Fallout Equestria: 221 [Group Alpha]

Frosty smiled at the parts she scavenged from the radio, for her radio. She always enjoyed DJ Pon3’s broadcasts and didn’t want to miss them. Speaking of which, she turned her radio on just as Ardent walked in. She looked away from the broken radio towards the other pony. “Oh, hi. You’re up. I’m Frosty Works. Thanks for saving my life out there.” She greeted. She turned to the radio as DJ Pon3 came back with the news and chuckled at the part where the ghouls got blown up. “Well then, looks like you’re making a name for yourself. Keep this up and we might pay a visit to Tenpony Tower after all.”

Moon looked at Ardent with concern as she got up and started walking towards where Frosty had went off to. She walked after the blue mare, staying close in case she needed help or anything. She took a pause and stared at the remains of the smashed bug, scrunching her nose up in disgust. "Couldn't have killed it in a room that we might not be staying in for the night?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. She sighed and shook her head, trotting over to where Ardent was and sat down on the ground. Her ears perked up at Frosty's radio, her expression twisting to one of confusion. "Wait...How'd he...How does he know that? How could that pony possibly know we killed them? And exploded them none the less! What...I..." She made noises as she tried to think of how this DJ could know! Luckily, she'd find a distraction as she heard Sonata call out to check the second floor. She stood up and started walking to the stairs up. "I got it. Come along if you want...Might make my head stop pounding in pain trying to figure him out..." She muttered to herself as she grabbed her pistol and walked up stairs.

For a brief moment, Ardent Vehemence seemed uncharacteristically puzzled by how Pon3 seemed to know of their most recent accomplishments. The blue mare even raised an eyebrow at Frosty’s radio, before shrugging it off as something her throbbing brain would deal with later. Now, however, she had the mare responsible for her horrendous headache actively attempting to hold a conversation with her.

“You’re welcome. Though, for both our sakes… let’s not do that again, alright?” Ardent replied with a sigh. She closed her eyes and shifted atop the sofa, getting into a comfortable laying position.

 “Tenpony?” Ardent asked the earthpony mare across from her. She had missed her earlier explanation of the tower on the account of being comatose.
When Moon and Sonata expressed their interest in exploring the second level of the townhome, Ardent asked that they first present their pip bucks to her.
She shifted back into a less-comfortable sitting position, moving Moon Tinker’s pipbuck into a more favorable angle. Then, she proceeded to input about half a minute of commands into the device, to which it responded with a beep similar to that of a pre-war answering machine.

“Deputize. Confirmation, 221-Wild Pitch”

The pipbuck beeped angrily, displaying a prompt which read, “Request denied. Error code: 392, voice confirmation failed.”

“Override,” Ardent immediately countered. “Confirmation Delta-Niner-Wun-November-Fower-Ait-Tango.”

A much more cheerful beep sounded from the device, and it’s screen now read, “Override accepted, Deputization succeeded. Please refer to a Stable-Tec Pipbuck operations manual for more information.”

The Assistant would repeat these steps with Sonata’s pipbuck, and, after all was said and done, both Moon and Sonata would experience the peculiar sensation of a Stable-Tec spell matrix kicking in and overlaying their field of vision with a holographic display. From the point of view of anyone else, it would look like a curved grid slowly stretching its way across the two mare’s eyes.

Ardent went on to describe the various features now available to both mares, including the EFS, SATS, and the various pop-up notifications they may run across now that they had been deputized.

“Be careful, you two.” She told the two mares, before once again laying down on the old sofa for some rest.

---

Upstairs, Sonata and Moon would find a rather… peculiar scene. The second floor seemed to be one big playroom, with foal’s toys neatly tucked into chests located all over the place in a sort of organized chaos. The floor was covered by a rug, which decades ago, would have done an amazing job of imitating grass. Now, it looked just as decayed as the rest of the home. Towards the center of the level, there was a miniature playground of sorts, with a slide, a swing set, and one of those plastic castle things.

Here, one of the five remaining hostiles made themselves known. A radroach, located atop the castle. It made its way towards the slide, before riding it down and making a dash for the two thestrals.


OOC
I made a copy of my doc with the intended formatting, in case you'd rather read it like this.

Moon paused and looked at Ardent for a moment before putting her gun away and trotting over to the mare. She lifted her hoof and put the pipbuck up in front of Ardent, waiting for the mare to do whatever it was she was doing. She raised a curious eyebrow at the pipbuck and Ardent. When she was done, she stepped back and looked at the pipbuck curiously. She was never the one to fix pipbucks and didn't know much about them. She knew about all the equipment in the stable, what to do with them and how to care for them. So having something happen to her pipbuck was rather new and curious to her. She blinked a few times as the spell-matrix kicked in, so many things popping into her vision for a moment before disappearing. She listened carefully to Ardent, wanting to learn more about these new features she never really knew about...besides the barest things that her mom would say to her.

"So that thing at the top of my vision is the EFS...And to think security ponies have to deal with that always being in their vision..." She muttered quickly to herself before nodding at Ardent with a smile. "Of course Ardent, and you should probably get some rest." She then took out her gun and started walking with Sonata to the second floor.

She paused when she saw what the second floor looked like. This was where the foal was suppose to be...So many many years ago. It was kind sad to see if so old and decayed. She shook her head and started to walk slowly and carefully. She kept her ears open and her eyes peeled. She then paused once more as she saw the castle. That would have been rather adorable to see a foal on that, but sadly there was just an oversized bug there. She quickly aimed her gun at the bug and fired a few shots, raising a hoof in case she missed all of her shots.

Sonata followed a similar route, walking into the room slightly puzzled what could be important enough for Ardent to continue to push herself so, and concerned for the mare's health. When the overlay happened though she wasn't quite as surprised since she got to witness Moon going through the new setup before her. "Well... this is pretty different," she commented while moving her eyes about to try and get a better look at the new little displays that had appeared in her vision.

After a moment to get adjusted, she moved to follow Moon up the stairs, her own shotgun out and ready. She took a moment to regard the toys and playroom as well, wondering why such a setting would be in such an intact state. It just wasn't possible for everything to remain so intact and undisturbed. "I think somepony was living here, if they aren't still," Sonata commented before glancing towards the second series of stairs leading further up. While Moon dealt with the mutated bug, Sonata flew on up the steps, taking curious but cautious peeks around corners and just generally looking about the 3rd floor.

Frosty nodded in agreement at Ardent’s comment. “Yes, for both our sakes, I would rather not get into another situation like that. I got overconfident and underestimated the capabilities and numbers of the ferals. I also should’ve hired a merc to help. Oh well, that’s in the past.” She said. She was gonna go into another explanation about Tenpony Tower when she saw Ardent deputize Moon’s and Sonata’s PipBucks. “Okay, that’s pretty cool. I need to see about getting one of those someday.” She then saw Ardent lay down to rest. “Hey, if you need it, I have a healing potion I can spare. I'll give an explanation when you're feeling better.”

Ardent politely declined Frosty’s offer, explaining that the potion would simply be wasted with magical burnout as severe as hers. She did, however, ask the mare if she had any painkillers. The assistant would then request that Attrition go with Sonata and Moon to clear the top floors of the townhome, citing her Stable-Tec security training as the reason behind her decision.

Not soon after Ardent Vehemence gave her order, the sound of four 10mm rounds being discharged resounded through the townhome as Moon Tinker attempted to exterminate the mutated cockroach that had lunged at her. The mare missed the first and third shots, the rounds punching into the plastic fortress behind the bug,  but the two that did hit were more than enough to fell the oversized insect.  

Now on the third floor, the mares would be met with a long, carpeted corridor with four doorways, two on each side of the hall. The first two doors would prove to lead to what seemed to be guest quarters from the lack of personalized furnishings and accessories. The third and fourth rooms told a different story. The third room quite obviously belonged to a young filly, from the sheer number of stuffed animals and other things typical of young children. Though, this filly in particular seemed to be an avid fan of the Princesses, from the general theme of the room, which sported several different topical pieces, from a Princess Celestia night light, to a Princess Luna comforter.

The fourth and final room was so notable it deserved its own paragraph. Nearing it, the group’s sensitive hearing would pick up the subtle sniffling of a crying pony, with the occasional whimper and utterance of the words "Mommy," and "Daddy," , both barely audible behind its doorway.  Aside from this, there were two other bits of intrigue. 1) This door was locked with a mechanism much more formidable than the front door’s. Still, it was openable by Sonata should she apply herself hard enough. 2) The obvious red EFS indicator which remained dead-still beyond the barrier.

Attrition winces, but nods her head. "Are you sure you'll be alright?" What she is very carefully not stating is that she doesn't fully trust the strange waster-lander pony they'd just met. Sure, Frosty seemed like a nice mare, and had a MEW rifle. But Attrition was a bit wary of trusting the care of her leader to someone they had barely known a full day, if that. It was hard to tell precise time out here. Still, orders were orders. Attrition slinks upstairs, giving the strong impression of sulking as she trudges.
Her ears immediately pick up the whimpering, and she walks over to Sonata. "Is their a distressed pony? Are we robbing them, or helping them? Is this the sort of thing we're supposed to vote on?" Her MEW pistol was already out, ready to fire.

Moon frowned around the grip of her pistol as the bug went down. Four shots wasted on it...Could have easily killed it with her hooves...But never mind that. She mentally went though her head how much ammo she had left in the clip. 12 shots in a regular clip. 4 just spent. 8 shots left. She debated reloading for a moment but decided against it and followed Sonata up the stairs. She paused as she saw Attrition coming up the stairs after them, somehow getting an idea that something might have happened to Ardent in the little while they were up here. She shook her head and flicked on the safety so she doesn't shoot Attrition's head off by accident. "I dos yo weer waching Ardent." She said around the grip of her mouth, raising an eyebrow at the pegasus.

She paused, standing still, her ears perked at the sounds of crying and two words...mommy and daddy...The thestral stood there stock still for a moment, nearly dropping her pistol. She then forced herself to shake her head and gulp, her eyes going to her EFS at the one red bar....Red was hostile...that was what Ardent said it was...It can't possibly be a child right? Thoughts were swimming through her head as she looked at the door, not wanting it to open. What could this dead cruel land have done to a foal...What...

Moon took in a deep breath and steeled herself, putting on a serious face. It was a serious situation, it made sense. They had to make this house clear too before sleeping. There was a red bare and they had to check it out. She trotted over to the door, trying to open it but finding it locked. Damn...She looked over at Sonata. "Sonata. Could you unlock this door? And unlock not open." She asked in a hushed tone, not wanting the foal, or whatever to possibly hear them. She flicked off the safety and pointed it at the door. Open the door and kill the thing...It's hostile, it will attack us if we don't attack it. Repeatedly she told herself words of encouragement, but it didn't work. She didn't want that door to open and reveal whatever. In fact, she'd rather run down stairs and hide behind Ardent and cry. Wait...what? She paused for a second at her own thoughts, wondering...Later, she told herself. She'd think about it later.

It would seem that Sonata's curiosity had come with reward, but not the kind she'd been expecting. The sounds of the whimpering and feeble cries had the thestral's multi-faceted eyes going wide with shock as a half-dozen different questions instantly flooded her mind. "Did we just break into somepony's house while the parents weren't home, killed the pets, and terrorized a child? Is that a child behind the door, or just some kind of elaborate trap? Can those big bugs be tamed? Could the bugs be terrorizing the child and we just showed up at the right time? Is that really a little filly or foal behind that door?" Were some of the big ones that bothered to repeat themselves as Moon and Attrition came up to the floor and started talking.

"Would both of you be quiet!" Sonata hissed out as she started fiddling with the straps on her instrument case until it came loose and she was able to set it quietly down on the floor before her. "I can unlock this door though it'll take a moment," Sonata whispered back as she dug out her bobby pins and knife. "But before either of you go barging in, I want to try something even if it risks myself," she whispered on before redoubling her efforts on the lock that was proving more difficult than she originally thought. A couple of the tumblers, then one broken bobby pin, but the second one got the job done well enough. When the mechanism unlocked, Sonata was careful to make sure the door stayed shut as she put up her lock picking supplies and undid the clips on her violin case to open it.

She then gingerly picked up the violin and it's bow, holding both in one hoof as she brought herself to a low hover with her wings. A few quick button presses on her pipbuck later, and a calming, slow, soft tune began to play out hopefully loud enough for whatever was beyond the door to hear. It was an very old song, one Sonata hadn't played recently, but the situation almost seemed to call for it. "If it can speak, it's probably intelligent, and if it liked the princesses, this might just work," Sonata thought to herself as she prepared for her fast approaching part of the song. The first few notes from her violin took the place of the long forgotten lyrics as well as part of the song, for the ancient paper the song had been scrawled upon had only managed to convey the notes and not the words save for the songs title. As the song went on, Sonata was careful to listen for any change in the whimpering beyond the door, even pressing one ear to the door as she played the Luna's Lullaby.

Frosty put the potion back in her bag, and took out a small syringe. “Well I got some Med-X. These are some pretty good painkillers.” She said, giving the syringe to Ardent. She watched as the others went upstairs, and was tempted to follow, but somepony needed to watch Ardent. So she took a seat on the second couch, picked her rifle up from her side, and started cleaning it. Hearing the gunshots upstairs, Frosty gave a short chuckle. “Sounds like that bug had a friend after all.”

Ardent took the syringe into her hooves and immediately medicated herself. She let out a sigh of relief as the drug took effect, relaxing comfortably atop her couch and riding the numbing high of Med-X all the way to dreamland.

On the third floor, the whimpering cries continued all throughout Sonata’s lockpicking. At her success, the door gave an all too loud click of confirmation, a noise which, in the tense situation these ponies had found themselves in, resounded off the walls with an almost painful volume. Thankfully, or perhaps unfortunately, the filly-like cries continued in an uninterrupted and uniform fashion… that is, until Sonata began to play her music. What was once a low whimpering gave way to a rough bawling, as if whatever was within the room had to struggle painfully to force air into its lungs between each sob.

"Well, that's both good and bad. That's another sign that this is a child we're dealing with, but for some reason they've become more upset. Well, now's as good a time as any to try actual contact," Sonata thought to herself as she continued playing. "Little one? Are you alright in there? I promise you, I'm not here to hurt you," she said in hopes of a reply while she continued to play.

Moon stared at Sonata for a moment before shaking her head. "Fine...Do what it is you are going to do, just be careful please." She said, worried for her fellow thestral. She walked closer to the door as she worked. When the lock clicked open, she cringed at the loud noise. The waited there for a few seconds before releasing a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Well at least the...foal inside the room didn't hear. You know...until Sonata started playing music. Moon's eyes widened in alarm, but she didn't move to stop her...instead she let her play, listening to the noises inside the room as they turned into full on crying. Yay...It's crying more... Yet she didn't do anything even when Sonata started talking to the foal inside directly. She just kept her eyes trained on the door, ready to fire if she had to...and she really really hoped she didn't have to.

Attrition waits, standing at the end of the hall with weapons drawn. She wanted to be able to assist should things turn violent, but not die if there was an explosive in the room.

Whatever was within the room cared not for Sonata’s assurances.  It showed no sign of even hearing the musician over its cries and her music, much less of understanding the mare.  All that was certain was whatever ‘It’ was, it was clearly distraught. Indeed, it seemed that the thestrals would not be able to get to the bottom of this mystery from outside the room.

Downstairs,  Ardent kicked lightly in her sleep and mumbled something about innocence and forgiveness, before kicking again and finally settling down into a quieter rest punctuated by only the most occasional of mumbles.

Sonata had to almost suppress a groan when her calls went unanswered, and with a little swallow to settle her nerves she stopped playing the instrument. "Alright, I'm going to open the door now little one, I'm not going to hurt you, and I hope you won't hurt me," she said before pushing open the door enough to actually see what was inside and let herself be seen as well.

Moon looked at Sonata as she stopped playing. She then stared at her with wide eyes as she heard what she was about to do. This...was bad. That was a bad idea. A possibly very bad idea. She quickly rushed over to Sonota, and grabbed her shoulder, looking at her with concern. She eyed the door, with who knows what was laying on the other side, then back at her fellow thestral. She silently said be careful before taking a few steps back, taking aim again.

(Mmk, so, as some of you may have noticed... I've returned. Sort of. The main reason behind that decision was to continue this thread in particular--- it is my baby, after all. My question to you four is: Do you want to continue where we left off, or, start at the beginning? There's also the matter of interest; are you still willing to participate?)

(Yeah, I'm still game and I don't have a particular care whether we continue from here or hit the restart button.)

(I am the same as Zen.)

( Let's try this again, shall we? )