Fallout: Beyond Equestria 28: All Roads Lead... (Part 10)

[2017-01-04 13:27:39] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Previously...
[2017-01-04 13:28:05] <Mare-Do-Well> 3There is nothing left of the real Major Tripwire.  But in combining with its shadow, the seraph has become a much lesser version of itself...
[2017-01-04 13:28:07] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
[2017-01-04 13:28:53] <Mare-Do-Well> 3opyCat reels as the creature explodes under Noble's magical onslaught, but it is Get_Lost and Bookwright who collapses. Seeing Bookwright rush to Get's side she moves to treat Golden_Dream.
[2017-01-04 13:29:04] <Mare-Do-Well> 3CopyCat reels as the creature explodes under Noble's magical onslaught, but it is Get_Lost and Bookwright who collapses. Seeing Bookwright rush to Get's side she moves to treat Golden_Dream.
[2017-01-04 13:29:14] <Mare-Do-Well> 3CopyCat quickly finds that her friend is alive but very injured, and Copy herself is so magically exhausted from reviving Snowhare earlier that she makes no protest when Bookwright finishes stabilizing Get_Lost and moves to help Goldie as well.
[2017-01-04 13:29:55] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
[2017-01-04 13:29:59] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Golden_Dream hung her head, the raises it back up, and began to plod over to Wind Weaver. "Tripwire. Where does his family live?"
[2017-01-04 13:30:08] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Wind Weaver looks blank.  Then, "He doesn't have any.  Except, he says the Enclave is his family."  She pauses.  "Said, I mean.  Was."
[2017-01-04 13:30:18] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Bookwright sighs deeply. "I'm pretty sure Tripwire's actions saved a /lot/ of lives. I don't think anyone in this base would have survived without his sacrifice."
[2017-01-04 13:30:32] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
[2017-01-04 13:30:47] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Bookwright shakes himself out and a fine dust of charred horsehair suffuses the space around him. "Can you direct us to the nearest clinic please?" Very gently, he raises Get_Lost on a cushion of telekinesis. "We're all going to need medical attention."
[2017-01-04 13:31:05] <Mare-Do-Well> 3CopyCat checks the still-unconscious Get_Lost, slowly pouring one of the Super Healing potions Cottonseed had given them into her mouth. She looks over at Shatara. "Get will be out for a little bit, but she's alive. We'll all need some rest and medical care, but we'll survive," she says confidently.
[2017-01-04 13:31:18] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
[2017-01-04 13:31:21] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Jugeote gallops up to hug Shatara.  Takes a second look.  Decides a kiss would be less potentially painful.
[2017-01-04 13:31:32] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Shatara squeezes the zebra mare tight. "Looks like we've both had a bad day..."
[2017-01-04 13:31:35] <Mare-Do-Well> 3...
[2017-01-04 13:32:02] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Fallout: Beyond Equestria, Session Two Hundred and Eight: All Roads Lead... (Part 10) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE0iBDl3NHw
[2017-01-04 13:32:10] <Mare-Do-Well> 3--- Session Begins ---
[2017-01-04 13:32:22] <Mare-Do-Well> 3One hour later, at the clinic...
[2017-01-04 13:33:15] * Mitzi sizzles a bit, holding her nose against the lingering smell of burnt hair.
[2017-01-04 13:34:41] * Get_Lost is feering already better, tries to get on her hooves but is still a bit wobbly "wow... that was a hot sauna"
[2017-01-04 13:37:24] * Golden_Dream stares up at the ceiling for a while. She hasn't said much in the last hour. Her eyes seem a bit glazed, and the light in them seems a bit dim.
[2017-01-04 13:41:39] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Wind Weaver sits next to Mitzi.  Jugeote leans against Shatara.  And medical ponies hover about everyone.
[2017-01-04 13:42:51] * Noble_Heart stood... Somewhere where her size wasn't such an issue. Despite the severe case of stood-too-close-to-an-explosion burn, she was largely unharmed from the battle. Which was likely a good thing, as someone had to make sure her friends were being treated properly.
[2017-01-04 13:43:05] * Shatara holds Jugeote close to himself quietly.
[2017-01-04 13:44:27] * CopyCat buzzes around the medical bay, assisting the Enclave doctors in attending to her friends. She whistles a silly but strangely haunting song as she works.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlkxcC79LA8
[2017-01-04 13:44:37] * Mitzi smiles at Wind Weaver, comforted by the presence of a near-sister and, she hoped, providing a bit of comfort as well in light of the recent loss.
[2017-01-04 13:47:54] * Get_Lost "so... "/me suddenly feels the need of a properly prepared maretini drink
[2017-01-04 13:53:03] * Get_Lost "any idea of why that thing attacked this place? could it be possible that the shadow got inside the settlement by itself, or a pony accidentally vrought it in?"
[2017-01-04 13:53:44] <Mare-Do-Well> 3When Major Fog Bank checks in, he is able to answer Get_Lost's question.
[2017-01-04 13:55:08] <Mare-Do-Well> 3"We have finally identified the original carrier of the shadow.  A pegasus who got separated from his scouting group the first week we were here.  He was taken off the duty roster and was scheduled for a psychological evaluation due to odd behavior."
[2017-01-04 13:55:34] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Major Fog Bank frowns.  "Unofficially, there was some worry that he had been replaced by a changeling."
[2017-01-04 13:59:39] * CopyCat ponders aloud while fluffing Get_Lost's pillow, "The light Seraphim may have been chasing Effigy, it attacked his pursuers, did it not?-" she pauses as the Major gives the actual answer. "Oh, it was Sweet Sleet? I remember being asked to check whether I could sense his thoughts for you. How is he doing, by the way?"
[2017-01-04 13:59:48] * Get_Lost nodnods "well, this place is dangerous in its ow ways... greater potential doesn't really means less risk"
[2017-01-04 14:05:23] * Get_Lost "shall we check the surroundings and see if there is something else worth avoiding?"
[2017-01-04 14:10:55] * Mitzi looks to Wind Weaver. "Uh tink dat wuz wut she unf da sciuns ponees were dueen."
[2017-01-04 14:11:06] <Mitzi> *und
[2017-01-04 14:15:40] * Get_Lost "yeah, but we could help with that since we don't want what just happened to happen again?"
[2017-01-04 14:19:44] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Jugeote looks to Shatara.  "Now... you go to Roam, right?"
[2017-01-04 14:20:19] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Jugeote adds, "Is there anything we can do to help?  That I can do?"
[2017-01-04 14:21:29] * Golden_Dream continues to stare upwards. "What's puttin' us there, Jugeote? Why can't we jus' go home?" She sounded defeated, still a strange high-pitched sing-song hoarse that came out in rasps.
[2017-01-04 14:22:25] * Get_Lost "well, mostly because derpy? i mean, ditzy? we still have that to fix"
[2017-01-04 14:23:58] * Noble_Heart looks towards Golden_Dream. "Miss Doo requires our assistance, yes. But more important than that. If we do not go, and do not succeed, there may not be a peaceful home to return to. Not for us, nor for any of the good ponies who live in the relative peace Equestria has become."
[2017-01-04 14:24:43] * Shatara nods solemnly. "Yeah, we go to Roam, I guess. I wanna say having a zebra or two around might help...well, besides the stripless..."
[2017-01-04 14:25:21] * Mitzi still looks a touch confused by the notion of a stripeless stripey pony.
[2017-01-04 14:26:42] * Get_Lost "also, we still have the big caps cash to split and the day we go home we'll have to split and i don't really want to go there yet"
[2017-01-04 14:26:51] * CopyCat 's ears droop as Major Fog Bank just shakes his head. "Oh... right... he would have been the first victim. The one who Snowhare got the shadow from."
[2017-01-04 14:27:24] * Golden_Dream would have thrown her hooves up if she wasn't injured. "We're caravaners, Noble. I know th' extenuatin' circumstances might lead you to believe that we're a trained set of badasses sent by Celestia t' set th' world's wrongs right, but I very much assure you that I ain't got that training."
[2017-01-04 14:29:03] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Major Fog Bank offers, "You could leave it to the Enclave."
[2017-01-04 14:29:31] <Mare-Do-Well> 3He notes, "Unfortuantely, it appears the NCR's attempts at diplomacy has only lead to getting themselves captured."
[2017-01-04 14:29:31] * Get_Lost smiles a bit "i see ourselves more like... all we have got to try and fix things? i don't remember doing any caravan stuff EVER since when we left equestria..."
[2017-01-04 14:31:17] * Golden_Dream sighs gravely. "We did our job. By every metric, we done our job right. By every metric, we should go home. Let th' folks with th' actual logistics and political knowhow on how t' deal with this. It's only doggone arrogance tellin' us that we got th' ability to save this situation."
[2017-01-04 14:34:17] * Get_Lost "we did our what? are you serious? derpy is still down there and we must save her! also, politically speaking, i don't thonk that politics will solve this. probably we will have to skyrocket the palace to the moon with the changeling queen and the whole court to fix roam's problem"
[2017-01-04 14:40:17] * CopyCat sighs, not letting herself get too down. "Golden_Dream, I don't believe there is anyone with the 'knowhow' to deal with a hostile empire being run by a hive of hungry nationalistic changelings. This is an unusual and extreme situation while most of the world is trying to eek out lives for themselves and simply survive."
[2017-01-04 14:41:32] * Mitzi frowns and considers. "Bug ponees want war, they not want tu talk. Uh wuz able tu get through tu other hounds becuz Uh knew wut dey had been through. Do we have aneeun dat knows wut dey've been through?"
[2017-01-04 14:42:58] * Get_Lost "i would lie if i said i cared... but yeah, probably they have their reasons, like the giant necromantic dragon in that cave..." pauses "sometimes, blowing a megaspell on the face of a psycho is the solution you're looking for"
[2017-01-04 14:44:49] * Noble_Heart sighs quietly. "There is nothing stopping you from going home. We are certain that one of these pegasi would be happy to give you a lift at least as far as the caravan trails." She looked away from Golden Dream. "But regardless, We shall carry on. This is not a situation which We could abandon, not with things the way they are." She paused a moment. "We made a promise. It
[2017-01-04 14:44:50] * Noble_Heart would be rude not to keep it."
[2017-01-04 14:45:28] * CopyCat continues, "In times long past a group of friends was able to come together and save the world time and time again. It was the actions of another rag tag group of friends that gave the ashes of Equestria hope for a better tomorrow." She looks Golden_Dream in the eye. "You are selling yourself short if you do not think of yourself as capable."
[2017-01-04 14:49:36] * Golden_Dream snipes back. "So it's up to a bunch of caravaners to assassinate a damn queen bitch on top of th' throne?" She looks Copycat back dead in the eyes in particular. "Look. There is no guarantee that we'll make it out of this alive. /This/ near killed me. Every encounter we fight near kills me."
[2017-01-04 14:50:06] * Shatara muses. "Some say violence isn't the answer. Funny how it always seems to be the answer to those who insist otherwise..."
[2017-01-04 14:51:17] * Get_Lost "big deal! i got almost killed twice... i actually think i died at least oncefor real if it wasn't for copy. moreover, we're not caravaneer: we are wasteland heroes who happened to make a job or two for a caravan"
[2017-01-04 14:52:03] <Golden_Dream> "And we can't even say that the cause itself ll' happen the way we want it. I went out here, hoping, frothing at th' mouth to kill this bitch what killed m' dad. And now, it's just... Over. I didn't even get to talk at the one that killed him. And now I'm in her position, havin' t' tell a lot of
[2017-01-04 14:52:30] <Golden_Dream> ponies that I sent their friend and comrade out to die. This might not end well for us."
[2017-01-04 15:03:53] * Get_Lost "what?"
[2017-01-04 15:09:24] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Major Fog Bank listens to the conversation.  He is Enclave.  These are civilians.
[2017-01-04 15:10:54] <Mare-Do-Well> 3For the Enclave, 'not ending well' comes with the job.  You sign up for that.  Bravely, with steadfastness to the importance of your work.  But it is different for these ponies and their friends.  This is not something they originally volunteered for.  And they are not military.
[2017-01-04 15:12:17] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Still, they have proven, time and again, that the military method is not always the best.  Often, true.  And, being biased, Major Fog Bank would even say "usually".  But... what these caravaners... no, these *heroes* have done...
[2017-01-04 15:12:30] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Major Fog Bank stays silent, but is most impressed.
[2017-01-04 15:18:38] * Noble_Heart moves up next to Golden_Dream. "You did not send anyone out to die. Trip Wire chose to sacrifice himself to save his people. His friends and family. Those he cared about more than himself." She gently layed a wing over the small earth pony. "And he succeeded. If nothing else, know that he gave up his life doing what he desired to do, not what was forced upon him."
[2017-01-04 15:36:26] * Get_Lost "noble is right: he decided that it was his time to do what had to be done. mitzi was already going to try the same trick but he wanted in. i respect that choice, but he knew that he was walking a one way road, even if we gave everything we could to give him hope to make it back. we did all we could do, and he did his part. i don't see why you should feel guilty"
[2017-01-04 15:36:33] * Get_Lost "being sad, that's okay"
[2017-01-04 15:45:57] * Golden_Dream goes silent for a moment. "I suppose yer' right." She stares back up. "Jus' doesn't feel right t' me. I suppose I'd rather it be me in trouble than anyone else, 'cause I know I can handle it. Or at least, maybe could. But I can't help but feel going on like this is a trap."
[2017-01-04 15:51:44] * Get_Lost "traps are the fun part..."
[2017-01-04 15:51:58] * Get_Lost "i hope there will be a monologue too"
[2017-01-04 15:53:38] * Golden_Dream sighs, eyes glazing over again. "What do I do about Cottonseed? I can't jus' do nothing."
[2017-01-04 16:03:32] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Mwana enters the room, looking around frantically, and finds Golden_Dream.  He rushes to her side.  "Are you all right?"
[2017-01-04 16:04:36] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Mwana's eyes look over Golden_Dream, concern visible.  "How can I help?"
[2017-01-04 16:05:07] * Get_Lost turns her visor at Golden_Dream but her expression is unreadable as usual "move on, peraps? yu are already making your old stallion proud... i'd say, keep on that way"
[2017-01-04 16:19:18] * CopyCat nods with Get_Lost. "Maybe give the new Cottonseed a chance. If the old Cottonseed is gone, if a better pony has taken her place, then there's no one left to take vengeance on." She doesn't take her eyes off of Golden_Dream as she gives the young mare a smile. "We've been through a lot together, Golden_Dream. There's far more to you than just your desire for revenge. There always have been."
[2017-01-04 16:34:23] <Mare-Do-Well> 3--- End of Session ---