This thread is for discussion of other side characters, who are not companions but still developed people within the story.

Hey, here's an idea. Given Zeta Wing's name, there are or were possible others of her specific model in the world-- Alpha Wing, Beta Wing, Gamma Wing, etc. It's possible not all of them survived, and if Zeta ends up being the last of the bunch, there'd be a maximum of six. Perhaps the... what's a cool name? The Wing Squadron was originally an elite strike force for precision destruction of key targets. The surviving Wings, including Zeta Wing, would focus on more general survival in the present, however.

6927661
Now I'm imagining her with that classic demolition expert crazy person personality

6927661
If they are all painted military grey, they could be the Grey Ghosts.

Some one talked about Zeta hearing legends about the plant ponies or tall tales told about them. It would make sense that Zeta would be afraid of them or at least uneasy since the plant ponies regularly eat machines.

For this colony Zeta is from, does it have a working/semi-working factory?

6928604
It better, and they also need fuel.

6928606
Hmmm... What kind of fuel and how would they get it?

6928607
Helium-3 to power their failing nuclear reactors maybe?
EDIT: This just off the top of my head.

6928607
Transformers used Energon, sorta giant blue energy cubes if you watched the Prime series...

...there's also fission or fusion material for nuclear robots, though at pony size, I would bet on something more portable. A [solid reactor fuel] block, rod, or similar macguffin.

There's always Void energy collectors, power units that take a pinhole connection to an overlaying dimension (Void, Subspace, Hyperspace) and use the higher energy from the outlying dimension to collect power. Functionally infinite fuel, reactor durability and gathering wattage is the limiting factor.

Basically space magic reactor, but it's not literally magic.

6928608
What is Helium-3?

6928606
So if they have a factory, is the factory sentient and all the people in the colony look up to it as an elder that tells legends of long ago from the time it was built for war?

6928610
Fuel in Gundam. We don't have to go with it.
6928609
Do you want energon or the nuclear macguffin?
EDIT: if we go with the limitless reactor, that means fuel won't be an issue. Do we want the fuel issue?

6928614
I like the Elder Factory idea. Maybe it used to be mobile and then hasn't moved since?

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This is assuming the factory is still active, of course. I'm more for it having failed after the creation of Zeta. But if it's still active, then... pff, a factory elder is funny. Anyway, if it's still active, it might be able to run off of solar energy and/or... uh, some local resource that we don't need to know about. This is inspiring me to write more backstory, so stay tuned.

6928617
Factory on treads, I like that.

6928621
Maybe our protagonist will have to find something to fix the *ahem* Factorial Elder.

6928621
Maybe it's failing, and that is why Zeta is exploring a Junkyard.

6928614
6928621
Basically an Autobot Titan, like Metroplex. An even gianter robot that literally transforms into different buildings!

6928629
Would explain why it moved around

6928639
When you gotta pack up and move, being mobile is a good thing.

Of course, not everyone is mobile in the same way.

So we have a factory named David. He seems nice and we could maybe see him again as a chekov's gun later in the story if need be.

And we also know Zeta is a companion of Factory!David

6940355
Also I just had a ridiculous idea but couldn't David be are kindness? It's a very silly idea but I could see it working

Very Late night idea: If the sentients are still around other than The Factory and the Wing ponies that they would individualize themselves from their creators by coming up with certain design philosophies such as having Monoeye heads and blocky bodies or spider-legged, centaur like bodies. Maybe other sentients only create more of the same body types as their creators intended and refuse to change it. Maybe this could provide tension or something between the two groups.

6951541
An example could be Zambar the wandering mercenary. He would be a Sentient who follows a unique design. He would be a blocky humanoid shape with thrusters all over such as the legs, shoulders, and backpack. Has thick chest armor for survival He has a Monoeye head design that has an overhead with a bar that connects from the tip to the face plate underneath the eye. Also sports a tall metal crest for a little vanity. And for big blasts he would have a crotch gun.

This is what a bored spleep deprived mind come up with.
EDIT: Just making description closer to picture.

for Naturals we could have Lamia Ponies

6951548
That looks awesome.

6951555
What do you think of the idea that Zambar is in the city as a hired body guard to a young, naive Lamia pony who for reasons unknown has a lot of money. A reason for the lamia pony to hang out with a sentient to see if they're anything like the legends she heard from home, taking the opposite approach of Zeta. As for why she chose a mercenary like Zambar, she did it so she can have a sentient nearby at all times to talk to. As for why Zambar accepts, more money for maintaince and for other goods is always welcome. And as long as lamia pony doesn't violate his rules (too much) he's fine traveling with her. They would meet Forge and Flower in the city.
The plan would be to have them as recurring characters from time to time, and maybe have Maria pony act as a foul to Zeta. Also Zambar is a somewhat moral mercenary, as in having lines not to be crossed and rules to be followed. I don't know stands enough to contribute, so I'm focusing more on what Forge And Flower are gonna see in the city.

6951682
Don't the Naturals hate technology though?

6951682
Not everything has to be a pony. The Naturals especially, since they likely don't have a 'standard' form and are more influenced by whatever environment they're born in-- nature spirits, basically. Also, Naturals probably don't like to participate in the things of more civilized nations, like money, and King has a very good point. But maybe they've been forced to adapt due to the apocalypse, and I'm sure there's some outliers out there.

Hiring a mercenary just to hang out sounds funny.

6951691
The Naturals of a long time ago hated Technology and that led to this sorry state, so I'm assuming that there are some naturals that learned of the folly of their ancestors or at least doing something else now. Beside maybe she could be an exile. I'm assuming the majority of what's left of the Naturals doubled down on their hatred of technology, but maybe not all of them? I mean how long ago was the war?

6951693
Alright fair,well who would else would hire a mercenary to hang out

So Zambar the wandering mercenary seems to be a good idea.

Since Ash is a character, can we influence her more than just her stand? What's the limit on that?

6951698
Drawing inspiration from the anime Overlord, the guild could hire adventurers to do different tasks based on ranking and difficulty.

6952112
So the city has a guild, Do you think Flower will interact with them by accident and that's how Zambar and companions interact.Would also give Siggy and friends things to do if nothing else comes up.

6952130
Yes it has a guild.

If you're part of some adventuring group, send the rest of them to the guild, you're not getting in."

I definitely see Flower interacting with Zambar.

6952204
Heh, Flower accidentally getting the group into a quest with Zambar and friend would be funny.

I wanna describe some poor sap, converted by Strogg (We need a better name).

Nobody knew who she was before. She could have been an earth pony or a pegasus. She even may have had a cutie mark to signify her talent. None of that matters anymore. She knew nothing other to dig and expand. She still retained the shape of a pony, but with additions. A side of her face is covered in metal and circuits with her chest glowing as though you can see her soul behind the chest piece. Her front legs have been replaced with excavators arms of cold steel with her hind legs having stabilizers attached. On both sides of her body, heavy duty hooks have been secured haphazardly. Where her tail used to be there is only a cable that extends to a black box with hooks, the only thing keeping her alive. On the box and her flanks are only the symbol of the strogg.

6962279
A better name... How about "The Inevitable." They honestly believe that they are the future, superior to both pony and machine, and believe it is their duty to "spread enlightenment." When they still have enough of a mind to believe so, of course; those that don't are just drones.

Speaking of which, these images make this pony seem much more alive and capable of emotion than your description suggests, making her more like a prisoner than a worker. It's causing a bit of a disconnect in my mind. And anyway, the description is a good start, but it could definitely use work; it seems to jump between beige and purple prose at random, certain descriptions are poorly placed, there's a couple times where certain words contradict each other... and, of course, it could use a basic grammar check.

I'd recommend sticking with beige prose for now, until you feel up to painting it a little. For this pony specifically, I'd begin by introducing her as a heavily-augmented mare. Then I'd go into details about her legs, then the hooks, the chest piece, the box, her coat, her face, and the markings in some order. If I were being colorful, I'd try to evoke a feeling of sadness and tragedy at a living being turned into a machine... but that's a little advanced for now.

I'll try to describe her by following my own suggestions. I challenge you to not look at the pictures at all, blank them from your mind as much as possible, and try to build a mental image using only what I say below, then compare it to the pictures once you're ready. Here goes:

It was clear at first glance that the pony was a mare, despite the great number of augmentations she'd been subjected to. The most defining feature was her front legs, having been replaced entirely by sturdy, steel-plated excavator arms. In contrast, she still had her original back legs, though they'd had thick stabilizing rods grafted onto them, keeping her balanced despite how far she was extending herself. A couple of small panels were attached firmly to her sides, with rings that looked like they'd allow the mare to be carried by hooks. Through the blurring of her front legs, a glowing orange chestpiece could briefly be seen, shining like a miniature sun. A long, thick cord extended where her tail used to be, connecting to a battery box larger than she was, with a pair of rings of its own jutting from the edges. All this machinery was brown with rust, contrasting a dusty blue coat that might have been comparable to the ocean once, and a ragged, bleached mane. Yet the mare didn't seem to mind the state she was in-- in fact, she didn't seem to care about anything at all. Her expression was devoid of emotion, and it was evident she had long since lost any capacity to think for herself. The mark of the Ceaseless Dawn was emblazoned on the box, and branded across a now-unidentifiable cutie mark: a metallic hoof, covering a stylized version of Enviar.

Now, I don't think there's any reason to focus on the worker units, so I doubt this detailed description will ever become relevant to the story. And I'm sure someone else will have better ideas for a faction name and emblem. But, hey, if this makes you a better writer, it won't have been completely useless.

6962517
It could be that for them 'The Strogg' translates into 'The Inevitable'.
Edit: Also reading both descriptions made me sad for this mare.

6962517
Yeah, it was mostly for practicing writing description. I was kinda just winging it. Also to make someone feel sad, like King. I also made it in case we needed to talk to a somewhat friendly if we ever needed to, or see what GM does with it. Thanks for the help.

6962621
I'm trying to avoid the name Strogg, because that's already a thing from a game, and I don't know what the entity can do with a name from another world deal.

6962731
I did not know that.

6962734
Yeah, I'm kinda cheating by basing things on things I like. Most of it is obscure enough that most people don't notice. I find it hard to really come up with something really new.