Fallout Equestria: Third Time's the Charm (IC)

[Slorch]

‘Hey look I can throw things!’ she thought with a heavy dose of sarcasm. Star bumped hooves with Sapphire. ‘Sapphire Sands is a good name I guess.’ Star thought. She didn’t really know what made a good name. She followed after AVI and Sapphire to inspect the downed bot. Poking her nose around she could find very much that she could use, just a few bits and bobs to add to her collection of stuff. “Hey, other robot pony. I think there’s some stuff here you could use.” Star yelled back at the last pony in the group that she did not know the name of.

Sapphire then inquired about what exactly they were doing in the stable. “Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I was just come to the stable to visit and look around. I had heard that a new sable had recently opened in the area from some other travelers along the road. I’d never been in one before so I thought ‘why not take a look?’. I thought I had gone to far before hearing some gun shots and running over to investigate. And now here we are.” She replied as she continued to poke through the bot to see if she had missed anything.

[Das Metro]

Stable 94

As Quiet watched the securipony fall, she let out a triumphant screech. With the static on her artificial voice, it produced a squeaky, metallic sound. The droning of the angry bot's minigun was finally gone, and Quiet could think clearly. She stepped out from behind cover with a relieved sigh, and trotted to join her friends.

It looked like the securipony had pretty standard salvage. Sifting through the bulky wreckage, Quiet bagged as many 5mm rounds as she could for her own gun. She considered taking a missle or two for a moment... Quiet didn't have any weapons that needed them, but it was better to have something and not need it, then need it and not have it. Then again, missles could be awfully weighty...

The cyberbat passed on the missles. Those ballistic hooves of AVI's may as well of been missles. Standing up straight, Quiet looked at her other companions. "I believe the intent was to get AVI away from the criminal elements after her bounty," Quiet buzzed, "However, it appears as though this Stable has problems of its own. And here I was hoping we'd have a moment of respite. I could of shown off my... Multi-touch capabilities."

Stable 60

"Depends on what's for dinner," Opium giggled. He pulled away from Pitch with a smile. Things couldn't of gone better! Easy street for Opium Rush, yes sir! The snowy white stallion gave Pitch a parting nuzzle as he backed up to the door, "Care to show me where I'll be sleeping? It was a bit of a long walk to get here."

[Ozzy]

AVI looked between the chatting mares with a tired sigh, "I have no idea, things just... happened so fast..." She looked down, there were no places for her to actually go. The surrounding regions were oddly divided into little mysteries and horrors of their own that were way worse than the Rosebloom, she knew other Steel Ranger contingents would be waiting for her elsewhere anyways. The other groups of Ranger fucks may not like each other, but damn, they kept in contact just fine....

Besides, now that she has a few friends tagging along, the intention to resettle might have to wait a while. Who knows what she might do with the hushy hushy technology the Rangers wanted.

AVI continues onward in the stable, the three red bars were overran with a horde of amber bars, completely extinguishing the former on her EFS as the pink bot catches the sounds of shouting and laser fire through the steel walls. The oncoming horde of defending stable ponies soon gallop around the corner of the hallways towards the startled AVI like a very angry stampede. "D-Don't shoot me, I'm not with these other robots!!" AVI cowered as every laser rifle and pulse gun pointed at her, oh Luna not the pulse guns!!

A really big green mare in stable security barding stepped forward with a pulse gun ready, looking like she was about to crumple the small pink bot like a tin can. "Riiiiiight, so a friendly robot just happened to waltz into our stable during a fucking robot incursion?" She was obviously angry, giving AVI a cold glare with pulse gun nearly shaking in her forehoof. 'Bonus points for being an earth pony and still being able to grip a pistol', AVI thought. The other officers behind her were muttering in sheer contempt for the bot before a bright orange coated mare with a red fiery mane stepped forward from the mob with a wide grin on her face.

This mare was indeed odd looking, she has a smile that kinda scared the hell out of AVI and she wore a tight pink pin stripe suit with a wide brimmed bowler hat of matching color. "Blegh, step down you blabbering dolt. This robotic lass means us no harm." The bright orange mare wraps an arm around the petrified AVI, who was secretly hoping her friends would blast everyone in here. "I'm the Overmare of our lovely little stable, but you can just call me Fire Sale. So..." She gazes at her name tag, which was surprisingly intact, "AVI? What is a robot like you doing showing up in the middle of our robotic debacle?"

AVI was lost for words, it was indeed a strange coincidence. The guards lowered their guns but they insisted on shooting her with something just as worse, an 'all-robots-are-evil-bastards' glare. This threw the mare into a state of panic, "I-I just... wanted... a, er... p-place to stay." She stammered and looked back at her friends for help, she noticed Armored Star digging through the fallen securipony's chassis. Speaking of which, if she dug hard enough, the unicorn might just find a plasma defender...

Fire Sale rolled her eyes to gaze at the ceiling and rubbed her chin, "Eyup, you certainly don't strike me as one to work for Colonel Legato. Say, did you come from the Rosebloom or what?"

[Fantrum]

I happily trotted on, my saddlebags sitting very nicely on my flanks. I would never know why having plenty of ammo put me in a good mood, but damn, it did every time! Hm, who was AVI talking to? My robotic companion had only been a few hoofsteps ahead of me, but she seemed to have gotten herself into some new kind of trouble. I caught the name Fire Sale and AVI's pitiful response, Ok, time to go to the rescue.

Taking in the scene as fast as my brain could function, I counted the number of gun toting security ponies... ok I tried to count, the number ended up as too damn many to fight. So in one swift motion, I holstered my own weapons and decided that since everyone else was talking, I didn't need to go changing anything. Guns couldnt solve every problem. Ohohohohohoh! Maybe they had a bed I could use! I did so hope they would have a bed I could borrow for a little bit.

I cleared my throat as I approached, going all in that they wouldn't blast my face off on general principle, "I see AVI found the locals! What a lovely mane you have!" I strategically pushed myself between AVI and Fire Sale, "Im Sapphire Sands, pleased to meet you. I can see that you've already met my lovely companion AVI, isn't she just a peach?" I put on my best grin and turned my head to the pink robot, "Say, why don't you go and get the others before our gracious hosts put a few extra holes in Quiet by accident?" Eyeing the body language of the guards, I pressed forward, "As my timid friend stated, our group was looking for a place to hole up for the night. As it is, its been a very long day and we came to your stable hoping to find civilization... and maybe a warm bed or two. But we seemed to have stepped right into the middle of a civil war."

[Slorch]

‘Oohhh, what’s this?’ thought Star as she pulled out the plasma defender, ‘Nice, going to make a bunch of caps off of this. Even mostly fully charged too.’ She slipped it into her bags and trotted to catch up with AVI and Sapphire. “Hey guys what’s…” she said as she slid to a halt next to sapphire, “Oh, hey things that aren’t shooting us. Hi!” She waved at the other groups.

‘Oh shit…I hope they're friendly.’ she thought as she waved. “So, ya um we just kind of wandered into here. Had heard that this place had just opened and we or at least I was looking to look around. Maybe do some trading.” She said as she quickly thought of what to do if things went south. ‘You could do that thing…Um, no thanks don’t feeling like passing out for a few days again thanks. Well what the hell are you going to do then? I’ll…um think of something…probably.’ She thought as she fidgeted with the ground.

[The Flutterlands]

Stable 60

Pitch grinned. "We'll be having pony, tonight, handsome." he said, "Some asshat became a local menace by raping and butchering local foals. So, I gave him his just desserts. Now, I'll show you to your room."
Pitch chuckled. The ghoul obviously isn't one to shy away from eating pony, but unlike the likes of the Slaughterhouse Road Family (who he vehemently despises with all his heart to the point that he's currently seeking out their extermination) Pitch is more civilized about it and only gives such fates to those he deems most deserving. The black ghoul got out of his chair and escorted Opium to his comfty quaters.
"Here we are." said Pitch once they arrived, "Dinner is in an hour. So be ready, okay?"

[Das Metro]

Stable 94

Quiet trailed back with Armored Star a moment to see if there was any other sort of valuable salvage. Before she could lay into the lifeless chasis of the securipony, there seemed to be some sort of altercation a ways further into the Stable. First Sapphire trotted off to AVI's said, and Armored followed. Quiet walked at a brisk pace to catch up with her companions. At first, she thought that she was walking right into a trap.

A wave of relief washed over Quiet when she saw that Sapphire was dealing it. That mare certainly seemed the most capable of dealing with other organics. Being in the presence of shifty looking guards still had the cybermare on edge. Those pulse guns wouldn't put her down for good, but they wouldn't do her any favors either.

"We came from the Rosebloom, yes," Quiet chimed in.

Stable 60

Opium smiled brightly. Pony? How lovely! The flesh of his fellow pony was just one of Opium's many vices. He just liked meat in general. In addition to chemistry, The white stallion was also well versed in the art of wasteland cuisine. Opium could make some mean bloatsprite sliders.

The room looked rather nice... Much comfier than what he was useful. There was even a real bed! Stable ponies really had it good! Well, most of them. Opium has been to a couple Stables in his time. Not all of them were so lucky. Even this Stable didn't have a happy ending, really. Taken over by sanctimonious slavers? Ouch.

"Sounds good to me, sugar-skin," Opium purred and flopped himself onto the bed, "I'll just be here, getting used to the new digs."

[Ozzy]

The horde of security guards were standing on top of each other in the hallway just to get their guns to point at AVI and company, it was like they were forming a stonewall! Fire Sale just grinned at Armored Star as she wrapped a hoof around her shoulder, "Yes! You can stay the night and trade with us as you wish!! Are you craving for a new way to dust your opponent? Well look no further! We have various vendors in our humble stable selling the finest plasma weaponry from all over the wasteland!! Even prototypes!!" The orange mare ignores Sapphire and waves a hoof to the dozens of different kiosks built into the walls, well, some that weren't crudely turned into pill boxes that is.

"Uh... Anyways, Bed Bugs! Give these mares the best room in the stable." Fire Sale commanded, a brown skinny mare with googly eyes and a beetle thing as a cutie mark saluted and zoomed out of the hallway. "Hehe, free of charge ladies... thanks for saving our tails." The orange mare gleefully added.

Innkeeper named Bed Bugs...? Wow.

There was another odd thing AVI just now noticed about the place, there were crudely drawn advertisements all over the damn place. Price labels were slapped onto every knick-knack these ponies could get their hooves on, even the furniture... even on colts and fillies apparently. AVI sheepishly waves at a duo of squabbling fillies who wore price tags around their necks. '700 caps' for each of the little things, okay AVI shall ignore the disgusting slavery for now.... Anything and everything seemed to be merchandise in here, and given how well armed these ponies are and the interesting things they have lying around, they're probably damn good at haggling money from others.

AVI looked up at Sapphire and Quiet, the crowd muttered in disgust among each other at the sight of Quiet before a filly in the far back of the mob grumbled, "It's not a civil war..."

That's when Fire Sale's enormous grin dissipated and AVI couldn't be any more happier, it made the orange pony look more... pony, and less like a freakish doll that screamed 'I'll kill you in your sleep'. "I'm afraid the little one is right... again, I thank you all for ridding us of the meddlesome metal oafs, but I'm afraid this was an invasion from outside forces."

AVI stood on all fours again, getting a sense of excitement again. "What happened here, Overmare Fire Sale?"

"Well my potential custo- er, I mean friend... there's a nasty freeloading pony who wanted a piece of our stable by invading it with a group of sentinels. I believe he got what he wanted, as the group fled after decimating the maintenance wing but the fellow insisted on occupying the place with other machines, even threatened us with death if we dared leave the living quarters... but, after we heard gunfire, we thought it was some rescue so we were brave enough to launch a counter offensive."

AVI looked on with eye brow raised, "D-Do you know who done it, or why...?"

The orange mare continued, leaning against a kiosk counter with a small frown. "I just know he wanted something from our stable, probably a fusion core and a load of spark batteries, because that's what went missing..." Fire Sale bit her lip and continued, "He goes by the name Soothing Legato, some ex-military veteran zombie fuck stuck in the past. Keeps rambling on about how the war ain't over or some shit, since this stable lies on the very border between the Rosebloom and the Hoof with his base of operations on the same parallel east of us, it's very very difficult to tell where he might have came from... the thing was, he wasn't here when we opened up a while back. Now all of a sudden a month ago, he came out of no where and started kidnapping ponies... his arrival made things even more complicated for the travelers. There's seriously no known safe route around the wastes now... We coordinated attacks on his stronghold with mercenaries, but the damn place is so fortified."

AVI shook her head, "I'm so sorry to hear about that, Miss Fire Sale. I hope there's something we could do for you..."

The mare gave a sad smile, her cheery facade finally fled from her face. "Well, I guess your friend is right, you are a peach... Erm, the bastard's robots ran off with fifty of us if you're feeling heroic. I'll mark his base's location on your Pip-Buck... I-I appreciate if you get them back, h-he kinda has my daughter..."

AVI didn't like this, her friends probably wouldn't agree to go to a place like that. "I-I'll see what I can do in the morning, Miss Fire Sale..." Wouldn't she just sell her daughter anyways?

[Fantrum]

Yikes, tough crowd. Oh well. Sitting back for the duration of their chat, I shrugged off getting the cold shoulder in favor of beds. I didnt know what AVI thought we would be able to do against an army of robots with just our little band of misfits, but if these heavily armed stable ponies with merc support hadnt been able to do it, I highly doubted our chances. There was no way in Tartarus I was marching into a suicide mission without the proper payment, even if it was to save little foals from the clutches of an evil bastard... goddesses damnit... No! Id done enough for free already, and this wasnt something I could change. It was a reality that caps made the wasteland go round, not acts of heroics. No, those typically ended with a horrible death, if not at the cold hooves of these robots, then by the guns of someone else down the line.

Id heard the stories of heros all over the wastelands, making it a better place, fighting an impossible battle against the evilness that was Equestria today. They had always made me smile and wish the would be heros luck, but in the end, it never got better for anyone. The hero's on the radio would die in a blaze of glory, my family would still be dead, and someone would need my gun for something, business as usual. All I could do was smile and keep making caps to live by.

Free rooms sounded nice as all hell, so instead of dealing with Fire Sale being a cunt, I trotted off to see where Bed Bugs had gone off to, "Im gonna go check out that room, Ill see you guys later!" The Security mares parted obligingly, and I felt pretty bad for the two not completely organic members of our group. As a living breathing mare, I got to stroll right through the horde of gun toting slavers without so much as a second glance, but my, dare I say it? F- frrrr- Frrrrriends. Yes, I supposed that was what they were now, or at least that's what they were quickly becoming, my friends would be stared down so hard that they just might burst into flames. Well except Star, since she was organic too.

The living area that seemed to serve as their city center was a lot bigger than I expected. It was a lot like the atrium we had passed through on the way in, but almost bigger in a way. It was two stories tall, with several overhead catwalks spanning the open space above the town center. Stores seemed to line the walls, everything from clothing repair and weapons shops, to... ahem, slaves. I made a mental note to come back some day when I was a moral crusader and kill every slaver in this place. Until then, I spotted the Inn sign hanging above a ramshackle kiosk next to a set of stairs leading up to the second story as well as down into what I could only guess was the bedroom area.

Bed Bugs was scribbling something onto a clipboard when I rolled up, so I patiently waited for her to finish before she tossed me a room key with VIP inscribed on its attendent fob. "Up the stairs and to the left, last door to the right... should be relatively clean." I sincerely hoped she was joking, but I threw her a smile anyway.

"Here's hoping!" I levitated the key next to me and trotted up the stairs, following Bed Bugs' directions. They lead me into a long corridor lined with doors to both sides, all of which must have been rooms or some such. I found ours and slotted the thing into its proper repository in the wall, making the door slide open to reveal a wonderful sight. Two beds big enough for multiple ponies to sleep on each one, both decorated with purple sheets. There was also a small kitchenette adjacent to the door, with a bathroom leading off to the back in line with the entrance. None of that mattered. Only bed. The strap keeping my saddlebags on my flanks slipped off and they fell as I walked to the nearest bed. Next off was my guns, they clattered to the ground as I carelessly dropped them off my back. Then my duster and armor found their new homes on the floor and I fell into the loving embrace of the soft bed material. I dont think I even made it to the bed before I was out like a light.

[Slorch]

Star smiles gleefully as Fire Sale showed her the rest of the Vault filled with stalls and vendors selling what looked like basically everything. ‘OOOhh! I am going to have so much fun!’ she thought as she calmed down a bit and walked over to the first stall that was something of a general junk shop. “So, how do things work here...”

[Time skip because shopping is boring and stuff. Will fill in later…probably]

Well that had been a long day. She had unloaded some junk and other bits and bobs at a few of the shops and bought some power cells for the Plasma defender that she had picked up which was in surprisingly good condition. “So, Bed Bug where’s…” asked Star. “Up the stairs and to the left, last door to the right.” He replied without looking up from whatever it was that he was doing. A key was tossed to her and Star bounced up the stairs and to their room where she set her stuff down and took the unoccupied bed. Thinking that robots probably didn’t need to sleep.

[Das Metro]

Stable 94

Quiet listened I'm on AVI and the Overmare's conversation in silence. Her eyes drifted about, taking in the sights. Why did everything have a price tag? She had heard stories of Stable-Tec social experiments... Was this oddity one such experiment, or was this the doing of the Overmare? Regardless, Quiet was a little unnerved by the two fillies for sale. Seven hundred caps was awfully cheap for a child. Maybe they were on clearance?..

Forget about it. Quiet just shook her head. Now really wasn't the time to mull over the thriving economy of Stable 94. It was a time for rest.

She followed SapphIre up to the motel room. Quiet wasn't concerned whether or not the room had bedbugs, her metal body should drive then away if there was. "Looks comfortable..." she murred to herself. Before laying down, Quiet detached the heavy plasma weapon and minigun from her torso. She flicked on the safety on both weapons and laid down with them in bed with Star. No better way to fall asleep than spooning a minigun.

[Roma Byzantina]

Shining Night; Route 64
On a spot just off Route 64, a mare named Red Star and her friend Sky Sprinter settled down for the night inside of a sleeping bag. Keeping over-watch over the two was Shining Night, a Generation 2 Synthetic Unicorn, model 42069117. It was quite a journey for her to get to this point. For a while after she woke up on a junk pile with only faint memories of some kind of clean and tidy science-fortress, she had wandered the Salt Lick Wasteland before finally settling down in the town of New Canon. For a good twenty years she had lived in peace there, but then some old mare in Power Armor came into town and demanded tribute to the All-Mighty Divinity of the Sisters. Normally such a request would be laughed off, but a power armored mare was a tougher cookie than most of the ponies wanted to deal with. After getting her payment, she came back monthly for about a year before she began to show an interest in Shining. It was when the mare had told the town that the next time she came back that the tribute would be the synth, that she was persuaded by Red Star and Mayor Black to leave.

She moved to get some stiffness out of her servos and she looked out again. The way towards Baltimare had been mostly clear amazingly and that made her pretty suspicious. She hoped that they would reach the Inn the next day, having learned about it a week or so ago. Either way, she wouldn't go to sleep. Somepony needed to watch Red and Sky and she was sure that her systems could handle another day without sleep.

[Ozzy]

Fire Sale suppressed a sob and sadly nodded at AVI and the pink robotic mare curiously trotted off to see where Sapphire had gone to, apparently she already settled in the free room the Overmare had given them. The robot had to get her mind off of Fire Sale's daughter and the missing ponies, she had a feeling her friends wouldn't agree to freeing them anyways. AVI took her time and roamed around the stable, these ponies are apparently quick to change their currency to bottle caps, as golden bits laid discarded in the crumpled waste baskets, which were also on sale.

AVI's eyes clicked at a weapons booth featuring a wide arsenal of fancy weapons, even anti-materiel rifles laid crossed against each other hanging on the wall, bearing a price tag with a ludicrous amount of bottle caps. "Seventeen fucking thousand...?" The mare muttered under a frustrated static sigh, how did these stable ponies acquire such deadly weaponry anyhow? The pink bot zoomed past the crowd of customers in the halls, their strange consumerist customs even involved selling off their young to other ponies without hesitation. AVI really didn't want to perpetuate the ever so sickening culture, but she needed some weapons to purchase.

AVI traded in her beam pistol and whatever caps she had for a hunting rifle, the bottle caps covered the cost of the sleek gun and some .308 rounds, but she would have to use them wisely. She needed good practice with a rifle again. Soon the robot headed back to Bed Bug's stable room, huddling in the corner as her eye lids closed shut with a soft thud, entering a state of dormancy. While her fuel cell still covered a good decade of power, her mechanical mind needed an occasional defragging best achieved by a state of 'sleep'. "Night everypony..."

Her last thoughts for the night drifted to her wondering what morning will bring for her and her friends.

[The Flutterlands]

Stable 60

Pitxh smiled as he watched his new employee walk into his room and look around. He also grinned internally, just thinking about all the profits Opium's new chems would bring into the syndicate. Not to mention that how much he liked the fact that the white pony was quite flirtful.
"You do that, handsome." said Pitch Black, "I'll send somepony to fetch you once dinner is ready."
The black unicorn left Opium in his room, returning to his office and resumed his plotting and scheming for the future. Eventually, an hour later, a pony came to Opium's room and knocked on his door.
"Mister Opium." said the pony, "Master Pitch Black wishes to see you in his dining room. It's dinner time."

[Fantrum]

Uuuuuuggggggghhhhhhhh. I wasnt a morning pony. Not by half. My internal clock told me it was too early o'clock and everything in my being screamed to go back to sleepy times. I would have too, but thats when I sleep drunk eyes fell upon the two mares in a bed next to mine and I jumped up before remembering where I was. Damnit, I felt cheated by the dirty tricks my brain had employed in getting me out of bed, but I was out now, so no use in trying to sleep anymore. I gathered my crap off the floor and dumped it on the bed, careful to keep the noise down as I did so.

Well, no one had stolen any of my possessions or killed me in my slumber, so I supposed these ponies weren't so bad a group of friends as I thought they were. Friendship really is magic, who'dve guessed those old world posters would be right about something eh? My gear in order, I bent low and sniffed myself, only to gag at the wretched stench I emitted. Ok, so maybe the last bath I'd had had been several days ago, but that was only because its very expensive to use water like that! Its not like I enjoy being an unwashed barbarian.

A quick trip to the wash room solved my problems however, I actually felt like a mare again! Joyous occasion! All that in order, I fetched a badly beaten pad of paper and a pencil from my bags and quickly scribbled "Gone shopping, be back in an hour. ~Sapp" on it before setting it on the nightstand between the two beds and making my exit from the room.

I was surprised at how the stable was so filled with life even with all the recent combat and death. Ponies hurried this way and that on their business, which was so unusual for the wasteland, with no one killing each other, I felt oddly out of place. For as long as Id had my cutie mark, I'd been a hired gun. Whether it be to whack somepony or protect them, violence was all I had ever known. Enough philosophical bullshit, I had to keep my head in the game when dealing with these scumbags, or I'd be robbed faster than a blind stallion at a thieves guild.

I managed to find a clothing and barding shop that looked pretty reputable and had the holes in my duster patched up for a load of caps. The stallion behind the stand tried to charge me 150 caps for the job, but I used my... ahem... charm, to convince him that 50 caps was a much more agreeable amount. While it was being fixed, I trotted to an energy weapon shop to get some parts for mom's rifle and maybe even see about upgrading the slaver rifle Id nicked. A few hundred caps and much haggling later, mom's rifle was in considerably better condition and my recently acquired laser gun had a scope. It was a pretty good haul all things considered, even if my caps pouch felt lighter than I would have liked. I swung by the clothing shop and picked up my duster, replacing it over the armor before heading back to the room to see if anyone else was awake yet.

[Roma Byzantina]

snip

Sky Sprinter; Some conveniance store
Sky looked outside for the hundredth time. "My sensors indicate no hostiles are outside young one." Shining said to him.

Sky ignored the synth and kept looking. The three ponies had diverted from their path when Shining woke Sky up to tell him that the normal way wasn't safe. "I scouted ahead and I'm fairly sure that the Inn is a Griffon merc base," she said. She hadn't explained why they had taken this route but at least they discovered this resting spot.

"Do you know which way to go?" Red Star had asked.

"Yes, I am sure that this route will prove fruitful," Shining replied.

Sky didn't join in the conversation as he was more concerned about whatever dangers could be out there. Life was dangerous and Pegasi didn't have it easier. He had heard enough stories from Old Nan about the "Wing Eaters" and the pink mare known only as "Cupcakes" to be extra fearful if anypony he didn't know looked interested in him or his wings. Due to the rarity of Pegasi in the Salt Lick Wasteland, any curious traders or passer-by were immediately not trusted. Of course, he never told anypony about these fears so everypony just attributed his lack of interaction with the traders as either apathy or his natural shyness.

[Slorch]

Ah, yet another beautiful morning. Not that you could tell it was morning seeing as how they were underground. Star heard some rustling coming from the other bed and then some stumbling around. ‘I guess that’s Sapphire.’ she thought as she looked over to confirm and sure enough she was scribbling something down and leaving.

After a hot shower Star looked around the Room. I was rather nice from what she could determine though defiantly very old like most other things in the wasteland. AVI was still “asleep” and Quiet was… spooning a minigun. Oookaayyy… one of the weirder things she had seen, but it was kind of cute. With nothing else to do she decided to do some more shopping. This time for supplies that would keep the more fleshy part of the group from dieing. She scribbled something along those lines below Sapphire’s note and left.

She returned with saddle bags full of food, water, and some other stuff. It looked like Sapphire was back too. “Good morning sunshine had a nice nap?” she asked very innocently.

[Das Metro]

Stable 94

Quiet didn't wake until everypony has returned from their shopping trips. She snorted a bit and raised her head stiffly. "Where am I..." the bat mare groaned and laid her head back down beside the minigun, "Ugh... I feel like something kicked me in the head..." Finally finding the strength to raise her head, Quiet looked at Sapphire and Star with a look of almost playful suspicion, "Neither of you kicked me in the head, right?.."

She finally got out of bed. Leaving the minigun, Quiet went through her morning diagnostics, starting with a stretch. "Looks like I won't need any help lubricating my joints..." Quiet said idly as she finished up with a stretch of her wings.

Stable 60

Opium had found his new accommodations much to his liking. He had already unpacked his wealth of chems and other gear. His cleaver, shotgun, and he had also stripped out of his leather barding and laid that out too.

"Dinner is ready?" he asked with a delighted gasp, "I'll be right out, just need to..." Opium glanced at a ton of crushed up mint-als, "...Powder my nose!"

[Ozzy]

AVI's eyes slowly opened with a click, her systems were set to boot from sleep at 11 AM, which means it's 11 AM now. The mare gave a soft smile to her friends, she totally missed everything they done in the morning, but none of that mattered. AVI shook her head at Quiet with a smirk, "No, I have not kicked you in the head." Of course, if AVI were to kick anypony in the head, there'd be nothing left!

Of course, the little time they spent here not shooting at robots was comfortable and all, but there was a troubling issue AVI was about to present. She had no idea how any of her friends would take the thought of saving hostages from a supposedly fortified base, hell she has no idea why they are following her, if they are following her and not Sapphire that is. AVI spent a good few minutes nervously scraping at the ground, before developing a strong surge of bravado.

"You know gals? Let's do the wasteland some good and take out a bunch of meanies! I mean, if what Miss Fire Sale said is true and jackasses are covering all the ground around here, we're going to encounter them when we go outside anyways.... Besides, there's fifty or so ponies that were taken from this place, who knows what that Legato ghoul is doing to them." Indeed, it was always the small band of ponies that were the badasses, maybe they'll succeed and become heroes, or die horrifically and become forgotten.

Either way, deep down, AVI sort of didn't matter which. Her argument was weak and she had a difficult time properly conveying her concerns.

[Roma Byzantina]

snip

"How exactly?" Red Star asked.

"I saw on my recon run that there had been a battle and I saw signs of an escape. If somepony escaped from that Inn, then there is a slight possibility to find a friendly pony or group of ponies in this direction. You will notice that I chose this specific convenience store to bunker down for a while after waking you guys up early," Shining NIght replied.

"I just kinda assumed that we were here because it's the ONLY FUCKING THING HERE!" Red Star said.

"That too," Shining replied.

"Alright, I'm just going to go with this, but if we find ourselves looking at a bunch of guns pointing in our direction then I'm going to make sure I kill you before they kill me," Red Star warned.

"Understood," Shining responded.

Red Star sighed and went over to Sky before sitting next to him, everything she had done was for the young Pegasus next to her. His mother had arrived in the town pregnant and soaking wet in the rain. She was only in town for a day before going into labor and giving birth to Sky. The two stayed with Red Star until Sky's mother's death just about a year ago. Sky continued to stay with Red Star and she took care of him from that day forward. She would never forget that mare's name - Windy Flight - nor her cutie mark - an iron-brand of a cloud and a lightning bolt over the original mark of the Sun behind a cloud.

[Fantrum]

Smiling I punched Star in the shoulder playfully, "That's doctor professor Missus Sunshine to you, pleb!" I trotted into the room, awesome, no one had stolen everything and left while I was out, so that was nice. "Wasn't me, the last time I kicked a cyberpony in the head we were... well that's a story for another day." I punctuated my response with a wink, for extra emphasis.

The Stable was nice, bustling with life, lots of work for a merc like me, but it wasn't my destination. I was still at least a day's walk out of the city, and while the stable was great, I had no intention of staying for longer than I needed to. I just hoped my newfound companions agreed to my rather nomadic ways, so I busied myself with getting all my junk in order for the no doubt tiring road ahead of us. That's when AVI, having been standing awkwardly in her corner pawing at the ground, spoke up.

Oh no. I frowned deeply, the gesture feeling out of place on my face, "Theres a difference between dodging roving patrols and plunging into the gates of Tartarus, Vivi." Turning to face her, I stood my ground, choosing not to advance on her, "Thats the fastest way for us to all die! And if we do manage it, how do we know they wont just turn around on us and kill us for the trouble of rescuing their people? Or even worse, what if they sell us into slavery? Theres only four of us, and theres dozens of them. I say we continue on to Baltimare, find a good merc company, and contract work from them."


((OOC: Now is the time for all of you to either successfully convince Sapphire to help the stable, or fail and Sapp walks. Choose your words carefully.))

[Slorch]

‘So, she’s into some kinky stuff... no surprise there.’ She thought as she replied, “Don’t you mean Master Doctor Professor Missus Sunshine?” Things then took a more serious tone as AVI asked them a question that she really didn’t want to answer. After listening to her rather weak plea Star felt like she had more to say. Sapphire’s argument was a rather convincing one; you couldn’t do much better than not dying. Well you could, but then that would be going into some philosophical crap that she really did not want to think about at the moment.

She actually had decided the night before that if the topic was ever brought up she would side with the saving children party. Come on somepony with enough caps to make an army of robots had to have some really good loot. Oh, and it was the “right” thing to do, but mostly a lot of loot.

“Well I think that we should at least maybe go and take a look at this place. We look around a bit and see if it’s actually that bad. Maybe the Stable just hired really bad mercs.” She paused a bit before continuing, “If nothing else we can loot the dead bodies. There’s probably some valuable stuff left. As for the Stable back stabbing us or selling us into slavery I have a few ideas as to how to prevent that. Most of them should work…probably.”

[Das Metro]

Quiet softly at Sapphire's retort. She would of loved to listen to that story sometime. This was chalking up to be a good morning! Good night's sleep, a few jokes among new friends, seemed pretty good to Quiet. It was almost like her days in the Enclave, but even then there wasn't much companionship. Most pegasi either treated her like trash, ot were too afraid to approach her.

She listened idly to AVI's proposal as she scrubbed some grime off one of the barrels of her minigun. The pink bot wasn't very convincing... But her heart was in the right place. Quiet certainly wouldn't want one of her own foals in the care of that nasty ghoul, if she had any foals in the first place.

"Sapphire, I do think we ought to go looking for those children..." she said slowly, "I know that the odds are stacked against us, but think if it like this... Do you think Legato expects an assault on his fortress? Not to mention how rare pegasi are out here, I doubt he has any aerial defenses. I think we have a shot, if we plan this right."

Quiet paused, "...And if Firesale is the backstabbing type, then I don't have any qualms turning her and her security staff into bloody paste."

[Ozzy]

AVI wouldn't know what to say or do, but she felt a little confused and angry by the situation, this was a whole new experience to her. The bot didn't have the sheer intimidation of heavily armed griffon guards to back her meek words, she was all alone facing ponies who were complete strangers. Completely powerless of telling them what to do. Inferiority complex aside, suspicions brewed in AVI's mind, these three mares came out of nowhere during the most inconvenient times ever while opting to randomly follow her. Right now, she couldn't understand if selfishness or apathy was having a party with these ponies, but she can already tell from the conversation that they each have ulterior motives of their own.

For all she knows, Quiet could be an operative from the Enclave or something, an experiment can't just crawl out of a powerful empire with no form of security hot on its tail. AVI knows more about that than anypony, or well, anything... Even if Quiet was really a runaway, AVI didn't feel like fighting Enclave pricks who might work with Rangers to kill the both of them. Another thing, there's a ludicrous amount of caps on her own head and it just now occurred to her that Sapphire was a mercenary and mercenaries usually don't give a shit about anything except money, there's no trip to Baltimare without encountering Steel Ranger tolls too. Hell, upon hearing the radio broadcast, the unicorn mare was so steadfast to help her escape. Probably some complex ploy to lure her to into a trap.

AVI withheld her words, she would not poke Sapphire any further about the hostages.

No, AVI knows what she must do, there's innocent clueless ponies in the hooves of a deluded ghoul. She has nothing to lose; no family would miss her, no friends to grieve for her death, no real goal to achieve, no realistic way to quench the desire to be a real pony... she simply had no soul... Really, what did it matter to the wasteland if one nameless bot decided to play hero and failed? She had decades of freedom to earn friends and never met anyone she'd had close ties with, other than that poor initiate who died to help her escape the Steel Rangers.

The pink mare quickly gazes at the door, she knew how these things worked, the bunker she was held captive in so long ago had doors with the same auto-sliding functionality. What began as a harmless trot to the doorway, quickly turned into a powerful punch of the door panel with a smirking AVI visible through the thick window on the other side of the now-locked room. AVI pummeled the panel on the other side, then the door, ballistic hooves rendering the former into a small crater while the latter was hideously warped.

All within just a few seconds, she trapped her friends and destroyed the door's override function, dashing down the hall past crowds of confused and pissed off stable ponies. A monument of Stable-Tec ingenuity just became her bitch right then and there, now if only she could break the big cog-shaped one!

"Soothing Legato, here I come."

[The Flutterlands]

Stable 60

The pony nodded and waited for Opium to 'powder his nose. Once Opium was ready, the pony lead him down the halls till they arrived at Pitch's dining room. The room was furnished with fine decorations, both old and new. The table was laid with a sort of lining and plates of pony meat sliced finely as manticore steak. Pitch sitting across from the tabld grined at Opium.
"Sit down." he said, "You look quite handsome. Oh, and as a rule it's proper for employees to refer to their boss, who is me, as 'Master'. I hope you'll be wise enough to respect that, will you?"