Tenpony Tower

Tenpony Tower dominating the Manehattan Ruins.
~ MasterJosh140

Tenpony Tower is the name given to the Ministry of Arcane Science hub within Manehattan.

History

Pre-War

Prior to the devastation that hit the city, Tenpony tower was the Manehattan Hub for the Ministry of Arcane Science (MAS). The tarnished sign is still evident at the Tenpony Tower station on the Celestia Line. The building houses Twilight's Athenaeum: a large library that houses many original books sent to Twilight by Rarity when the Ministry of Image brought in rules that outlawed a large number of 'idealogically incompatible' texts.

During the War

When the megaspell that destroyed Manehattan went off, the tower's protective shielding kept it and its occupants safe with minimal damage compared to other nearby buildings. The building did suffer significant damage to one side but this has been patched up over time. The main entrance at ground level has been sealed, armoured and blocked with magically-fused rubble.

Of the spark generators that protected the building during the blast, only around half have survived. This means that the building would not survive another similar explosion.

The giant letters that advertised the building's name are now in pieces at the foot of the tower.

Post-War

After the war, Tenpony Tower became a beacon of life in the Manehattan ruins. The occupants of the tower live their lives in relative seclusion from the troubles of the world around them.

Entrance to the tower is via a heavily guarded entrance at the monorail station. Ornate but armoured double doors block the way and the words "NO ZOMBIES" have been painted in red across the gates. Once inside the gates, entrance to the tower is via the original marble lobby of the station, complete with chandelier. Compared to most of the wasteland the tower is still luxuriantly appointed inside, and of a relatively high state of cleanliness as befits its high-status occupants.

The tower contains living quarters; a large mall area that houses a number of different types of stores; guest rooms (such as Goldentail's Luxury Suites); restaurants; a small but well-equipped hospital area; and a broadcasting studio; as well as other notable features that are not necessarily known to the majority of the inhabitants.

A huge radio broadcasting aerial tops the tower: part of the Emergency Broadcast System (MASEBS) built into the MAS Manehatten hub. This system has links (put in place by DJ Pon3) with the equipment in the Single Pony Project towers which allows the MASEBS to have broadcasting power over and surveillance of much of the Equestrian wasteland.

It is well-known across Equestria that DJ PON3 broadcasts from within Tenpony Tower. There are a number of rumours about the identity of the DJ, but suffice it to say that "There's always a DJ Pon3."

The hospital area is staffed by a number of skilled ponies that specialize in healing, surgery, psychology and addiction recovery.

Politics, Rules and Security

Tenpony Tower is a 'meritocracy' where your citizenship is based upon how well you can contribute to its stability, economy or security etc. For this reason citizens who cannot contribute (i.e. disabled, orphaned children etc.) have no place in the tower. Tenpony tower is actually run by a secret society named "The Twilight Society" after the MAS ministry mare. As one of the main hubs for MAS the Tenpony tower has a number of areas unknown to its citizens or the general populace.

The Society is made up of a committee of members which include Homage and Life Bloom.

The MASEBS, the Athenaeum and other areas of the tower are protected by Bypass spells that only allow designated members through, although it also appears to work for close family members or their descendants. This spell is how DJ Pon3 has remained protected from anyone else entering the MASEBS.

One of the hidden rooms in Tenpony is a Megaspell Chamber, a thirty two sided room in which a megaspell was created, tested and from which it can be fired. Once completed, a chamber can only fire the specific megaspell to which it is attuned. Oddly, this particular chamber runs on solar power: the spell is called Celestia One, and is used again in the Battle of Fillydelphia on both Enclave and Red-Eye forces, after the clouds above the tower are cleared by Gawd's griffons.

"Other rooms include a large agricultural bay and possibly laboratories where testing was done on spells that purged taint, removed radiation and purified water. These were the fore-runners for the components of the Gardens of Equestria

Tenpony has fairly strict rules about the behaviour of its citizens. The most important rule is that raider activity is not looked upon in the least degree of allowance. Any citizen found taking part in such activity may be awarded a severe penalty from exclusion from the tower up to the death penalty for banditry. This is to act as a deterrent to undesirable factions that Tenpony Tower is not incapable of defending itself and its standards. Nothing short of a Balefire bomb is likely to take out the tower.

Interestingly if the legal ponies of the tower can find a surviving victim of the banditry perpetrated by a citizen, then legal ownership of all their property in Tenpony is transferred to the victim, minus substantial costs for the execution which are taken from the estate of the deceased.

Applying for permanent residency of Tenpony Tower is a long and difficult process that can take a number of years, although may be accelerated to less than a year in unusual circumstances such as having recently 'inherited' sizable amounts of Tenpony real estate.

Non-citizens are not allowed to operate businesses within the tower, and their word has no legal weight or rights compared to a citizen.

Weapons are allowed in Tenpony, but ammunition for them must be left at the door with the internal Security force. They use some type of unicorn spell to show weapons carried, even through armour (similar to an x-ray machine at an airport but more powerful). Riot ammunition such as 'rubber bullets' may be purchased within the tower from the Security Chief.

The Security force is was led by Chief Grim Star, who was slated by DJ Pon3 for his involvement in the massacre of Sheriff Rottingtail and his ghouls after they were refused access to the tower. DJ Pon3 accused the Chief of failing to distinguish between ghouls and zombies, whereas the Chief maintained that he was simply affirming his dedication to protect the tower's occupants.

Chief Grim Star later died outside the tower near a relatively unknown basement entrance. Elder Steelhooves' side of the story is that they were both trying to seal the entrance when the zombie-ponies attacked and that the Chief gave his life to give Steelhooves time to seal the door. The alternative is that the Ranger may have locked him outside to perish in retaliation for the massacre of Sheriff Rottingtail's people. Information from the griffon 'Blackwing' had suggested that the Sheriff was more interested in taking over the tower for his own purposes, but one can never truly know all the real facts of any story.

Location

Tenpony Tower is located inside of the Manehatten ruins. The Celestia line of the Four Stars elevated train line (monorail) runs next to it and has a station integrated into the tower, several stories up.

It is also within close proximity of the Luna line which crosses below the Celestia line at a number of points within the city.

The nearest large tower that survived the blast, albeit in not so good condition as the MAS hub, is Horseshoe Tower, another former Ministry building (Ministry of Morale). You can also see The Pony of Friendship out in the harbour. The Red Racer main office and factory is also located in Manehatten but is not located near to either monorail line.

The centre of Manehatten is now heavily magically-radiated, and the city well populated with Manticores and Bloodwings. You may also see a Balefire Phoenix as several make the city their home.

The tower sits between the Shattered Hoof raiders and the Fillydelphia Crater slavers.

Notable Residents

• Homage

• DJ Pon3

• Life Bloom

• Helpinghoof

• Monterey Jack
• Chief Grim Star

Appearances in Side Stories

Fallout: Equestria - Project Horizons

Tenpony Tower was visited by Blackjack and her friends after she was gravely injured in her adventures. At Tenpony Blackjack was fitted with her first cybernetic augmentations. Blackjack also met Littlepip and the two shared a brief and exciting adventure.

While at Tenpony Tower Blackjack was also tested by The Twilight Society to determine whether she was truly a descendant of Twilight Sparkle. At the time Blackjack thought she had failed the test; to open a door which could only be opened by a ministry mare or their relatives. Unbeknownst to her (and the majority of the Twilight Society) this test was a fake, intended to fail. The real test came later and was done so casually that Blackjack did not know she was being tested. After this second test Blackjack received a spellbook which had once belonged to Twilight Sparkle and began to learn many spells which aided her later, including Teleportation and summoning doors.

Fallout: Equestria - Murky Number Seven

Caduceus the nurse trained under Doctor Helpinghoof at Tenpony tower before he was taken into slavery by Red Eye's forces and sent to Fillydelphia.

Murky Number Seven saw Tenpony Tower while he was being transported through Manehatten on his way to Fillydelphia. Murky also wishes to visit Tenpony after becoming free to meet DJ Pon3 and his hero, Littlepip.

Fallout: Equestria - Silence

While on the Manehattan Tour, Compass had presented other ponies, including Zero and his allies, the building of Tenpony Tower, explaining all the details about it. He was very skeptical regarding rules and had no plans to visit or reside within the Tower due to insufficient funds with him. Zero further states that he can't stay in Manehattan for long and would have to keep on moving afterwards.

Of course, he had a standing ovation by Compass herself, much to Zero's embarrassment from her announcement. To date, he is the only visitor in Manehattan who has never visited Tenpony Towers at all, not counting his companions.

Notes

Tenpony Tower is based off of Tenpenny Tower in Fallout 3, which was also a high class resort with a ghoul-infested secret tunnel underneath it.