Lost...and Found?! A Surprise CYOA

[Ruriska]

"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.

[Maxx]

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.

[Jun]

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

[FrostyPeaches]

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.

[thy]

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.

[Syrcaid]

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.

[Nym]

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.

[Blinded By Silence]

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

[Scaramouche Fandango]

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

[Maxx]

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"

[FrostyPeaches]

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.

[Jun]

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


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.

[Syrcaid]

(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!"

[purpleroses]

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.

[Nym]

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.