Dark Horse

@Raven Rawne Makes sense. Better then just it being left there for seemingly no reason. Haha, maybe use that hatred as fuel for Crystal's own disgust and determination to shut the buggers down. A catalyst for going all the way and unintentionally winding up a hero to the town for it.

@Raven Rawne So, I had a thought about where we could go with this. I was thinking of having them find a discarded mind control device, maybe like a small head unit powered by a drained crystal that looks to have been corrupted with dark magic. My thoughts were that this Unicorn stranger came to town and used a spell to gradually take control of the mayor as you said (their journal entries could start off normal but then become more and more posessed like). He then uses the town as a testing centre for these mind control devices, eventually being able to enthrall the entire town en-mass. There could be an amplifier machine of some kind, powered by a talisman, which emits a strange magic that completely takes control of anypony in a wide radius wearing the device (Saffron and Crystal could witness the effects via Mirelurks who were used as test subjects), the eventual goal being that this Unicorn, and the faction he is a part of, would slowly introduce them into more and more isolated settlements across the wasteland and have a highly efficient means of enslaving entire populations, giving them a monopoly over the slave market. The settlers of this town have been brought back to their base of operations to be used as slave labor for commencing mass production. Another hidden journal of the Unicorn's progress log could provide them with the necessary information to track them down.

@Raven Rawne Saffron took a step back in unison with Crystal as the Mirelurk made yet another unsuccessful attempt to force its enlarged form through the doorframe. Thank Celestia that this building was made of sturdier stuff than most of the settlement, though it really should have come as little surprise. During his travels, Saffron had noticed that many important pre-war structures looked to have been specifically built to withstand a lot of punishment. Probably a precaution against attack or some crap like that, the reasons hardly mattered now. Still, he was quite glad for it at the present moment. He'd have rather not become Wasteland lunch. Fortunately, Crystal seemed to have taken his advice on board, and was surveying the immediate floor. "Hngh!" He snorted against her witty remark on the Equestrian flagpole. Though he had no particular feelings towards the flag it bore, the nation it represented having effectively ceased to exist long ago, he did feel certain that the aged spear tip would have little luck penetrating the Mirelurk's thick shell armour, unless he was able to strike a soft spot such as his face. The stallion also raised a querying eye at her off-hoof mention of it not being "her flag", but before he could press on that... *BOOF!* The Mirelurk made another heavy bash into the doorframe, and several inches of dust and possibly other material fell from the ceiling. Not willing to sit around all day and see if the creature actually could make it through or not, Saffron followed Crystal towards the reception area. While she read over the faded directory, Saffron utilized his magic to grab the flagpole from the behind the desk. Removing the Equestrian flag, he loosely wrapped it around the centre of the flagpole, acting like some form of decoration. He then kicked out the base stand, leaving him with what looked like a fairly ornate spear. Crude, but perhaps a useful melee weapon for close quarters. Just in case. "The mayor's office, huh?" He repeated as Crystal listed off various rooms across the building. "Could have a few records leading up to what happened. Might be able to learn something." Pausing to consider a thought for a moment, he added: "Could also have a town stock record. Y'know.. find out if they've got any interesting loot stashed away here. Heheheh.." He knew that right now there were more pressing issues at hoof, but he couldn't resist the urges of his scavenger nature. In any case, their destination was the second floor. He let Crystal take point while he watched their backs for any sudden activity from the Mirelurk. The two ponies passed door after door as they proceeded down a long corridor towards the staircase. Saffron could only glance into rooms as they did so, but nothing immediately caught his interest. They all looked quite cleared out actually. "Tch... was there anything that they didn't take with them?" He grumbled, as he glanced by a room that seemed to literally have nothing left in it at all, door included. "Oh look! The restrooms are still there!" He added with feigned enthusiasm. A couple of times the stallion poked through some over-turned over filling cabinets and desks with his makeshift spear, but found little of interest beyond some various office appliances and empty bottles of Sparkle Cola. "Could sure go for one of those right now..." He said dejectedly, kicking the empty bottle back down the corridor with his hind hoof. Once they had finally reached the staircase, Crystal took the initiative with the plan. "Yes sir.." Saffron replied in a sarcastic but also genuinely surprised manner. He had never really explored like this with a partner before. Normally he worked alone, laid out his own plans and moved at his own pace, but the experience with her so far had proven to be... interesting. Behind them, the distant thuds of the Mirelurk were becoming less frequent, but still enough to let them know that it hadn't managed to get through yet. Good news, he supposed, but as they ascended the staircase, his premature optimism was soon to be turned back upside down. The second floor was dominated by a large, empty hall area, where a number of doors branched off into what he assumed were the administration offices. One of them must the the Mayor's office and the town council. Shouldn't be too hard to determine which. Looking behind, he saw a set of three large windows that overlooked into the outside, giving a good view of the settlement from around the area they had come from originally. He trotted over to it for a better look. "...Ah, crap." He said wearily as his heart sank from what he saw. "Crystal! You had better come and see this!" He called out to his companion. There wasn't just one or two Mirelurks in the settlement, there were several of them. Saffron counted at least 9 of the buggers, but he had a horrible suspicion that there were even more out of sight, or perhaps lurking in the swamp. Most of them were wandering around the catwalks, some were swimming on the swamp's surface. Others had taken to rummaging through the scraps left behind in buildings or whatever junk they could find, and one in particular seemed to be attempting to dismantle the partially destroyed wall of a house. The only solace that Saffron took from this sight is that, so far at least, none of them appeared to be approaching or even showing any interest in the admin building, despite the ruckus. "Shit." The stallion spat out whilst he seemed to be trying to analyse the situation fully. "This might make getting out difficult. We'll be completely cut off unless we can find a way around or, I dunno... get them to move maybe? I don't think either of us have the firepower to take on all of them." He said with a frown, and then turned to face Crystal. "We'd better find out what we can. Who knows if there's maybe another way some of them could get in here? We'll be in trouble then.. Let's check the Mayor's office!" Fortunately, the door to the Mayor's office was labeled with a slightly faded though still legible plaque: "Mayor S. Crown". "How fitting..." Saffron remarked as he tried the handle. "Locked. Any chance I could borrow your keys again?" He smirked to Crystal.

Snuggly! ^-^ But I suspect another devious Pegasi plot of some kind.

@Raven Rawne Saffron would've dearly loved to have assured Crystal that the Mirelurk was "just a rock", but he barely had time to speak a word before the creature was shaking wildly in an attempt to remove the pony from its back. To her credit, the Mare clung on as best she good, but soon took her chance and leaped, landing rather clumsily beside Saffron as he shifted eyes between her and the Mirelurk. By now the Stallion had drawn his magic energy pistol and was holding it in his own magical grasp, the weapon pointed dead straight at the creature's face. For now however, he held his fire. He had hoped that with the two of them off, the Mirelurk might stand down and leave them be. Sadly, it wasn't that easy. Instead, now that the creature was free of its unwelcome 'visitors', it began to approach on them slowly, its hostile intent becoming all to clear to Saffron as his muscles tensed. Crystal seemed to have picked up on this as well, because she scrambled past him as quickly as her hooves would carry her, yelling towards Saffron to do the same. The stallion hesitated for a moment, but then realized: "The admin building!". Such a centralized structure would hopefully be reinforced or at the very least defensible in some way. In any case, it was a superior option to staying out here where they had no chance of escaping on the confusing, damaged walkways. Resisting the urge to shoot the creature, he'd probably just piss it off anyhow, he darted backwards and began galloping after his companion, who was already several steps ahead of him. Fortunately, he had modified his combat armour to be more lightweight for quick escapes like this, and so wasn't as weighed down as he might have been, but he could still hear the Mirelurk keeping close behind, its spider-like legs able to keep it moving at a fairly reasonable pace despite its size. Judging from the sounds of splintering wood and heavy splashing, the catwalks were being smashed to bits as it traversed them. He could soon see the entranceway of the building, with Crystal already darting her way inside a narrow doorframe to the inside. Hot on her tail, Saffron dived through the opening and found himself sliding to a halt across an old, largely cracked marble floor. Before he had any time to get antiquated with his surroundings however, he was startled by the sound of a loud bang behind him and the angry roar of the Mirelurk. Turning to face it; Saffron saw that the creature was struggling to force itself through the obviously too small frame of the entrance. One pincer was reaching through, snapping wildly, but unable to make any sort of gain on either of them. For the moment, it seemed, they were safe. "Yeah... I think so..." The stallion replied to Crystal, checking himself over. Seeing that the Mare was looking shaken, he stamped the ground with a hoof and cursed, adding: "Sorry Crystal... How could I be so stupidly forgetful? Swamps are perfect gathering grounds for Mirelurks. Mutated sea creatures." He explained. "They tend to sleep for long periods at a time, and I bet that all those other boulders I seen around the town were even more of them in hibernation. This whole settlement is probably overrun with them! I just hope that this one hasn't caused the whole batch to wake up..." He said nervously. He hadn't actually encountered that many Mirelurks on his travels, but he had done enough research and piecing together of information from others to have a good idea of their capabilities. Crystal seemed to give the beast an angry look of her own, but Saffron held a forehoof before her. "Don't give it any reason to be even more angry at us or it might just burst its way through the wall.." He said with an anxious whisper, as the Mirelurk gave another yell in protest at them. "Look, you're good at finding your way around buildings, aren't you? I think we should try and make our way to the second floor, maybe get a better view of what we're dealing with here. Heck, if we can get onto the roof, even better! We could maybe find survivors if we're lucky.. He said in a somewhat optimistic tone, though even he had to admit that was fading rather rapidly given the current situation. He then turned to face Crystal, smiled innocently, and asked "Unless you'd rather have a Plan B?".

It's about time we knuckle down with some outstanding staff announcements; so expect a few posts in short intervals! To begin with; we are continuing with our goal of filling up the remaining vacant Team Lead positions on the Mod team, and so now turn our attention to Roleplay World! I'm very happy to announce that our Master of Chaos himself, @Randimaxis, has kindly agreed to take up the reigns of this Section. Randi has been nothing short of a wonderful boon to this team ever since joining us almost 2 years ago, with his uniquely gifted personality and incredible fortitude against even the toughest of times being an inspiration not just across the staff, but for the whole forum as well. I know that with his long and studied experiences into Roleplay (including rumours of Chaotical proportions one April Fools Day ), that there is no better person for the job. Best of luck to you Randi! -- He won't be alone however, because what's a Sheriff without his Deputy? And what better deputy would you rather have than your own personal Changeling? @Derplight Sperkle has been our honorary Changeling representative for some time now, proving once and for all that MLP Forums is an equal-opportunities employer. He's also a heck of a Roleplay enthusiast and Staff Sectional, and so its with a lot of pride that we now whip out the purple paint and announce Sperkle as the newest Global Moderator, presiding over Roleplay World. While his duties will now extend to across the entire forum, his primary focus will remain with assisting Randi through the exciting changes soon to come to the Roleplay section. (Or maybe he'll just change into Randi and stage a secret takeover... ) Best of Luck, Derplight! -- Alright! That's all for this post, but there are still more announcements to come very soon; so keep your eyes peeled!

Usually when you encounter these 'Gateway Time-out' errors, the problem is often on the server-side. I too encounter these errors with site slowness from time to time, and I'd usually know well before if it was a problem with my connection because a number of background programs on my system would cease to function as well. Not being one of the technical staff, I'm afraid I can't really say for certain what causes these issues. Sometimes the server just has a derp moment, or on occasion gets DDOSed and needs to be reset. It could also be another issue with IP.B 4.0 not playing nicely with your Firewall settings if you have one, though if you're not having this issue with other sites that use IP.B, my best guest is that it is purely server related. Sorry I can't be of much more help than that. As you may be aware, we're currently looking for a new Lead Developer for the forum, so it's with hope that most of these issues can be tackled in due time.

You see now the results of the CB's master plan. It knew it wasn't getting much notice stuck up where it was before, now it has its own fanclub with the attention (and fury) of many. How long before we see even more forum features try this out for themselves? D:

Banned for banning a moderator.

Some people may disagree with me on this; but I still find Quake II to be one of the best all around FPS games to have ever hit the market, and I'll always remember it as one of the first online games I ever played back on Windows 98. Even if the connections at that time were horrible. It's available on Steam for 5 bucks these days. I'd highly recommend anyone pick it up; it's a steal for a game that still holds up very well even today in my opinion. I know that most people will often put Doom on the pedestal of greatest contributors to the genre, but I don't think we should forget the part Quake played either. But yeah, id is definitely a developer that built a lot of the foundations modern gaming stands upon today; Carmack and Romero (controversial as he became) were truly ahead of their time.

@Raven Rawne With the planks in place and Saffron taking extra assurance to keep the makeshift bridge firmly stuck to both ends, it fortunately wasn't as much trouble for Crystal to traverse her way across, giving the stallion a rather triumphant look and snarky comment as she did so. "Yeah, yeah..." Saffron grumbled, brushing off her remark. "I'm telling you that something moved... maybe this hunk of rock isn't as secure as it looked." He said, glancing over into the swamp to see if there was anything swimming around in it that might have bumped into them. Nothing. He turned to reply to his companion, but before he could... "Oh! What the...?!" He yelled as the boulder once again shifted, not to either side this time, but up! Saffron felt himself rise a few inches as the both of them struggled to maintain their grip on the slippery, slimy surface, and he was forced to grab the two remaining planks with his magic in order to stop them sliding off the edge. Crystal clearly wasn't enjoying the sensation either, a string of expletives leaving her muzzle, and protesting loudly over how this rock now seemingly had a mind of its own. "You don't have to ask me twice!" He concurred in haste, and tried quickly to put the planks in place across the other side. Their sudden shifting meant that the planks were now only barely reaching across, and Saffron found it annoyingly difficult to position them correctly. He slammed his ends down onto the rock in frustration after almost half a minute of trying to sort them, with the opposite ends just barely managing to reach the other side. "Ugh! Screw it, this will have to do. Might have to jump it near the end, but the gap is small enough that I think--" He didn't finish. At that moment, the rock they were standing on shook violently, and all of a sudden seemed to rise up out of the swamp! Saffron just managed to save the planks from taking another tumble, before he heard what sounded like a gargling, angry roar. It was coming from right beneath them, and before he had any time to realize what was going on, another huge lurch from the 'boulder' sent the two ponies flying! Saffron yelled as his body was launched through the air, his magical grip lost on the planks as they too were forcefully thrown from the sudden release. The momentum was strong enough that it actually propelled him clear of the gap they'd been trying to cross and landed him with a crash and roll to the other side. The adventure had left him disoriented, and it took a little moment to find himself, groaning and spitting the dirt from his mouth. Fortunately, it didn't feel as though he had broken anything... He rolled over, picked himself up, and stared back towards the gap they had just traversed in an unorthodox fashion. The 'boulder' was now gone. In its place glaring down at them, looking evidently displeased at being treated as such, was a huge crab-like creature. It's enormous pincers and razor sharp claws protruded from under its hard gray shell, while its beady brown eyes that could just be seen were unflinching as it sized them up, as if waiting for one of them to make the first move. "MIRELURK!!" Saffron shouted, as he scrambled to retrieve his weapon.

@Raven Rawne Saffron nodded as the two heaved up an equal sharing of planks to take out. "We can come back for the barrels and rope if we need it. No sense in lugging the extra weight around, especially when we're crossing these planks." The stallion helped to stabilize Crystal's planks as they got them out of the ruined house, he had an easier time with his own thanks to his magic. The stench of the surrounding swamp quickly filled his nostrils once again, prompting an annoyed grunt. "Hey, at least you had one to bring." He said in response to Crystal's complaint. "I had one myself for a while, but I needed a particularly scarce part from the air filter to help keep my energy pistol going. Damn stabilizer..." They continued on, whilst the mare mused over the potential produce a settlement like this might be capable of, sharing Saffron's sentiments regarding its sustainability. "After a while, I'm sure you wouldn't even notice the smell. Compared to most of the crap that this world forces us to endure, I'd take a bit of bad air any day." It wasn't a far walk back to the busted part of the walkway, where the lone boulder sat separating the two halves, as though it had just fallen from the sky and smashed the catwalk clean down the middle. "Hrm.." The stallion inspected it from the distance. Why did it look so familiar to him? He gave it a few cautious taps with one of the planks and tried to brush off some of the seaweed stuck to it before turning back, satisfied. "Sorry." He smiled sheepishly to his companion. "It looks fine anyway, we should be able to step across no problem with these." The stallion set out his own two planks rather easily with his magic, they wouldn't need to lay the other two until one of them got over to the boulder on the other side, meaning whoever went first would have to carry them across. As they finished up, he seen Crystal brushing up those pins yet again. "A memento of the Stable, eh?" He asked. With their rough bridge at the ready, all that remained was to choose who went first. It barely looked steady enough to hold even one of them, let alone two. Still, Crystal didn't seem too deterred as she threw a joke. "Well, ordinarily I'd say ladies first." He smirked back to her. "Buuuuuuut... I suppose since my magic should give me an easier time with the planks, I'll bite the bullet this time and try it out. Let's make sure that it will hold one of us before we get too excited. Just do me a favour and keep this side of the bridge steady.." Taking a deep breath to centre himself, the stallion placed a hoof on one of the laid out planks and tested it. The wood creaked and groaned, but otherwise stayed intact. "Ugh..." He grunted as he picked up the remaining two planks with his magic, hold them at a reasonable distance to the side. True, it was easier than physically lifting them, and meant that extra weight wasn't being applied to the bridge, but the weight of the planks still caused him some mental strain, making it that bit more difficult to concentrate as he crossed. The makeshift bridge continued to groan as he slowly progressed. It was only a short few steps across, but he didn't want to rush it. Not while trying to keep half his concentration on the planks he was carrying. Then when he was over half way across, the bridge suddenly shifted from the boulder's side! "Woah... shit!" Saffron yelled as his balance was completely thrown off. He leaped from the planks to stop himself tumbling into the swamp below, and luckily landed with a thump of his hooves onto the boulder. He carefully dropped the two planks he was carrying next to him, and sat for a moment, exhaling heavily. "Phew...! What in Tartarus was that? I swear those damn planks just moved on their own! Tell me I didn't imagine that!" He glanced back, and cursed at what he saw. The planks had fallen into the swamp! He could just see the end of one sticking out from above the muddy water, but the other was nowhere to be seen, probably sunk. It had effectively isolated him on top of the boulder between the two halves of the catwalk. "Well.. that didn't quite go to plan." He shouted back over to Crystal. "I'll have to use the other planks from here to get you across, then we can put them on the other side once we're both over." Saffron carefully levitated the two remaining planks back across to where Crystal waited, then kept them held firmly in place with his magic. "Just to make sure they don't do that again." He explained to her, standing at his end of the planks for extra insurance. "C'mon! Lets get moving before something else tries to make this difficult for us!" He added with a frustrated tone.

So, something like this perhaps? Essentially high-tech Treehouses.

Gray and rather depressing. Temperatures of around 21C though, so it's actually just where I like it to be. Plus it's the weekend, so I'm not allowing a bit of grey cloud to sully up my mood.

Today I learned that when you agree to help with a 5 minute photo shoot, it actually means 2 hours. Of standing around. Waiting.

@Raven Rawne Yeah, energy crystals or gemstones would seem like the most believable source, since they're often used as a conduit for storing magical energy. Some FO:E lore seems to imply that the Crystal Ponies were experts in their craft, no surprise really since that's what they were specialists in. I would imagine however that post-war it has become something of a forgotten knowledge, especially after the Crystal Heart was lost, so for this early part of the story at least I don't think the duo would have that luxury available to them, hence why Saffron's own energy pistol is in quite poor shape. There's only so many times you can jury-rig it. It's always an ability that they could acquire later on though, once they've become more travelled. Another energy source were Talismans, which it seems were very powerful magical items that were individually created to perform a specific task. For example; I read that almost all Power Armour suits had a special Talisman built into them that allowed them to regenerate lost armour so long as they were fed sufficient scrap metal. Others essentially served as the Water Chip for stables, and so forth. These seem to be the power sources for especially advanced technology. As for small ammunition sources, I would think that in the place of miniature fusion reactors you instead have these tiny crystals that are encased in a capsule or energy cell etc. The crystals have been charged with magical energy that is then used as the source for the weapon's ammo until it runs dry. The Crystals/Gemstones could potentially become damaged however and if they rupture there is a chance that the weapon could explode. That's just a couple of workshop ideas anyway. So far it seems like the simplest approach to it, from my view at least, but throw some other ideas down if you have them~

@Raven Rawne, Stepping forward to take a closer look, Saffron saw the damage that Crystal had mentioned. Nothing too substantial, fortunately, but still enough that it would keep them from simply jumping across. The stallion didn't fancy taking a plunge into the swamp were he to misjudge it. "Alright. Let's see what we can scrounge up...". It didn't take them long to locate what they needed. Whilst there wasn't much in the way of any valuable loot to be found, there was still plenty of scrap parts and building materials. Crystal pointed out a particularly damaged looking house; not the place Saffron would bother searching for loot normally, but, as the Mare pointed out, it might just have something they could use to get across. He nodded to her and approached the front door. "Locked?" He asked as Crystal tried the doors to no avail. Even having supposedly fled their town in mass, these darn ponies always had to lock up tight behind them. He would have suggested simply climbing in through a broken window or damaged wall, but the burgundy Mare had other ideas. With a solid kick of her hind leg, the door shook hard and then snapped open, its rotten frame providing little physical resistance to the forced entry. "Oh, I'm sure they won't mind..." he replied to her with a smirk. "After you." He gestured her inside, and took a quick glance around to ensure that nothing had reacted to their sudden entry. The town remained eerily quiet... Satisfied, Saffron turned to follow his companion inside. It was hard to see from its current state how this would have been a home at all. A large, mostly empty area that looked as though it had just been evicted and left for the birds. It looked like the kind of run down building that he would expect to see squatters living in. Saffron's hope for a bit of relief from the wood-rot wasn't much better either, and he groaned audibly as he was welcomed by a face full of dust. "Not you again..." Crystal wasn't listening, she was too busy taking note of what was left, among other observations. Whilst she pondered, Saffron went towards the back of the house, and found a small side room with its door ajar, behind which was what looked to be maybe a kind of food storage? There were several barrels, almost all of which were empty, and a few of them tied around with thick, sturdy looking ropes to help suspend them. Saffron peered into one of the barrels and saw what appeared to be a large amount of... seaweed? It definitely looked like something that had come from the swamp. Does this mean that they had been able to use it as a resource? The stallion frowned; if that was the case, then why choose to leave? This settlement could have been perfectly self-sustainable... He proceeded back to the main room, where Crystal was examining a couple of old looking, but still intact bookshelves. "Yep. Those should do nicely." He agreed, coming over to the shelves and giving one a few tugs and presses. "A little worn down, but in no worse shape than the boards outside." He concurred. "It shouldn't take too much force to break the sides off from the rest." Saffron glanced around and found a small iron girder that looked as though it might have once belonged to some pre-war industrial machine. "Well, it's not a crowbar... but it should be enough." Holding it within his magic aura, the Stallion smashed the girder down hard against the bookshelf, severing one of the shelves and sending it crashing off with a thud. "Here, lend me a hoof. It's a great stress release if anything!" He said with a wide and somewhat villainous looking grin. "Hey, it's not often I have an excuse to smash things." He followed up quickly with a smirk. "Oh, and I found some barrels in a back room there, with a bit of rope would you believe? Most of them are empty so if we needed something to act as a ballast, those could be handy." Addressing Crystal's own curiosities over why the former occupants might have just gone up and left, he added; "That's true... compared to some settlements across the Wasteland, this place is a paradise. ...like when I was back in Manehattan--" He caught himself at that word, shook his head, and continued: "Anyway, one of the barrels looked as though the settlers might actually have been using the Swamp as a resource. If that's true, then we can probably cross it off the reasons why they might have left. I'd see no sense in abandoning such a valuable commodity if you had it, even if it is a little... unsanitary." The stallion shook some dust from his coat. "C'mon, we better get to the offices and see if it can tell us anything more!"

In any case, I appreciate the quick response we get from everyone reporting these bots when they do show. Most of them usually don't manage to clutter the forum up for very long as a result. We'll keep looking into any feasible solutions for pre-emptively dealing with them in the meantime. Thanks all for your understanding. And absolutely this. You never really know what's behind those links, Even if it seems straightforward. Some of them can be cunningly deceptive, so play it safe! Out there be monsters.

@Frostar Card Your tea and cookies are very much appreciated! Your profile pic is fine~ That's an interesting Ponysona you have there. If you were ever interested in having some more art done of them; I'd encourage you to check out the Requestria section or maybe even purchasing a Commission from one of our many talented artists. Anyway, I'm sure you'll have no trouble making new friends here. Just let me or anypony else know if you need any help, we're only happy to help! Have a good one!

@Raven Rawne "A home...?" Saffron asked, raising an eye. "I would say that you're looking in the wrong place, but then who's to say what you consider... hospitable." The Stallion smirked as he tried to relax the conversation. The mare fortunately seemed to be cooperative, though perhaps it was just the difficulty of keeping the rotten stench at bay that prevented any real reaction. Saffron did his best to ignore it for now, and instead listened to the mare's explanation. "Indeed.." He replied while looking around, as if trying to catch a glimpse of anything other oddities or events that may have occurred. "More worryingly, I haven't seen any sort of reason for the sudden departure. I mean, the swamp is pretty bad, yeah. But I suspect that has more to do with a lack of maintenance than anything. Can't imagine it was quite this bad before, when ponies were living here." He frowned, before adding: "So, why the sudden departure?" The mare also brought attention towards the strange looking boulders that Saffron was sure had been spread around the town. "No idea. There's one blocking the path behind me. I thought perhaps it had just been thrown up by rising waters, but there's too many of them around for it to be a coincidence." He paused a moment to consider. "I hope that they weren't used for some kind of magic... but I suspect that somepony would have noticed if there had been any mass magical activity in the area recently." The Unicorn tapped his horn with a hoof. "The locals around these parts don't really appreciate magic users. I had to promise that I wouldn't get up to any spell-casting at the next settlement over. Still..." Saffron eyed his Magic Energy Pistol, still laying on the ground a few steps away, and concentrated as his horn lit up a soft crimson hue, capturing the weapon in a similar aura and telekinetically lifting it back into his holster. "Since there is nopony really here... Oh, don't give me that look!" He said as the mare cocked her head. She didn't think much more of it, however, simply suggesting that the two of them head to explore the office building together. "Two sets of eyes are better than one." He agreed. "Let's just see what we can find out, if anything, regarding the fate of this sad little town. Then we can worry about the loot. Not that I'm holding my breath for anything at this stage." He turned his head back towards the Mare as she at last gave him a name. "Crystal Clear, eh?" He seemed to ponder that for a moment, but continued without comment. "Saffron Shadow. Hopefully we can make it to the end of the day without having to write either of those on a gravestone. Not that there's any shortage of rocks about, eh?"

@Raven Rawne Saffron braced himself as the stranger didn't reply to his quip, instead bringing attention to their holster where a 10mm was kept. Not the most advanced of weaponry he thought, but at this distance it wouldn't matter. He eyed his own Energy Pistol that was still laying a few feet away. If he was quick enough with his telekinesis, perhaps he could... But to his surprise and relief, the stranger didn't draw their weapon. Instead they slowly, and with an understandable reluctance, removed the re-breather around their face. It was a Mare, what looked to him at first like an Earth Pony, but she was like none he could recall ever encountering before. Her burgundy coat seemed almost to glint as though finely polished, and coupled with her blue-azure mane, she provided a pleasing contrast of colour against the surrounding dullness of brown of grey. It helped Saffron to relax, though he remained wary just in case. The Mare looked to struggle slightly, the wood-rot obviously not very pleasing to her senses. Saffron thought he seen something... strange with her eyes too, but he couldn't really get a proper look, nor did he think it prudent to make it too obvious at this moment. "Hah!" Saffron barked out a sharp laugh in response to her query. "No, fortunately not. Don't really have a home. I tend more to drift from place to place, following rumours, stories, whatever might lead me to something interesting, salvage or otherwise." The stallion, realizing that he was still half laying on the boardwalk, picked himself up from the floor. He noticed that a plank of the rickety bridge had completely snapped in two, presumably what had caused him to lose his footing, and kicked it out in frustration, sending it tumbling into the swamp below. "Piece of junk... well, I came here following one of those trails, but it seems to have been something of a wasted venture. Whole place seems to have been cleared out already, but I couldn't even find any obvious signs of a struggle." He glanced past the Mare's head, whom he was only slightly taller than, and tried to get a better look down the part of the catwalk where she had come from. "What's your story? I don't suppose you've... had any luck inside that large office back there? I was thinking of checking it out. Looks to be the only place still in fairly decent condition." He said with a certain air of caution, unsure whether or not this Mare had already figured to lay claim to whatever salvage was present. Despite this, she didn't appear to be ready for a fight. In fact, Saffron could have sworn that she looked almost ready to turn tail and gallop. He snorted. A particularly strong whiff of rotten wood and... something, filling his nostrils. "Grrgh... in any case, it would be nice to get clear of this stench." Between dust storms and filthy, possibly poisonous swamp water, he was having enough of the current environments.

@Raven Rawne Nothing. Not a soul in sight. Dammit! The stallion was, for once, hoping to see someone, anyone, that could at least confirm to him the reason for the earlier crashing he had heard, but his view was too limited from this position. On top of that, the stench of wood-rot from the steadily increasing volume of submerged buildings was becoming quite overpowering to his nostrils, and he had no adequate means to protect himself from it. He was sorely wishing that he hadn't scraped that old re-breather for parts right now... Moving on, and trying to take as little deep breaths as was possible, he made his way across to a larger structure. This one seemed to have suffered less damage then the others, and peering inside Saffron saw to his surprise that almost nothing looked as though it had been intentionally destroyed. It appeared to have been a town shop, and several hand-written signs hung above ominously empty shelves; their scrawling writing advertising things such as Weapons and Medical supplies, however without a trace of any such supplies to be seen. One or two items lay strewn either across the floor or had been left behind on the shelves, some of them clearly post-war in nature, suggesting to the Stallion that whatever had happened to this Settlement was still relatively recent.. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of yet another crash, this time mixed by the heavy splash of swamp water. Even the relentless noise of the frogs and other swamp creatures couldn't mask to Saffron how close this one had sounded, almost as if it was coming from right around the next walkway at the end of these buildings. He tensed up as he drew his weapon once again, expecting the worst to come around at him, as was his unfortunate habit. He suddenly realized that, judging from his current position, that particular bridge must lead up towards the Administrations building! The thought occurred to him that maybe some survivors were still alive. They could easily have holed up inside the large, defensible structure, and the noises he had heard could have been from somepony who had been sent to scout the area! "Or..." Said Saffron quietly to himself, a pessimistic counter to his own unfounded optimism. "They could be bloodthirsty raiders who slaughtered the whole town and are now using it as a base." He shook his head. Regardless of who or what it was, the only way to progress was forwards. He guessed that he would find out soon enough. He tread carefully along the walkway towards the interconnecting one leading to the Admin's building, passing an almost completely collapsed house along the way. Sitting lonely on its remains was what looked like a fairly large rock, covered in moss and looking depressingly brown. He gazed in odd wonder at it as he walked by, musing how it had even gotten there. He was also near positive that he'd seen something just like it elsewhere in the town, in more than one place at that. He was half tempted to stop over and investigate when... "Ooof!" The Stallion groaned as his hooves flew out from underneath him and he fell to the floor in a heap, the stench of the wooden walkway beams even more unbearable up close. He had been so distracted by that stupid rock, that he had neglected to even pay attention to the fact he had just completely and foolishly exposed himself to the adjacent walkway and whatever was on it! Good one, Saffron... With the help of his front hooves, he lifted the upper part of his body from the floor, rather thankful that he hadn't become a creatures' lunch just yet, and instead found himself looking up at what had presumably sent him there in the first place. It was a Pony. The unmistakable face staring back at him from behind a re-breather mask. "Heheheh..." He could only laugh weakly, not knowing if this encounter was about to be his last. "Well, I can see that one of us actually has their head screwed on straight this morning..." He had noticed too that his Energy Pistol was lying a few inches away from their hooves.