[2013-11-27 14:03:54] * Bookwright "Er, I never found out... Get, what does your cutiemark mean? And your name is very odd too."
[2013-11-27 14:05:11] * Get_Lost "well, the whole idea was that you were a crusader if you didn't have a cutiemark. once you got yours, you weren't allowed to stay, that's all... moreover, more than an orphan lost her parets because of solaris and... well, they simply didn't like me"
[2013-11-27 14:06:13] * Get_Lost "well, usually it means that i am good at... ehr..." the mare seems embarassed
[2013-11-27 14:06:24] * Noble_Heart frowns. "We think it is unfair to judge a pony merely by their ancestory. It is wrong to assume that one cannot do something simply because those who came before them could not."
[2013-11-27 14:06:26] <Kkat> 3Inside Level 20, the intersection is easy to cross, the alcove only creating a drop of about a pony's height.  Something glistens down the hallway beyond, catching Golden_Dream's light.  Working down the hallway, she comes to a rippled sheet of ice where the next vertical hallway should be.
[2013-11-27 14:06:46] * Bookwright has a notepad and pencil out. His look is carefully neutral, but his eyes shine.
[2013-11-27 14:09:02] <Kkat> 3When the tower fell, a pipe had broken somewhere above, turning the next vertical hallway into a waterfall.  The waterfall is now frozen -- a waterfall of ice -- blocking further travel in that direction.  The flowing ice fills the next alcove and pours down the hallway towards Golden_Dream until it reaches a door in the floor, the room below filled with ice.
[2013-11-27 14:10:23] * Get_Lost "well, let's say that after i gave life to a toy cart using some gears and a spark battery and said toy cart bullied us until the battery died out, they didn't want me to touch anyrthing and... well, they started to tell me to get lost every time i offered to help... in the end my name became get lost"
[2013-11-27 14:10:25] <Kkat> 3Looking up, Golden_Dream spots a door in the ceiling opposite the one in the floor.  There's only two ways to go now: up the first vertical hallway, or up into the room beyond that door.
[2013-11-27 14:11:01] * CopyCat suddenly looks worried and flattens her ears. "You wouldn't chase me away if I got a cutie mark, would you?"
[2013-11-27 14:11:04] <Kkat> 3There is also the room where Shatara found the slain pegasus, but that room was otherwise empty.
[2013-11-27 14:11:13] * Get_Lost shrugs and looks away from the others
[2013-11-27 14:12:09] * Golden_Dream blinkblinks. The fuck? "Hey Shatara! What do ya'll make a' that?" She tilted her head at the water pipe leakage. "Kinda pretty, but I wish it weren't stoppin' us." She continued down. "Hey, wanna check out that room over there?"
[2013-11-27 14:12:43] * Noble_Heart gently extends a wing over CopyCat's back. "We would not allow Our friends to be driven out so easily. It would not be fair, or just."
[2013-11-27 14:12:47] * Bookwright writes this down.
[2013-11-27 14:14:30] * Shatara flutters up and checks the door.
[2013-11-27 14:15:22] * CopyCat smiles. "Thank you Noble_Heart," she says, sounding relieved.
[2013-11-27 14:19:02] * Get_Lost "well, yeah, i dont' think that anypony beyond foalhood would do that... but you know kids: they could be a little... emotional, when they decide a line of action"
[2013-11-27 14:26:15] * Bookwright thinks back to the reason he got out here doing what he was doing. "Yeah. Yeah, I do know. But that doesn't mean that good can't come of it."
[2013-11-27 14:30:40] * Noble_Heart tilts her head to one side curiously at Bookwright's comments, then looks to Get Lost. "Necessity breeds prejudice from ponies." She stood and stretched her legs a few moments, trying to get some cramps out of them it seems.
[2013-11-27 14:32:09] * Get_Lost since story time seemed to have finished, the mad scientist goes back tinkering with the blank pipbuck while the others chat.
[2013-11-27 14:34:14] * Bookwright calls into the hole. "How's it going in there, y'all?"
[2013-11-27 14:38:33] * CopyCat turns to Noble_Heart, Get_Lost, and Bookwright. "Should we join them? Golden's rope wasn't long enough to be any use, and it looks too narrow for us to use our wings..."
[2013-11-27 14:38:49] * Get_Lost "copy, noble, was it difficult for the two of you being accepted among pony society after the goddess died?"
[2013-11-27 14:39:53] * Get_Lost checks down the hole "i don't think i'm agile enough to go down there without multiple bruises or even worse"
[2013-11-27 14:40:34] * CopyCat ruffles her wings and mumbles quietly. "I don't really remember that far back..."
[2013-11-27 14:40:39] * Noble_Heart tilts her head to the side, contemplating that. "We found Our place with the Followers. Though We know that many little ponies did not seem to appreciate Our presence." She sighs quietly, the white fog of her breath hanging a moment before blowing away. "But We were willing to shoulder that burden, whether it happened happily or not."
[2013-11-27 14:40:59] <Kkat> 3Shatara opens the door, finding an empty room almost identical to the previous one, except without a body in it, and with more doors.  One door is situated high on the wall, clearly leading to the first vertical hallway.  The second is a small door that looks suspiciously like the one from which the detergent attacked.  A third opens into an adjacent room.
[2013-11-27 14:42:48] * Golden_Dream calls up to Bookie. "Just a couple more doors and stuff. We found a nifty ice sheet thing, though! It looks like a pipe burst or somethin' and it filled up a whole room and stuff! Kinda purty!" She looks to where Shatara went up next. "Hey, whatcha got up there?
[2013-11-27 14:42:52] * Get_Lost "well, at least the most part of ponies will judge you by your actions and not your appearance, it seems.... that's good, i'll take it as a sign of equestria actually healing"
[2013-11-27 14:44:55] * Shatara glances around. "Rooms and sideways and doors. Looking to come up?"
[2013-11-27 14:45:16] * Noble_Heart looks to Get Lost quietly a few moments. "We are not certain that healing is the right word. Improving might be more fitting." She yawned a moment and shook her head. "Mmmh. We have spent far too long carrying the fire wagon without rest today."
[2013-11-27 14:46:19] * Golden_Dream nods. "Uh. If it ain't too much trouble." She said, a little awkwardly. She'd been flown around more in the last week than most of her early childhood.
[2013-11-27 14:52:50] * Get_Lost "if you arent' afraid of freezing, you could do some standsleeping while the others explore, i'll keep an eye around" the mare smiles, the visor that replaced her eyes blinks for a moment from green to blue "yeah, that was a poor joke"
[2013-11-27 14:53:28] * Shatara glances around the room again before hopping down, offering Golden_Dream a ride up.
[2013-11-27 14:55:29] * CopyCat peers down into the corridor. "Hmm, we can't fly down there but we could levitate you two. If you wanted to join them."
[2013-11-27 14:56:26] * Golden_Dream hops up and blushes. "So, uh. Where do ya'll wanna go next?"
[2013-11-27 14:57:03] * Bookwright "I think we're all going to have to go through here, sooner or later. Why don't you send me down, and then I'll bring you? My tee-kay is strong enough for that."
[2013-11-27 14:58:25] * Shatara catches a glance of the blush and finds himself blushing as well, taking off for the short hop up through the door. "Well, there are a few doors up here..." He glares a moment at the still secured probably-a-closet.
[2013-11-27 14:58:53] * Noble_Heart frowns and sighs quietly. "We would rather wait until We are certain there is danger, or a path to the higher floors, before descending. Getting out may not be as simple as getting in."
[2013-11-27 15:00:14] * Bookwright shrugs. "As you wish. All this waiting is getting me itching."
[2013-11-27 15:00:58] * Golden_Dream looks up. "Hey. Wouldja open up that closet?" She rubbed her mane and chuckles. "Hopefully, this time, without gettin' pegged by a detergent box?"
[2013-11-27 15:01:42] * CopyCat nods, and surrounds Bookwright with tingly magic. "Ups-a-daisy," she murmurs, lifting Bookwright a little into the air. When Noble speaks she tilts her head. "Oh, or should we wait?"
[2013-11-27 15:04:03] * Bookwright nods. "Please, send me along. Airmail, postage see-oh-dee."
[2013-11-27 15:04:13] * Get_Lost "i'll stay here and keep company to noble... maybe we can do some mutual brushing, it's relaxing and she looks tired"
[2013-11-27 15:04:28] * Noble_Heart stretches her wings briefly. "We do not think it necessarily bad to try and catch up with Our friends. But at the moment We are uncertain that proceeding would be wise without knowing there is a path out on the other side."
[2013-11-27 15:05:53] * CopyCat gently lowers Bookwright through the doorway. "Okay, but you stay safe and don't talk to strangers."
[2013-11-27 15:07:34] * CopyCat adds, "Unless they have candy. Then ask them to report to me."
[2013-11-27 15:13:10] * CopyCat looks back at Noble_Heart and Get_Lost, her companions topside. "It's just us girls here soo... do we gossip now? How does this work?"
[2013-11-27 15:14:25] * Shatara sighs and nods. He flaps up to the door, bracing himself as he reaches for the handle from as faaaar to the side as possible.
[2013-11-27 15:14:53] * Get_Lost taps her chin, then offers "i think we need pajamas if we want to do this right...."
[2013-11-27 15:15:00] * Noble_Heart blinks and nuzzles CopyCat. "We have never been much for gossip. It seems unfair. Though We are glad to share time with Our companions, especially Our siblings."
[2013-11-27 15:15:01] * Golden_Dream makes sure she's away from the debris that's probably gonna come down!
[2013-11-27 15:16:10] * Shatara pauses as his tail goes twitchy-twitch. Huh...
[2013-11-27 15:17:35] * Bookwright settles down. "So, uh, anything interesting mister feathers?"
[2013-11-27 15:18:23] * CopyCat smiles at Noble_Heart and nods at Get_Lost. "Hmm, marshmellows and pillows would help too... wait, why did I just think of Sweetie Belle?"
[2013-11-27 15:19:34] * Get_Lost "so... noble, do you like bookie? i mean, like as in liking him as a stallion..."
[2013-11-27 15:19:38] * Noble_Heart taps her chin with a forehoof. "We suppose if one were looking to do such things that those would not be amiss. Hoof paint might also be involved, though We are not certain."
[2013-11-27 15:20:52] * Bookwright looks up forlornly at one of the doors in the ceiling. "Maybe if I jump really hard..."
[2013-11-27 15:23:27] <Kkat> 3The door handle refuses to budge.  At first, it would seem to be locked.  But it doesn't even have that much give.
[2013-11-27 15:26:21] * Golden_Dream blinks. "Huh. Well, y' tried. So, left-hoof rule, top t' bottom, front t' back..." She considers her options before opting to try the third door, the one not leading into the hallway nor the closet.
[2013-11-27 15:26:34] * Get_Lost not getting a reply from Noble_Heart, the mare sighs and tries again "i think he's totally digging you, noble..."
[2013-11-27 15:28:13] <Kkat> 3Yep.  Definitely locked.
[2013-11-27 15:28:47] * Bookwright looks up. "Whassamatta, Shatara? Locked? Eeesh, I don't think I can pick that from here."
[2013-11-27 15:29:58] * Shatara un-braces and blinks. "Huh." He pokes at the handle and stares at it dumbfounded, before snapping out and looking down at Bookwright. "Oh. Heya."
[2013-11-27 15:29:59] * Golden_Dream looks up at it. "Eh. Prolly don't have anything good in it, anyway." She attempts to hop on over and open the third door.
[2013-11-27 15:30:41] * Noble_Heart blinks and frowns. "He is a nice pony, who seems to care deeply about those who are risking losing their past. But We fear that his obsession may drive him to do something regretable." She sighs quietly.
[2013-11-27 15:32:03] * Get_Lost "okay, that's a very deep thing, still... would you kiss him?"
[2013-11-27 15:33:28] * Noble_Heart looks a touch confused. "Maybe? We do not usually think of Our companions in such a way. Much less those who are amongst Our charges as defenders."
[2013-11-27 15:35:39] * Get_Lost "well, okay, but we are doing gossip... we're not supposed to take it very seriously... ah, let's do this: try asking a question to copycat, okay?"
[2013-11-27 15:39:01] * Noble_Heart considers that, then looks to CopyCat. "Do you ever worry that by leaving home with us you'll end up in danger? That We might have encouraged you to take a path that may see you hurt, or worse?"
[2013-11-27 15:45:54] * Golden_Dream realizes she probably can't get to door number three. She's over not being born with wings, but it didn't mean that she couldn't wish she had them every now and again. "Hey, Shatara. See what's in that there door, wouldy'?
[2013-11-27 15:46:19] * CopyCat ponders for a moment, then shakes her head. "No. Usually I just focus on the now. And I like to be helpful, because then ponies like me." CopyCat smiles pleasantly.
[2013-11-27 15:47:16] * Shatara flaps over to the door and cautiously tries peeking inside.
[2013-11-27 15:48:05] * Get_Lost nodnods "so eveypony is happy... and say, copy, do you remember meeting a stallion you loved? or a mare, maybe?"
[2013-11-27 15:49:55] * Noble_Heart smiles to CopyCat, wrapping a wing around her gently. "We thank you."
[2013-11-27 15:52:50] * Bookwright steps back and investigates the door in the floor he'd been standing on.
[2013-11-27 15:52:52] * CopyCat 's smile does not falter. "No, I don't really remember... anything like that."
[2013-11-27 15:54:56] * Get_Lost "well, this is totally not my business, but you  are a really beautiful mare and it would be a waste if you didn't find love. love is the best thing, i was told"
[2013-11-27 15:56:20] * CopyCat blushes slightly. "Oh. Thank you, Get."
[2013-11-27 15:59:18] * Noble_Heart straightens up with perhaps a bit of pride. "We believe that all Our sisters are quite beautiful. Our kind were made to be grand." She frowns a little then slowly settles down again. "We shall wait until We know which way the exit is."
[2013-11-27 16:01:13] <Kkat> 3Golden_Dream reaches across from Shatara's back, nimbly grasping the door handle in a hoof... only to find it seems stuck.  She shifts her weight, pushing her hoof hard against it, and the door gives, not merely swinging open but falling into the room with a crash.
[2013-11-27 16:03:23] <Kkat> 3Beyond, Golden_Dream's light glistens off of more ice.  A lot of it!  Sheets of it cascade down the far wall, and large, wicked icicles hang all around a gap in the ceiling where the structure has given away.  Above, Golden_Dream finds herself staring up into the wreckage of a bathroom.
[2013-11-27 16:03:25] * CopyCat coughs quietly. "Well, I believe that you are quite pretty too, Noble_Heart."
[2013-11-27 16:04:19] * Shatara admires the sheets of ice, and his tail twitchatwitches again.
[2013-11-27 16:06:37] <Kkat> 3Golden_Dream spots, amongst the ice and wreckage in the bottom of this new room, what looks disturbingly like frozen chunks of shattered pony -- like the pony fell, frozen, from above and was dashed to pieces on the ice below.
[2013-11-27 16:10:30] <Kkat> 3Bookwright is focused downward.  The wall-turned-floor along this hall is rippled and damaged, the door on the floor is twisted and bend partially upwards by a girder from beneath, the room below inaccessible from structural damage.
[2013-11-27 16:11:18] * Bookwright moves on, steps carefully past the Pinkie Pie Picture, and looks up. "Hey, y'all! Find anything?"
[2013-11-27 16:11:34] * Golden_Dream frowns. "... Yeah. I found a pony."
[2013-11-27 16:12:07] * Shatara hmms? and looks down. "Eeeh..."
[2013-11-27 16:12:26] * Bookwright "...And?"
[2013-11-27 16:16:27] * Golden_Dream sighs and starts unrolling her rope. "He's there... And there. And there. And there." She wants to go down and investigate the corpse. "This'll take a moment, Shatara. I'll holler if I need y'.
[2013-11-27 16:16:53] * Bookwright screws up his face. "Ew."
[2013-11-27 16:17:43] * Bookwright wanders back to the other side of the hallway, and attempts to get into the room where the first corpse was found.
[2013-11-27 16:18:56] * Shatara nods and floats down to Bookwright as Golden_Dream hops off his back.
[2013-11-27 16:19:39] * Golden_Dream attempts to use the rope to get down and look through the... Um. Pieces.
[2013-11-27 16:20:02] * Bookwright leaps up... and falls backwards onto his back. *WHAM*
[2013-11-27 16:20:07] * Bookwright "...ow..."
[2013-11-27 16:21:56] * Bookwright stands upright. "OOokay, here goes again."
[2013-11-27 16:22:45] * Bookwright leaps.
[2013-11-27 16:26:43] * Shatara raises a talon and opens his beak, but nothing quite comes out.
[2013-11-27 16:27:16] <Kkat> 3Bookwright leaps upward and tries to grasp the edge of the door.  Unfortunately, he is not quite strong enough of a leaper to manage it.  Even more unfortunately, he is just heavy enough that his landing on the warps and damage floor causes it to give away with a loud crack, followed by a metallic crash.
[2013-11-27 16:28:20] <Kkat> 3There isn't far to fall, as the room below is little more than a narrow maintenance section filled with broken pipe, turn wiring and twisted metal shelving.
[2013-11-27 16:30:01] * CopyCat winces at the crashing sound. "Bookwright, are you alright?"
[2013-11-27 16:31:32] * Bookwright whimpers. "...no..."
[2013-11-27 16:32:20] * Shatara meeps, looking over the broken floor/wall.
[2013-11-27 16:32:46] * CopyCat turns to Noble_Heart. "Could you lower me down? I think Bookie has managed to hurt himself."
[2013-11-27 16:33:19] * Noble_Heart nods her head, moving ot the doorway. "We shall do Our best." She concentrates as her magic lifts CopyCat from the ground to float her down to the ground below.
[2013-11-27 16:33:19] * Bookwright looks around inside the tight space anyways. Maybe this wasn't an entirely fruitless, painful experience.
[2013-11-27 16:33:46] <Kkat> 3Bookwright finds himself trapped, his front half is still in the hallway, but his back half plunged through the floor, his hindlegs slamming into twisted and sharp metal beneath.
[2013-11-27 16:35:39] * CopyCat touches down on the ground, then has a thought and looks back up at Noble_Heart and Get_Lost. "Will you... come with me? I'd feel safer if we were together."
[2013-11-27 16:36:16] * Noble_Heart blinks, frowning slightly then nodding her head. "We suppose, if it will make you feel better. Though We will need help getting down. It is an abrupt fall and We do not wish to land upon you."
[2013-11-27 16:38:38] * CopyCat nods her head and lifts Noble like she was lifted herself. Soon Noble and Get_Lost are down as well. "Thank you. Now, let's go find Bookie."
[2013-11-27 16:39:35] * Bookwright grits his teeth. "Ah, erm. Can somepony please help me? I'm kind of, uh, stuck."
[2013-11-27 16:40:04] * CopyCat soon spots the semi-trapped unicorn. Or half of him, at least. "Oh dear, we'll be there in just a moment!"
[2013-11-27 16:40:27] * Noble_Heart nods her head, moving down the hallways after CopyCat. "It seems that Our friend has fallen into a pit trap."
[2013-11-27 16:41:41] * Bookwright "Only one of my own making, I think. Can you help me up here? I'd do it myself, but I think I feel something cold and sharp tickling my nethers..."
[2013-11-27 16:42:16] * Shatara unghcringes.
[2013-11-27 16:43:32] * CopyCat nods a greeting at Shatara and trots around Bookwright, observing the broken section. "Should we pull him up? That might be made though, depending on how he's stuck down there."
[2013-11-27 16:45:14] * Bookwright "Don't mind me, just bleeding onto the jumbled sharp bits down there..."
[2013-11-27 16:45:38] * Noble_Heart frowns and tilts her head to one side. "We could teleport him free? Though that is quite taxing..."
[2013-11-27 16:46:14] <Kkat> 3Despite the cold and the lack of non-slippery hoofholds, Golden_Dream makes it to the bottom of the icy room safely.  The ice is thick here, filling about a third of the height of the room, with ice wielding a multitude of chunks of debris from the broken wall-turned-ceiling and the bathrooms above.  Bits of toilet and a crumpled trash bin are scattered about
[2013-11-27 16:46:44] * CopyCat pats Bookwright on the head. "Don't worry, we're just trying to work out if pulling might makes things worse, on account of those sharp bits you mentioned. We wouldn't want your insides becoming outsides now, would we."
[2013-11-27 16:47:46] * CopyCat taps her chin. "Perhaps we should try pulling, and if it hurts then you can tell us to stop Bookie."
[2013-11-27 16:48:02] * Shatara nods.
[2013-11-27 16:48:04] * Bookwright "Uh. Okay. G'head then."
[2013-11-27 16:48:42] <Kkat> 3As are the broken pieces of frozen pony.  Examination tells Golden_Dream nothing of her death beyond the obvious assumptions, but does reveal something of interest about her life: she was a Steel Ranger scribe, based on the robes and remains of her winterized barding.
[2013-11-27 16:49:29] <Kkat> 3With some searching, Golden_Dream even spots her PipBuck (and most of her left foreleg) frozen to the ice floor, the screen face-down.
[2013-11-27 16:51:15] * Golden_Dream wipes her hoof. Bah. Wings. Who needs wings when you're this awesome? She looks through the chunks of the body and finds the pipbuck. Oh boy. She takes a moment to decide how she's going to proceed.
[2013-11-27 16:52:32] * CopyCat lowers her head to get a grip on Bookwright's mane, also letting him grab hold of her neck. "Mnobble Hhrrt, Shutrrhha, yoo rehdy?"
[2013-11-27 16:53:29] * Noble_Heart blinks in some confusion. "Why do you not levitate him out as you did Us on Our way down?"
[2013-11-27 16:54:32] * CopyCat blinks back, and releases Bookwright's mane. "Ah yes, now there's an idea!"
[2013-11-27 16:55:02] * Shatara takes hold of the stallion's forelegs.
[2013-11-27 16:56:24] * Noble_Heart face-hoofs with a sigh. "Would you like Us to help? Or do you think you can handle it?"
[2013-11-27 16:56:38] * CopyCat holds on Bookwright with her magic instead this time. "Okay Shatara, let's start out gentle. Bookie, let us know if there is any pain." With that, she tries to pull Bookwright out of the hole he'd dug himself.
[2013-11-27 16:57:01] * Bookwright winces pre-emptively.
[2013-11-27 16:57:15] * Shatara starts to pull with the alicorn.
[2013-11-27 17:04:23] * Golden_Dream bites into her winter barding's collar and, after tearing a small hole in the fabric, retrieves a small bit of cotton. She takes the cotton, and then takes the lighter she found on the body earlier, lights it, backs off a bit, then tosses the ball into the antifreeze.
[2013-11-27 17:10:33] * CopyCat grits her teeth, Bookwright seemed more firmly stuck than she'd hoped. "Thanks Noble, but I think... we can... manage..."
[2013-11-27 17:16:27] <Kkat> 3Shatara and CopyCat work at freeing Bookwright.  Just a little strength isn't enough to make him move.  Stronger tugs work, but they do cause some pain, the broken floor acting like barbs, scraping hard across barding and flesh.  Fortunately, none of the metal below is in a position to gut or spear him on the way up.
[2013-11-27 17:18:30] * Bookwright groans. Winces.
[2013-11-27 17:20:38] * CopyCat smiles. "There we go!" But her smile fades when she sees the damage. "Oh, Bookie. Nevermind, big sister CopyCat will get you all better in no time."
[2013-11-27 17:22:33] * CopyCat lights up her horn and aims it at Bookie's butt.
[2013-11-27 17:26:28] * Golden_Dream looks up. "Hey, guys! Ah found somethin'!"
[2013-11-27 17:26:51] * Bookwright "Ahhh... Thanks CopyCat. I feel better now. I promise not to jump up and down on dangerous unstable things anymore. Unless I really want to."
[2013-11-27 17:27:04] * Bookwright looks around. "Yeah, Golden? Whadjafind?"
[2013-11-27 17:28:49] * Noble_Heart moves forwards towards Golden Dream's voice, looking upwards. "We are also curious as to what has been found."
[2013-11-27 17:29:18] * Golden_Dream "Ah found a pipbuck!"
[2013-11-27 17:29:43] * Golden_Dream looks back down. "It's, uh. Kinda attached, though."
[2013-11-27 17:30:17] * CopyCat pats Bookwright on the head again, still in nurse mode. "Much better! Now, you've been a good buck and you deserve a lolipop. Oh, but I seem to have run out of those."
[2013-11-27 17:30:38] * Shatara nods, seeing Bookwright is not *too* badly mangled.
[2013-11-27 17:31:20] * Bookwright "It's 'attached' you say... Uh. May I just say 'ew'?"
[2013-11-27 17:32:56] * Noble_Heart frowns and contemplates that. "We are not terribly surprised. PipBucks are notoriously difficult to remove, even with the wearer's consent." She taps her chin, "But We are uncertain how to help getting it free."
[2013-11-27 17:34:12] * Golden_Dream thousand-yard stares deadpan at the nearby wall. "This ain't th' most gross thing 'y seen, and it ain't gon' be the most gross thing yer' gonna, now get over here so I can get it outta th' ice."
[2013-11-27 17:36:19] * CopyCat tilts her head. "A PipBuck on ice? Is Golden_Dream creating a new mixed drink?"
[2013-11-27 17:37:27] * Golden_Dream calls back in response. "Gin, tonic water and Green Apple Grenadine, now get yer flank over here!"
[2013-11-27 17:39:58] <Kkat> 3Golden_Dream starts a fire.  It doesn't last long before the flammable liquid is consumed.  But while it burns, the light of the fire dances off the icicles and frozen waterfalls and ice crystals.
[2013-11-27 17:41:38] <Kkat> 3In that brief moment of light, Golden_Dream saw more ponies in the bathroom above, frozen solid.  One, a pegasus, has her wings outstretched, and is caught precariously on the remains of a toilet stall.
[2013-11-27 17:43:31] * CopyCat looks around the frozen corridor, but she can only vaguely tell which direction the yells were coming from. "Um, Shatara, which way do we go to get to Golden?"
[2013-11-27 17:46:45] * Shatara um...points?
[2013-11-27 17:47:56] * Golden_Dream blinks. How many damn ponies were in that bathroom? What was going down over there?
[2013-11-27 17:51:53] * CopyCat thanks Shatara and trots over to the farther ceiling-door, hopping over the gap between the corridors in the process. She ends up beneath the open door, and frowns. It was quite a high jump and there wasn't enough room for her wings. "Noble_Heart, Bookwright, could you lend me a hoof? I can't get up by myself."
[2013-11-27 17:53:14] * Noble_Heart looks up at the door and nods her head. "We can do Our best." She concentrates to use her magic to lift CopyCat.
[2013-11-27 17:58:02] * CopyCat floats up and up, directing Noble on where she needed to go. She floats through into the upper room and then heads to the only open door, which lend to the ice-filled shaft with Kid at the bottom. She asks to be set down on the lip of the doorway leading into the shaft, where at least her back half was still visible to Noble_Heart. "Okay Golden_Dream, I'm here... well, up here. How can I help?"
[2013-11-27 17:59:34] * Golden_Dream looks up. "Hey, science ponies! Need me some way to melt some'o this without breakin' the screen!
[2013-11-27 18:00:18] * Bookwright shouts back, "Try pouring hot water on it!"
[2013-11-27 18:01:38] * Shatara flaps up to the room, to be greeted by CopyCat's plot. He pomfs in midair, flumping onto the wall-floor.
[2013-11-27 18:02:17] * Golden_Dream doesn't seem amused. "Uh. I'm missin' two ingredients there."
[2013-11-27 18:02:24] * Bookwright hears Shatara fall. "You okay up there, feathers?"
[2013-11-27 18:03:50] * Noble_Heart sighs quietly and calls up. "Do you have a hammer and chisel? We remember someone attempting to collect the armor off the pony frozen in the tunnel."
[2013-11-27 18:04:37] * CopyCat balances precariously. "We could try a magic weapon... do we have any thats shoots the green stuff. Err, plasma?"
[2013-11-27 18:05:02] * Golden_Dream was totally that pony. But she did note that they had that. "Hey, yeah! That one mare had one!"
[2013-11-27 18:05:13] * Bookwright "No good CopyCat, it would melt the thing itself too. Plasma is too hot."
[2013-11-27 18:05:42] * Bookwright "If we had, say, a flamethrower, that might work. Have to do it with radiant heat though, not direct application."
[2013-11-27 18:06:07] * Golden_Dream frowns. Oh, right. Lame. She thought about that. "Anyone got some cloth that they ain't doin' anything with?"
[2013-11-27 18:08:08] * CopyCat waggles her wings to keep her balance. "What if we just shot the plasma near it then? It might use up too much ammo though..."
[2013-11-27 18:08:50] * Golden_Dream blinks and then proceeds to facehoof. Wait. Duh.
[2013-11-27 18:09:00] * Golden_Dream "Which one of ya'll has th' ice pick?"
[2013-11-27 18:09:02] * Bookwright "Well, we could try to hatch it with bodyheat. That would require sitting on it for long periods of time though."
[2013-11-27 18:09:42] * Bookwright "...something that Noble Heart and Copy Cat are eminently equipped for. Or possibly Shatara..."
[2013-11-27 18:10:30] * Shatara =.='s
[2013-11-27 18:11:19] * Noble_Heart frowns a little at Bookwright's comment and sighs.
[2013-11-27 18:11:37] * Bookwright has a thought occur to him. "Actually... I think I can get it free without any chance of harming it. I'd have to be there myself."
[2013-11-27 18:16:12] * Bookwright looks up through the doorway. "I'm not risking jumping again. Can somepony please give me a lift?"
[2013-11-27 18:16:54] * CopyCat nods. "That would be great Bookie. I'll have to get out of the way though, maybe if I--" CopyCat promptly overbalances and slips into the shaft. "EEEEEEP!"
[2013-11-27 18:17:00] * Noble_Heart sighs quietly and nods her head, helping ot lift Bookwright up into the room.
[2013-11-27 18:20:35] * Shatara squawks and leaps up, trying to grab at CopyCat.
[2013-11-27 18:20:41] * Bookwright floats up to the doorway like a trash bag on an updraft. "Okay, now... uh, oh my that's really far down. Um, can you lower me slowly please?"
[2013-11-27 18:24:09] * Noble_Heart stands up on her hind legs to look through the door to make lowering less problematic. "We shall do Our best."
[2013-11-27 18:26:00] <Kkat> 3CopyCat makes slipping down into the shaft look graceful, and slides to a stop next to Golden_Dream.
[2013-11-27 18:26:29] * Golden_Dream blinks. "Uh. Never knew ya'll were th' acrobatic sort there, CopyCat."
[2013-11-27 18:28:38] * CopyCat pants, looking surprised herself. "I didn't know either. But I think I felt a helping claw from behind." She looks up and grins sheepishly at Shatara.
[2013-11-27 18:29:02] * Shatara meeps and blushes over the doorframe.
[2013-11-27 18:30:58] * Golden_Dream looks up, then looks back at Copycat soonafter. "Okay, seriously. When ya'll ain't sitting on a dismembered pony, then we can talk about butts and dating and stuff. How's about you get on helpin' me here so Bookie can get his nerd on."
[2013-11-27 18:33:46] * CopyCat finally notices what she's sitting in. "Oh..." She shakes her head and looks back up the shaft. "Err, yes, I can help Bookwright down from here. Noble_Heart, if you lower him a little more than I can take over."
[2013-11-27 18:34:14] * Bookwright floats gently. Tumbles slowly. Drifts down quietly."
[2013-11-27 18:34:23] * Noble_Heart nods her head. "We shall do Our best!" She carefully helps lower Bookwright until the other alicorn could take over.
[2013-11-27 18:35:10] * CopyCat looks at Golden_Dream, her eyes downcast. "Sorry about that. It wasn't very princess-like of me."
[2013-11-27 18:37:07] * CopyCat remains quiet as she sets Bookwright down gently.
[2013-11-27 18:37:28] * Bookwright "Right, let me at it and I'll have it out in a jiffy!"
[2013-11-27 18:38:34] * Golden_Dream opened her mouth to rebut that, but closed it when the absurdity of this big grown up pony looking up to her very violently struck her. "Uhm, uh. Yeah, I'm... Yeah." Wow this was awkward. "Ah ain't askin' y' t' be a princess, y'no. Just have a little respect fer yerself. I think you'd like that."
[2013-11-27 18:41:59] * CopyCat nods.
[2013-11-27 18:42:12] * Shatara waits with Get Lost rather than try to cram himself in the tight space as well, who is most likely teasing like usual.
[2013-11-27 18:44:24] * Bookwright crouches down. Breathes. His breath clouds. He breathes more. Warm air on the pipbuck. Puff. Puff. His horn burns like the umber of the sunset. In a moment, the pipbuck is free of the encasing ice.
[2013-11-27 18:45:13] * Bookwright sets it before Golden_Dream with his telekinesis. "Here you are Golden Dream. Make good use of it."
[2013-11-27 18:47:24] <Kkat> 3--- End of Session ---