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Fallout: Beyond Equestria 149: Xero Hour (Part 3)

Scorch_Mechanic
Sep 9th, 2015
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  1. [2015-09-02 13:44:19] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Previously...
  2. [2015-09-02 13:44:29] <Mare-Do-Well> 3“There is nothing sacred anymore.”
  3. [2015-09-02 13:44:45] <Mare-Do-Well> 3“The Senate speaks of the depravity of ponykind, trumpeting the hastening degradation of your social and moral values, as if they have kept theirs. I remember when spirits were respected and feared. Now we bind the power of spirits of rage to make our bullets burn and spirits of whispers to make our war machines silent...
  4. [2015-09-02 13:44:56] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"This place was once held in reverence. Now it is a resource for the war effort. We are weaponizing Windigos. The Legates listen to the likes of Xero. Even the blasphemous horrors of necromancy are not above the Senate’s consideration.”
  5. [2015-09-02 13:45:03] <Mare-Do-Well> 3“If the citizens realized the full extent of what we have done, the Hidden Nightmare would not need to destroy us – we would tear ourselves apart for her.”
  6. [2015-09-02 13:45:15] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
  7. [2015-09-02 13:45:24] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Kid shoots daggers with her eyes at Bookie very briefly before returning her gaze to Sleipnir. "Um. A-a-alright. So, um. What else can it do?"
  8. [2015-09-02 13:45:41] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The shadows in the room deepen and seep. They melt and grow, connecting together like drops of water that get too close. Soon, the room is nothing but darkness, like everything has been painted black. The lights from PipBucks refuse to light more than a few inches of the appendages to which they are attached.
  9. [2015-09-02 13:45:56] <Mare-Do-Well> 3In the darkness, images appear, figures of ponies and others... like mirages in the black. One image is a zebra waving a crooked staff adorned with feathers, the crook like a dreamcatcher with a black sapphire woven into the center. The zebra chants through the staff, waving it over powders, and the powders change color, darkening.
  10. [2015-09-02 13:46:06] <Mare-Do-Well> 3A small grey unicorn with muddy-colored hair and a pair of scissors on his flank cases a spell, forming a ball of black, crackling energy. A sea-green pegasus swoops high through the air then dives... faster and faster... faster still as the air distorts around her. Glimpses of colors form and are bled black as she goes faster still until... >>>BOOOM<<< ...
  11. [2015-09-02 13:46:13] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...the sky explodes around her, darkness rippling out in an expanding black ring. And everywhere below, life withers and dies.
  12. [2015-09-02 13:46:23] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
  13. [2015-09-02 13:46:38] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Sleipnir waits silently a moment, then explains, >> We offer the power you call Necromancy to those willing to work for us in return when we need agents in the mortal world. We give it in exchange, and can stop doing so if the mortal attempts to... renege on its obligations. <<
  14. [2015-09-02 13:46:46] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Sleipnir frowns. >> Other... agencies of death energy have... /other/ ways of dealing with those who displease Them. <<
  15. [2015-09-02 13:47:02] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The mirage of the zebra returns, this time with her screaming in unimaginable pain as... something happens to her. Something that mercifully the group's senses cannot allow them to perceive. All they can feel is an overwhelming dread and a sense of wrongness so palpable they are drowning in it.
  16. [2015-09-02 13:47:04] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
  17. [2015-09-02 13:47:58] <Mare-Do-Well> 3CopyCat says, "Grandma Slippy, we are on a journey into zebra lands to find a megaspell. It may be the key to helping countless ghoul lives back in Equestria. We also seek a lost Element of Harmony, which may itself be the key to saving somepony who dearly deserves saving. Is there anything you can tell us that you think might help?"
  18. [2015-09-02 13:48:04] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Bookwright shivers. "It feels so strange to hear somepony say it out loud again. 'We're looking for a megaspell.' Eeesh."
  19. [2015-09-02 13:48:05] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
  20. [2015-09-02 13:48:17] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Kid bites her lip, and then puts on a stern expression. She's been surrounded by things that she didn't understand for a long time, but now was the time to buck up and do what she can do. Barter somepony down into the ground! "Sleipnir. If we kill that zebra, can we arrange fer th' same deal that Rainbow Dash got? No reap until they want it?"
  21. [2015-09-02 13:48:24] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Sleipnir considers Kid's request. >> You wish... to ensure that you will not be reaped unwillingly? You wish eternal life... or at least until you bore of it? <<
  22. [2015-09-02 13:48:31] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Kid shakes her head. "No! Her! Not me, her!"
  23. [2015-09-02 13:48:39] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Kid frowns and thinks about Rainbow Dash. "Look. I know Rainbow Dash. Alright? Going out with a friend is how she'd want to go out. And until that happens, I can't in good conscience let them go without them getting their affairs in order."
  24. [2015-09-02 13:48:48] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Sleipnir pauses. >> You wish... all Reapers abide by the same deal as the one you call... Molly... in regards to the ghost known to you as Rainbow Dash? <<
  25. [2015-09-02 13:48:59] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Kid stamps and begins to shout. "I'm sayin' that I want them to be able t' meet and talk and be able t' say somethin' to th' ones they love before they go away fer good! My daddy never got that, and I won't let anyone else share th' same fate!" That felt strangely good to say.
  26. [2015-09-02 13:49:07] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Kid points at the Zebra. "She went and ruined her chances by rippin' th' souls out of folks. They didn't do anything wrong. Please, I know when they get a chance t' go away by themselves t'gether, they'll want to. Please."
  27. [2015-09-02 13:49:15] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Kid seems to lose all of her pride in a moment. She looks off to the side, hyperventilating. Whatever good she felt from shouting that evaporated like a drop of water on red-hot steel. "Please. If you'll let that happen, I'll..." She breathed some more, then bowed.
  28. [2015-09-02 13:49:21] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Kid frowns. It's amazing how quickly she can go from cocky to begging in the span of a brief moment.
  29. [2015-09-02 13:49:30] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Noble_Heart gently wrapped a wing around Kid, she looked down sadly. "We do not always get to say goodbye. But it is a comfort to think that when we are gone, we will see one another again on the other side." She nuzzles the smaller pony. "I realize that may sound bad, but if Fluttershy is in such a state... It is concerning as to how she got there."
  30. [2015-09-02 13:49:38] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Sleipnir regards Kid almost gently... well, for a granddaddy death spirit. Sleipnir seems to glean something. >> You... wish to bargain for the one called Fluttershy? <<
  31. [2015-09-02 13:49:44] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Kid bows. "Yes ma'am."
  32. [2015-09-02 13:49:50] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Sleipnir 3frowns. >> If you end the zebra known as Xero, I will tell the Reapers to leave Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash to chose their own times of passing. So long as they remain capable of doing so. And with the understanding that there is one Reaper whom I cannot speak for. <<
  33. [2015-09-02 13:49:52] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
  34. [2015-09-02 13:53:14] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Noble_Heart looks at the PipBuck and nods her head, lifting a foreleg to the desk for the device. "We agree. We shall deal with this cult, and when We return, We shall be free."
  35. [2015-09-02 13:53:17] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
  36. [2015-09-02 13:54:21] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Golden_Dream finds hew own PipBuck has the same information. The same tag was uploaded into her own PipBuck on the same day. She finds something unfamiliar in her notes.
  37. [2015-09-02 13:54:39] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Six days ago, she wrote up what looks like a personal "bucket list". The first item on the list is "Find Noble Heart!" That item has been crossed off.
  38. [2015-09-02 13:54:46] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The other entries are things that don't surprise her at all. Although "Find Xero and MURDER HER FACE!" is highlighted.
  39. [2015-09-02 13:54:58] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Golden_Dream stares at the 'bucket list'. "Folks, it kinda occurs t' me that I have some anger issues, and I do apologize for that."
  40. [2015-09-02 13:55:00] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
  41. [2015-09-02 13:55:28] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Bookwright looks up from his journal. "Well, that was edifying. Apparently there are entities called 'the Faceless' and Copycat can communicate with them. And this smoke contains spirits of memories, which might be what happened to our own memories. Also, it looks like I did something really dangerous and it backfired... it might be what caused our amnesia."
  42. [2015-09-02 13:55:42] <Mare-Do-Well> 3He jots a quick entry: "Day ???: Apparently... it was a bad idea. Left a message for myself and my friends on a marquee across from the VIGOR station. Reads: 'IF YOU DONT REMEMBER GO TO THE CHURCH YOU WILL FIND'. I had the letter 'A' in my mouth, so obviously there is a clue of some kinds, probably singular in this 'CHURCH'...
  43. [2015-09-02 13:55:48] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...Have met up with Shatara, Golden Dream, and Get Lost inside the VIGOR station. No idea where the others are." He snaps the journal shut and puts it away.
  44. [2015-09-02 13:55:50] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
  45. [2015-09-02 13:56:09] <Mare-Do-Well> 3CopyCat is approaching a huge, byzantine temple. There are military barricades and skeletons all around the broad staircase that leads up the hill to the structure. Halfway up, a sign proclaims it to be the Temple of the Forsaken Night. The words are in Imperial... yet CopyCat realizes she understands it.
  46. [2015-09-02 13:56:14] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Across the edifice of the temple, someone has spraypainted "WHO ARE WE?" These words are in Equestrian.
  47. [2015-09-02 13:56:21] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
  48. [2015-09-02 13:57:07] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Get_Lost frowns, this is going to take too long, frowns "aim at the moving parts! disable the servos!"
  49. [2015-09-02 13:57:15] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Shatara gives a good blam, the round impacting near the edge of the sens-or-mat, but good enough to turn it to shrapnel. He throws the bolt, another similar structure catching his eye, and he lines up on it. "Once more, with feeling..."
  50. [2015-09-02 13:57:22] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Shatara uses his new rifle to do just what it was made for. Two clean shots, and the walker sentry's sensor arrays are disabled. Now, when it reboots, it will no longer be able to detect Shatara or her friends.
  51. [2015-09-02 13:57:39] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Golden_Dream peeks out. Sees the robot still there. Goes back into the hidey hole.
  52. [2015-09-02 13:57:44] <Mare-Do-Well> 3CopyCat continues cheering.
  53. [2015-09-02 13:57:55] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Mitzi peers out from underneath the robot, her head and shoulders sticking up through the hole she had dug. She tries to spot her friends, or hear them. Mitzi can see Get_Lost under the robot too, hacking into it in an entirely different way.
  54. [2015-09-02 13:58:13] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Mitzi waves to Get_Lost. Get_Lost waves back distractedly, sitting down. She announces "It's harmless now." (For Solaris definitions of 'harmless', that is arguably true.) "I'm going to work on this for a while."
  55. [2015-09-02 13:58:24] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Shatara reloads the anti-machine rifle just in case.
  56. [2015-09-02 13:58:30] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The walker sentry reboots, standing back up. >> Scanning for hostiles. <<
  57. [2015-09-02 13:58:36] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Golden_Dream slowly pokes her head out of her hidey hole. "Ya'll get it? 'Cause I-" NOPENOPENOPENOPE BACK DOWN BACK DOWN.
  58. [2015-09-02 13:58:43] <Mare-Do-Well> 3>> Area clear. Resuming patrol. << It begins walking away.
  59. [2015-09-02 13:58:55] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Bookwright slowly lowers the Jukebox gun, then holsters it after a hesitation. "...Right. That's a pretty broad definition of 'harmless' but I'm not going to argue it." He points at the school. "Well, here's one concentration of records. You folks wanna loot it, or move on?"
  60. [2015-09-02 13:59:00] <Mare-Do-Well> 3CopyCat lands on whatever could best be described as the robot's 'head'. Assuming there were no shields in the way. "Victory!" she declares.
  61. [2015-09-02 13:59:10] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The walker sentry trudges off into the smoke. Parlay follows it, maintaining Get_Lost's connection.
  62. [2015-09-02 13:59:12] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
  63. [2015-09-02 13:59:53] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Bookwright "Thank goodness we've found each other again. Now, as I was telling the others: I left a clue for myself in the Church, wherever that is." He calls out to Noble_Heart. "Hey, do you have a Church marked in your pipbuck?"
  64. [2015-09-02 14:00:00] <Mare-Do-Well> 3CopyCat turns her smiles towards Golden_Dream/Mitzi and Bookwright, too. "I didn't find a church but I did find a Temple. Oh, and I got a sidekick but then she vanished."
  65. [2015-09-02 14:00:15] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Bookwright ponders. "A temple? Temple... church... I guess they could be the same thing. Can you point us towards it?"
  66. [2015-09-02 14:00:25] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Golden_Dream shudders. "I think I know what y'all mean. We, uh. We gotta get outta this place before it swallows us whole."
  67. [2015-09-02 14:00:34] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Shatara checks his map to compare where he is compared to known landmarks.
  68. [2015-09-02 14:00:44] <Mare-Do-Well> 3CopyCat adds. "Also I can read zebra writing now. My communications officer has outdone herself!" CopyCat beams.
  69. [2015-09-02 14:00:51] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Golden_Dream blinks. "Who?"
  70. [2015-09-02 14:00:56] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Noble_Heart approaches Bookwright and shakes her head. "There are no markers on my PipBuck. It seems this area lacks them."
  71. [2015-09-02 14:01:08] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Bookwright says, "Well, you can enter your own, right? You should probably do that. If this group amnesia thing happened once, it might happen again."
  72. [2015-09-02 14:01:19] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Noble_Heart frowns and looks at her PipBuck. "We are uncertain how..."
  73. [2015-09-02 14:01:26] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Golden_Dream rolls her eyes. "Noble, c'mere so I can give y' a lesson and a hug, maybe not in that order."
  74. [2015-09-02 14:01:34] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Noble_Heart moves over to Golden Dream, wrapping a wing around the smaller pony. "We are glad to be back as well. We are sorry to have worried Our friends."
  75. [2015-09-02 14:01:36] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
  76. [2015-09-02 14:02:07] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Fallout: Beyond Equestria, Session One Hundred and Forty-Nine: Xero Hour (Part Three) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2aHcANs4GE
  77. [2015-09-02 14:02:16] <Mare-Do-Well> 3--- Session Begins ---
  78. [2015-09-02 14:04:54] * Get_Puppy looks at the giant robot walking away "they grow up so fast..." sighs and wipes an imaginary tear from her visor
  79. [2015-09-02 14:07:14] * Bookwright looks so far askance at Get_Puppy he almost unbalances and falls over. "Uh. It is a robot. It was built that large from the beginning."
  80. [2015-09-02 14:10:57] * Noble_Heart keeps a wing around Golden Dream as she watches the robot lumber away. "We only hope that the damage to its detection systems do not cause it to blunder into buildings."
  81. [2015-09-02 14:11:05] * Mitzi rubs the back of her head with a paw as she watches the huge robot depart
  82. [2015-09-02 14:14:29] * Get_Puppy shrugs "let's see if i can make tht bot happy...." looks very focused. you can tell that because she is sticking out her tongue
  83. [2015-09-02 14:18:13] * CopyCat continues to smile a lot. She prances around, her wings all pert and happy. She seems in very high spirits again... so much so that she had forgotten to answer some of the questions about the 'Temple' she was asked a little earlier.
  84. [2015-09-02 14:23:16] * Golden_Dream lifts Noble's pipbuck. "So, really, y'all jus' have t' push this here button and yer' done. Simple enough, I can make it happen what with th' black magic witchery of th' computer screen."
  85. [2015-09-02 14:24:31] * Shatara packs up the anti-tank rifle. "Hopefully there's not more of those things..."
  86. [2015-09-02 14:25:06] * Noble_Heart tilts her head to one side. "Interesting. We thank you, Golden_Dream.
  87. [2015-09-02 14:25:08] <Noble_Heart> "
  88. [2015-09-02 14:25:09] * Shatara makes a note in pipbuck. "Fought giant robot thing. Broke sensors. Hopefully neutralized?"
  89. [2015-09-02 14:30:52] * Mitzi looks between Noble_Heart pipbuck and those worn by Goldie and Shatara. "Yurs luks kinduh beateen up."
  90. [2015-09-02 14:33:25] * CopyCat trots around her grouped up friends, peering at Noble's PipBuck. "Ohh, stylish new accessory, Noble. Now you and Goldie are like sisters!"
  91. [2015-09-02 14:34:01] * Get_Puppy gets up and follows the others
  92. [2015-09-02 14:34:27] * Golden_Dream narrows her eyes. "Yeah. Tempted not t' say anything 'cause I don't remember her gettin' it." AND THEN COPYCAT SAID THINGS AND SHE WENT BEET RED.
  93. [2015-09-02 14:35:27] * CopyCat looks over at Shatara and giggles. "And some griffin I know could be their big brother!"
  94. [2015-09-02 14:36:55] <Mare-Do-Well> 3From (roughtly) the direction that the walker disappeared into the smoke, several of the group of friends can hear heavy thudding... and what sounds a bit like music?
  95. [2015-09-02 14:37:38] * Shatara blinkblinks. "...Please tell me you didn't teach the giant death robot to dance."
  96. [2015-09-02 14:38:08] * Get_Lost smiles "he is happy now!"
  97. [2015-09-02 14:38:27] * Get_Lost also, calls back parley
  98. [2015-09-02 14:39:23] * Shatara pokerfaces so hard
  99. [2015-09-02 14:39:44] * CopyCat 's ears twitch, then she starts to head bob. "Something out that-a-way has a real good beat."
  100. [2015-09-02 14:41:01] * Golden_Dream half-lids her eyes off in the fog. "Bet you that that thuddin' is Get makin' th' robot dance."
  101. [2015-09-02 14:45:25] * Noble_Heart blushed more than a little about CopyCat's suggestion as well. "We acquired it from the guardians of the Roaman catacombs. It is likely that it was owned by some other pony before us, likely one who did not make it out of their domain alive."
  102. [2015-09-02 14:46:40] * Get_Lost frowns "we still have to get ditzy free..."
  103. [2015-09-02 14:47:27] * Get_Lost "call me a softie, but while i could go home without the megaspell, leaving ditzy behind would make me feel really bad..."
  104. [2015-09-02 14:49:51] * Noble_Heart nods her head to Get Lost. "She likely does not have very long last. Fortunately, We still had one of the bottles of Sparkle Cola from the Crystal Kingdom which should have given her some much needed rads. But that place has some kind of spirits that prevent magic from working correctly. Spirits of Silence."
  105. [2015-09-02 14:53:08] * Get_Lost "then we have to hurry..."
  106. [2015-09-02 14:55:19] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"We have to hurry!" an unfamiliar voice echoes in the air.
  107. [2015-09-02 14:55:44] * Get_Lost "yup" nodnods "hey, who is talking?"
  108. [2015-09-02 14:58:17] * Mitzi 's ears flick at the strange sounds coming from... somewhere. "Can any ponee else hear a brokeen termeenal?"
  109. [2015-09-02 15:01:40] * Noble_Heart looks up and around and frowns. "That is likely not a good thing. We have encountered fragments of Our past in the mist. There may be other things out there..."
  110. [2015-09-02 15:02:22] * Golden_Dream 's ears flatten out, and her head sinks. She has trouble looking folks in the eyes. "... Me too."
  111. [2015-09-02 15:03:01] * Golden_Dream bites down, then grabs her shotgun. "... But it could be some of th' pirates in trouble. We gotta find 'em."
  112. [2015-09-02 15:04:14] * Bookwright "So I'm hearing a 'no' on the 'Loot the schoolbuilding' plan then? Alright."
  113. [2015-09-02 15:05:10] <Shatara> "...when was there was a loot the schoolbuilding plan? When was there a schoolbuilding!?"
  114. [2015-09-02 15:06:08] * Get_Lost calls out "is somepony over there?"
  115. [2015-09-02 15:09:30] * Golden_Dream inhales gravely. Save Mwana. Save the loot. This is... A surprisingly hard decision. "... We gotta figure out what's goin' on, first and foremost."
  116. [2015-09-02 15:11:11] * CopyCat tilts her head. "Do you think we might find something at the Temple?"
  117. [2015-09-02 15:11:13] * Noble_Heart shakes her head. "There is nothing worth taking in the building. We have been through several of its rooms. It is just a school and nothing more."
  118. [2015-09-02 15:11:33] * Bookwright "Okay then. Shall we chase the robot?"
  119. [2015-09-02 15:22:16] * Golden_Dream sighs. "Yeah, we gotta go get Get before she gets got."
  120. [2015-09-02 15:23:03] * Get_Lost doesn't really hear the pun, is still calling for the mistery voice "hel-looo!"
  121. [2015-09-02 15:25:44] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Get_Lost's call is greeted by the beep-beep of the returning Parlay.
  122. [2015-09-02 15:26:40] * Get_Lost hugs her little daughterbot and kiss her "welcome back dearie! good job!"
  123. [2015-09-02 15:27:04] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Parlay boops, sounding happy.
  124. [2015-09-02 15:27:56] * CopyCat pats Get_Lost on the head (and Parlay, too) and looks at Golden_Dream. "But we've got Get right here!"
  125. [2015-09-02 15:28:09] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Patches of the smoke seem to be growing darker.
  126. [2015-09-02 15:28:46] * Golden_Dream looks a bit nonplussed. "... This place is gettin' t' my head. Right, temple time, before things get all spooky on us!"
  127. [2015-09-02 15:30:58] * Get_Lost frowns at the dark patches "hello there... friends? please be friends prettyp lease?"
  128. [2015-09-02 15:31:12] <Mare-Do-Well> 3A little zebra filly rolls out of the smoke on the street in front of the schoolhouse. She is riding a toy scooter. (It looks like a blue-colored knock-off of a Red Racer.)
  129. [2015-09-02 15:31:41] * Noble_Heart frowns and nods her head. "The last time that the smoke did this, it spawned-" she was cut off by the arrival of the zebra. "It would be best if we continued quickly."
  130. [2015-09-02 15:32:13] * CopyCat beams. "Right! Let's go to the Temple then! It has byzantine architecture and graffti and..." she trails off, her eyes now glued to the sudden arrival of the zebra filly.
  131. [2015-09-02 15:32:56] <Mare-Do-Well> 3She puttings a hoof down to stop the scooter and looks up into the smoke as if staring at something only she can see. Then she starts again, this time rolling faster. Her forehoof jangles the little set of chimes on the front of the scooter. jingle-linga-ling.
  132. [2015-09-02 15:34:29] * Shatara shudders with dread. Anticipates something horrible about to befall the ex-filly.
  133. [2015-09-02 15:34:44] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The filly and her blue scooter disappear again into the darkening smoke. jingle-linga-ling
  134. [2015-09-02 15:35:07] * Golden_Dream starts to follow the little filly before she disappears. If she's leaving, bad things are coming.
  135. [2015-09-02 15:35:50] * Bookwright runs after her. "Don't stand around! Give chase!"
  136. [2015-09-02 15:36:25] * CopyCat takes a tentative step towards the filly. "Um, h-hello?" but then she's gone.
  137. [2015-09-02 15:37:57] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Bookwright runs into the gradually blackening smoke.
  138. [2015-09-02 15:38:18] * Get_Lost d'aws "what a cute filly!"
  139. [2015-09-02 15:39:04] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The dark smoke closes in around Bookwright.
  140. [2015-09-02 15:40:56] * Noble_Heart stamps a hoof. "Do not follow her! The mist lies. It seeks to pervert our desires and thoughts against us!" She reaches out with her magic to attempt to grab Bookwright and pull him back.
  141. [2015-09-02 15:41:14] * CopyCat 'eeps!' as Bookwright runs into the smoke, outpacing his friends. "Sh-should we follow him?"
  142. [2015-09-02 15:42:15] * Get_Lost activates heat detection "i think yes..." starts looking for bookie
  143. [2015-09-02 15:50:36] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Bookwright spots a figure ahead in the smoke. No, two of them. But neither is the filly. They are both too large, adult. And somehow familiar.
  144. [2015-09-02 15:51:32] * Bookwright slows to a walking pace. "...Hello? Did you two happen to... see... Do I know you?"
  145. [2015-09-02 15:51:34] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Get_Lost follows Bookwright into the smoke.
  146. [2015-09-02 15:52:20] * Noble_Heart scowls. "This will not end well..."
  147. [2015-09-02 15:52:46] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The brilliant flashes of a tri-beam laser cut through the haze as Bookwright witnesses one of the last Twisted Manes cut down by one of the White Hooves.
  148. [2015-09-02 15:53:21] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The tribal looks up from his kill, spotting Bookwright, and turns the Enclave-made weapon towards him.
  149. [2015-09-02 15:54:00] * Bookwright leaps forwards, weapon drawn in anger. "NO! NO!" He fires at the White Hoof furiously.
  150. [2015-09-02 15:57:26] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The shots from the tribal's magical energy weapon hiss through the air past Bookwright's head, missing him by inches. Bookwright's own shots are far more on target. The White Hoof detonates in an explosion of blood.
  151. [2015-09-02 15:58:32] * Get_Lost trots in the mist "hey bookie where are y-WHATTHEFLUFF!?"
  152. [2015-09-02 15:59:53] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Get_Lost does not find Bookwright. But she does find fillies. A group of them. Familiar ones.
  153. [2015-09-02 16:00:21] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"Hey!" one of them says, turning from her friends to advance on Get_Lost. "I thought we told you to *get lost*!"
  154. [2015-09-02 16:01:08] * Get_Lost frowns and takes a little step back "hey... girls... uhm... hi?"
  155. [2015-09-02 16:01:35] * Get_Lost tries a very uneasy smile
  156. [2015-09-02 16:01:42] * Mitzi frowns and stays right where she is, watching the dark smoke. She looks to Noble_Heart, "Shud I pull dem out?"
  157. [2015-09-02 16:03:09] * Bookwright grits his teeth and weathers the unexpected detonation, then runs for the fallen Twisted Mane and checks over the body for signs of... anything, really.
  158. [2015-09-02 16:04:15] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The other girls form ranks behind her. "Yeah. We... we don't need you. Or want you!" Another, "The Wasteland's hard enough without dragging along Solaris Fail."
  159. [2015-09-02 16:05:37] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The Twisted Mane lies dead, body warped by horrible magical energy burns. Just like she did when a much younger Bookwright saw her die the first time.
  160. [2015-09-02 16:06:59] * Bookwright curses freely. He tries to remember the burial traditions of the Twisted Manes.
  161. [2015-09-02 16:09:26] * Noble_Heart frowns heavily. "We do not believe entering the mist at all would be a wise idea. It seems to contain remnants of memories. The past turned against us. We recommend avoiding it. We will have to trust that Our friends will make it back alive."
  162. [2015-09-02 16:11:14] * Get_Lost frowns and takes another step back "hey, that was uncalled for, you... you are a meanie face! i... i did never give you names!"
  163. [2015-09-02 16:12:29] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The lead girl scoffs. "Well we'd give you names... but we can't think of any worse than Solaris!"
  164. [2015-09-02 16:14:14] <Mare-Do-Well> 3At the schoolhouse, the smoke is quickly turning as black as coal.
  165. [2015-09-02 16:15:21] * CopyCat bites her lip. She had followed Noble_Heart's inclination and not entered the mist with the others. "I met a little filly earlier. While I was looking for all of you," she says quietly. "She became my sidekick and joined the adventure I was having. We hugged. She seemed... nice. I think I might have known her from somewhere. Someone I've forgotten."
  166. [2015-09-02 16:15:29] * Get_Lost is sweating a little bit, smile with guilt "ah... it's just a namee, right? i mean, i said i was sorry, why can't we remain friends? i'm almost sure breezy day is not angry anymore about her wing..."
  167. [2015-09-02 16:15:46] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Everyone there hears phantom sounds in the air around them, growing into a cacophony. The babble of scores of panicked voices. The crackle of a fire. And... cutting through it all, the wail of air raid sirens.
  168. [2015-09-02 16:17:01] * Shatara ulps. "Aaaand, there's the horrible..."
  169. [2015-09-02 16:19:27] * CopyCat takes a step back. "Oh dear..."
  170. [2015-09-02 16:19:33] * Noble_Heart flattens her ears, gently expanding a wing around CopyCat. "The mists are picking at our past. Our shames and fears and worries. The memories of our lives and looking for weaknesses. It is a defense. A means to prevent anyone from coming close to the Vault. We have little doubt that these spirits serve the Cult."
  171. [2015-09-02 16:20:06] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Devistating thunder cracks in the sky above.
  172. [2015-09-02 16:20:07] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
  173. [2015-09-02 16:20:44] <Mare-Do-Well> 3=== REDACTED ===
  174. [2015-09-02 16:20:47] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
  175. [2015-09-02 16:23:13] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The rusted hulks of motorwagons litter the upward-curving street like little dark islands in the white haze of the smoke. Several of are military transports, including the troop transport that Shatara finds himself perched on.
  176. [2015-09-02 16:24:23] <Mare-Do-Well> 3To CopyCat, who is in the lead of the pony procession, this is a familiar street. At the end of it, she knows, is a temple with the words "WHO ARE WE" written in Equestrian across the edifice.
  177. [2015-09-02 16:27:19] * Mitzi folds her ears, "Noises eez nastee. Eez dey real uns ur not?"
  178. [2015-09-02 16:27:28] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Noble_Heart finds herself staring at her PipBuck, a hoof hovering over one of the buttons Golden_Dream explained to her. There is a new tag marking the map: Temple of the Forsaken Night.
  179. [2015-09-02 16:27:46] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The noises are gone. Everything is silent.
  180. [2015-09-02 16:28:33] * Shatara squaks, frantically looking around for threats before checking his map to figure out what's happen
  181. [2015-09-02 16:30:20] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Shatara finds no threats. All the lights on his EFS are friendly. Counting them, all his friends seem to be present and accounted for. Even Get_Lost and Bookwright.
  182. [2015-09-02 16:30:50] * Noble_Heart looks up and around and frowns a few moments. "The sirens..." She scowls heavily. THen looks towards Bookwright and Get Lost. "What did you see?"
  183. [2015-09-02 16:31:18] * Shatara quickly shifts to determining where he is and what happen
  184. [2015-09-02 16:31:41] * Get_Lost "ah... it's a biy hurtful... i don't like to talk about it..." shuffles a hoof and looks away
  185. [2015-09-02 16:33:01] * Bookwright "I saw... I saw something from when I was very young. I saw a Twisted Mane die during a raid on the migration caravan I was in. A White Hoof with an Enclave weapon killed her, right in front of me. This time I shot back, but I couldn't save the mare... and killing her murderer doesn't seem to make me feel any better."
  186. [2015-09-02 16:33:05] * Get_Lost or she would if she had eyes
  187. [2015-09-02 16:33:23] * CopyCat pauses at the front of her pony procession (also pausing her marching song). "Wait, did everything just jump around again?"
  188. [2015-09-02 16:33:56] * Golden_Dream blinks, then checks her pipbuck. Her face twists up a little bit. "Bookie, can y' explain t' me why I gotta slam yer' dick in a door?"
  189. [2015-09-02 16:34:21] * Bookwright "Um. I think you wrote it in there as a joke."
  190. [2015-09-02 16:35:09] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Ahead, to the side of the road, Shatara spots a large stone inlaid with a religious mosaic featuring the moon. There is writing chisled into the base and inlaid with gold flake: TEMPLUM DERELICTUM NOCTE
  191. [2015-09-02 16:36:21] * Golden_Dream looks at her pipbuck, then eyes Bookie in deep suspicion. "Let's jus' go in th' evil temple already."
  192. [2015-09-02 16:37:05] * Mitzi looks a little confused
  193. [2015-09-02 16:37:11] * Get_Lost "good idea"
  194. [2015-09-02 16:37:50] * Bookwright "I hope to Luna that this is the 'church' I mentioned to myself as a clue."
  195. [2015-09-02 16:38:55] * Mitzi looks to Bookwright, "How'd we get here?"
  196. [2015-09-02 16:39:20] * Bookwright "Looks like we've all had another collective memory failure." He flips open the notebook he had been writing in what he assumes are only hours earlier. "Maybe I wrote in here. If I didn't, I'm gonna do it again anyways. This memory stealing shit is annoying."
  197. [2015-09-02 16:40:13] * Mitzi looks to Bookwright, "Eeft ur memories eez stolen, can we take dem back frum sumteen?"
  198. [2015-09-02 16:40:36] * Golden_Dream sighs, then writes in her pipbuck. "Do not slam Bookie's dick in a door. Also, this creepy church house is creepy. Reminds me of the Loonie church back home, except not fixed up with corrogated tin.
  199. [2015-09-02 16:41:07] * CopyCat looks at her friends, and then looks at the stone that Shatara had spotted. TEMPLUM DERELICTUM NOCTE . "Everyone else can read that, right?"
  200. [2015-09-02 16:41:51] * Mitzi looks at what CopyCat is indicating
  201. [2015-09-02 16:42:01] * Bookwright "If I had to take a guess, I'd say they were stolen by the spirits lurking in the smoke around here. I don't know if we can get them back."
  202. [2015-09-02 16:42:27] * Golden_Dream gives Copycat a smarmy look. This memory jumping business has her wearing her snarky hat. "Yeah, it means 'big spooky temple'. Let's go in there and get some answers." And she starts to do so.
  203. [2015-09-02 16:46:40] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Bookwright finds that he has already written another entry into his journal sometime between the last one that he remembers and now:
  204. [2015-09-02 16:47:13] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"We are finally all back together. Note to self: don't go into the smoke alone. Also, several of the others experienced an auditory memory that didn't belong to any of them. After much discussion, we are assuming that it is a memory from the town itself."
  205. [2015-09-02 16:50:49] * Bookwright applies pen to paper: "Further note to self: Another big blank spot just happened. We're all in front of the 'TEMPLUM DERELICTUM NOCTE' now, which I assume is the 'church' I mentioned to, er, myself earlier. With a marquee. I remember everything up to the start of the smoke and sirens, and then the blank spot. So I wrote the above journal entry during that lost block of time. I suspect that...
  206. [2015-09-02 16:50:49] * Bookwright ...the spirits of memory in the smoke of the town sometimes steal memory from us as we experience it. It might stop if we get out of the smoke."
  207. [2015-09-02 16:51:37] * CopyCat blows a raspberry at Golden_Dream. "Pffft, have it your way. Let's head inside before we get switched around more."
  208. [2015-09-02 16:51:51] * Bookwright claps the notebook shut again. "Yep. I did write in there, but the only useful thing in there is that the sirens we heard aren't from any of our memories. My very recent self suspects that they are a memory of the town itself."
  209. [2015-09-02 16:52:16] * Shatara is still looking at his map, notes, and clock
  210. [2015-09-02 16:52:43] * Bookwright "Shatara? I don't suppose you can tell how much time we lost?"
  211. [2015-09-02 16:53:33] * Shatara would be perfectly capable of doing so
  212. [2015-09-02 16:55:53] <Mare-Do-Well> 3According to Shatara's PipBuck, they lost three hours.
  213. [2015-09-02 17:01:53] * Shatara blinks a little. "...three hours? Seems a log time for nothing to happen..." He sighs and tries to focus on what's in front of him, rather than what's missing.
  214. [2015-09-02 17:04:50] * Bookwright flips open the journal again and annotates the note he just made: "Shatara's Pipbuck says we lost three hours."
  215. [2015-09-02 17:05:36] * CopyCat trots beside Golden_Dream up the temple stairs towards the entrance. "This is quite exciting. I /almost/ went inside by myself... but I didn't want to leave all of you behind. Doing this together feels much more... right."
  216. [2015-09-02 17:06:56] * Noble_Heart looks towards the building and frowns. "It seems likely that the fog is some kind of defense. It has been hostile and tricky to Us. And We seem to recall there being mention of spirits being bound for purposes such as this. Weaponized Windigos." She scowls slightly at the thought. "It would explain why this Cult of LIV is so hard to get rid of. In addition to being powerful,
  217. [2015-09-02 17:06:57] * Noble_Heart this place consumes those who enter it." She moves forwards towards the temple.
  218. [2015-09-02 17:07:15] * Get_Lost nodnods "i'd say that now we could proceed together... i just hope we don't black-out at the wrong moment..."
  219. [2015-09-02 17:07:53] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Up ahead, a large, byzantine structure looms in the smoke. There are military barricades and skeletons all around the broad staircase that leads up the hill to the structure. Across the edifice of the temple, someone has spray-painted "WHO ARE WE?" These words are in Equestrian.
  220. [2015-09-02 17:08:02] * Mitzi looks around the group, "Eef we go inside temple, we get out uv fog?"
  221. [2015-09-02 17:09:03] * Noble_Heart looks up at the spraypaint. "Possibly." She tilts her head slightly to one side. "Doubtless written by ponies who had been sent here to deal with... Whatever this town was before the end of the war."
  222. [2015-09-02 17:10:40] * CopyCat smiles. "Or one of us wrote it and forgot."
  223. [2015-09-02 17:15:38] * Shatara takes a moment to examine the troop transports closer
  224. [2015-09-02 17:16:37] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Shatara looks at all the information he can in his PipBuck. There isn't much since the last time he remembers looking. The map hasn't changed as best he can tell, which means that the path the road the group is on is one they have been on before and don't recall. Something that makes sense if Bookwright has been to the church before.
  225. [2015-09-02 17:18:21] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Shatara hasn't left any new notes on his PipBuck, nor are there any new tags. Again, however, that would make sense as they are just now reaching the place he would tag: the temple.
  226. [2015-09-02 17:19:21] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The only odd bit is that the journey took them three hours. Although that is not entirely farfetched depending on how much time it took for them to reunite with Get_Lost and Bookwright. Plus, apparently, according to Bookwright, they took some time to try to figure things out afterwords. Still, it seems like it took longer than it should have.
  227. [2015-09-02 17:23:36] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Shatara now looks into the troop transports. Roaman mililitary vehicles. Pre-war. They are empty of supplies, but also empty of skeletons. They look to have been abandoned rather than their occupants killed. The road up to the temple looks like it became clogged with traffic.
  228. [2015-09-02 17:26:30] * Shatara ponders for a moment if they were fleeing to the temple, or assaulting it, before rejoining the others.
  229. [2015-09-02 17:35:46] * Golden_Dream bites her lower lip. "Oh fer' fuck's sake. Why are there always huge rows of steps by temples? Can't temples be temples without th' bigass display o' money and a huge pains in m' hooves by the end of it?"
  230. [2015-09-02 17:36:57] * Bookwright looks at Golden_Dream like she's talking in some foreign language. "No. The point of a temple is to be ostentatious."
  231. [2015-09-02 17:38:14] * Golden_Dream , nonetheless, climbs up, mildly disturbed by the graffiti. She writes down in her pipbuck, just in case. "Your name is Golden Dream. Your job is to kill Xero, find the crew of the airship /Cutlass/, and come back to Equestria with a balefire bomb. No pressure."
  232. [2015-09-02 17:39:07] <Mare-Do-Well> 3This temple does a good job of it. Somber, polished stone. High, narrow windows. Azure domes and spires.
  233. [2015-09-02 17:43:13] <Mare-Do-Well> 3On closer inspection, the doors look to have taken a beating. The original lock has been broken. It looks like the door was hammered open with a battering ram.
  234. [2015-09-02 17:43:45] * Shatara looks over the damage. "Sooo assaulted it is..."
  235. [2015-09-02 17:43:46] <Mare-Do-Well> 3The doors are, however, closed. And despite the lack of a functional lock, seem unwilling to move.
  236. [2015-09-02 17:44:59] * Golden_Dream grumbles as she looks around while climbing up. "Like Luna or th' night or whatever the fuck can care about how pretty where y'r supposed t' talk to 'em is." She grumbles, hoping to get to the end of it. "... It's like they never took int' account fliers. Let's go in through a window. Odds are, one's busted."
  237. [2015-09-02 17:45:10] * Bookwright "Well, I might be able to phase us a hole in it if we can't get it open."
  238. [2015-09-02 17:47:55] * CopyCat knocks on the door. When that doesn't work she tries scratching at the door. Then just sitting in front of it and waiting for someone to open it for her. It wasn't hard to guess where the second part of her name came from.
  239. [2015-09-02 17:51:50] <Mare-Do-Well> 3After a long pause, a tinny and familiar voice answers: "What's the password?"
  240. [2015-09-02 17:54:27] * Golden_Dream looks at Bookwright. Well, he's the one that's supposed to know.
  241. [2015-09-02 17:55:37] * Bookwright steps forward tentatively. "I, uh, seem to have forgotten. Um. Is the password... 'Swordfish'? Er, 'hunter-two'?
  242. [2015-09-02 17:56:07] * Bookwright "... 'Church'?"
  243. [2015-09-02 17:56:47] <Shatara> "We don't remember?"
  244. [2015-09-02 17:56:58] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"Oh come on!" the voice says from inside.
  245. [2015-09-02 17:57:19] * Get_Lost frowns "open this damn door now?"
  246. [2015-09-02 17:57:41] * CopyCat tilts her head. "Who am I?"
  247. [2015-09-02 17:58:06] * Get_Lost whispers to copy "who are we?"
  248. [2015-09-02 17:58:55] * Bookwright "Who are we?"
  249. [2015-09-02 18:00:02] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"That's what I'm supposed to figure out. I'm not supposed to let you in unless I know you're really you and not some bug that looks like you. So I made up a password. If you know me, you'll know what the password is."
  250. [2015-09-02 18:01:34] * Bookwright "Shit. I went and left a message for myself on a frigging vigor station marquee to 'GO TO THE CHURCH' and all I've found so far is another blank spot in my memory and someone who I probably knew already but have forgotten."
  251. [2015-09-02 18:02:02] * Golden_Dream sighs deep. "Well, how th' fuck are we supposed t' know who y' are? We're stuck in a memory gap hellhole and we can't exactly see y'?!"
  252. [2015-09-02 18:03:44] * Get_Lost whispers to the others "i think it's pink-e..."
  253. [2015-09-02 18:04:00] * Mitzi tilts her head, "Eez's dat ur robot?"
  254. [2015-09-02 18:04:19] * CopyCat meows.
  255. [2015-09-02 18:05:40] * Golden_Dream narrows her eyes. "Party time."
  256. [2015-09-02 18:09:22] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"Ding ding ding ding! You're a winner!" A moment later, there is a grating sound as the bar across the door inside is side away. Without the barrier there, the doors swing open. The jolly pink sprite-bot hovers in the entry to the byzantine temple's interior. "The password's /always/ PARTY TIME!" she announces. "It's great to see you gals again!"
  257. [2015-09-02 18:09:31] <Mare-Do-Well> 3--- End of Session ---
  258. [2015-09-02 18:09:55] <Mare-Do-Well> 3((+2500 XP))
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