14:18		Crescendo_ walks towards the wreckage cautiously.
14:18		Bookwright 's interest is piqued. His magic envelopes the audio recorder. "May I?"
14:20		Mitzi observes the objects curiously. "Dis luks like eet's been chewed on by teetheen pup." She allows Bookwright to take the recorder; she didn't know what to do with it
14:21		*** Damhoof is now known as Beaky
14:22		Get_Lost looks for a moment towards bookie and mitzi "oh, a recorder? does it still work? is there something on it?"
14:22		Bookwright thanks Mitzi and lifts the recorder from the shallow hole. "Well, we could play it now or save it for later. Personally, I'm all for playing it now... unless anyone has an objection?"
14:25		Kid trotted up to the ditch. "Well, what else d'ya put bones in and a flower on?" She mentions. Kid caught sight of a sparkle from off the audio recorder and looked over Bookwright's shoulder curiously. "I'm fer playin' it now." She said. Hey, the thing kept from blowing up in the last 225 years. What's a few more minutes added on the clock?
14:25		Mitzi shrugs; "As yu weesh. Uh dunno wut tu du with eet."
14:26		Get_Lost "well, i dont' think they put a memetic programming code on a tape recorder in a hole in the ground, so i think it's quite safe to listen to it now?"
14:26	Bookwright	"What's a 'memetic programming code'?"
14:27		Kid looks at the little animal bones. "I'm guessin' this here's jus' a grave fer' a pet or somethin'." She went up to the dug-up animal bones and tried to remember if this was an animal she knew.
14:30		*** Waak quit (Ping timeout: 121 seconds)
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14:36	Kkat	Bookwright looks over the audio recorder. It is extremely old and horribly weathered, but still looks like it should function. However, nothing happens when the unicorn attempts to play it, and further examination shows that it appears to be missing some parts -- along the back there is a section for eight modular components, but the device is missing five.
14:38		*** Arcane_Scroll is now known as Arcane_Scroll[A]
14:38		Crescendo_ approaches the wreckage and gives it a poke.
14:38		Bookwright rolls his eyes. "Nothing is ever simple in this soon-to-be-blasted hellscape, is it?" Grumbling, he stuffs it in one of his saddlebags. "Welp, let's move on... I think I saw some wreckage further on that looked interesting."
14:39		Get_Lost "well, if it was easy it wouldn't be fun, right?"
14:40		Bookwright eyes Get_Lost beadily. "You and I clearly have different definitions of the word 'fun'."
14:40		Mitzi holds up the scrap metal and tin can; "Dis help at all?"
14:41		*** Arcane_Scroll[A] is now known as Arcane_Scroll
14:41		Get_Lost "want me to give a look at it? maybe if it's just the power source we can make up for it with some jusry rigging..."
14:42		Bookwright looks back over his shoulder. "With the recorder? It'd take a far more skilled metallurgist and technical scientist than I to fix the recorder with tin cans and scrap metal." To Get_Lost: "It seems to be missing more than just a power source. You can have a look if you like, but I don't think we're going to get it working without some spare parts from another recorder."
14:43	Kkat	Crescendo approaches a badly-rusted conglomeration of twisted metalwork. He doesn't recognize what he is looking at, but his best guess is that it is either what little remains of a crashed delivery wagon or the ruins of a shack constructed from debris.
14:45		*** Mirage quit (Ping timeout: 121 seconds)
14:45		Get_Lost nods "alright, then we will gett a shhot at it when we find some spare parts"
14:45		Crescendo_ yells back. "I think it's an old wagon... or maybe somepony who built their house on the beach."
14:47		Bookwright pulls out the recorder and proffers it to Get_Lost.
14:48		Mitzi doesn't know what a metallurgist is, but assumes that means no, and discards the refuse
14:49		Get_Lost stops for a moment looking at the small thing, trying to figure out what's wrong with it
14:49	Kkat	Whatever the metal structure once was, it is partially burried.
14:51		Crescendo_ turns back to the group. "Hey, Mitzi, could you lend me a claw or two? This things pretty buried."
14:53	Kkat	Meanwhile, Shatara has spotted a small caravan of wagons clustered long the side of the road that leads into the valley from the Solaris parking lot. The wagons look pre-war from this distance. Several miles into the valley, Shatara spots a much larger hunk of wreckage... quite sizable, in fact.
14:54		Mitzi saunters over to Crescendo and looks at the half buried wreckage; "Buried tings mean hidden, half buried means crashed or poorly hidden." She begins to shift the earth at the base of the wreckage, attempting to loose it. Her hellhound claws and natural digging talent would let her swim in the earth if she really felt so incluned
14:57	Kkat	Shatara believes she recognizes the wreckage in the distance.
14:57		Kid looks at the pile of bones and shakes her head. Too dessicated, can't make out whether it's feline, canine, or scarily enough, equine in nature. She instead tries to busy herself by finding plants to eat along the way. Solaris can't fuck up plants of all things anymore than the frontier already has, right?
14:59		Bookwright scrutinizes the crashed wagon and tries to scrounge up all the facts he can remember reading about these pre-war devices. They're more complex than plain pegasus-pulled carts, but he's not sure he can remember how...
15:01		Shatara stares at the wreckage in the distance. "Wow...is that a Raptor? I read about them..."
15:01	Kkat	Get_Lost gives the old audio recorder a look. It's a design that predates Pipbuck technology by more than one technological generation, and seems extremely hardy and simple even for its type. As the svelte mare originally suspected, the battery is merely dead. A fresh spark battery would bring it right back to life...
15:02		*** High_Winds quit (Quit: http://www.mibbit.com ajax IRC Client)
15:02	Kkat	...as for what Bookwright took for vital missing components, those are tracks. The audio recorder is designed to record or play merely eight audio tracks, and there are three currently installed.
15:03		Get_Lost "ah... does somepony happen to have a spark battery somewhere? didn't we find something like that in a cabinet?"
15:04		Kid peeks up from her busywork. "Uh. Ah found a couple in th' buildin'. C'mere, an' I'll hoof 'em over." She stopped and retrieved the medical box and pulled out a Spark Battery.
15:04		Bookwright shrugs. "You've got a sharper mind than I do, miss. I really need to clean these glasses..."
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15:09		Get_Lost "ah... actually, the fact that i have a better grasp on this stuff could be a bad sign... after all, my last name is solaris..."
15:12	Kkat	Bookwright feels like he aught to be able to identify the wreckage -- and it is definitely a crashed wagon of some sort -- but he just can't put his hoof on it...
15:12	Kkat	Mitzi digs into the ground around the wreckage as Crescendo watches nearby.
15:14	Kkat	Oh, wait! After studying it a moment longer, Bookwright recognizes the crashed Enclave Bomber Wagon for what it is. And realizes that maybe they shouldn't be walking around this area if the ground could conceal undetonated cargo. Or, for that matter, digging...
15:15	Kkat	>> WHOOOMP! <<
15:18	Kkat	Mitzi and Crescendo are thrown back in an eruption of dirt and concussive force. Mercifully, the same decay that had left the bomb Mitzi's claws dug into so unstable also robbed it of much of its original punch. Still the explosion echos off the canyon walls. Shatara can see a cloud of blasted dirt geyser up between the trees.
15:19		Get_Lost is caught completely by surprise and eeeps liek a little filly at the explosion, hiding her muzzle behind her hooves before realizing thaqt somepony could be hurt... and she is the medic! alright lost, not time to panic! the mare gallops twards the area of the explosion calling aloud "who was caught? is everypony alright?"
15:20		Kid 'pff's and whisks her hoof on the shoulder of her armor. "Oh, come on. Ya'll aren't t' blame fer everythin' that's goin' wro-" Kid's not-so-keen ears detect the sound of an explosion happening not too far off. "... What did ya'll do!" Kid brought up very pointedly towards Get.
15:20		Shatara sheilds himself from the detonation with a wing. "Aww, hell..." He dives towards the wrecked bomber that he can totally see now that its exploding.
15:20		*** Chor joined #FalloutEquestriaPNP
15:20		Mitzi is thrown back and lands in a head with a resounding thud
15:21		Bookwright quickly swaps his regular glasses for his sunglasses. Watches the pretty fireball coolly. "Yep. That's unexploded ordinance for yah..."
15:22		*** Chor quit (Quit: http://www.mibbit.com ajax IRC Client)
15:22	Kkat	Ears ringing, Bookwright sees Get_Lost running towards the explosion... and an area that really best be treated as a minefield.
15:22		Crescendo_ hits the ground hard, knocking the air out of his lungs.
15:22		Bookwright abandons politeness and shouts: "
15:23	Bookwright	"Get_Lost! Don't go over there! There could still be bombs left!"
15:23		Get_Lost slows down considering the minefield option "wait, yeah okay, i know but... Shatara can you fly the wounded outside the area?"
15:24		Mitzi wobbles to her feet, looking bloodied but surprisingly well off considering
15:25		Crescendo_ struggles for breath, and struggles to lift his face out of the dirt, which just added insult to injury.
15:26		Bookwright offers his own abilities. "I'm not the best telekine around, but I can lift them out if need be."
15:28		Get_Lost looks at the wounded friends and it is evident that she can't wait to help them; she takes a nervous step towards the wounded companions "Shatara, can you try flying the wounded ones outside the dangeorus area?"
15:28		*** Somber quit (Quit: http://www.mibbit.com ajax IRC Client)
15:28		Get_Lost "yes, yes everything that can help please!"
15:28	Kkat	Between Shatara's flight and Bookwright's magic, they are able to extract their friends from the danger zone without further harm.
15:28		Shatara hovers over the area and sizes up the situation, prioritizing whoever needs the evac worst.
15:29	Kkat	Crescendo is clearly seems the more wounded.
15:31		Kid uncomfortably looks at the situation playing out and sort of regrets immediately blaming Get_Lost. She looked at the bomber and frowned at it. She remembered that symbol and ran a hoof through her things, specifically the Enclave Scrip.
15:33		*** Chor joined #FalloutEquestriaPNP
15:34		Get_Lost first of all, the mare goes on crescendo: he's badly hurt and need immediate help, so she gives him her last potion
15:35		Get_Lost as soon as she's done with Crescendo_ the mare moves on mitzi "please stand stiull i'm trying to bandage you... this usually gets messy..."
15:36		Crescendo_ takes a little while to breathe properly again, but drinks the offered potion as soon as he was able.
15:37		Shatara lands and fidgets some, keeping watch since he wasn't much help at fixing ponies.
15:45		Kid grumps slightly that she isn't able to help before looking around for something to help with. Maybe some herb around here would help disinfect or protubulate or colonoscapate or something.
15:47		Mitzi decides she really likes magic bandages
15:49		Bookwright sighs. "Well, this has all been rather... diverting, but it's not really furthering our mission. Let's move on, shall we?"
15:51		Bookwright notes down that there's /used/ to be a crashed Enclave bombing wagon here, probably from the Day, but why it would be over this particular canyon he has no idea.
15:52		Get_Lost "actually"
15:52	Kkat	Kid stares at many of the same plants that Mitzi did earlier. The young brewer recognizes the white flower as a species of what the zebras called Moonflowers.
15:52		Get_Lost "if you have a spark battery we can listen to the recordings"
15:53		Get_Lost "and before theroad went boom, i think i heard somepony saying they had a battery?"
15:56	Shatara	"We've a few I think.."
15:57		Kid picks a moonflower and turns it around in her hoof. Huh. Wait a minute, she recognized this from a book. What was it? She ponders briefly before remembering just what this was and giving a big grin. "'Ey! Mitzi! Assumin' y' ain't dead, I got somethin' fer' ya! If y' are, hey ponies, ah found somethin' t' spice up th' tequila with!"
16:02		Mitzi stands up and lumbers over to Kid; "Not ded."
16:02		Get_Lost as soon as Shatara gives her a spark battery, the mare puts it in the recorder and hands it to Bookwright again "here, good as new"
16:03		*** AMARDA-Phone joined #FalloutEquestriaPNP
16:03		Bookwright places the recorder on a convenient-looking rock and depresses the 'play' button. "Thank you. Now let's listen..."
16:04	Kkat	As Get_Lost removes the old, dead spark-battery, she uncovers a little label inside: "Property of Luna's Academy for Young Unicorns. If found, please return to LAYU, Little Horn Valley, Crescent Moon Canyon."
16:06	Kkat	It is easy to discern the reason both for the extremely simple design and unusual resilience of the recorder: it was designed to be foal-proof.
16:08		Get_Lost reading the label under the battery, the mare shivers and small tearsstart forming in her eyes "this... this was a child's recorder i..." she offers again the recorder to Bookwright "i'm not sure i want to hear this..."
16:08	Kkat	There is a grating sound as gears engage, and a hiss of static. Then, a voice from the past bursts from the recorder... the voice of a young colt.
16:09	Kkat	http://tindeck.com/listen/kauz
16:09		Kid takes Mitzi's paw and examines it. A little shredded, but the bandages seemed to seal it up against what she's thinking nicely. "Now. This may get y' nuttier than a tribal on punga, but if it works like ah want it to, it might end up pretty nifty. These here are Moonflowers." Kid perks an ear when the recorder hissed into life.
16:09	Kkat	------ OOO ------
16:09	Kkat	No, it’s my tuwn!
16:09	Kkat	Stawt now? Okay.
16:10	Kkat	Hi! I’m Joy. I’m fiwst year and I alweady know thwee spells! Last week I leawned a healing spell so whenever somepony has an owie, I can fix it! Dancing Lights… he’s my elemin…emelar… basic spells teacher says I might be a natuwal at healing magic!
16:10	Kkat	My mommy and daddy awe Peawl Sheen and Hewald, and…
16:10	Kkat	Hey, no poking!
16:10	Kkat	Anyways, we awe all on a field twip to Gaia Valley. It’s weally pwetty! I wish I could live here! Not that I don’t like living at Pwincess Luna’s school. It’s weally nice. My bed is much bigger than I used to have, and my woommate is okay except he snores. And we have the bestest teachers!
16:10	Kkat	Cheewilee… do you wemember Cheewilee? She’s our Pony Studies teacher! She’s weally pwetty and super nice and she’s the only earth pony teacher in the entiwe school!... anyway, she’s having us do a time capsule!
16:10	Kkat	So we all get to make recowdings and put all sowts of stuff in it and we buwy it here in Gaia Valley and in ten years when we gwaduate we come back and dig it up!
16:11	Kkat	Anyways, I’m supposed to say what I think the future will be like. Well, I’ll be all gwown up and I hope I’ll be a healer, maybe even at the hospital in Stalliongwad where I was bown! Helping mommys have little colts of their own. And fillies too.
16:11	Kkat	And maybe I’ll marry Cheewilee, but she’s kinda old. So maybe that cute red-maned filly in thiwd year? I don’t know her name, but she does weally awesome fire spells!
16:11	Kkat	And, um… I guess that’s it. Oh, of couwse in the future the stupid war will be over and evewypony will live together and be happy. Even zebwas! Next week, Cheewilee says she’s gonna have a zebwa come to class to show us how zebwas are really nice like ponies when we don’t fight. Do you think the zebwa will have glowing eyes like all the pictuwes?
16:11	Kkat	Hey, I said no poking! I’m almost done!
16:12	Kkat	Anyways… um… okay, you go next.
16:12	Kkat	------ OOO ------
16:12		Kid suddenly had a very sober look on her face. Those bones...
16:14	Kkat	The recording ends. But the recorder does not immediately switch to the next track. It looks like the two other tracks are not from the original set of eight.
16:15		*** Chor quit (Quit: http://www.mibbit.com ajax IRC Client)
16:15		*** AMARDA-Phone quit (Quit: Bye)
16:17		Mitzi rubs the back of her head; "Leetle pony sounds cute. But sounds long time ago. Probably ded."
16:18		Shatara nods slowly, glancing towards Get_Lost.
16:19		*** Ashen_Ward quit (Ping timeout: 121 seconds)
16:20		Bookwright has been scribbling a transcript in his notebook furiously, using shorthand notation. "I... I don't think Joy made it to his graduation. The Princess Luna's Academy for Young Unicorns was destroyed by a group of zebras, and that was the event that started Equestria down the path to war..."
16:20		Get_Lost nods and waits for Bookwright to play the next track
16:20		Bookwright sighs deeply, and plays the next track.
16:20		Get_Lost "i... do you really have to make this even more painful? i was a crusader, you know?..."
16:21	Kkat	Again, the recorder whirrs to life. The voice, this time, is that of an adult stallion.
16:21	Kkat	------ OOO ------
16:21		Kid looks to Bookwright with a severe look on her face. "Ah -know-, alright? I read th' damn book! I'm not stupid jus' because..." Oh, what was the use?
16:21	Kkat	http://tindeck.com/listen/hewa
16:23	Kkat	Oh sweet Celestia. I… I didn’t think…
16:23	Kkat	It’s been ten years since I lost my little Joy. Ten years, and now, hearing his voice again…
16:23	Kkat	I…
16:23	Kkat	I knew this would be painful, but I had no idea. He was going to be a healer. If… if things were different, he’d probably be working for the Ministry of Peace right now.
16:23	Kkat	I knew this would be painful. But I had to. For him. Hell, they tried to keep me out of the valley, those Solaris ponies, but I had to come here. Had to dig it up. It’s my son. My joy. The last message, last thing he ever said. The capsule was meant to be dug up now. It was only right.
16:23	Kkat	…It’s all I have left of him. It was a promise. I promised him I’d be here when it was dug up. Even if I had to dig it up myself…
16:24	Kkat	What the…?! Sirens?
16:24	Kkat	What’s happening?! What…
16:24	Kkat	>>>>>..<<<<<<
16:24	Kkat	------ OOO ------
16:25		Get_Lost jaws is now slack open, is staringat the recording and she can't say anything
16:25	Kkat	This time, the recorder does immediately switch over to the next track.
16:25	Kkat	------ OOO ------
16:26	Kkat	http://tindeck.com/listen/snmu
16:26	Kkat	They did it! Sweet Celestia, the zebras… they megaspelled us! They destroyed us! Killed us all.
16:26	Kkat	I don’t quite know how I survived… but I don’t think it will be for much longer. The air is poison. I can feel it burning me up inside. I’m so weak. I… I barely managed to make it to this cave.
16:26	Kkat	They killed us. Just like they killed my Joy.
16:26	Kkat	I hope we killed them back, the bastards.
16:26	Kkat	------ OOO ------
16:27	Kkat	This recording is very brief, cutting out. The last five track-slots are empty, but the tracks may be anywhere in the local area.
16:28		Kid frowns very deeply. Zebra ghosts aren't the only ghosts around. Some came in tape form. "So. That was... Educational."
16:31		Crescendo_ swallows, finding his throat dry as a bone. "Hearing the past like that makes it seem so close."
16:31		Shatara blinks and glances around to the others, before examining what the tracks look like.
16:31		Get_Lost looks down, she still doesnt' seem to have anything to say
16:32		Mitzi notes; "Ponee long ded. Like all ponies frum back den."
16:33		Shatara drapes a wing over Get_Lost. She seems to need it.
16:34		Kid looks at her paw and the flowers before putting the flowers in her pack. "Jus' because y' put somepony in th' ground doesn't mean 'y keep 'em away, Mitzi."
16:34		Bookwright finishes writing and puts his gear away. "It's a safe bet that was Joy's father, a pony named 'Herald'. I wonder if he made any more recordings... If I had a sense of where to search, I could locate them easily. But this canyon is huge, and it'd be pointless to waste time searching fruitlessly."
16:35		Mitzi blinks at Kid; "Not sayeen eet's gud or anyting, just sayeen."
16:35	Kkat	The tracks are small, circular plugs about the size of a puppy's nose. They have a horseshoe stamp on one end and three prongs that slide into the recorder on the other. The first plug is a deep fushia color, designed for children. The other two are a more standard brown.
16:35		Get_Lost "we... we should get moving... Shatara, did you find a path?"
16:37		Shatara nods. "Yeah, there's a path up the canyonside...bunch of wreckage around it though. Might want to be careful of more...surprises."
16:38		Get_Lost nods "with some luck they were just carts of ponies trying to flee from the apo-" the mare's voice breaks, she's too shaken to proceed and hestures to the others to make way
16:38		Kid looks off to the side. "We need t' find th' cave." She said with a surprisingly solemn tone.
16:40		Bookwright nods. "Yeah. We should move on."
16:42	Kkat	All evidence, at least in Kid's mind, point to some wild animal having gotten ahold of this recorder and buried it here, part of a little treasure nest. In her mind's eye, she pictures an animal, maybe a radhog, trotting along with the recorder in it's mouth...
16:42	Kkat	...the recording tracks dropping out one-by-one as the beast carries the machine from wherever she found it to her favorite burying spot here.
16:44	Kkat	By tracking the animal back, it should be possible to find the other recordings. Not easy, especially if the rest are dirt brown like the second two, but possible.
16:44	Kkat	s/two/too
16:44	Kkat	^ ignore that correction. brain fart
16:45		Kid frowns deeply and looks at the bones to the side with a severe look in her single, blue eye. "... This thing left tracks. Probably a radhog er' a squirrel 'er a dog o' some sort. The dog or somethin'
16:46		Kid left tracks up to where th' pony who this belonged t' prolly holed up. I'd like t' take a lil' detour if possible."
16:47		Bookwright nods. "I'm open to the idea, as long as you happen to know where we're going..."
16:47	Kkat	Kid spots the animal's tracks after several minutes of searching. From the print, it looks to be a wild canine nearly the size of a pony.
16:47		Mitzi blinks at Kid; "Eez long ded ponee wurth ignoreen big nasty machine?"
16:49		Crescendo_ walks quietly with Get_Lost; that recording had left quite an impression.
16:49		Kid looks at Mitzi. Apparently emotional appeal didn't quite work, so he had to go with logical appeal. "Look. This pony prolly staked out here for a while, right? So that means he knows what th' place up there did t' the river. And if it's done doing what it did. That's worth th' trouble, right?"
16:50		Get_Lost mutters some explanation "this... this is the recordings of a survivor, maybe he met solaris ponies, maybe he had... information, useful ones... it's worth a try"
16:50		Bookwright agrees. "Yeah. If'n you lead the way, maybe we'll find more of those recordings, eh?"
16:52		Kid looks at the ground and snuffs lightly. "Tracks. Wild dog. Looks t' be one'o your cousins, Mitzi." She looks up and points the way. "Found it up here. I think ah could probably trace it up if ya'll feel up t' it."
16:55		Kid looks at them and nods approvingly. "Follow me n' keep a lookout fer more o' those tape things. Ghosts like their things t' be whole before they pass away."
16:56		Shatara takes off and criscrosses over the the party in lazy figure-8s
16:59		Bookwright nods and focuses. "I can do more than keep an eye out. I can search for them, magically..."
17:00		Mitzi shrugs; "Uh'll du whatever ponies want tu du, just sayeen which eez more important."
17:00		Crescendo_ "Do we want to find more? The last one was kind of... depressing."
17:01		Bookwright casts "Locate Records" and follows behind Kid, devoting some of his mind to the spell and the rest to mulling over his knowledge of the war.
17:04	Kkat	The ponies, hellhound and griffin follow the tracks for about twenty minutes -- winding deeper into the valley, but overall in the direction of the road -- when Bookwright's spell ignites a wavering light within a bush of Datura. It looks like you've found another little, brown recording track capsule.
17:05		Bookwright stops in his tracks, then lifts a little brown cartridge out of a patch of moonflowers on the side of the path. "Found one. Let's slot it in."
17:06	Kkat	Mitzi, meanwhile, is noticing other canine prints in the area as they track this one. Signs of a pack.
17:07		Bookwright lets his spell waver and dissolve. That's not the longest he's ever concentrated on that spell, but it's the first time he'd used it while traveling that far.
17:08		*** Ilushia joined #FalloutEquestriaPNP
17:08		*** Ilushia is now known as Noble_Heart
17:10		Mitzi sniffs around and stoops over, looking at the tracks; "Pack came tru here. Dogs, but not ur kind."
17:10		*** Sunrise joined #FalloutEquestriaPNP
17:10		+++ ChanServ has given admin to Sunrise
17:10		+++ ChanServ has given op to Sunrise
17:12		Kid goes ahead and picks more of the moonflowers. More poison or more pep for the next batch of booze.
17:13	Kkat	Shatara is keeping a griffin's eye on the situation from above. She can see that the road is just a few hundred yards from where her friends have stopped. And she can spot a wild dog... no, make that two, crossing the road, heading in the direction of the party. The trees here could easily conceal more.
17:13		Shatara calls out. "Hey, we got some wildlife headin this way. Don't think they're lookin' to play fetch...."
17:14		Crescendo_ brightens up. "Ah, more good news."
17:17		Bookwright looks up. "Wildlife? What do you mean?"
17:18		Shatara hovers, sizing up the critters. "Dogs, probably the ones we're tracking. They're still a bit of a ways out though."
17:19		Mitzi puts her nose up in the air and sniffs hard. "Dogs. For sure. Same ones from tracks."
17:20		Bookwright is too curious for his own good. "D'you think they'll talk to us? I want to know about their tribal history and everything!"
17:26		Mitzi shakes her head; "Not Hellhounds; plain dogs. Uh'll deal wit. Just gotta intimidate or beat da alpha."
17:28		Shatara circles around, ready to provide backup wherever needed.
17:28		Mitzi looks to the ponies; "Yu want wait, or shud I go deal wit dem ahead?"
17:29		Bookwright doesn't care. "Either is fine with me. I want to see this myself. Accounts are fine, but firsthoof observation of a territorial dominance display is not something lightly passed up! Don't worry, I won't stay too close. I just want to be able to see what's going on clearly so I can take notes."
17:29		Mitzi nods to Bookwright; "Yu can follow if yu want den Uh guess."
17:30		Bookwright smiles eagerly and gets out a notebook. "Excellent. I'll stay far back, don't you worry."
17:31		Get_Lost fighting wa totally outside of her jurisdiction, so the mare decides to stay back
17:33		Mitzi nods and starts to head in the direction of the dog pack, following her nose. She motions for Bookwright to follow if he sees fit. She looks at the Stallion for a moment; "Eef dis dun wurk, yu can make signal to bring others tu help?"
17:34	Kkat	The others move to safe distances, leaving Mitzi alone in full view when the three mongrels move into sight. Their heads are low, their stances threatening. They have already caught whiff of Mitzi's scent, and their territorial dispositions are clear.
17:34		Bookwright nods. "I can make a really bright light, if that's what you mean. That'll be the call for help, okay y'all?"
17:35		Mitzi stoops over onto all fours and raises her heckles. She begins to growl loudly and menacingly, snarling and being sure to show lots of her long, sharp teeth. She also flexes her claws. Raising one to rake the stone face of the cliff, leaving clean gashes in the stone. She barks twice and makes herself seem as big as possible.
17:36		Kid led the rest up someplace on the hill and laid down prone on the brush with her shotgun pointed towards the mongrels. She grit her teeth. The trigger seemed a little lighter than usual. She knew she put up all the backup plans she could manage. Time to see if they need them.
17:37		Bookwright scribbles furiously in his notebook, gleefully making notes in shorthand.
17:39	Kkat	After a lot of growling, snarling, snapping and exchange of intimidation, Mitzi manages to cower all three of the mongrels without drawing blood.
17:40		Bookwright takes even more (glee-filled) notes, whispering to himself about hellhound dominance rituals and other things of like that.
17:41		Mitzi pulls a hunk of meat out of her packs and takes a large, savage bite out of it. The alpha always eats first, and the mutts should consider themselves lucky to get what she's willing to give them.
17:44		Kid feels her hoof giving slack from the trigger. Okay, okay. That was pretty cool. No need to waste ammo. And- Wait. Maybe this was the best possible thing to happen. Now they had more eyes and noses.
17:44		Shatara loops around a bit, seeing the canine situation resolved in a surprisingly peaceful fasion.
17:46		Mitzi tosses each dog a small scrap of meat. It was fresh and tasty
17:47		Kid cracks open the breech and feels very glad that she didn't have to shoot her old over-under. She still had the lightning rounds loaded because she expected hostile hellhounds. She slowly makes her way back to Mitzi after loading in another round of buckshot. "Atta girl." She said.
17:49		Mitzi gives Kid a toothy grin; "Dey not as strong as Uh am, and dey know it. Dey follow me now."
17:50		Mitzi approaches the trio of canines and beckons to them, wanting them to lay down in front of her as a sign of submission, and proof they recognized she was at the top of the pecking order
17:50		*** Arcane_Scroll is now known as Arcane_Eating[A]
17:52	Kkat	Now with three firece mongrels added to their party, the explorers gather together to hear the recording that Bookwright found. Once again, the foal's audio recorder grinds to life, spitting out static. And then a familiar voice... well, mostly familiar.
17:52	Kkat	----- OOO -----
17:53	Kkat	http://tindeck.com/listen/apse
17:53	Kkat	I’m… still alive. My mane is falling out. My skin burns so badly I can’t sleep. But I’m alive. It hurts so much! But… I have to stay alive. I have to, in order to tell ponies the truth. To let them know what has happened here.
17:53	Kkat	I’m beyond medical help. This is magical damage… magical radiation. Luna, where did they even get such horrible magic!
17:53	Kkat	I’ve used up all the painkillers I had, and I’ve begun to raid them from the Solaris bastards. They’re everywhere. They’ve got little packages of glowing orange stuff. I tried it, and it took the pain away for a while… but the side effects… worst ever.
17:54	Kkat	This… this wasn’t the zebras. It was Solaris. Solaris megaspelled Gaia Valley.
17:54	Kkat	They’ve got ponies in radiation suits wandering all over the irradiated hellscape they created. I’ve managed to stay hidden. At least for now. I’ve been trying to spy, find out what I can. I think… I think the rest of Equestria is okay. From the way those suited ponies have been talking, what they did here is a secret. What they’re doing, rather.
17:54	Kkat	Whatever they’re doing, it’s not over. Yesterday, one of those Solaris ponies said something about “Phase Three”. Whatever that is.
17:54	Kkat	How cloud they be allowed to do this? Why would they? How could any pony destroy part of Equestria like this? On purpose! Were they…
17:54	Kkat	Were they testing to see what a zebra megaspell would do? Maybe try to find a way to protect us? Merciful Celestia, did Solaris steal a megaspell from the zebras?
17:55	Kkat	I… I think they did.
17:55	Kkat	Somepony’s coming. Herald out.
17:55	Kkat	----- OOO -----
17:55	Kkat	The recorder goes abruptly silent.