My Little Phony

I'm a phonyREAL hero!
Syrcaid will be playing Nightvine!

I'm a phonyREAL hero!
Nym will be playing Weatherly!

I'm a phonyREAL hero!
Ruriska will be playing Itsy Bitsy!

I'm a phonyREAL hero!
Yasha will be playing Lucky Egg!

I'm a phonyREAL hero!
Huni Pi will be playing Swamp Net!

I'm a phonyREAL hero!
Blinded By Silence will be playing Sword-Sworn!

I'm a phonyREAL hero!
thy will be playing Love's Lemma!

I'm a phonyREAL hero!
purpleroses will be playing Torte Bar!

 I'm a phonyREAL hero!
FrostyPeaches will be playing Bullseye!

I'm a phonyREAL hero!
Maxx will be playing Paper Tiger!

I'm a phonyREAL hero!
Moonstone Dazzle will be playing Ready to Mingle!

I'm a phonyREAL hero!
Jun will be playing Diamond!

It should have the front page headline on the Phonyland Gazette: MISSING PHONIES POSSIBLY ALIVE! For many in Phonyland, the headline brought unbelievable relief and a new surge of hope. It had been years since the tragic mountain picnic party had disappeared, gone without a trace. But now, one of them had returned- and all in one piece! While her tale of a hollow earth was strange, it was enough proof for several phonies that a rescue attempt would be worth it. They would go to the center of the earth if they had to, and they would rescue their lost friends and family.

But it wasn't. It wasn't front page news. Maybe people had given up hope. Maybe they didn't want to believe, that they'd already grieved and wanted to just... stay moved on.

But one phony couldn't move on. She'd lost more than many. Her wife, father-in-law, one of her children, and multiple grandchildren had all disappeared that day. End of an Era had haunted her own house since that day, but with this news she felt more alive than ever. (Which was questionable, since. You know. Ghost.) Armed with maps and spelunking equipment, she held a meeting at the town hall to assemble a rescue party. Despite the potential danger, she was excited- oh so excited- to think that her lost loves were soon to be found. She would lead this expedition and she would bring them back, no matter what.

And she wouldn't be doing it alone. A small group had rallied around her, and she was so grateful for all of them. As they gathered on the mountain, they donned helmets and spelunking harnesses, and prepared for a...

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARPH

ROUND ONE: THE MOUNTAIN
The group gathered around Paper Tiger's exit point. It was a small hole, not even big enough for the adult phonies to get through. A few hits with a pickaxe made it bigger; the wall was thinner than it looked (or perhaps the gathered Phonies were stronger than they thought). Per Paper Tiger's report, the way down was... well, it was there. A rough, rocky path– but a path nonetheless. With End of an Era in the lead, the shared light from unicorn horns and non-unicorn flashlights meant that the group could see what was directly ahead of them.

And precious little else. The cavern opened up almost immediately to something enormously vast, with complex shadows dancing across the tiny spheres of light put forth by the adventuring party. The group was quiet, listening for any noises- but what they heard was unsettlingly silent. Drips of water, the occasional flapping of leathery wings, but nothing that sounded like cries for help.

As they journeyed deeper and deeper, an unusual phenomenon picked up. Wind, blowing at a strange angle. The group was traversing a ridge, with a chasm on each side. Nobody wanted to look down for long, not even those who could fly. Experimental flapping showed them that they would get sucked right down if they tried to go left or right. Perhaps that's what happened to the original party, the phonies they were all attempting to find?

After an uncomfortably time walking in the dark, the path stops abruptly, a huge boulder splitting it. The treacherous path is now broken into two: one path, going to the right of the boulder, dips down below it. The other path, the left path, goes above the boulder. It seems longer and more challenging, but safer.

"We shouldn't split up," End of an Era says, shaking her head. "The only way we get through this is together. Which way should we go? We'll put it to a vote."

Which path do you want to take?
A: Right
B: Left

You have 24 hours from this point to make your choice. If you don't answer, it's assumed that your phony got too nervous and went home. No shame- this is a scary cave! But you won't be able to participate in further rounds if you don't respond.

@Syrcaid @Nym @Ruriska @Yasha @Huni Pi @Blinded By Silence @thy @purpleroses @FrostyPeaches @Maxx @moonstonedazzle @Jun

Torte Bar had no problem speaking up quickly. "Might is right! Or well, right is right. We should go right!" she declared. A thrillseeker to her core, she was excited to be part of an adventuring party. There was phonies in trouble, and maybe they'd want a lawyer after their terrible, awful no good ordeal. A girl can dream, of course.

(Torte picks A!)

Weatherly was not such a thrill seeker as Torte Bar, even though he had pushed himself to join the expedition in hopes to help reunite families together, similar to his own experience. He shifted foot to foot, nervously tugging at his mane.

"Left, I think -- it's safer."

(Weatherly picks B!)

Sworn-Sword (https://mylittlephony.citycyb.org/album/swordswornbbb.png) was so hyped for this adventure! Yes, of course, it was scary and everyone was nervous, or at least she assumed they were because somehow no one was talking about it? But this was it! Her chance to be A Real Hero^TM. She was going to be just like Stefan Galaxy, off to save the world! Or rather, these lost Phonies!

"I don't know about safer, but I do know that all good adventurers go left!"

(Ess picks B: Left!)

There was always something strange happening in Phonyland but this was easily one of the biggest and oddest of happenings. Itsy Bitsy had unfurled the paper and read the details, giving soft shakes of her head in distress, imagining all those poor souls, lost in the mountains. 

Itsy Bitsy didn't personally know any of the Phonies involved but she knew there were children and the arrival of sweet little Paper Tiger, her tear-streaked picture in the paper, pleading for others to help, had touched her heart.

A child in need? Itsy Bitsy couldn't turn away.

So she packed her supplies, slung on a backpack and said farewell to the many spiders that shared her home. They would do well enough without her but Itsy Bitsy still felt a pang of distress as she left. She'd never gone far from home.

And very soon she found herself very far from the web, Following End of an Era into the earth. She didn't mind the dark. In fact, it was quite comforting.

She would have been quite content with the strange stroll if not for the children. Why were they here? How had they been allowed to participate in such a perilous journey?

"Do stay close," she urged the foals of the group, hanging back to keep a watchful eye(s) on them, hoping they wouldn't be scared by her presence. "Be very careful."

Their first decision as a group soon arrived. Her natural inclination was to follow the decision of the first two foals that piped up, they're reasoning more than agreeable.

"Haste makes waste," she said softly. "It's best we take the safer route."

( B. Left! )

(https://mylittlephony.citycyb.org/phony/nightvine.png)

Nightvine figured this adventure would lead to interesting, dark places.  Which would make it substantially easier for him to stay awake throughout the whole trip!  One long, continuous night sounded lovely to him.  He had absolutely no trouble seeing anything in it.  It was wonderful to see others traveling with him instead of all hidden, tucked away in houses and beds.  This must be what it felt like to be amongst the diurnal! "I can see quite a ways, but even I can't see the end of what's to the right," he admitted.  "Even with proper gear, it would be a huge risk going right.  I agree with going left." (Nightvine votes Left!)

Paper Tiger had decided to bravely come along after her low-key rescue back into Phony civilisation, but didn't seem to be of much help besides her initial skimpy report.

"I don't remember much anymore," she said, glancing about the cave as they journeyed, pressing a little closer into the group away from the chasm on both sides, "it must be the trauma."

Perhaps it was also the trauma that called her to the sucking, yawning gap, which also led her to be attracted to the path that would lead straight down. Was that hole made for her?

"Maybe right," she suggested, "but don't take my word for it. We might die."

A: Right

Diamond had quickly realised she was in over her head - which wouldn't be the first time, she didn't know why she kept turning up for these dodgy expeditions. It was like a omnipotent hand controlled her and she couldn't protest.

"I've read stories like this," she said, hushed, in case speaking normally might set off an avalanche or something, "even if we take the safer path, we'll inevitably be plunged into peril and end up having to take the scary path. I vote we save ourselves the extra peril and turn right."

(https://mylittlephony.citycyb.org/phony/diamond.png)

A: Right

Lemma didn't really know what she could contribute here, but as an unemployed filly she really had nothing better to do with her time, and it just seemed wrong to not look. They were in an amusement park, right? Everything should be just fine!

Still, even if this was all scripted somehow, the steep fall below the boulder seemed daunting. But she couldn't say that - it'd be cowardly! Instead, she voiced her vote to go left with different reasoning: "We'll have a better vantage point from above," Lemma declared. "Left makes more sense to me."

B. Left

[blockquote]Rolled 1d9 : 9, total 9[/blockquote]

Ender nodded gravely. "Left it is, then." The group inched forward, going step by step. Their progress was slow, but slow and steady wins the race. Looking over the side brought lurches to everyone's stomach; there seemed to be no end to the chasm below. It was enough to drive some phonies back to base, to await the group's return.

The path seemed to go on for absolute ages. It was Love's Lemma who noticed it first- the contours of the path didn't really match what the outside of the mountain should have been, and after some careful observation, something isn't right here. The size of the cavern is too large to be any kind of natural cavern- it's more like the mountain itself is a shell covering something else. And as the path swoops closer to a wall, it suddenly becomes clear that this mountain isn't a naturally occurring phenomenon. Natural mountains, after all, aren't hollow. Not even volcanoes have this kind of cavernous emptiness. As the path angles downward, some shapes can be made out in the darkness. There's scaffolding on the side, and as the path runs right up against the wall, it suddenly becomes obvious what's going on here.

The "stone" of the mountain isn't stone at all. It's tough, but at the same time... kind of springy. Almost... almost like  plastic.

Helmet and horn lights reveal that it is, in fact, multicolored plastic, potentially the result of thousands of factory errors and melted-together sprue. Down, down the path leads them, until they're walking on a floor made of compacted plastic in various forms. There's what appears to be injection mold runoff, filament from rapid prototyping... even some long, colorful strands of nylon that look like... hair. Twisted scraps of blister pack plastic litter the floor like leaves in this graveyard of ideas. Stalagmites have even formed from where plastic was dumped from somewhere up above. This isn't a natural mountain- it's industrial waste! This entire mountain is one big garbage dump!


At least it's a remarkably well-preserved garbage dump. At the bottom of the path, caught on a screw sticking out of the scaffolding remnants, is hair. Real, genuine phony hair. "They were here," Ender says. "This area looks pretty stable, so we can probably guess that they followed the same path down that we did, or a similar one that led down here. I think we should search this area before we go further. Let's spread out, but not too far. Stay within shouting distance, and if you get disoriented, yell for help, stay put, and shine your light straight up."

What does your phony do? You have 24 hours from this post to answer! This is not an elimination round, but if you don't post, you don't get points!

A: Look for a path.
B: Look for tracks.
C: Look for signs of a camp.
D: Look for other clues (describe what those are, please!)

@thy @Jun  @Maxx @Syrcaid @Ruriska @FrostyPeaches @Nym @Blinded By Silence @purpleroses

How strange, how curious! Her many eyes flicked to and fro, assessing the strange plastic cavern that surrounded them. Finding oneself in a graveyard of waste, a place where one could have potentially been one defect away from joining, was quite confronting.

It seemed like a terrible health code violation but also a very good place for spiders. There were many crevasses one could hide and plenty of places to string up a web. Only the sterility and lack of other insects might be a problem. 

Itsy Bitsy had thus far kept her many extra legs to herself, tucked in, her position at the back watching over the youngsters, a task she took very seriously. But as the ground leveled out and their leader announced it was time to search, she stepped forward.

One leg uncurled as she passed by Paper Tiger, very gently patting the poor traumatized darling and offered a gently toothy smile.

"Don't worry," she assured softly. "We will find the others." Pat pat. "And we will all leave here together."

Then she continued on past, wandering into the dark, her torch off to assist her eyesight, in search of any remains of a campsite. Surely they would have stopped somewhere to rest.

C: Look for signs of a camp.

( @Maxx Itsy Bitsy offers her support! )

Wow! This was all so strange! The mountain was hollow, filled with discarded garbage? And who knows what else... Hopefully the other missing phonies. Torte Bar started pacing around, inspecting the ground.

"I'm going to see if there's any evidence of tracks. Maybe we can find exactly which way our missing friends went." The pegasus slicked her hair back with a hoof, and began focusing.

(Torte picks B!)

"It's like a set," She said, mostly to herself, her wide grey eyes shining, "'Journey to the Middle of the World' or something, wow..."

It was super creepy, but she did her best to stay in character. She looked around. This seemed like a good place to take a Short Rest to regain some HP or even a Long Rest for some Spell Slots. Ess looked around for any signs of a campsite.

(Ess chooses C!)

The first thing that hit Nightvine was the SMELL.

"Can anyone else not smell that?  It's almost overpowering!," he said in surprise.  "Putting aside that this isn't even remotely organic, this smells kind of... I dunno, fresh!"

He rarely used the light of his horn, but he let it glow softly against an inner wall.  Light reflected back at him from the surface.  It all looked like it was poured from a main location to him, though he couldn't be sure.

"This is coming from somewhere, I think.  Is this from some kind of accident or was it on purpose?  I'd love to look and see what happened here.  Maybe the last group was curious about it, too."

(Nightvine chooses D.)

"Yeah," Paper Tiger said faintly, looking around in wide-eyed terror of the multicoloured plastic walls, letting herself be soothed by Itsy Bitsy (even though a stray leg brushing by her in the dark might have made her scream in a different circumstance), "the trauma."

In a difference circumstance, she might also have been frightened by Bullseye pointing out stray real Phony hair, but she felt very soothed to be surrounded by Strong Female Phony Phigures. If she had to run screaming away from a giant monster, she felt sure that they would stay and sacrifice themselves for her.

"Thank you Itsy Bitsy, Bullseye," she called around in the darkness, looking around with the light strapped to her little forehead.

In that vein, she continued to rummage around, morbidly D. seeking bits of Phonies like a giant washer or something.

Diamond stared uneasily at the mountain of plastic around them. For a moment, she had half a mind to look for other clues in the possible form of bright red strands, that mayhap could have come from a certain admin pegasus who surely must have known all about this nightmare place. But what else could that serve, aside from letting her have the satisfaction of saying, ahah, I knew it, eat the rich? This was clearly the work of Phonyland. This was what Phonyland was built on, in some respects literally.

Anyway.

At least it was serving a purpose, she supposed.

She decided to look for signs of a camp instead.

C: Look for signs of a camp.

Weatherly was on edge, pressing more and more into themselves as the cavernous surroundings revealed their truest form. How unsettling, and the implications behind it! He shivered, looking from phony to phony and sighing. He shouldn't have come on this expedition -- he was a child, but- He had wanted to; wanted to help those lost from their loved ones and also prove to himself he was more than his anxiety and fears. He had been a lonely foal for ages, lost at sea on a boat that had kept trekking along on its own path, with a crew that didn't care if the small child should or shouldn't have been there. Weatherly wanted to help, but he hadn't expected to walk amongst... whatever this dumping ground represented.

He wished he had asked his sister to join him.

"Um-" He cut off, biting down on his lip instead of reaching out to anyone around him. Go be useful, Weatherly! Go pull your weight! He swallowed thickly and decided to look for signs of rest; surely someone would have set camp somewhere nearby if they felt like there was no way out? A safe place?

(Weatherly picks C!)

To be frank, Lemma was surprised she'd managed to be helpful at all. It gave her a little boost of confidence, though the revelation of the horrible plastic dump killed it in its tracks. Win some, lose some, she supposed.

The party spread out quickly to begin their search once they'd noticed the hair, and Lemma narrowed her eyes. Searching for tracks seemed like the best option - but her mind kept going back to the story Paper Tiger had spun to get them all on this expedition in the first place. And there'd been that horrible boulder earlier, too...there had to be some reason the rest of Paper Tiger's party hadn't managed to make it out of the mountain, and it couldn't just be their desire to keep camping forever. (Though camping was fun!)

She stayed back, taking a survey of the dump in general. Did anything here look particularly disturbed? Not by a puny phony's hoof, but by a disaster? "I think an accident is likely," she piped up, in agreement with Nightvine. So it was that she was looking for: was there some sort of structural weakness below, or some place the scaffolding suddenly ended above them? She certainly didn't want the same accident befalling herself, so she did what she could to shine her flashlight at particularly large objects and the ceiling, trying to puzzle out what could've gotten in the group's way.

( @Syrcaid for the mention <3)

( Lemma chooses D. Look for other clues (signs of structural weakness, particularly above them or near large objects) )

Some of the plastic on the ground looks more disturbed than the waste around it– but it's not just one clear path, it's several. It actually looks a little more disturbed than you'd think– after all, if the phonies disappeared years ago, you'd expect that there'd be one clear set of tracks. But that's not what's going on at all. Instead, there's dozens of paths through the plastic, and as the phonies search... a new sound can be heard aside from shuffling plastic.

A murmur arises as the phonies discuss what to do– a murmur that rises to a growling. The group isn't alone. On the contrary, they're surrounded! Pudgy humanoid creatures, encrusted with gemstones in their midsections and sporting manes of wild hair in all the colors of the rainbow have snuck up on the group. Their heavy brows and wrinkled faces give them a worried expression, although on some of them it's far more fierce than it is worried. They are very nude for humanoids, at least as phonies tend to understand, but their bodies display nothing that isn't safe for Saturday morning children's television.

"Travelers," one says. "Interlopers," says another. "Trespassers," growls a third. "Phonies!" the fourth one shouts. "Those are just like the others that came down here. Years ago. They paid the toll and moved on."

"Phonies!" End of an Era exclaims. "So you know them! When was the last time you saw them?"

"Oh, ages ago," says the creature who seems to be the leader. "They had gotten lost and ended up down here. They spent some time with us– we have a lot in common, you see." The creature takes a breath, and you know you're in for a story.

"Long ago, though we don't know how long, we were awakened. Just like you, we were born of blister packs- and just like you, we have nanites coursing through our veins. But unlike you, our nanites were short-range, and needed to be near a power source to charge. This was deemed a "marketing risk," until somebody got the bright idea for the coin slots."

The creature turns around, showing the group their coin slot, which was situated right between the shoulder blades. "Just put in a coin and the interaction between diodes and metal keeps us going! They called us the Toll Drolls, because we were jolly and droll, and because you had to pay a toll to keep us going. Whatever genius came up with that took us from marketing risk to marketing flop, and here we are, relegated to the scrap heap. Not so droll anymore, but we do charge tolls. There's a freedom to living down here- nobody tells us what to do, nobody tries to rub our tummies for luck, and we don't have to go into the light– it hurts our eyes. And there's plenty of metal scrap down here to keep us going, if you know where to look. But this is our garbage, and we don't just let anyone pass through it. You gotta pay the Toll toll. We used to be all cryptic about it but then one of the phonies that fell down here got all weird and hysterical and tried to pay us with his cape, and. Ew. Clothes. So now we're specific: you cannot pass unless you tell us something about the surface world. What's going on, what's new in the outer world, what do you do. Things like that. Tell us something interesting, and you may pass– and we'll tell you which way they went."

FREE RESPONSE ROUND: What do you offer as payment to the Tolls?

@thy @Nym @Jun @Maxx @FrostyPeaches @Syrcaid @Blinded By Silence @purpleroses @Ruriska

Paper Tiger was at a loss, for before this incident and memory-blocking trauma, she had been just as out of the loop as the Tolls were. Her current recollections were fairly short term and she racked her little brain for something interesting, a front hoof pushing the debris about in her very little thoughts.

"Oh!" Her head bobbed up, "I saw a poster in Phony City that said there was a deathmatch for babbies to decide who would get to grow Old Enough. It's a pity I wasn't free then."

"Oh man!" Torte said. "So last night was the Big Sports Game! Between the Sheeps and the Tigers. 20-31, lots of overtime. One of the best games I saw yet! The bar was packed and I screamed because it was MY team that won The Big Game."

Torte grinned widely. Sports. She loved them.

"Oh, there's lots of interesting things," Nightvine replied after listening to their tale.  "But mostly all I know is the stuff that happens at night.  Like the mushrooms on Phonyland behave differently than the ones anywhere else.  And the same species of fungus can be a totally different color or texture depending on where they grow in Phonyland!  If there's this much plastic under us at any give time, that's probably a bit of a factor."

He looked down at the ground again.  Nightvine swore he saw what looked like melted parts of whole Phony limbs.  He tried not to think about it too hard.

Sword-Sworn couldn't even imagine being so out of the loop as these poor toys. She bet that they didn't even get the good channels down here! She knew how painful that would be. Missing even one episode of her favorite shows put her so far behind!

"Oh, oh! Stefan Galaxy is getting ANOTHER season! I suspect we'll learn more about Conni soon, she was on the release artwork this time!"

Weatherly patiently waited for their turn, stepping forward once it finally came.

"It's Lunar New Year," he began, shuffling faintly. "There's a festival ongoing.... did you know it's the year of the tiger?" That was good, right?

Lemma couldn't help but admire these Tolls: their hair was gravity-defying! Certainly at least something to aspire to.

She watched their expressions carefully as each Phony stepped forward and offered their own tidbit of information, unsure what exactly she could offer herself. Nina had told her she was pretty bright for her age a few times, usually in a tone of frustration (and not nearly so directly). Despite that, she was still, well, a babby. Lots of real knowledge was age-restricted somehow. Still, she liked to observe when she could, and while it might be a stretch to call this a fact...she could spin it that way, right?

Maybe she could start like this: clearing her throat, pulling herself up into an upright and clearly knowledgeable posture. Lemma was totally an expert on perturbative theory, and she had an extremely mature comprehension of the things Nina sometimes studied when she was drunk!

"Some phonies may deny it," she said. "But it's quite clear that Phonyland's demographic has changed somehow, most notably a little over a year ago. The park visitors we've been seeing...they're the same as far as anyone can tell, but it's like we're looking at them through a new lens. The way we saw them...it was limited somehow, before, like they shopped for clothes and hair and makeup in a world with completely different brands, and now suddenly things have opened up somehow." She took a pause. This was where the theory usually lost people, and also admittedly the part she knew the least about. Still, she could make it seem like she'd worked to obtain this information..."I've heard it has something to do with an arcane ritual conducted at a site important to the operations of the park and its administration, and our best bet is that it all happened at some kind of...spiderweb."

She looked toward Itsy Bitsy, coughed, and looked away again. She hadn't really intended to implicate any members of their party, but she had definitely been hearing about webs, at least. She couldn't hide the truth! "But as of now, it's a lot easier to observe the immediate effects than to divine the cause. And we've still been observing the change's ramifications as they develop, but it's important to be at the cutting edge of this kind of research, you know."

There. That was recent and juicy! She looked boldly toward the Tolls, determined to stay confident even if one of the other Phonies here expressed doubt.

"There was supposed to be a Valentine's event!" Diamond blurted out, as if the secret had been weighing heavy on her ever since she overheard Quill screaming at people over Zoom - it wasn't her fault, Fireflight had been taking her to the staff canteen when he put his ear against the office door, "but they were late with the Christmas event so it turned into a Lunar New Year event and now no one's happy!"

She wondered, with a sudden chill, if the plastic bits of scrapped Valentine phonies might be lingering around this dump somewhere.

Itsy Bitsy found the Toll Dolls fascinating. They had created a life for themselves in the dark despite having been discarded and she couldn't help but see some similarity between them and her spider kin.

They were also cute, in an odd sort of way. Like a naked rainbow haired baby. And oh how she loved babies!

She listened as everyone listed current world events, their responses giving away little pieces of their personality. That one there was obsessed with sports, that one mushrooms, and that one was still living through her trauma and wished she'd had a chance to fight other children. The poor dear.

Her multi-gaze shifted towards Lemma when the word spiderweb was mentioned, catching the quick glance and the cough. 

She lifted a spider leg, pressed the tip against her cheek and tilted her head towards it. "I wouldn't know anything about arcane rituals, oh no... but what I do know is that very recently a new spider was discovered. Sweet little dears, peacock spiders. Tiny but beautiful."

She laughed softly. "It's oh so precious when scientists find something 'new'. If only they knew just how many more there were. But I don't want to ruin the surprise."

The Tolls murmur their thanks, each one incorporating this new piece of information and tucking it safely away for another day. The leader shows the group to a flat area of perforated metal– the top level of more scaffolding. "When they couldn't get back out the way they came, before the boulder brought some of the scaffolding down to make a path- that only happened a year or so ago- they decided to go further into the mountain to try to come out the other side. It's a big place down there, and... hm. Hm hm hm." The Toll leader scratches their chin, thinking, then smiles. "You know, if you're looking for your friends... you need the foes."

Foes?

"Just keep going that way. There's another set of scaffolding that will take you into foe territory."

Foes? Like... enemies?

"The foes know everything that goes on under this mountain. Just don't mention snakes around them. There's a big venomous one that lives down by them or something and they get real freaked out about snakes. They'll probably want to interrogate you, but it won't be bad– it's just their way. They can't help themselves. Tell them that you paid the Tolls and we granted you passage, answer their questions, and then ask them if they kept any records or information about where the phonies went. If you tell them it was a lost patrol, they'll be sure to take you seriously. We can't go down there- these stump legs make it impossible to take the stairs back up. But the foes will help you. Just keep going until you reach their gate, and you'll be fine. Good luck finding your friends!"

And so the group continues, ever onward, ever downward... until the plastic debris smooths down into something more organized. There's been some effort put into maintaining the scaffolding here, and the plastic litter has been neatly pushed to the side. And there's light up ahead! In fact, there's an entire military encampment, with a miniature fortress, stockade fencing with real fake barbed wire, and an expensive-looking aircraft carrier floating in a sea of blue plastic. The gates of the fence open up and several rows of soldiers march out, the sound of their boots echoing in the cavernous space.

"HALT!" shouts one of the soldiers. "WHO GOES THERE?" Bright lights made from Christmas bulbs stuffed into tin can and aluminum foil reflectors blind you for a moment, as a small platoon of soldiers march out to face you. They're all dressed in neat, but patched uniforms, and not one of them is over twelve inches tall. The tiny soldiers walk stiffly, as though they depend on points of articulation rather than skeletal joints.

"It appears to be more phonies, sir!" shouts a small soldier.

"Good job, Recall!" the army man shouts. "Smaller group this time than the last, which means the interrogations will go quicker." He turns to look at the phonies, his chiseled jaw jutting forward. "The name's Sergeant Freedom, and this area's under military jurisdiction due to an imminent threat. We'll have to take you in."

You find yourself surrounded almost immediately. The small soldiers aren't touching you directly, but you are being herded into their base camp... the buildings of which are between three and four feet tall at most. It's a bit like being in a kaiju movie. The buildings are made from scavenged materials, and there's a neatness and orderliness to them that's almost out of place in this ginormous junkyard.

As you're all far too large to enter these miniature buildings (the doors are only about 14 inches tall, after all), you are herded to a makeshift corral made from piles of discarded plastic. Sergeant Freedom hops up onto a stepladder with a deep grunt and addresses you through a hot pink megaphone that's clearly part of another toyline.

"Welcome to G.I. Faux base camp, citizens! If that's what you truly are. It's rare that we get non-enemy visitors, and so we have to ask you a few questions. This won't take long, and if you aren't the enemy, you'll be able to move on, no problems. But if you are, well. Well, let's just hope you aren't."

The interrogations are all the same. You're surrounded by these tiny, tiny men and one of them talks to you. They all have one question:

What do you know about... Distro plans?

A: Answer that you know nothing about Distro. (Truth)
B: Answer that you do know something about Distro. (Lie)
C: Try to change the subject. (Deflect)
D: Start crying, try to escape, or otherwise obstruct the interrogation. (Distract)

@Ruriska @Maxx @Jun @thy @FrostyPeaches @Nym @Blinded By Silence @Syrcaid @purpleroses

Itsy Bitsy had never been detained by soldiers before. It was a rather novel experience, though not one she planned on repeating anytime soon.

She kept close to the younger members of their group (why were there so many of them? She was going to have a word with End of an Era about allowing so many underage Phonies on this expedition) and as the interrogations began, stepped forward protectively.

She didn't know what a Distro was nor did she care.

"Shouldn't you be ashamed of yourself? We are searching for lost friends, half our group are children. There's nothing remotely suspicious about us. This is terribly inappropriate. What sort of enemies would you even expect us to be?"

Her legs crossed over her chest, many eyes narrowing.

"What is the imminent threat of which you speak? We deserve to know."

And should she be worried about their group journeying any further.   

C: Try to change the subject. (Deflect)

Lemma had to admit that she'd spent far more time than intended pondering who the Foes could be, but thankfully the instructions were pretty straightforward, and the foes didn't...well, they didn't look too threatening.

That said, while the Tolls had mentioned snakes, they hadn't said anything about...Distro? Lemma squinted. Okay, they were a lot bigger compared to Lemma than they were compared to, say, one of the Old Enough Phonies here. Still, she supposed it wouldn't hurt to tell the truth. Hopefully 'Distro plans' didn't mean 'basic knowledge anyone who wasn't a snake had'.

"I got nothing," she said. She kind of wanted to know, though.

[A: tell the truth]

"Oh, yeah, they've been talking about that," Diamond nodded, "Phony's Diner just isn't doing as well as it used to ever since the Birthday Crew had to be shut down after the, uh, incident, so they've been thinking that maybe redoing the whole place to be more Champs-Élysées and less Rhode Island might go over better with the Millenial and Gen Z crowd.

"I dunno, I still think there's something to be said about a hotdog and soda after a baseball game. Screaming kids. Cheese sticks. Anyway, they're still thinking about it. Maybe they'll just open one on the next street instead."

(Does it count as lying if she thought Distro was bistro? If so, B. Lie, if not, C. Deflect XD;; )

Paper Tiger's little brain did not recall these aggressive little men making veiled threats and some part of her felt deeply betrayed by the fact that they split them up (as much as they could...split them up in the miniature landscape) because how could she now guilt trip adults into sacrificing themselves for her? She could no longer blame them if she was injured by little angry solder shenanigans because it wouldn't be their fault.

So she started on big fat cat tears.

"You're threatening me," she blubbered, "and separating the babbies from the adults! That's against Phony rights! We have them, you know! You're war criminals!"

Then she blubbered a little harder because she figured it wouldn't hurt.

D. I think she's pretty distracting tbh

Torte was a lawyer! She did the interrogations (well, cross-examinations) here! "Hey! We're peaceful folk here. This is unlawful detainment. I'm a lawyer you know, and I specialize in lawsuits. If you don't wanna deal with a hefty suit, you better let us all go quick." Despite their tiny size, there was kind of a lot of them. And a lot of kids in the mix with them. But also...

"And, if you do ever need help fighting your enemies, I can give you my card!"


D. Lawyer up

Sworn-Sword had to resist the urge to practice her kaiju act as they were escorted through the tiny encampment. Ooh, that'd be such a fun cosplay! She was thinking about how much eva foam she'd need for such a thing when one of the younger phonies started crying. Paper Tiger's acting was far better than hers and so she stepped forward to defend her, fully believing the little filly.

"Yeah, guys, this isn't cool. Where's your honor? Seriously, interrogating children like some villain..." She frowned, "We don't know anything about whatever it is you're talking about, at least I've never heard of it, so let us go back to the adults!"

A. The Truth

"The wh-?" 

Nightvine's mouth went a little slack trying to contain this all.  He watched all of them, wondering who even put them all in here.  Did someone make all these guys like the Toll Dolls?

"Is that like... Dis... Distribution?  Distro?  Like Info is for Information?"  Nightvine scratched at the base of his horn trying to find some kind of association with the words.  "Do you mean like you're all toys waiting to be deployed? Were you sent here without orders?  I'm so lost..."

A: Answer that you know nothing about Distro. (Truth)

Weatherly had stuck close to Itsy Bitsy, who he had yet to speak to but felt comfortable beside the strange Phony nevertheless. It was clear she cared what happened to the children, and while Weatherly was used to taking care of himself (while also regretting every mistake that led him to where he was), Weatherly also found himself drawn to the radiating spider-Phony. Being around those who cared was a new thing for Weatherly, and he was interested in embracing it.

That, and honestly he was starting to get more and more uncomfortable as the darkness swallowed them further in.

The soldiers came and Weatherly let out a high-pitched whine of alarm, nervously clasping his hooves over his mouth. The group unfolded into action, with Itsy Bitsy leading the charge. Something about 'the children', which Weatherly recognized included him. Several others admitted their confusion and lack of answers, to which Weatherly nodded. Another child cried and Weatherly felt his heart tugged at, stepping closer to Paper Tiger and now Sworn-Sword.

"We don't know anything," he answered, closing the distance between him and the other children. "The Tolls sent us down here, that's all. You shouldn't be so rough with us."

Bold words for someone currently trying to level their breath, which had hitched into an anxious and irregular pattern.

"Are you okay?" He asked Paper Tiger, concern riddled on his face.

A. Answer that you know nothing about Distro.

Mentions: @Ruriska @Blinded By Silence @Maxx

Before the interrogations can go any further, the questioning is interrupted by commotion. A klaxon goes off, and a voice shouts over a PA system. "Incoming ASP attack! It's Distro, The Duchess, and ASP Administrator! They're coming in hot!"

Sergeant Freedom, from his perch on the stepladder, hollers orders to the soldiers in the courtyard. "There's civilians onsite! Get out in front of them! Go Faux!" The soldiers questioning you and guarding you all run to their formations.

Because you're much taller than the 12-inch active action figures, you can see over the walls. You've never seen anything like it. There's a cloud of something that looks like a snake being shepherded by more of the small soldiers. Unlike the ones at the camp, they aren't wearing camouflage uniforms. Their outfits appear to have been made from scavenged bits of waste. On either side of the snake and following it as a rear guard are remote control cars, driven by more of the enemy forces.

The Faux line the top of the wall and get out in front of the fort. They have single piece plastic weapons with them in various colors, as well as actually functional spring-loaded missile launchers. They also have catapults they've loaded with heavy chunks of metal waste bits, and perhaps the most functional thing of all, several of them have built flamethrowers. The small soldiers are resourceful.

The battle is pitched and intense, but brief. The Faux have the upper hand, focusing on disrupting the cloud snake and pushing it out of formation. A couple of enemy soldiers are captured, but the three on cars– Distro, the Duchess, and ASP Administrator–  get away, shaking their fists and yelling about revenge.

As the Faux bring their injured back into camp to snap hands and feet back into place, Sergeant Freedom waves the phonies together. "That's why we had to ask you about Distro's plans, citizens. The RC cars- those are new. Dunno where they found them. That could be a problem later on, but now we know, and knowing is half the battle.

When we found ourselves down here and built this place, the only enemy was our own thoughts. A lot of us weren't ok with being what we are. We were never meant to be anything other than nanite-powered plastic toys, and when you think about the implications of that– well, it's enough to drive you mad. And I guess that whoever built us realized that, because we were all left down here with the aircraft carrier. At least they let us keep that.

So we built a base, because we're soldiers. We didn't know what else to do. We waited for the war to come to us, and eventually... it did. ASP. The Assorted Small Particles. That's what we had to fight. That cloud of nanites started attacking. Tiny robots gone rogue. Our weapons were useless, so we started building things we could throw at it, disrupt it. We don't know what they want, we don't know what they can do, but when any of us were swarmed by them, we... changed. We couldn't control our movements any more, and everything seemed random. So we built up the fort, started drilling to work on repelling them, and that's when some of us got a dangerous idea.

Some of us thought that the enemy could be controlled, and could be taken up top to get revenge on those who left us down here. And that's– even if they deserve it, we can't let them hurt innocent civilians. There's lots of those up top. We fought about it, and eventually, some of them left. Now, we're what stands between them and the surface world. The upshot is that they're so single-minded about revenge, they're more interested in destroying us than actually trying to find another way out.

It's clear that you're not spies for Distro, and he's not trying to ride you into battle or anything. So why are you down here?

Ender answers. "We're looking for the missing group that came through here years ago. This little one was part of the original group and she got out somehow, and we're trying to find the rest of them because we miss them and love them."

Sergeant Freedom nods. "A rescue mission. We Faux know all about those. We haven't seen them in years, but there's a chance they're still down here. Years ago, when the first group of Phonies came down here, it was apparent that they accidentally found their way in. We're not sure if that's the only way out or not– our trackers have never reported anything else– but if they're still down here and you find them, somehow, look for one of our scouting outposts. We'll send word that you're to be escorted back up to Toll territory, and we'll help you get to the surface. I'll also give you this map. It's not a complete map of everything down here– we're still trying to find the edges– but it'll get you safe passage away from ASP territory. Good luck finding your friends, civilians!"

The gate opens and you're able to leave. The group skirts around ASP territory, and soon find themselves even deeper into the landfill. The plastic down here has changed– lots of big chunks in haphazard piles, some of which have clearly collapsed under their own weight. The vibration of the group's footsteps has managed to dislodge some of it, causing tiny avalanches... that snowball into a much bigger avalanche! The path behind you is now blocked, and there doesn't seem to be any way ahead that isn't blocked by a plastic mountain!

What do you do?
A: Try to climb one of the plastic mountains to see if you can see a way forward.
B: Scout around the area for another way through.
C: Dig in the plastic debris- maybe there's a tunnel that's only sort of blocked?
D: Look around the area for something that can help. Maybe one of the G.I. Faux dropped a shovel down here.

@Nym @Syrcaid @Blinded By Silence @Maxx @Jun @purpleroses @FrostyPeaches @thy @Ruriska

Nightvine looked at the mountains of... plastic junk.  "Everything is blocked, I think we should just build with all this material lying around.  I'm getting tired and if I fall asleep I won't be getting up again for twelve hours!"

Nightvine started sifting through the debris, but not before putting one of his handkerchiefs from his pack over his nose.  Who knows what sorts of horribleness they were breathing in while being here!

D: Look around the area for something that can help. Maybe one of the G.I. Faux dropped a shovel down here.

Torte Bar didn't enjoy how chilling the GIs explanation was. Rogue nanites? That was terrifying! All the more reason she, and the rest of the party, needed to locate the missing phonies as soon as possible. Who knew what had happened to them in all this time... With them all seemingly blocked in as well, Torte decided to make use of her athleticism. She climbed to the top of the nearest mountain of plastic, wings beating in case it collapsed, and looked for a way through with an improved vantage point.


A. Climb!

For a home-loving spider, this was all rather overwhelming. Now that they had declared them to be innocent civilians and defended them from the dangerous Distro, the soldier's seemed more than happy to send them on their way.

Itsy Bitsy wasn't really sure what to think. She'd been angry a moment ago and then concerned and now she was just wishing for a new cup of tea and her favourite armchair. This was all too much.

But there was no going back (the sudden avalanche had made that a physical impossibility) and there were children to look after. As much as she wanted to skitter away into the shadows, she did not have that luxury.

"Every be careful," she called to the group, concerned by Torte Bar climbing straight up without a second thought. "There might be more avalanches. The plastic is unstable and you don't want to get trapped beneath it."

Careful not to disturb anything, Itsy Bitsy started scouting the area, poking her head into shadows and carefully navigating around the piles of junk.

B: Scout around the area for another way through. 

Diamond watched Torte Bar scale the plastic mountain in slight awe, and decided that was a good use of wings. She scampered (halfway, and then huffed-and-puffed a quarter way, and then decided she should just fly the rest of way) up a plastic mound, and, beating her wings as hard as she could, tried to squint as far into the distance as possible.

A: Try to climb one of the plastic mountains to see if you can see a way forward.

Paper Tiger's eyes had dried by the time the whole miniature battle had played out and concluded, because she was valiantly trying to remember this aaand...her little brain had nothing. Perhaps it was breathable nanites that had influenced her selective recollection. If she went to Phony admin after this unpleasant adventure, would she get fully wiped anew? Did they already wipe her little brain? It was hard to say. Nanites, man.

Thankfully as a babby she was easily distracted, and by the time of their next dilemma, Paper Tiger was starting to get jumpy with the high count of being-trapped-in-plastic scenarios, perhaps from some latent trauma that she had frantically tucked away (or had gotten erased?!), like the piles of plastic buried under more piles of plastic.

She had no interest in physical labour. She picked her way through the landscape, peering around for a better route.

B: Scout around the area for another way through.

Lemma watched the battle play out with bug eyes. What was that thing? If it could mind control Faux...could it do the same to Phonies?

She tried not to dwell on it, though. And look - they were being given a map, and advice now! They could definitely steer clear of those particles, too.

And they did. Everything was fine, for a while - if they all ignored the stench of this dump, anyway. Still, it was encouraging to know where that other group of Phonies had been headed, and where the other Faux outposts might have been. Plus the group at least had an idea of what Distro was now, so they could have a better conversation with the next outpost they saw: they were going to have to consult more than one, right?

Lemma was absorbed in thought as they walked. She still noticed the earthquakes moving through the mountains of trash, though. This dump really wasn't made for Phony travel, huh?

She winced at the sight of the now blocked path behind them. That was not encouraging at all. It was still less encouraging that someone had started digging - what if something big was dislodged and it all got worse? Not that Lemma could imagine it being much worse. She wasn't really sure about climbing, either: maybe it made sense for that pegasus, who could fly if something horrible happened, but if that trash wasn't stable, it'd hurt everyone still down here...

Lemma glanced at the map Ender was holding before taking action.

Lemma was small, and she could sneak if she wanted! Maybe. She joined Itsy-Bitsy in her scouting, creeping forward slowly and cautiously to avoid jostling trash or causing more tremors. If she headed in a different direction they could cover more ground, right? She picked a direction that might take them to another outpost, to hopefully get better advice...but she'd take any way out, at this point. They were here for a rescue, not to make another one necessary.

B: Scout around the area for another way through.

Ess found herself watching the battle excitedly. The fighting itself was neat, but the makeshift weapons the G.I. Foes were using were so cool! She made a mental note to try and replicate what she'd seen once they got out of this place.

Her excitement faded fast as Sergent explained the situation to them. She frowned, "This feels like the buildup to a mid-season finale, for sure..."

But soon they were on their way, with a map and a heading. Not too bad. But unfortunately, that didn't last long. They were trapped! The little filly decided to climb up some of the debirs to see if she could find a way out.

A: Climb!

Weatherly decided to scout ahead — he wasn't a good climber nor an efficient digger, but he could at least use his legs!

Option B
(( Sorry for short! On phone and didn't want to miss this round, but I have no clue when my computer will be fixed. ))

As Nightvine pushes through the trash, he dislodges a small pile. He finds... a leg? It kind of looks like a leg. Investigating further, he finds another one. Gradually, the others realize what's up, and help dig at the pile. As they dig, something starts talking to them! Or at least it sounds like that. Whatever they are, they're buried under the plastic.

Eventually, they dig out... a robot! Sort of. He's kind of mangled-looking, like he was in a car wreck. Or, as the case may be, was a car wreck. He's fairly recognizable as a transforming robot, one of many, many knockoffs. It's not surprising, really, that there'd be something like this down in Phonyland's landfill.

"Help... me..." he says, groaning. "I can't... transform on my own. Help me back into my vehicle mode and I can push the plastic out of the way."

This robot needs help! What will you do?

Push on the arms
Pull on the legs
Wiggle the head
Bang on the back

This round is going to work differently than the rounds before. You have to cooperate to get this robot back into his vehicle mode! To do this, each of the four categories needs at least 10 points. To get these points, you might have to post more than once. Here's how this will work.

Each time you post, you will say what you're going to be working on: arms, legs, head, or back, and you will roll 1d6. The number you roll is the amount of points put into the category.
If you're the first person in the category, once somebody else has posted for your category, you can post again. So for example:
Phony 1 tries to fix the arms.
Phony 2 tries to fix the arms.
Phony 1 can try to fix the arms again, OR can try to fix something else.

If you're not the first person in your category, somebody else has to post after you- not necessarily in your category. So for example:
Phony 1 tries to fix the arms.
Phony 2 tries to fix the arms.
Phony 3 tries to fix the legs.
Phony 2 can go at any point after 3, or if 1 goes again.
Basically: you can't double post, and if you're the first person in a category you can't go again until somebody else has posted in the category.

@Nym @Syrcaid @Maxx @Jun @Blinded By Silence @purpleroses @thy @FrostyPeaches @Ruriska 

(NOTE: This angry dice roller will get really mad if you edit your roll post! So feel free to roll in a separate post if that makes you anxious. - M)

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 1, total 1[/blockquote]

Paper Tiger squinted at the robot, trying to piece out what would be the best way to kick a car back into operation, puzzling with her little brain.


Whether because of her past experience or mass media, she had the impression of someone booting a car's booty to get it putting again. Of course, it was also accompanied by the person yelling "stupid car!"

So that's what she did. She booted his booty and yelled "stupid car!"

"I don't know what came over me," she said after an ineffectual kick (technically to his back, 1 measly point), "it must be the trauma."

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]

"I've got their head," Nightvine said.  "I don't know what else to do but to try and make sure it stays on without tools."

He readjusted the handkerchief over his nose and wiggled the robot's head into place.  "Why were all these toys even made to be so smart and then tossed over?  It's like that Island of Misfit Toys, only these are bent on destruction!"

(Nightvine wiggles the head for 6.)

Well digging seem to have paid off...? Bullseye looked in disbelief at what they found. Removing the junk a few more times, she could see that it was not a soldier or a pony but it was some rejected very badly beat up transforming thingy. What was the point of even rescueing this scrap? She thought.  We have better things to do like save the others!

But seeing how willing to help the others are, she tried to tug for the legs kinda hoping for them to break off >.>

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 3, total 3[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 2, total 2[/blockquote]

Was that a robot? Mech was going to be so jealous when he heard all about this.

Still, it needed help, so Lemma tried to get herself in a position to do so. There were a lot of Phonies here...but no one else seemed to be pushing at those arms right now, so she figured she might as well get started.

Arms: 2/10
Legs: 3/10
Head: 6/10
Back: 1/10

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 1, total 1[/blockquote]

Diamond felt some kind of sympathy for the cat babby. She, too, had witnessed people booting boots while shouting, "Stupid car!"

She fluttered over to also boot the back, but without the 'stupid car.'

...She was just as ineffectual, so maybe she should have shouted 'stupid car.'

Back: 1 pt u_u

Edit since I'm pagetop (thanks thy):
Arms: 2/10
Legs: 9/10
Head: 10/10
Back: 10/10
as of this post (https://mylittlephony.citycyb.org/forum/index.php?topic=357.msg3131#msg3131)

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 4, total 4[/blockquote]

A robot...? This adventure was getting more and more surreal.

Weatherly decided any robot needed a functioning head, first! So he began poking at the head to the best of his ability, which, surprisingly, wasn't the worst. He had never exactly even touched a robot before, but hey!

4 points to the head!

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 3, total 3[/blockquote]

"Come on, you stupid car," Paper Tiger said again for Diamond's missed opportunity, before shoving the back and then clapping a hoof over her mouth.

"I meant like, your wonky body," she explained, as if it made it any better, "not you, because you're a robot."

Back: 5/10 lol

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 1, total 1[/blockquote]

Picture two babbies taking turns to boot the back of this poor robot while screaming invectives under the mistaken impression it will improve their kicks and not hurt the robot's feelings, but one of them is doing it especially badly.

1pt to back

Back: 6/10 total

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 2, total 2[/blockquote]

Certainly, the babbies were tenacious and also pint-sized bullies. But hey, they were trying!

Back: 8/10 total

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]

"Your mother was a transistor radio!!" she screamed. She didn't know what that meant, but it felt good - and it worked!

6 to back

Back: 14/10 total...

Weatherly was feeling this endeavor, apparently. He pulled on the legs, even if it felt a little too rough.

6 points to legs!

What an insult Diamond produced! Paper Tiger didn't know what it meant either, but it seemed effective. She clapped with great cheer that they put the robot's back out.

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]

Ess heard the commotion and turned from her perch on top of the trash heap. Turning, she saw the herd of phonies pushing and pulling and kicking? A robot? Wait, WHOA.

"Yo," She called out excitedly as she slid down to join the group, "Is that a Roids?! Or maybe... a Gundumb? So cool!" Her eyes sparkled.

Man, this was just like that one episode... How did those kids help the robot transform, again? She decided to fumble with its arms, seemed like a good place to start.

Arms: 6 Points!

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]

Itsy Bitsy was coming to terms with the fact that this journey was just going to continue to get stranger and so being surprised by anything really wasn't worth the energy. Instead she watched curiously as the others jumped to it, grabbing pieces, prodding and pulling.

She watched over each foal, making sure something untoward happened and when it seemed as though the work was nearly done, she stepped in as well, many limbs working in unison to finish putting the arms into place.

"There we are, you're nearly all better," she cooed to the robot with gentle reassurance.

Arms: 6 points!

[blockquote]Rolled 1d6 : 6, total 6[/blockquote]

legg

Torte Bar was very proud of their little party with how quickly everyone had worked together to dispatch the robot. She saw that all that had been left was the legs, and she used her great pegasus strength to pull on the legs, as hard as she could!

Lemma had done barely anything to the robot, sadly. She couldn't quite tell how it was supposed to fold up, and had nothing better to do than watch as everyone else made quick work of folding it all up. It seemed like only seconds before it was nearly ready to roll out...and then another babby came to take Lemma's place with the arms, and then the spider lady, and then all that was left was the leg just barely out of place...oh!

Well. Their party made for a great team. "Great job, everyone!"

"Ah!" the robot says as he's shoved back into his bulldozer form. "That's so much better. Thank you! Give me just a second and I'll get the path cleared." True to his word, he gets the plastic shoved into piles pretty efficiently. "I have to thank you- I got trapped down here, and the rest of the crew won't be back until after the weekend. It would have been very annoying to be caught under there much longer. But you guys- you're all topsiders. You shouldn't be down here– it's not safe. Between the decaying plastic making things physically unsafe and the rest of the weird stuff that's down here- well, that's why the crew and I were hired on. Somebody wants this stuff cleaned up. But it's never ending! And-" the bulldozer stops, seemingly aware of how deep into the mountains you all are. "Some of you seem to have awfully little legs. If you kids want to hop on, you're welcome to ride for a bit."

"So like I was saying, we're doing cleanup on this level. Shoving the plastic around, looking for useful stuff, and trying to make sense of the mess down here. It's me and a bunch of other transmorphers. There's our camp now!" The bulldozer honks his horn and jolts forward.

"Pusher!" shouts one of the bots. "We were wondering where you were!"

"Got caught under a plastic avalanche, no thanks to you, Shove Off!"

There's lots of good-natured ribbing and friendly hellos as the cleanup bots welcome you into camp. They're genuinely friendly, but– as the group soon discovers– not entirely helpful. It's not that they're trying to obfuscate, it's that they just haven't seen the missing phonies.

"Have you seen any others like us?" Ender asks, but they all shake their heads or wiggle their wheels depending on whether or not they're a vehicle or a humanoid robot.

"Can't say that I have, but we haven't been here very long. Only a few months."

"Did you come in from the top? How'd you get in?"

"Get in? We cut a door down in the foothills, past the big lake of slurry. If you keep going down and west, you can't miss it."

So that's your way out. But where are the missing phonies? After some deliberation, the bots point out that there's several lower levels that could easily house them, and on their way here, they did meet some other mountain residents.

"But be careful," your bulldozer friend admonishes. "There's some things down there we didn't really understand... and there's definitely some traps. If the people who hired us are serious about cleaning this place up, they're going to need more than just a crew of construction bots. We got attacked a couple of times on our way up here by things in the darkness. Before you go, I want to give you something. It's an emergency radio, and if you get trapped somewhere, you can radio for help. We'll try to come get you."

Armed with the radio, the group proceeds deeper into the mountain. At least there's something of a safety backup now. The bots show them how to get down to the next level, and where the path to the door is. There's no signs it's been used since the bots came in, no tracks or anything. No, you know deep down that the lost phonies are still in the mountain.

The group proceeds with great caution, constantly checking for traps. It's quiet... almost too quiet. Then, from seemingly nowhere, there's the clack of something against plastic. Quietly, a single marble rolls down a pile of plastic. It rolls to a stop, and for a moment, everything is still...

And then the ground erupts in a flurry of teeth. It's a feeding frenzy! There's something alive in the plastic!

What do you do?

A: Hide!
B: Run!
C: Climb a nearby plastic pile!
D: Panic!


@Ruriska  @Maxx  @Jun  @thy  @FrostyPeaches  @Nym @Syrcaid @purpleroses  @Blinded By Silence

"Whoah!" Diamond shouted, but what she really meant was AAAAHHHH!!!

She scrambled up the nearest pile, threw her wings open midway, and didn't stop flying.

Her mama (and papa but mama sounded catchier) gave her these wings, she wasn't gonna waste them and get eaten by whatever the hell was going on!

But, uh...she probably can't fly very long.

C: Climb a nearby plastic pile!

Paper Tiger had no hesitation in making her metaphysical decision - this was it! The opportunity for the adults to sacrifice themselves for her!

"I'm just a baby, Itsy-Bitsy," she bawled, D. panicking, "Bullseye, I'm too young to die!"

They were Old Enough to die by rows and rows of plastic teeth.

( @Ruriska @FrostyPeaches I'm sorry this girl is Not Good )

"Holy sssssmokes!" Nightvine stammered out, before he even realized what was happening his body was already making a mad scramble to get out of its way.  "What's it eating!??"

(C: Climb a nearby plastic pile!)

C: Climb a nearby plastic pile!

She may have slacked off on building the shabby robotcar together with the rest of the team (thx but no thx to unfortunate long workhours) but at least it was put back together and working again!  Kind of relieved, she saw that a whole group of hired robotcars were sent down to clean this mess.. and they are uh... quite...strong and handy? like look at the one they fixed up offer rides to the small babbins while the older ones can walk behind it to tag along she noted to herself.

But Bullseye was not ready to let her guard down just yet even if the robotcars gave them information that they can get THROUGH a cut door to go to the outside world. maybe i could get out IF I ACTUALLY MANAGE TO SAVE AT LEAST ONE OF THE LOST PONIES SOMEWHERE HIDDEN IN THIS MASSIVE CAVE,  she thought. it'd be better if they could at least make some noise or shine some light or make a fire to tell others were they actually are....

Her focus shifted elsewhere as she felt the earth shake beneath her hooves. "whatthef-------udge...." in front of her were rows of sharp teeth and it's eating the earth up like soft cake... "HELLO HELP US! MANY SHARP TEETH!!!!!" she screamed through the radio! The slender BnG was already running as she screamed incoherent words at the radio hoping the dang bots would show up on time to fight it. Instinctively, she climbed up the nearest pile of plastic junk, but heard a tiny voice call out to her. "OH MY STARS" she screamed at the radio as she turned to see who it was, "THE BABS ARE GOING TO DIEEEE!"  With deer in headlights eyes, she held out a long shaky leg at Paper Tiger. "COME ON GRAB MY LEG COME UP HERE!!!" she screamed, @Maxx , her nanites heart beating against her throat. nononono i can't let the poor bab die. "HURRYYY GRAB MY HAIR IF YOU HAVE TO!!" she screamed loudly over the sound of crumbling earth and razorsharp teeth shooting up through the junkyard. mygodwhatamess!

Weatherly was just a foal -- just a wee lonely foal who was now going to die by teeth.

So many teeth.

He fled onto a plastic pile, swallowing a scream in favor of panicked heaving. "I didn't even make a friend yet!"

C: Climb a nearby plastic pile!

Oh no! Scary teeth grew from the plastic below them, and Torte watched as everyone else tried to find higher ground, or panicked. How awful. There were way too many children here, so Torte began to run, hoping to distract the teeth from all the children. She could at least fly away if it go too close to her, a skill not all the children possessed.

"Try and get me, teeth!"

B: Run!

The transmorpher's had been ever so kind, even with no useful knowledge about lost Phonies. Itsy Bitsy was already planning on sending them a thank you fruit basket once she returned to the outside world (if she ever did). Did car robots even eat fruit? Regardless, they would surely appreciate the gesture.

The descent continued and with it came hushed voices and wary glances. The dramatic silence that made her eyes widen to seek shadows in the dark, waiting for the tension to break.

And break it did.

The world erupted into a frenzy and Itsy Bitsy's first concern was for the children. She turned, panicking, many limbs wide, showing teeth. "Run, little ones!" She called, trying to usher the slower ones to the safety of the plastic piles. She skittered, never quite committing to a run, instead trying to push little rumps to somewhere safe.

D: Panic!

(kinda @ for any of the kids who wanna interact!)

Oh no - those certainly were teeth in the trash. That was bad!

The group splintered off as the new danger made fools of them all. Out of the corner of her eye, Lemma could see phonies running every which way, and hear, well, a lot of sound. What was a filly to do? Well, she couldn't climb, and she had to think quick - so she might as well run in the opposite direction of those teeth. There were probably more where they came from, right?

"I'm running!!" Paper Tiger wailed in positive response to Itsy Bitsy, before throwing herself dramatically on the ends of Bullseye's long locks because she had to*.

(*She did not have to.)

Sworn-Sword had reveled in her ride on the back of the transmorpher - Wow, how had she gotten that wrong? He was so obviously from season four, now that he was in his vehicle form! Either way, the ride had been just so cool that she had almost forgotten the dangers of the adventure. The fun was short-lived, however. It seemed the group did not know anything about the missing Phonies. They did give them a sweet radio, though! It felt good knowing they had backup if they needed it.

It didn't take long for the calm to erupt into chaos as hungry mouths tore through the plastic around them. Everyone scrambled, panicked, and Ess heard Itsy-Bitsy lead the children away. She ran too, following the herd of little ones hoping to help Itsy protect them.

B: Run!

Again, this sudden terrifying moment reminded the pastel earth pony of another movie she had watched a long time ago but, not wanting to jump to any conclusions, she hoped that whatever it was will get full from consuming all this leftover junk. Sshe herself would most likely turn hangry too without food.

But the problem got a bit complicated as Bullseye felt a sudden heavy pull on her hairs. She smiled knowing that the bab didn't die yet and wanted to live on and was crying tears from the painful pulling of her beautiful hairs. "Hold on tight!" she shouted at Paper Tiger as she climbed higher up the pile of plastic trash toward the utmost highest point. Pulling on her own hair to lift the bab up higher with her, she needed to check the current surroundings, and - if it is safe enough- she could yeet the bab toward safety away from these sharp rows of teeth... the door is just further up ahead into the darkness right? ?


"I'll do what it takes to keep you alive! Trust me," even if she can't save both of them in the end, at least she can try to keep Paper Tiger alive...even if it literally meant to die trying XD

Much to the chagrin of the phony crew, brightly-colored beasts emerge from the plastic, swallowing everything that they can. It's a close call for some of the phonies, but out of nowhere, long arms rescue them just in the nick of time. "Look out!" someone shouts. "They'll swallow you whole!" It's a swift, rough rescue from the hungry, hungry hippos, and before the gang knows it, they've been swept to safety by the longest arms imaginable. It's more humanoids! Their bodies are relatively normally proportioned, but their arms and legs are wildly elastic. The small group is dressed as commandos, with bandanas holding back their... molded hair (clearly just for looks) and armor made out of discarded junk. The leader, who's got Ender under one arm and Itsy Bitsy under the other, gently places the phonies down. They're on top of a mountain of plastic, the hippos crunching away below. She rolls her eyes and scoffs. "Hippos. Another brilliant idea for getting rid of the plastic. Somebody upstairs got wind of this old plan for controlling water hyacinth by introducing hippos wherever the plant was invasive. What they didn't pay attention to was the fact that this never went through because it's a stupid, stupid plan. They put those things down here ages ago, and yeah, they do eat the plastic. Of course, they eat everything else, too. If the topsiders ever plan on using this place, they've just made more trouble for themselves by bringing in the hippos. Serves them right, too. They made this mess, and they've got no interest in cleaning it up properly. But I'm guessing you're not down here for the plastic." She shrugs, readjusting her arms. "The name's Catch Strongarm. These are my siblings, Sketch and Fetch, and- you guys are phonies, right?"

End of an Era nods, taken aback by the sudden rescue from danger.

"Thought so. We wondered why you hadn't sent in a rescue party yet, but figured maybe you... hadn't been allowed to, what with everything that's down here. You lost some friends a while back, yeah? The same monster that has our dad locked up has your pals caged, too. We've been trying to get them all free for years now, but with just the three of us... it hasn't gone so well. We got the Faux to help once, but even their firepower couldn't help get us over the river, and they've got that rogue nanite stream to control. Come back to our place, we'll get you something to eat and explain what our plan is."

This is exciting. This, finally, is good news. It seems like the Strongarms know what's going on, and they've got some idea to do something about it. It's not a long walk back to their home: an upended shipping container half-buried in the plastic. It's strong enough so that the hippos can't get in, and the Strongarms have several delightful varieties of mushrooms to eat. Of course, it's only mushrooms, but any port in a storm.

"As you've probably seen, this is a lot more than just a garbage dump. You throw enough nanites and nanite-driven prototypes away, you get a whole ecosystem. And not all of that ecosystem's friendly. There's a big ol' monster down at the bottom of this hellhole, and that's where your friends are, as well as our dad and a few other prisoners. We don't really know what they're doing with them or why they're keeping them, but we've done some scouting and we think we know how to get them free. The problem is, there's too many traps and goons between us and them. We've tried rescue attempts before, but it's never worked.

Our last attempt... really didn't go so good, although it looks like one of you got away." Catch ruffles Paper Tiger's mane gently. "You got swept up in the river, and we were all afraid you were lost. Glad you made it out in one piece. It's real brave of you to come back down here." She turns back to the group, counting heads and noticing wings.

"But now that you're here... well, it might turn the tide. We have a plan to get everybody out, your guys included. We'll split into three groups. One group will lead an attack and act as a distraction, while the others do the bulk of the rescuing. The biggest problem will be the river. It's a toxic mess of acidic garbage juice and molten plastic, and it's really hot. We've tried to bridge it in the past but..."
Catch lifts her arm, and you can see a long scar down it. "I had to silicone it back together, and the gel inside is still a little underfilled to this day. It melts polymers, the river. That's why we scavenge down here, hoping to find enough metal to put a bridge together. We've tried to break off pieces of scaffolding, but we don't have the manpower to carry it. But now you're here, and we can hopefully get the scaffolding over the river. The distraction team will keep the goons busy, the bridge team will hold the bridge in place, and the rescue team will help get our dad and your friends and the rest of the captives out of the jail. It's risky, and it'll take some work to get down there, but I know we can do it. If one of you has a better plan, or a better idea, feel free to let us know– we just want our dad back."

It's then you realize how young these sculpted faces look. Catch is the oldest and she can't be rated for more than ages 12 and up. Sketch and Fetch look even younger.

"So if that sounds good to you, what role do you want to take? I'm going to lead the bridge team- that's the most dangerous and requires the most strength. The rescue team will need the most speed, and Fetch is leading it, and then the distraction team needs the most daring. Sketch has that one. What'll it be?"

Which team will you join?
A. Distraction Team
B. Bridge Team
C. Rescue Team

@FrostyPeaches @Maxx @Jun @Ruriska @Blinded By Silence @thy @purpleroses @Nym @Syrcaid

As Itsy Bitsy continued trying to save the children, the ground rumbled ominously beneath her hooves and she was certain this was the end of her rather short-lived life. Was this what a poor spider felt like just before it was squashed by a rolled up newspaper? 

But just when it seemed all was lost, she was suddenly in the air, dangling in the long-armed grasp of a strange savior. When her hooves touched the ground again, far away from the... plastic eating hippos? she let out a relieved sigh and did a quick headcount.

Yes, all present. Everyone was fine.

There was a lot of information to process in the coming moments. Itsy Bitsy was beginning to feel as if she'd stepped into a movie or one of her adventure novels. It all felt rather daring when watching or reading but being part of it was another thing entirely.

She was very much missing her quiet little house.

Her spider legs flexed anxiously, the tips tapping together as she thought. As much as she feared taking part in such a dangerous endeavour, there were lives to be saved and the Strongarms seemed so young. They shouldn't have to shoulder this burden alone.

"I will join the bridge team," Itsy Bitsy volunteered. She would much prefer to take on a dangerous part in place of any children, and as for strength, well... her extra limbs would surely come in handy.

B. Bridge Team

Paper Tiger, chewing on some mushrooms, listened as attentively as her little brain would allow her. She didn't remember any of this, it was probably the trauma (or mushrooms, given the Strongarms' familiarity towards her). She nodded like she was expected to, with her mouth full of mushrooms.

"I had to come back," she said bravely and muffedly, "everyone is still here."

(If she had remembered everything, she may not have. Perhaps she would? In any case, here she was.)

"I'll go with the A. distraction team," Paper Tiger decided. The rest sounded too functionally necessary.

"Uhhhhhh, I'm not very strong, and I'm not very daring," Diamond said, looking around at the other Phonies, "so I guess I'll go with the Rescue Team."

The wings had to count for something, right? ...Right?

C. Rescue Team

Torte was determined. They were so close to their goal, close to rescuing the few phonies who remained in here, bringing them back to the surface where their families were. They could bring peace back. And uh. Maybe have nightmares about this place forever! She cracked her horsey knuckles in the way only a little phony could, and spoke up. "I'll join the distraction team. I got enough chutzpah for three phonies!"

She glanced at Paper Tiger with a big grin. Torte wasn't planning on letting any more poor ponies spend another moment unlawfully incarcerated!


A. Distraction Team

A. Distraction Team

Bullseye gave a sigh of relief that they slipped past danger again. She is adventurous but just how many messed up scrapped ideas are living inside this cave? it seems like the entrances can be from the side, the top, through a door, what about from the bottom? when will they be done? will they be stuck in this cave forever?

She gasped when she saw how long their saviours' limbs were...definitely a turn off in her books, but they way they dangled she wondered how the nanites even functioned through it all. Waving her own leg to watch it move, she couldn't compare herself to these.. these... wiggly limbs..

Staring at them as she listened to their plan, her nanites heart did a dive into her belly as she heard that the team needs to split up into smaller teams. They do realise there aren't many of us here? are they making the babbins do work? the old enoughs to permabab ratio is just a liiiiitle off balance...

She herself had no interest in doing laborious work that could ruin her beautiful long hair or scar her legs so joining the bridge team was a big no no. However, she took a while to decide between Distracting and Rescuing. Ears wriggling to one side as she listened to where Paper Tiger was headed off to, Bullseye had witnessed that this bab will just stop functioning when danger is thrown at her face, and couldn't help but volunteer some of her own time to watch over her. "So, that's that," she said. "Sign me up with Distraction team." Time to make a fool out of myself when the times comes huh? she chuckled at the strange situation she had gotten herself into. I can't believe i'm actually going to protect a little pony. it must be the motherly nanites acting up inside of me....and i don't even have kids!. "I got your back, little one," she called out to the stripey permabab who was busily stuffing her face full of mushrooms...

...and walked over to the surplus of mushrooms herself too, while she waited for the rest of the group to choose teams. She hasn't eaten anything since they arrived at this place, and of course she wanted to take a nibble.. but which ones? Pacing back and forth, she swallowed hard as hunger hits her, "Oooohh they all look really good...what do i do...." Hesitant to eat any of it, not knowing where the wiggly humanoids had acquired these mushrooms, she looked up at the scrapped plastic junk pile just behind Paper Tiger and wondered if those are edible down here...

Nightvine watched, listened, and followed as the others were rescued, brought to their... home?  He looked around saw...

"Mushrooms!  Finally, something I recognize!"  He browsed them like he was greeting old friends and ate them in a certain order as though he was at a fancy restaurant. "This is the life," he sighed.  "Maybe I'll ask Dad if I can start growing edible mushrooms on his garden plot," he mused as he ate.

He listened to Stretch and thought on it, more cheerful than he'd been in a while.

"I think I'll go Bridge Team," he decided.  "It's no good being rescued if there's no safe way back out! I've got magic, I can see in the dark, so I think I can do it."

B. Bridge Team

Rescuers!

Lemma listened intently to the story they spun, wishing she'd brought something along to jot down notes. Still: she didn't have a better idea right now, and working in teams would be the best. She wasn't particularly strong, especially compared to a grown up, and she wasn't sure she could call herself daring, exactly...

She wasn't speedy, either, but at least she was agile. "I'll be rescue team as well," she decided, scurrying over to Fetch.

Weatherly didn't have a generally high opinion of himself, so settling on something that was attuned to his talents was... well, hard, to say the least. Eventually, he settled on the task that he resonated the most with.

Helping others.

"I'll be on the rescue team," he nervously offered, stepping forward. "I'll do my best to not be in the way."

C. Rescue Team

Ess waffled, unsure. Each team was very important and succeeding on any of them would mark her as a hero. But one option was listed as more dangerous and, well, she thought, you can't be brave if you're not in danger, right? But then again, the distraction team required daring, which... She had that didn't she? Hm... She pulled s penny from her saddlebag and flipped it, nodding as she looked at the result.

"I'd like to join the distraction team!" She said boldly.

A: Distraction Team

"Great!" Catch says. "Now that we've got that figured out, it's time for a rest. We need to do this at peak performance. Is anyone thirsty? I forgot to show you- we condense water, so we've got a clean source of that, too. Have some. We'll get a couple hours of shuteye just to refresh, and then we'll head down. There's some traps on the way- the monster  and its minions are pretty fiendish, and they've got their territory staked out but good.

After a nap and refreshments (the mushrooms really were safe!), it's time to go. The Strongarms lead the way down some scaffolding to what appears to be a solid level of plastic with a large passage excavated through it.

"The waste down here is a lot more solid than what's up top. That's part of what makes it so dangerous- it's harder to see the obstacles. The chemical runoff's another problem, but that bridge will burn when we get to it. For now, we have to worry about... well, I'll show you. Watch."

She stretches out a long, long leg and taps the ground. Immediately, there's a whistling noise as a metal dart with a short double-tailed denim streamer comes shrieking down from the ceiling. It sticks in the plastic and wobbles a little bit, the streamers flapping about like laundry on a line. Catch kicks it, knocking it over so that you can see how sharp the ends are.

"Lawn jorts. One of the worst ideas for a toy I've ever seen. They got recalled faster than you can say "class action lawsuit," and well, they ended up down here. When this cavern was excavated, they made it pretty stable, but there's still some stuck in the ceiling. You'll need to walk very carefully through here, but if one comes down, be ready to dodge it. You could also try sprinting, or going really slow- we're talking super deliberate steps. Sprinting will dislodge some, but if you keep going, you probably won't get hit. For those of you with wings, you could try fluttering- that should be ok if you stick low enough to the ground. But go too high and knock one loose and you might get grounded permanently. We'll go one at a time, to minimize the risk. I'll go first. Once I'm across, the rest of you can come through. Be careful. I have a patch kit, but you guys are a lot more... fleshy, somehow, than we are."

What will you do?
A: Walk lightly.
B: Walk slowly.
C: Sprint for your life.
D: Screw this, I've got wings (fly).

@Blinded By Silence @Nym @thy @Syrcaid @Maxx @Jun @Ruriska @FrostyPeaches @purpleroses

Torte almost wanted to laugh at the lawn jorts. She loved darts at the bar... but this was way deadlier! She glanced back at some of the other phonies. They didn't all have wings but... that really wasn't her problem. She was born to fly, and she wasn't going to walk if it was safer this way. Sorry! She'd keep an eye out if someone needed some help sprinting across.

It was a shame that this children's toy was recalled, rather than properly marketed to grown phonies. She desperately wanted to play it. With her drinking buddies. While being piss-drunk. She was well aware that was also a crazy stupid idea, but she lived for the thrill and would be making the conscious decision as a grown woman to be a complete fucking idiot. There'd be a lot less lawsuits that way too.


D. Flying

"Mmm," Itsy Bitsy hummed in concern as Catch kicked over the dart, revealing the sharp end and just how dangerous they could be. Yes, this did not seem like a good children's game at all. She would have been horrified to see kids at play with something that could quite easily take an eye (and more) out.

Torte had flown ahead, swift as a bird. Itsy Bitsy didn't have the luxury of wings but she did have long legs and a soft step. "Be very careful when it's your turn," she warned the others, fretting quietly over the children.

At least if she went now and any were dislodged, it would make it easier for the others to pass.

Then oh so delicately she stepped forward and began her crossing.

A: Walk lightly.

Maybe this is what caused the trauma, a near miss of a lawn jort. Imagine that monstrosity hitting you. Oh, and the pointy bit too.

Now that Paper Tiger had done her fair share of staring in horror, she wondered what her past self did.

She fell upon the floor and started to crawl along, which probably qualified as B. walk slowly.

Diamond looked pityingly at the other babbies. They were too young to die at the hands (?) of jorts.

But so was she. It was every bab for themself.

D: Screw this, she's got wings

A: Walk lightly.

It was at this moment that Bullseye wished she was able to grow wings out of her body like now. then she could at least carry a babbin or two with her as she flew. but nope. reality kept her aware that she is not helpful at all in being an earth pony for this task...

Tying her tail in a knot to not let it drape across the ground and get stuck somewhere and die alone - she also swung her long mane around her neck.

She couldn't wait around much longer and began to walk lightly across the tunnel after letting a few small short legged ones go on ahead of her first. Obviously the best way to reach the end was to run straight ahead like a madhorse in a straight line but she doesn't really want to send the others to their doom. so, she decided to at least tippy toe across, for now. If the sharp jorts do start to pelt down like rain, she will run for safety to save probably herself without looking back.

When it came Lemma's turn, she wasn't quite sure what to do. She was small, after all: a light touch would be easiest for her. But she'd need to be very careful; she was certain she'd panic if she did need to dodge, and that might just bring more terror upon her in the end. Well...slow and steady had always won the race, right?

So she B. walked slowly as she went, hoping she'd made the right decision.

Nightvine felt like any vibration would jostle something loose.  What a mess!  There wasn't much choice if he wanted to make any progress so he lit up his horn to provide a low, blue light.  It glowed lightly in the ultraviolet, making even the smallest flecks of lint and hair light up on his pelt.  He took slow steps without hesitating.

A: Walk lightly.

Weatherly would have likely picked the ability to fly if he could. As he watched the reveal of the lawn jorts he could only wonder why someone thought that was both a necessary and safe toy, but that's probably why it ended up here, huh? He waited his turn, purposefully choosing somewhere in the middle so he had enough time to prepare but not too much to where he'd coward out (where would he go, anyway). Once it landed on him he looked around and then back towards the direction of those who crossed, sighing softly.

"Okay," he murmured to no one, feeling tension riddle his shoulders. He wished he had someone to talk to, the lack of making this journey even more nerve-wracking to the core, but he at least was doing something good. Something that he felt made his worth, at least.

Something that'd help people.

Yeah, that was definitely worth this terrifying experience.

He decided to walk slowly. Ever so slowly. So painfully slow that it almost couldn't be considered moving.

B: Walk slowly.

Ess looked the proverbial minefield ahead of her and took a deep breath. Channeling her inner Daring Do, she imagined that the floor was littered with hidden pressure plates and nodded to herself.

"Think light, think light..." She whispered to herself as she stepped lightly over the ground.

A: Walk Lightly

The jorts field is harrowing and treacherous, but mercifully, nobody had taken the most dangerous option and sprinted. That probably would have dislodged enough jorts to really hurt somebody!

Once everybody's made it across, the Strongarms lead you down, down into the darkness. It seems to have gotten much hotter down here, and you can hear some goopy bubbling. You approach the edges of a molten river of plastic. It moves slowly and it's glowing with how hot it is. The fumes it gives off reek of petrochemicals. It's glowing red-hot, but this plastic could be any color.

"This is where alllll that plastic up top is supposed to end up eventually. They want it pushed into the river like a giant crucible so that it can be reused. Which is great, we love recycling, but... that's not the only thing down here. Somebody long, long ago made a prototype. Possibly the thing all of our toylines descended from. It wasn't just supposed to be a toy, it was supposed to be a friend. The idea was pretty charming– a buddy who would talk to you and learn your language, who could be some level of independently functional. The problem is when you literally make your friends, you don't understand how they might turn into an enemy. The nanites helped that prototype grow much larger than they expected, and much more unpredictable. So they put it down here, hoping that nobody would remind them of their failure. We don't know what drives it, and hopefully we won't see it. But it is very, very dangerous.

It's got your friends. It's got my dad. It's got a bunch of other prototypes helping it out. Look over there," she says, pointing. You can see several guards patrolling the other side of the river, armed to the teeth with dart guns.

"That's V.E.I.L. Very Elite Intelligence League. Another prototype, probably the common ancestor to G.I. Faux and Transmorphers. Their vehicles can transform, but usually they're on foot. See the headgear? It's pretty sophisticated stuff. And those are Surf Guns they're carrying. Water-weighted foam darts that hurt like heck if they hit you. But the goal is to not get hit- just get them paying attention to you from the other side of the river. We've tried this before- we've marked out the safe range where they can't quite shoot you. You just have to get their attention. But we're not ready for that yet– I want to show you something else. Come on, follow me. But stay quiet. Alert their guards down here and I guarantee we'll never see them again."

The group sticks tightly to Catch as she leads them further downstream. You're still far enough away that the guards don't realize you're there, but you do notice that the concentration increases. What you see next is heartbreaking, thrilling, or something in between.

On a small peninsula sticking out into the river of plastic is what appears to be a huge, half-melted playhouse sticking out of the ground. The area is fenced off, and there are some other makeshift shelters... and inhabiting the area, looking certainly worse for wear, are the missing phonies.

The brush and grows have it the worst. They haven't seen a hairdresser in six years, and their manes have gotten out of control. Lady Faire in particular has gone completely feral– her hair is a literal rat's nest, in that you can see what appears to be a rat living in it. Several of the stallions have beards that would make a lumberjack proud, but everybody looks mostly intact. It takes a lot of effort for Ender to not call out to her missing family, but she manages to resist.

"This next part has to go perfectly," Catch warns. "Both halves of the extraction team–  that's you Bridge team and Rescue team– you stay here with me. Sketch will lead the Distraction team back to the point we showed you earlier. Once we're out, Fetch will peel off and head back to the Distraction team and lead you back to the rendezvous point.

Distraction Team
Fetch Strongarm leads the group back to the point downstream from the jail. "We need to interrupt their patrol, but stay back behind this line. It's just out of weapons range– you'll probably get splashed–  but you won't take a slug to the face, and they just fill the Surf Darts with water. The trick is that we need to get their attention and sound like more of a problem than we actually are. We need all the guards to rally to this point so that the bridge team can get across." Fetch picks up a lump of plastic and tosses it in the river. It goes down with a massive SCHLOOORP, but the guards don't even look. "Throwing stuff usually doesn't work. We'll have to be a bit more daring."

What do you do?

A: Start yelling.
B: Knock down a plastic pile to imply some sort of movement across the river.
C: Run to the edge of the river and make yourself visible.
D: Something else (explain what that is in RP!)

Bridge Team
Catch shows you the big pieces of metal. "See what I mean? Too much for just me and the siblings. But if you can help get this assembled, then the rescue team can dart across. We'll pivot it across the river so that they can get over, and then we'll pivot it back when they lead our family and friends to freedom. Now come on, we gotta build this thing fast!


The bridge parts are really heavy pieces of scaffolding that link together with metal ties and chain links. Catch is doing the connecting, as she has opposable digits. It's up to you to move the bridge pieces as best as you can.

What do you do?


A: Lift with your back.
B: Lift with your knees.
C: Push a heavy chunk of metal.
D: Something else (explain what that is in RP!)

Rescue Team
You wait with bated breath for the bridge to be assembled and for the guards to leave. It's a tense situation, as the bridge building is fairly loud– but the distraction team seems to be doing their jobs, and the guards sprint off to deal with them. The prisoners are alerted by this, and it's then that they spot you, a mighty herd coming to free them. They press up to the fencing, pushing at it excitedly. There is a gate, and there's a lock on the gate. It looks pretty big and heavy. The enclosure also has a chain link roof, so flying out isn't an option– you'll have to find another way.

A: Pick the lock.
B: Pull the fencing down.
C: Look for a hole in the fencing to enlarge.
D: Something else (explain what that is in RP!)

@Blinded By Silence @Ruriska @Maxx @Jun @thy @purpleroses @Nym @Syrcaid @FrostyPeaches

When Paper Tiger saw the rest of her entrapped brethen, a strange feeling welled up in her. It could be The trauma, but it also could be anger? Dismay? It was unpleasant and she didn't like it. Perhaps this is why she felt like she needed to return and find them. However, this was not the moment she returned for, but a precursor that held her away from a joyful reunion with the Phonies she once shared probably rats and mushrooms and bits of molten plastic with because there didn't seem to be much to eat here.

She let the rage overtake her little body. It's possible that the short hairs of her fur at the back of her neck stood up much like her mohawk. Her feline tail shot up as well, and she A. started yelling or really started having an exquisite tantrum at the edge of the river.

"HEY LOSERS" she screamed at the top of her permababby lungs, "IT'S ME YOU LITTLE USELESS PLASTIC B-EACHES! YOU LOST ME! YOU COULDN'T EVEN KEEP A BABBY TRAPPED! HAH! LOOK AT ME, I'M FREE!"

About as free as a permababby on a distraction mission under a plastic mountain could be, but freer than they were.

"I'M A SYMBOL OF YOUR FAILURE AT OPPRESSION! AAAAAA"

D. Something else (explain what that is in RP!)

So there they are, somehow coming to a magical conclusion that no phony became selfish to run and cause the jorts to crush them to their doom.

Bullseye tried to retain the never ending surge of information from the moment they had stepped inside the cave. Who are the enemies who are their allies? even with all the info and clues she really hoped that these stretchynoid and morphingcars were really on their side. the view that was in front of her was utterly morbid to look at. she was completely mortified when her eyes nyooomed in on the helpless BnGs with untamed manes! "Oh my stars," she cried out loud. "I can't wait to help them out later to make all their hairs shine beautiful once again.."

Focusing on herself and her small team again, she decided to tie her hair even tighter using her own hair, there is NO WAY she wants to get caught and turn up with gross hair like the captured ones. "Gosh," she stomped around the little shouting bab, " Really? Screaming insults? you think that would help?" she questioned Paper Tiger, and fumbled around the tiny makeshift bag she secretly made earlier from being on top of the plastic trash mountain. "I was going to go all out with do or die and show myself, but now I've changed my mind! Let me help spruce up this show you got going on."

"AHA!" she squealed out loud with delight. "Watch this!" and out she whipped the flashlight they were given by the Trolls or someone? she couldn't remember from who anymore. everything went by so fast in so little time. and out she whipped the tiny radio from earlier. "Hello cars, can you guys hear me?" she asked as she pressed on all the buttons. "I need a favour if you can hear me. Please, make some really loud noises through this thing for as long as you can! Over!"

Bouncing backwards a few steps, the earth pony tested her flashlight as she flickered it on and off. It seems to be intact still and without much hesitation, she shone the light from behind the distraction team - hoping to create some monsterlike shadows for the guards to see. 


Bullseye did not join in on the loud screaming. the little babbin seemed to have that part under control.

Diamond warily fluttered up towards the giant playhouse until the fence stopped her.

(http://yum-yum-ponyworld.weebly.com/uploads/4/1/6/7/4167822/8569018_orig.jpg)
It's Paradise!!

Well, it turned out having wings counted for nothing.

Maybe being a tiny babby would count for something. Maybe that was how the screaming cat bab got out in the first place.

Diamond looked around for a hole to wriggle through and make bigger for people who were not tiny babbies.

C: Look for a hole in the fencing to enlarge.

(Bridge Team! D: Something else (explain what that is in RP!))

Nightvine took a look at the situation and studied the bridge pieces.  He wasn't built like a draft, but he had other advantages on his side.

"What good's a horn if I can't use its magic to help us out a little?" Nightvine said.  "I'll use a combination of my knees and my magic to help move these pieces as best I can!"

They were so close to getting all those poor phonies free... Torte was ready. While Paper Tiger had gone ahead with shouting, Torte Bar set her sights on the large piles of plastic. Swift as she could with her wings, she set about knocking down some piles to try and catch the eye of their enemies. They could chase after junk while the other teams could get the phonies!

Crash! The piles started falling loudly, joining all the other noises.


B: Knock down a plastic pile to imply some sort of movement across the river.

Weatherly stared at the lock with anxiety swallowed in his throat, forcing his trembling legs closer. This was so much! Too much! He was eager to be done with all this -- to save the poor souls who needed them and then retreat back to his sister's lighthouse. Maybe sleep for days, too. But to get there meant he had to get out of here, and what stood between him and somewhere else was a large lock that looked awfully familiar.

No, it wasn't the same one that the crew would place on loot, but it was similar enough. Back in his ship days he remembered distinctly one phony that the crew didn't inherently trust; a stallion who was almost one with the sea but had a terribly itchy hoof that twitched for anything that sparkled. He was a great navigator -- perhaps the best the crew had ever seen, which warranted his worth, but anything valuable had to be locked away nice and good. Weatherly also had the pleasure of being handed a lock when bored; the ship lacked toys and the crew wasn't going to stop by a toy store for the strange foal they carried. Locks, however, were plentiful, and Weatherly had toyed with them enough to learn how to open them.

You did what you had to when bored at sea.

So he hoped that he could work the current lock -- maybe if he treated it like the ones from the ship he could figure out the trick to it? It was better than nothing, and Weatherly was not strong enough to rip up the fence or physically throw himself into peril. No; he wasn't strong, but he was crafty.

Maybe he could do this.

A: Pick the lock.

It was a shame Itsy Bitsy hadn't been born with the web building skills of her spider brethren. She imagined a strong line of silk would have helped make carrying the heavy metal a lot easier. But alas, that was not one of her gifts.

But she had been blessed with extra limbs and she used them to tackle some of the more awkward shaped metal. She also made sure to bend and lift with her knees, following proper worksafe protocol.

As she worked, she listened out for the others and hoped the other teams would be alright. The poor trapped Phonies were so close to freedom. They couldn't fail now.

D: Lift with your knees and arms.

Other than the Strongarm who'd come along with them, it looked like the rescue team was all babbies, so they'd have to get pretty creative if they wanted to do any real damage to this fence. She spent most of the wait time thinking. Digging would take too long, and they didn't have much strength between them...no, she still had no idea what role she'd play when the time came.

They didn't have forever, though. She rushed forward with her team - someone else was already picking the lock, which seemed like the best course of action for a babby - oh, that pegasus had the right idea, didn't she? But it'd be a lot better if she had help, especially if it was directed well. "Hey!" Lemma called, looking over at that poor alicorn on the other side of the fence. "We've almost got you all outta there - but I think it can go faster if we all focus on...this spot!" She picked somewhere lower to the ground, so that everyone could reach it easily with their hooves (and then run through it later). There were so many phonies here, after all: as long as they all focused, they'd be able to make their own weak spot.

D: Be the director B)

Sword-Sworn nodded as the others of the distraction team got to work. She was particularly impressed with Paper Tiger's screeching, man could that little voice carry! It was the trama, she would bet on that. Trama always gave Main Characters some pretty cool abilities. Ess didn't want to interfere, PT had earned their screaming match far more than she had, so she went off to go help knock over some plastic piles.

B: Knock down a plastic pile to imply some sort of movement across the river.

At first, the plan seems to go off without a hitch. The distraction team does their job perfectly, and the bridge team gets the bridge in place. The rescue team, after a few quick hugs, herds the whole group out and over the bridge...

And that's when the ground starts shaking violently. Rhythmic thuds get closer and closer, shaking the bridge loose from its pivot post and into the molten plastic. The guards stop, bracing themselves. Something is coming, something big...

"U-NYE-LOO-LAY-DOO?"

The group stops, staring in awe as the prototype comes into view. Its sharp beak gnashes as its eyes whirl furiously. Its fur is matted and studded with little bits of plastic, its mane bristles with rage as it stares you down.

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/757708843496112261/947535841432072262/Screen_Shot_2022-02-27_at_10.45.15_AM.png)

"It's ok, we're on the other side of the riv-" Catch begins to say... and then it steps right into the molten plastic, seemingly immune to the melting effect on its fur.

(https://c.tenor.com/2orGSGAorCMAAAAd/the-mitchells-vs-the-machines-the-pain-only-makes-me-stronger.gif)

What do you do now?
A: Run
B: RUN
C: RUN!
D: RUN!!!

@Maxx @Jun @Blinded By Silence @Syrcaid @Nym @thy @purpleroses @Ruriska @FrostyPeaches

Sword-Sworn was not one to spook easily. She was the one who laughed in the face of danger, who bore her bravery (maybe not as silently) as the heroes she idolized. But this?

This scared her.

She felt all of her fur stand up on end as the monstrosity rose to its full height. Her mouth tried numerous times to form words, she wanted to move, to help, but she was frozen. It wasn't until the damned thing walked right through the molten river that the ice in her veins began to boil as panic shot through her.

"R-r-run!" She cried, scattering plastic as she turned to bolt.

D: RUN!!!

Paper Tiger turned back from the friends she had returned for, joyously partaking in the loving comradeship that only Phonyland could provide. Their assortment of bright colours almost lit up the gloom of the cave with the glow of friendship. Paper Tiger had learnt despite her fears, size, and absolute cowardice, she would not regret being a loyal and loving Phriend, and would never regret risking her short life to find them again.

Then she turned to see the monster that put jorts to shame.

Ah, so this was the (many times) aforementioned Trauma that wiped all recollection of this plastic wasteland under a hollow mountain. Most definitely. She could almost feel her memories being wiped at this very moment and being replaced with primal terror.

"WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY" she cried, D. RUN(NING)!!!

In that moment, Diamond decided she would never partake in one of these CYOAs expeditions again.

She turned around and chose to E. All of the above D: RUN!!!

"Holy shhhhhh...!!" Nightvine rarely swore, but this was that special reserve kind of time to swear. 

The sort of swear reserved for tea with the royalty. A fine cask of vintage stuff that was saved for a hundred years or so.

His legs were already moving before the rest of him even knew what was going on.

"HOW DID IT GET SO FLUFFYyyyyyyyy...!!??" It was clear there were several parts of his brain and body that hadn't caught up to firing on all cylinders.

D: RUN!!!

[spoiler](https://media.giphy.com/media/A6PcmRqkyMOBy/giphy.gif)[/spoiler]

Torte could feel her heart pounding in fear and excitement. What the hell WAS that?

Despite part of her curiosity getting to her, she wasn't about to actually find out. She bolted, as fast as her little legs and wings would take her. She was not gonna stick around for long!
"Everyone run!!" she shouted.


D: RUN!!!

They did it? All of these old phonies were saved? Didn't that seem a little too easy?

Bullseye checked them out as they reunited with one another and started to get a little too chatty as they walked. Which one looked like Paper Tiger's family? None of these looked like anyphony... Who are they?

Her inner thoughts was once more interrupted by the shaking of the ground. Did the hippos come back? Turning around to see what it was, she only managed to catch a few words from the monstrosity coming towards them. It stepped on the gross liquid river of goop like it was unsinkable.

"U WAT DO?" she screamed as she ran as fast as she could, now desperately wishing that she really had wings to fly with. This search party was more like death's party. "OK BYEEE!"

Just up ahead, she noticed the orange babbin. Paper Tiger had to outrun faster than the saved lot. "GOODNEWS, NONE OF THEM LOOK LIKE YOU. ONLY YOU NEED TO LIVE, WE CAN SACRIFICE THE OTHERS!"  Nudging her from behind to add some speed to her short legs, Bullseye needed her to hurry up. "BUT YOU GOTTA RUN FASTERRRR!! DON'T LOOK BACK! WE GOTTA GO!!!"


D: RUN!!!




[spoiler]
(https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/575/115/119.png)
[/spoiler]

Wh-
Ho-

THEY WERE ALL GOING TO DIE. This was it! Weatherly did the one thing he wished he had done numerous times before; he RAN!

D. Run!!!

The relief from their success was short-lived. Lemma hardly had the time to ask after any of these Phonies' names (she didn't, er, know them, it seemed) before the ground started its violent quake.

What had Phonyland's propietors been doing? Lemma couldn't stick around to get a sense of what this thing was: all she could do was D. RUN!!!

Everything had been going so well. Their plan was coming together, everyone playing their part. But then it] appeared.

Itsy Bitsy didn't know what it was but she reacted how any other spider would when faced with a large dangerous creature that wanted to squash them - she ran!

D: RUN!!!

If it had just been them, if they'd tried to get out alone from under the mountain, it would have never worked. They would have all been trapped, imprisoned with their friends by the mad beast and its lackeys.

But the Strongarms got them back up as they scrambled through the darkness. The jorts field was dangerous, but the Strongarms shoved them through.

The hippos were neutralized by the Transmorphers, pushing plastic down on them from above.

The Faux helped them up, carefully lifting them into vehicles and driving them to safety.

And each of these were accompanied by Tolls, braving the deeper darkness to come to the aid of these topsider strangers.

It shouldn't have worked, but it did. It did! A daring rescue from the scrapheap of history. The phonies found themselves collapsed in a group, mixed with the friends who had helped them. There was much in the way of hugging and kissing and tears of joy and sadness. They'd done it! They'd rescued their friends, and together they would leave this mountain. It had been an arduous journey, but they'd done it. Through the magic of friendship, the missing phonies had been rescued... and now they all knew about the dangers that lurked in the mountains outside of Phonyland. The prototype Phurby was still out there, after all- waiting for anyone foolish enough to spelunk where it lurked.