Fallout: The New Arrivals

War... war never changes.

Not that the inhabitants of The Stable, would ever know that. This is the only life that any of them can remember, the same dreary grey prison walls, the same barred cells to return to each night, and the same dull, bored voice barking out the same commands to them every day.

"Wake up. Lunch. Dinner. Return to Cells. Lights out." Repeat.

In fairness, it wasn't a bad life. A bit repetitive maybe, and yeah it was annoying never getting to meet anyone aside from their fellow prisoners... and yeah it was a bit weird that none of the guards or staff ever actually came out to see them... and yeah maybe it would be nice to remember what they'd been imprisoned for in the first place...

On second thought, maybe this place isn't so perfect...

Maybe it's time to see more of the world. Even if the guards come out and stop them, that would still be more of the world than they've been seeing for who knew how long...


These thoughts had been invading their heads for so long now. Or it seemed that way. How long had they been thinking like it? Why were they still here? Somehow, The Stable didn't seem so comforting anymore.

And one of these days they should really pester the guards to turn down the volume on the bloody alarm that was now ringing in all of their ears to signal the start of the day.

((Starting in your prison cells, classic iron bars and bed set type of cell. Feel free to use this post to do a little intro for yourselves.))

"Oh... Piss off with you..." A blue stallion pegasus groaned unhappily at the alarm as he slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling of his cell, sighing afterwards in disgust at the mere sight of it and the knowledge that he'd just have to see it again and again, day in day out. He hated that ceiling so much, and yet it watched over him every night. As an idle thought, the other prisoners in this repetitive hell-hole weren't too bad, especially when compared to the ceiling above him. 'Ugh, once more unto the breach, dear friends?' 'Once more...' He thought as he got off the bed, standing unsteadily for a moment and then finally regaining his posture after a quick stretch, though his wings couldn't stretch out fully due to the size of the cell.

His was the sort of posture that complimented a suit. Broad shoulders, standing at full height, head held high. This was the point of time in the stallion's day where he walked over to his favorite wall and punched it as hard as he could, his eyes flaring a fiery orange for a moment before returning to the slightly more dull orange it normally was. "Still mad about the lack of suit?" "Yes." He then coughed into his hand. "I am still angry about it, and probably will continue to be angry. Cupid agrees with me that this jumpsuit is one, uncomfortable as the bed we sleep on and two, hurtful on the eyes. It doesn't go well with my coat at all." He complained to himself.

"Yeah, it's a bugger that, really." The blue pegasus agreed, looking through the bars of his cell and wondering if today would be any different, though the likelihood of that was minimal. "Hey Gentle. You know those thoughts we have, of outside? Maybe there're suits out there waiting to be worn by us." "That would be nice..." He muttered quietly, going back to sitting on the bed and waiting for the annoying voice over the speakers to shepherd them through their day.

A thestral stallion laid on his bed, half his body actually on the bed while the other half was hanging off it and/or touching the floor of his cell. Then that accursed alarm rang, sending him rolling off his bed in a startled manner. Now he laid flat on his face on the floor, groaning. He hated that alarm so much, because a) he had sensitive ears, b) he had sensitive ears and c) it just marked the beginning of another boring old day. A day where his wings were cramped like hell. Yup...Another day of hoping something happened. A day where nothing happened. Maybe something would be different, but there was little chance of that.

He only sighed and pushed himself off the ground, dusting himself off. He sat on the ground, trying to stretch his wings and brush his black mane so that it would look a little better. He then got up and paced around his cell, waiting for the day to properly start. He could just flop back in his bed, but he doubted the guards would let him lay for very long. His mind wandered to how he even got here...just like every morning. He had to wonder why his mind kept trying to remember. "It's no use..." He muttered quietly to himself as he kept pacing.

---

In a different cell, a tan pegasus stallion laid on his bed staring at the walls on his cell. He didn't so much as react to the alarm as he was so use to it by now. A few moments later, he sat up letting out a sigh. He stretched his arms, not bothering trying to stretch his wings. It'd been forever since he'd even use them anyway. His head still felt bare like everyday...He really missed his hat. He reached a hand up to his head, hoping against hope that his hat was somehow there. When he felt nothing, he just sighed and looked at his cell door.

His mind wandered to what he might be able to possibly do to change today. Punch someone and start a fight? That would end with him getting ganged up on...Don't come out of his cell? He'd get hungry eventually. He shook his head, in defeat. It was just so boring here. He prayed to Celestia and Luna that something happened today! Something that was not normal. Something that was different. He prayed that one of the other prisoners would do something. But...in the back of his mind, he knew that nothing was going to happen. That everything was going to be the same. And that simple fact made him frown. He hung his head in defeat. Ya win again stable. What? Dat makes ya a thousand t' zero 'r somethin'? Possibly more.

Auftrag awoke to the alarm. Loud, as usual. Things never changed here. Ever. Everyone woke up, and the monotony would continue. Auftrag got up from his cot, put on the top half of his jumpsuit, and zipped it up. He was going to have to go eat. He had nothing else to do. He wasn't the pony he kept dreaming about, no whip chain, no time alteration, he was just a one eyed nobody. If he had books he would read them, but alas, no books were nearby. His mane was starting to tangle, and his coat of fur needed trimming and washing. He felt dirty, and not the good kind.

Auftrag sighed as he actually stood up. Fucking hell, I can't stand it here, it'd be nice if we actually had guards. That would enforce the fact that this place is a prison, but I haven't seen a single non-prisoner at all. It's like this is some sick social experiment or something. Maybe if I start a fight, some guards will show up and we'll finally s-Wait, bad idea, blind in your right eye, blind spot. Have the tar beaten out of you easily. Fuck. There goes that idea. I guess it truly is time to go eat. He always felt off, as if the stable didn't fit in his mind, there was something wrong with it. He pondered these things as he wandered out the door of his cell. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed stallion is king.

Gah! Bloody alarm! Somepony turn that down!

We are in a cell. It would be physically impossible to-

I know, damn it!

"Morning time!" Euforia exclaimed cheerfully, in about the same instant that her eyes snapped open and she sprung out of the uncomfortable bed. "I love this alarm. It's loud, and... uh, loud."

Eu is the only one who enjoys having her ears destroyed first thing in the morning.

"I mean, yeah, that alarm is way too loud. But doesn't it make you happy to wake up in the morning, breathe in the morning air, and know that there's a whole new day ahead of you?"

Okay, first. The air here is always the same. Second, a whole new day of being in jail isn't something I look forward too very much!

Last I recall, us being behind bars is attributable solely to you, Blood.

Oh yeah? Well, you-

"Come on, guys, let's not argue again." Euforia pouted, beginning a little jog around the cell that somehow ended up looking like she was chasing her own tail. "Can't we just all be happy? I hate it when we fight over things."

...

... Fine. Truce, Ice?

Agreed.

"Great!" Euforia skidded to a halt, fully warmed up, and pressed her face to the bars. Her eyes darted back and forth, looking for the guards who would likely turn up and follow her around for the rest of the day. Sure, they didn't talk much, but one day she'd make them open up more.

Natural Tune woke up with a start. The alarm was always something he never got used to after all these years in this cell.
"Urgh, bloody Tartarus, cut it out with the racket! Ya think the ponies who made the Stables would give everyone an alarm that DOESN'T sound like someone is about to nuke us from the inside!" He groaned in protest.
Still, he thought, might as well get up. Up and about, bask in the sun's light and- Oh wait.
"Right. Stable."

An idle thought sprang up in his head while he completed his morning exercises: What was it like outside? Surely those who aren't prisoners can go outside every once in a while. He couldn't remember why he was put in this cell, nor how long he has been here, but all he knew is that it was for a crime he didn't commit. Not that it mattered to the guards. There was something really wrong about them. "Creepy gits." He muttered.

After letting the thought mature in his head for a bit, he decided that he'd ask the other fellow prisoners what they think of the idea of going outside the Stable. One of them, Wild Card if he remembered correctly, was one with many views. As if he was a plethora of persons in one body.

Wyvorn's only internally woke up as the alarm rang. The same old god damn too loud alarm. In the other days, He'd wake up, get out of bed, stretch his wings and legs before heading out. His usual routine.

But not today.

Today, Wyvorn decided to make it different. Rebel for the first time in all these years. He could hear the other prisoners going out of their cells and talking, while he remained quiet and still on his bed. "Not. Today." he thought and decided to wait. "I'll have to get out of this god damned place to fly around again someday."

In yet another cell, a fairly different figure was being awoken by the loud alarm. His eyes cracked open the moment the sounds started, only for him to let out a groan at the sudden change from his dream of an active battlefield to the plain, bare, boring ceiling in reality. "Oh dot shucks, hy vas having von goot dream too," the monster said as he got out of bed.

The figure's body creaked, cracked, and groaned in protest to sudden movement, but a long stretch seemed to quell most of the stiffness. Jäger then turned about to get his jumpsuit and began slipping it on. First over the two different shades of orange legs, then over the orange body and stitching that connected the off colored leg, the one normal arm and the one mechanical prosthetic through the sleeves, and lastly the mechanical wings through the slots in the back before zipping it up. While it wasn't the most comfortable thing, and hardly battle ready, it did at least offer some cover to keep others from asking too many questions.

Now dressed and awake, Jäger clicked his pointed teeth together once as he strode towards the bars of his cell. While it certainly was boring, Jäger was fairly content here for the moment, waiting for a new master to follow, one that would hopefully send him into many big battles, wars, or at least bar brawls. "Hoy, anyvon know vots for breakfest?" Jäger called out to the others around him, though aside from those that were close, most probably wouldn't hear him over the alarm.

Viridian flinched awake as the start-of-the-day alarm wailed above her head and indeed, seemingly right in her bloody ear. "I hate high tones..." she muttered in a sleepy voice. "Bucking alarms, no purpose to the stupid things..." She snapped her neck, getting the cricks out of it from the bed, then rolled out of her bed. "Honey, time for morning calisthenics."

Verde groaned as she did an imitation of her mother's gesture, getting the cricks out of her neck before looking toward the green mare with a white mane. "Morning momma... did you sleep OK?"

"Same as every other day," Viridian sighs, looking affectionately towards her daughter, her Verde's mane a little shorter than hers, her coat a rich emerald rather than green. "Glad to have something to get me up in the morning."

Verde smiled a little. "You say that every morning."

"I need to be reminded of it every morning," Viridian returned. "There's no reason to get up otherwise. And when I stop getting up, I stop being able to get up."

"You're not that old," Verde chuckled.

"Well, yes, but even your late 30s is old when you're in prison and getting shoddy medical and nutritional care." She stretches systematically. "At least I can keep myself in a good state of cardiac health."

Verde does the same systematic stretching. "You know, mum, I was thinking..."

"A dangerous pasttime..."

"I know." Verde began trotting in place slowly, getting loosened up and ready for the next stage. "My thinking is that we--and by this I mean all of the prisoners here--have remained good and obedient for far too long. My thinking is that the time has come to end this policy and attempt a different one."

"I'm thinking along the same lines," Viridian says, doing her own trotting-in-place. "The situation is untenable. Even if we can maintain the machinery of our bodies in preparation for eventual release, mental stagnation is gradually setting in. There's no activities to invigorate the intellect and its torpor is starting to affect the will."

"Exactly." Verde turned up the trot to a full jog. "It's the psychological design of prisons: the longer the prisoner remains in a particular unchanging situation, the more thoroughly he makes it part of his reality and wishes to keep it as his reality. No one prefers change unless change is urgently desirable and change is not urgently desirable outside of physical danger or strong external inducement."

Viridian jogged vigorously in place along with her daughter, not even breaking a sweat yet or breathing hard. "I assume you've an external inducement?"

"Our cache."

"That's quite the inducement," Viridian admitted. "I've no concern for its physical integrity but time will damage the goods gradually and they took many years to acquire. But what is to be done?"

"Speak to the other prisoners at exercise," Verde suggested. "Create a consensus that challenging existing order is preferable to the order as it is. If done vigorously and suddenly, the reverse of the psychology will aid us. The guards are as locked into this state of being as any of us and will be unwary, as no one ever challenges or troubles them. Even if they regain their wits and are victorious, success breeds success."

Viridian nodded thoughtfully a she stopped and immediately lowered herself to her knees and then to her hands, starting to do all-finger push-ups. "There's an issue."

Verde begins doing crunches while her mother did her push-ups. "Elaborate."

"This issue may work in our favor," Viridian says, doing the push-ups as vigorously as the running and with the same lack of apparent effort. "Hypothesis: there is only one guard."

Verde considers this in silence a moment. "We've been trading that one for a while."

"All the evidence tends to support the conclusion. We only hear the voice telling us what to do next. We never see guards monitoring us, guarding us, seeing to our needs, disciplining us when we stretch the rules. It's part of the decay you spoke of: we have come to assume that we're guarded by multiple guards, so we don't test the hypothesis."

Verde switches to the push-ups. "We must."

Viridian nods as she switches to crunches, looking at the blank boring wall behind which is her daugher. "We must."

"Soon," Verde says confidently, looking at the same blank wall, smiling and knowing that by some parental instinct, her mother will see it.

Viridian senses the smile and returns it lovingly, with more than a touch of adoration and pride. "Very soon."

As the buzzer annoyed and rudely woke up the many occupants of the stable, a pink pegasus mare was already wide awake and covering her ears. She had conditioned herself to get up before the evil alarm could rudely wake her up just like it always did. Since she had done it, it had helped her prepare for that alarm in the mornings. When the alarm stopped, she looked up at the ceiling triumphantly. “Ha! Take that!” Her grin soon turned into a frown though. “Now I just gotta do that every day for the rest of my life…”

Meanwhile, in the next cell over, a light blue earth pony mare had gotten up and done a few stretches while her ears stop ringing. She tapped on the wall where the pink mare was behind. “Hey Strawberry, did you do it?” She asked her neighbor.

Strawberry gave a tap back. “Yep. Now to do it again and again and…” She sighed again. “I don’t think I can keep this up. I need a change of scenery. Something. Anything. You feel that way too Frosty?”

Frosty nodded. “Indeed. I am starting to hate how boring this place is.” She sighed as well. “There has got to be more to life than this.”

Strawberry nodded. “There is. We just gotta find it.”

The loud buzzer sounded again as their bars rattled across, the doors sliding open to allow them to leave. This time though, there was something different from the endless days of monotony which probably wouldn't have even been noticed by ponies who hadn't been there as long as they had.

For the first time since they had been in the prison the announcers didn't speak. No announcement telling them to get their breakfast. In fact they could hear a dull, grating static coming from the speakers as if they were low on battery but that never happened, the guards always kept them maintained.

And yet again their minds nagged them with the fact that they had never seen a guard. Something was very wrong with everything here and somehow their minds had not been able to fully grasp that fact until now; why had their brains, all of reasonable intelligence at least, not been able to see the blatant problems with this place, why had none of them been able to just think of questioning even one facet of this place?

Looking up at the hallway, it appeared the lights had not been turned on either. Judging from how they always shut down simultaneously, it was a fair assumption then to say that the doors weren't locked either, and if the doors were locked then the odds of security being active was very minimal...

The idea of the outside world practically seemed to be yanking them towards freedom at this point, as a great mist had suddenly lifted from their brains.


"Hello?" The voice coming over the speakers sounded much more low quality than the normal announcements, as if the person speaking had no idea how to operate a microphone. "Look, I haven't got long to explain this to you all but I need to tell you, if you're hearing this then my plan has worked but I'm afraid you're not out of the woods yet."

"I don't know who you are and I don't rightly care. All I know is that you were brought to me from settlements, one after another. I can't say to know where you're from but if you're hearing me now you're better off than most who were meant to make it into this place; this whole place is a sick experiment, and I'm afraid you were the guinea pigs."

"I'm really sorry but I can't do much more for you. This entire place has been rigged with perception altering gases and mood inducers; whatever you know about your time here, forget it: it's a lie. I don't know what the drugs will do to your heads or what they'll convince you of to get you to stay but I'm not going to just let you rot away your lives in here. I've managed to program the machinery to automatically deactivate after three months. That should let your minds fight off the effects and reassert themselves, eventually."


There was a sound of pounding over the background of the message. "I haven't got much time left. Please, in the security room, there's an officer's locker marked with the name Coridal Ways, open it with the key words; foxtrott, romeo, echo, echo. Inside is a map to a city called Las Pegasus, please get there and track down a pair of mercenaries called Aces and Eights, they can help you."

"I'm sorry. I don't have any time left here. This will be the last you hear of me because these will probably be my last words... I'm sorry for what I've done but please, do what I couldn't... find Trench and kill him."

With that a loud gunshot sounded and cut off the message, leaving the last words and the sound of the bullet echoing throughout the now clearly abandoned prison. It faded after a few moments, leaving the group to stand in dead silence and take in what they had been told; everything they had known about the Stable was a lie. And for some reason someone had chosen to put them here, not because they were guilty, but then why?

Whoever Cordial Ways had been, they had opened the groups eyes back to reality. Set them free in a way no prison break would have managed...

But the question was, what awaited them beyond the walls?

Mother and daughter had already gotten up from their ground exercises and were jogging in place in preparation for the doors opening when the lights failed to turn on and the loundspeaker failed to talk to them. And then it did talk to them and had some very interesting things to say.

It appeared that the two mares had a similar thought at roughly the same time and they stepped out of their cells and looked at one another. "Mum, I think it's fair to say..."

"...that this has been the worst trip I've been on since that bucker up north slipped us a Mickey Finn and tried to make off with the cargo," Viridian nods.

"No kidding," Verde grimaces. "I mean, that was a bad trip but this one didn't even come with a pink desert and dancing bananas. I still remember trying to figure out which fruit the thief was..."

"...and shooting him with a kumquat." Viridian grinned. "Actually had to look up what it was later but... yeah, kumquat."

The two are silent a moment. "...hmm..."

"Exactly!" Verde nods. "Our weight in bottlecaps at least. Can you imagine what some of those druggies would pay for a three-month trip inside their own brains? Even better, what some of the real powers would pay for that?"

"I've never approved of moving recreational product, dear," Viridian says.

"Mother, this stuff has kept us obediently caged in a mass delusion for months without melting our brains," Verde says, leaning against the bit of wall between the cells. "If this isn't a weapon, I'm not sure what is. Question is, though, where would they pipe it in from?"

"Easy: ventilation. The real question is, can it be moved? Or if it can't be moved, is there a way to get enough of it to prove bona fides so we can sell the location to a power and they handle acquisition and transport."

"Another question is cut," Verde says as mother and daughter start towards the hall that leads to the locked door that they'd always presumed was a security room. "Assuming it has serious value, how much of a cut needs to be distributed to ensure silence or at least a lack of contest?"

"We could always take care of that in other ways."

"Eh..." Verde frowned. "Bad for business. Whatever our fellow prisoners used to be, we can't risk that one of them has serious weight and would attract personal heat if they were to be disappeared. That, and the rule has always been that you shoot bandits, thieves, and anyone who wants to shoot you. Everyone else, they ain't got it coming unless they ask, so it's a waste of bullet."

"True." Viridian steps closer and pulls her daughter into a tight hug, quickly getting a hug in return. "But one thing's sure, Verde... things are really looking up for us as of this moment. We've got a secure cache, and we've got a new business venture."

"And we're getting out, totally copasetic." Verde nuzzled her mother before the two release one another. "Now... to the security office and let's see if we can't get everyone in one place, organized, and put this entire affair to rights."

"Hm. I wonder why the guards aren't here yet. Usually they're here so early!" Euforia frowned. "Did I scare them away? I hope not, I was trying to be friendly..."

Tsh. More like they couldn't handle your awesomeness, Eu. Don't worry about it, I'm sure they just slept in or something.

If I may interject?

What?

Perhaps it ought to be noted that, and I am only realising this now, there have never been any guards here.

... Holy Tartarus. You're right.

"But that can't be right." Euforia argued. "I mean, I was... uh... something." She paused. "Actually... yeah, why haven't there been any guards around here?"

The lights are also deactivated, as of this moment.

Aren't they usually on by this time?

They are. A pause. Perhaps an escape attempt is in order?

Yes!

"Sure!" Euforia said. "But... are you sure it's safe?"

That was the point I was about to raise. I advise that we wait and examine the situation further.

Oh come on! This might be our only chance to get out of here!

Then the speakers crackled to life, and the announcement came through to the entire prison. All three of them sat in stunned silence as the voice went on, telling them everything they needed to know. Could it be that freedom was at last within reach? And what did it mean, if everything they'd known was a fallacy, a farce crafted by the authorities?

Didja get that, Ice? All of it?

Done. All committed firmly to memory.

Is that... perception altering thingy out of our system yet?

"I hope so..." Euforia said quietly. "It was pretty mean of them to do that to everyone..."

Fear not. I believe that there is a high chance that the substance has either been mostly or wholly purged from our body. But that is not the end of the danger, evidently; we must move quickly. Clearly there is much that we do not yet know, and it is not only urgent but also imperative that we uncover the truth.

"Uh... Ice?"

Yes, Eu?

"Could you... take over now? I need to think. About... things."

All in favour?

Yeah, go ahead Ice.

Very well. Euforia closed her eyes, and after a brief second opened them again; but instead of the yellow irises that stood prominently out earlier the irises were now ice-blue.

"Ah... it's been a while since I've been in control. I need a moment to reaccustom myself." The mare that was one second ago Euforia but now Diana stretched, exercising her muscles, and then reached towards the door and pushed it open. Advice: We await the exit of the other occupants. No doubt they are similarly confused, and moving as a team ought to dispel any strategic disadvantages any engagements or traps might bring upon us.

Yeah, go ahead.

Whatever ya say, Ice!

With that, Diana moved out of her cell and watched the other cells, waiting patiently for the inmates to emerge. Hopefully they were willing to work together. In the meantime, she turned to Verde and Viridian, giving a brief bow. "Greetings. We are Euforia Iceblood, but for now please call me Diana. What are your names?"

((Got specific GM permission to make an extra post to Ician. GM wants it made clear that it's not meant to trigger a free-for-all.))

The two stop and look at one another.

"WE are Euforia Iceblood?"

"And you want to call you Diana."

Verde looks over at Viridian. "I take back the thing about the stuff not melting your brain. Spontaneous generation of psychosis is a pretty serious side effect."

"I'm not so sure..." Viridian says thoughtfully. "Still, spontaneous switching of collective to personal tense is serious enough."

"Still..."

"Yes, this is a serious concern and may prove a permanent obstacle to selling the gas to certain powers. It raises questions of potency and side effects, and there is little chance of pharmaceutical analysis between now and Las Pegasus."

Neither one makes any attempt whatsoever to keep their voices down or conceal the fact that they're discussing Euforia right in front of her as if she's not even there. After another moment of looking at one another, both look at Euforia.

"Viridian," Viridian says.

"Verde," Verde adds.

Jäger had been leaning against the bars, waiting for someone to reply to him when he finally noticed that the lights were taking longer than usual, as well as the other parts of the usual routine. Just as he was cocking his head to the unusual, the new broadcast bellowed out and Jäger found a grin slowly growing on his face. "Dot's interestink," Jäger said as he took another look around his cell and thought of what to do next.

"Vell, sheems dot hy'm done vaitink, iz time to find ah new mashter," Jäger finally said as he walked out of the cell. Glancing up and down the hall, he could see a small group of ponies talking to each other. "Hoy," Jäger called out. "Ve all breakink out today? Hy dink it iz goot time to," he continued while opting to walk over to the small group and for at least the moment, follow them.

Auftrag smiled that devious, Cheshire cat-like smile of his. Everything had come true. All his days of practicing martial arts that he had seen in his dreams, all of his suspicions about this place. All true. He felt something strange. His magic had come back, and he channeled it into his hands, causing them to glow dark green. He opened his cell in a very violent fashion, walked out, and glanced at the collection of other prisoners.

He began walking down from his end of the cell block, slamming doors open along the way. "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed stallion is king. Today, we leave this horrid hellhole behind, and journey into the world beyond. The illusion is broken, there are guards standing between us and the way out. Any of you who can use magic, your magic is back. We are getting out, I can't stand another minute in here. Now then, we go to the security room, and kill anyone who stands in our way or talk them out of it."

Wyvorn slightly lifted his head at the commotion going on outside of his cell. He looked at the doors that were now wide open and looked at other ponies going by. He heard the 'announcement' of someone that died on the microphone, which made Wyvorn shudder. He turned around in his bed and places his talons under his head, now lying on his back and watching the ceiling.

"Yeah, that aswell be a trap." He thought out loud so the ones walking past his cell may hear him. "You guys go on ahead and die, yeah, that's a great idea. You know you might be shot as soon as you walk through those doors." he added and slightly adjusted his position so he wouldn't be uncomfortable. "I'll wait here for when you get back."

Both Strawberry and Frosty listened intently to the very odd, but at the same time, very welcoming announcement. Frosty immediately grinned and opened the bars, stepping outside her cell, then helping her strawberry-coated friend with her bars. "So... any ideas?" She asked.

Strawberry looked at her bed, then down the halls at the leaving prisoners. "I say we quickly raid a supply closet or someplace we can stock up on stuff, and then get out quickly." She pulled the bland colored blanket off her bed. "I also say we should use stealth. We don't exactly blend in, but if we use the blankets as cloaks, we might stand a better chance." She then wrapped the blanket around herself ale tied a knot around her neck, but not too tight.

Frosty soon did the same thing. "Well, they may not be fashionable, but they somewhat hide our colors. It'll be harder to see us in the dark anyway." She noted. With that, the two went down the opposite way several others were going. "You remember where the supply closet is?" Frosty asked.

Strawberry nodded. "Yeah. Let's hope we'll find something useful in there." She said.

Wild Card, instinctively, mentally groaned in annoyance at hearing the mother and daughter pair in the cell next to him. 'Natter natter natter. Plot plot plot. Scheme scheme scheme. Do they ever just shut up?' 'Are you ever not in a bad mood... oh wait, anger, nearly forgot.' He thought to himself, watching the doors slide open to usher in a new day of... hang on, something was different. 'Where's boring McBoredom speaker?' The stallion was confused now, leaning forward to look down the hallway and see the darkness, brought about by no lights.

"Now this is-" Wild was cut off by the beginning of a broadcast over the speakers, though this person was different, inexperienced with microphones for sure, but it definitely sounded urgent. "Security room." "Coridal Ways' locker." "Foxtrot, Romeo, Echo, Echo... Free." "Aces and Eights. I like the sound of them already." 'Las Pegasus.' He repeated to himself, flinching as he heard the gunshot and the end of the broadcast. "Wait, is the security room the one with the microphone for that? Are we going to have to see a dead body?" "If you want, let Terror, Trap, Beast or Alu to take your place for the time being." Wild Card hopped off his bed, keeping his eyes on the hallway. "Nah, just wondering is all."

This was the last comment before seeing the mother and daughter wander down the hallway, Beast grumbling about their non-stop talking once again, and then they stopped to address another pony out of his view. 'Did they just mention killing us because of business or something?' 'I think so... This place obviously had some bad effects on some people.' 'Oh, add on the to-do list, "Kill Trench".' 'Oh hey Psycho, yeah just jotting that one down as well.' The pegasus was rather happy in his thoughts, walking to his cell door and looking to the sides, watching as some prisoners flailed magic around, ran in opposite directions to the mother daughter duo, and some simply stood there.

Wild decided to get it over with quickly. For somepony to get themselves killed to help them, they must be important enough for them to do that, and he didn't really want to deny the pony their dying wish. Getting out of his cell completely, the stallion ran after Viridian and Verde, slowing down as he reached them and ready to walk alongside them if need be. "Hi, name's Wild Card, we probably never really talked much during our time here." He said happily, offering a hand to Viridian and then to Verde. "First off, taking a trip in your own mind isn't as fun as most would think." "Secondly, somebody in here already has a gun. Safety in numbers is a good strategy I always find." He mentioned, before smiling kindly. "And finally, if we are to head outside, I think it would be best if we did so with people we can recognise the faces of." "Why bother wandering around being lost by yourselves when you can wander around being lost with other people?" He joked lightheartedly. "And I wonder where those two are heading off to." Wild stated curiously, pointing at Strawberry and Frosty, oddly wearing blankets over themselves.

"Wait, other settlements? Which one was I brought in from, I wonder..." For all his life, Tune couldn't figure out where he came from. It was as if his past had been wiped away by this mental conditioning thing.
"Ach, this ain't my kind'a'thing. Best leave it to those who're more qualified fer that." He concluded. "At least this going outside thing I thought about was gonna happen at a quicker pace than I thought." He thought.
Listening to the strawberry-coated mare made sense to him, so he wrapped a blanket around himself. He figured that in the darkness his natural colour probably could work just as well, but it was not a situation where you wanna go off on a "Eh, close enough" attitude.
"Well, I'm in yer hands, lasses. Lead on!" He started walking with the two before he realized he hadn't even introduced himself.
"Ach, but where are me manners? Name's Natural Tune! Pleasure to know y'all!" He had handily missed the conversation between mother and daughter.
He glanced back at the said mother and daughter, noticing Wild Card with them. "Yah, we'll take this route, raid a supply closet or something 'fore we get outside! Have fun!" He quipped with a grin and a thumbs up before taking a stealthier attitude to things and following Strawberry and Frosty.

Star stopped in his pacing and looked at his cell door as it opened. Seemed normal enough to him. He walked over to the door, but paused for a moment. Was that static? He poked his head out of his cell and looked around. Did something happen? Well the light's off if that's something. He thought, hmming. His ear twitched at the sound of a voice...a different voice he was used to.

He listened to what the voice was saying. An...experiment? This was all an experiment?! Anger rose slowly in him as he took in what the voice was saying. He curled up a fist and punched it against a wall, immediately regretting it. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" He shook his hand in pain, then continued to listen to the voice. Security room...officer's locker...Coridal Ways...foxtrott, romeo, echo, echo. That's part of the phonetic alphabet. He remembered the, in his mind, improtant bits of info. "Aces and Eights..." He muttered, making sure he remembered those names.

He ears twitched at the gun shot. "Kill Trench..." Whoever this pony had been had just saved him from being part of this experiment for the rest of his life. He knew he had to repay them by doing as they had requested. "I promise I'll kill this Trench..." He muttered to himself as he watched two unicorns walk past his cell. He figured they knew where the security room was, so he decided to follow them from a distance. Of course he was still within ear range of them so he listened to the two talk about...stuff. Stuff that he couldn't make sense off.

He skidded to a stop when they did. They were obviously talking to another prisoner. He moved into a nearby cell and leaned against a wall as a blue pegasus ran by. He just listened to the unicorns, but one thing of the two unicorn's conversation caught him. Selling the gas...? Had those two really just said that they were going to sell the gas that alters perception?! Star felt a new found anger bubble within him. That is ludicrous! They can't do that! I won't let them. He gritted his teeth, but stayed back for now. If they noticed him, it would be fine, but he'd rather they not notice him.

---

Dark Wing stood up when his door opened, but noticed the light didn't turn on. He tapped a finger to his muzzle in thought. Somethin' is up... He tapped a finger against the side of his face as he tried to think of what was going on. Maybe...Maybe it was the something he had hoped for. "Probably." He said with a shrug. He walked over to his door and looked around.

He was about to step out when he heard a voice on the speaker. He listened carefully. Settlements, Experiment. Hmm...Interestin'. "Perception alterin' gas...Dat's a new one." He muttered to himself. He listened to what else the voice had to say before nodding to himself. He didn't even react to the gunshot. "Perception alterin' gas...Ah still can't wrap mah mind around dat." He tapped a finger against the side of his face again, thinking.

He shook his head then looked back up to the door, realizing his gaze fell to the ground. "Kill a pony fer a dead pony..." He nodded his head. "'Kay. Ah promise ah'll kill this pony fer ya, Coridal Ways." A small smile spread across his face as he proceeded to-. And a crazy unicorn just blasted magic beside his cell door. This pony...appears to have lost his mind. "O' boy." He muttered, peeking his head out of his cell.

Then he remembered that Coridal Ways said something about the security room...He had to get there before anyone else, but to do that he had to get past this unicorn. An idea popped into his head. "Full steam ahead." He said with a smile. He ran at Auftrag as fast as he could. Of course the idea he was about to do wasn't going to be the best for the unicorn, but the damn unicorn was blasting walls with his magic, so his actions were justified. He raised a fist and aimed to hit the back of the unicorn's head.

The supply closet was right where Strawberry and Frosty remembered it, and thankfully it like most everywhere else in the prison seemingly, was unlocked. The shelves were stacked mostly with utility items like cleaning supplies, plungers and other random objects but on the shelf next to the door there was a battered green metal box, a military ammo crate, with a 9mm pistol lying on top of it.

Natural Tune got a rather nasty surprise bringing up the rear; while Strawberry and Frosty walked ahead, a football sized cockroach wandered out from one of the side doors, making a horrible clicking noise as it looked up at Tune and flared it's wings aggressively.


The security office was on the opposite side of the cellblock from the supply closet that the first group had recalled, a large glass window that was opaque on the prisoners side but presumably could be viewed out of on the office side; the doors leading to it were clearly marked, the "Staff Only" signs now the only thing posing even the slightest resistance to them just waltzing in.

"Warning: fatal levels of *chemical unidentified* detected within armory's A and B. Please contact your nearest technician." The same monotone voice that had given them their instructions repeated this every few moments now. In hindsight, with drug free minds, it was almost laughable they would have ever believed it to be someone real on the other end.


As Xereth lay in his cell, once the others had moved on down their corridors, Xereth's cell door slammed shut, seemingly of it's own accord. At first there was no explanation but soon a pony stepped in front of the bars, wearing black combat fatigues that in the dark almost blended in with the corridor; only the ponies eyes were visible, as it wore both a hood and a face scarf. It tilted it's head to look at Xereth for a moment before shrugging and walking along the corridor again, a combat shotgun visible in a strap on it's back.

Both mother and daughter give Natural Tune an automatic wave of greeting, the sort of gesture one would give when they vaguely heard some sort of greeting without really registering it or giving it much thought or attention, before turning their full attention to Wild Card.

"Wild Card," Viridian nods as she takes Wild's hand, shaking it firmly. "Coincidence favors our endeavors: shortly after we are told to seek out Aces and Eights, we meet a full house called Wild Card."

"If I believed in omens, this would be a fantastic one," Verde grins as she took shakes his hand. "So, this gas appears to be pretty potent stuff cuz it seems like you and Diana here both got extra voices in your heads because of it. I'm sorta wondering what furniture got added to my attic but since the both of you acknowledge that my Mum is here..."

"...and that my daughter is here..."

"...I don't really care if it scrambled my eggs cuz the most important thing I brought in here with me is still here." She smiles to them both. "So, the mare has at least two. How many are chattering away in your head, hun?"

Viridian lightly smacks her daughter on the back of the head. "Verde, as long as they don't manifestly satisfy the standard for commitment, it's not our business. It may be helpful to understand the constraints under which ponies who might well prove useful and valuable companions operate, but such is theirs to offer and not ours to ask."

The automated alert showing up caused both mother and daughter to pause and look at each other. "...so the automated systems have no name for this stuff either?" Verde frowns.

"This is an issue," Viridian nods seriously. "I wonder if flooding the armories with fatal levels of gas was accidental or a security measure. Likely a security measure, and a clever one, but it's very strange that the guards wouldn't simply sabotage what Cordial Ways did to their systems. Unless they couldn't, which is more fascinating than the fact that Cordial Ways could."

"I'm concerned that it's accidental."

"We must presume it's deliberate, because accidental means we can't repair it and will be thus deprived of armaments and also helpless to whatever dangers might await outside this facility." Viridian jiggles the handle of the security door to check that it was actually open and then opens it just a little to peer in first.

"We could just go right in..."

"I wouldn't put it passed Miss Ways to have sabotaged the door into the room after she shot someone to keep her doings secret," Viridian replies.

"Um..."

"Dear, if she was the one shot then it's inconceivable that with months of time to work, the staff of this prison couldn't have found some way around what she did as she would have been discovered immediately after doing it. That they didn't undo it implies that they were not alerted immediately so she couldn't have been the one shot." If she sees no traps or other signs that Cordial took steps to keep others out, she opens the door the rest of the way and makes for the nearest lockers.

Auftrag felt something hit the back of his head, it hit him hard. He fell forward as everything began to slow down and a hazy, light grey filter lifted from his vision. His cognitive abilities had been jump-started by the hit. He was free, there was limit to the amount of time they had to get out, and having a psychotic break wasn't going to help anyone. Auftrag focused while falling and put his hands out. He caught himself and did a front flip to land on his feet. He dashed towards the security office.

"Oi, you all!" He stopped short of the group. "Just open the damn door, we're on a timer here!" Auftrag had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind, but he couldn't place it.

Diana nodded. "As I said, Diana. And worry not, the commercial viability of the gas in question is not immediately compromised, considering the limited connection between what could conceivably be described as the condition afflicting us - insofar as a negative connotation can be accurate as a descriptor for an unforeseen positive impact of what would otherwise be a regrettable circumstance - and the inhalation of the potentially hazardous gaseous substance which has proven to be the subject of recent speculation."

... Are you done yet, Sir Humphrey?

Oh hush. As soon as she was done with that paragraph, Diana turned to the other arrivals and gave her previous introduction. "Please, our name is Euforia, but for the moment you can simply call me Diana. Not raising any questions pertaining to the peculiarity surrounding my choice of address would be appreciated, as I suspect that it would conserve much time and energy in the long run."

Then the announcement came on, and she frowned. "This might prove obstructive to future efforts. It would seem urgent at this point in time that we carefully consider our next course. Also, all of us must act in full accordance to our shared goals if we are to succeed." The sound of a closing door from the prisons caught her attention, and she moved over to the cell in which Xereth lay. "Why do you still remain here? Do you not wish to secure your freedom?" She looked down at the door. "Perhaps it is still locked?" She tried to open it as best she could, and it swung open quite easily. "... Oh. Would you like to exit your cell?"