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Fallout: Beyond Equestria 158: Xero Hour (Part 12)

Scorch_Mechanic
Nov 18th, 2015
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  1. [13:34:51] <Mare-Do-Well> 3Previously...
  2. [13:35:43] <Mare-Do-Well> 10The slab of a door slides up into the roof of the tunnel. The set of doors immediately behind (bearing Mitzi's claw marks), split diagonally and slide into the walls with a hiss. The third door slides downward into the floor, revealing wartime Roam's equivalent of a Stable. The once gleaming chrome of steps and walkways having dulled to a depressing grey.
  3. [13:35:53] <Mare-Do-Well> 10A voice over a loudspeaker invites in the old Imperial language (which CopyCat can translate), "Welcome to Vault LIV, ambassadors of Equestria."
  4. [13:36:04] <Mare-Do-Well> 10Shatara blinkblinks. "Well that was...cordial."
  5. [13:36:19] <Mare-Do-Well> 10...
  6. [13:36:29] <Mare-Do-Well> 10Goldy looks around, anxiously. "There be zebra ghosts around. I feels it."
  7. [13:36:44] <Mare-Do-Well> 10...
  8. [13:36:52] <Mare-Do-Well> 10The voice continues, "Please excuse the lack of a visible welcoming party. The majority of our personnel have transcended the need for corporeal bodies. Those few who still cling to their meat are heavily engaged in duties elsewhere."
  9. [13:36:55] <Mare-Do-Well> 10...
  10. [13:37:17] <Mare-Do-Well> 10"Welcome." The first room of the Vault is not dissimilar to the entrance room of a Stable, save that the ceiling is not dominated by the particular swing-arm mechanics of the gear-shaped Stable doors. And the dominant architectural note is dulled chrome. Windows look into empty rooms with consoles of buttons and blinking lights.
  11. [13:37:24] <Mare-Do-Well> 10A picture of the former Caesar hangs prominently on the wall. The floors are clean of litter and debris. There are sagging panels in the ceiling and subtle warping in a few of the beams.
  12. [13:37:29] <Mare-Do-Well> 10Noble_Heart looks up and around slowly. This place was... Odd. Not right. For certain it would be dangerous here at some point.
  13. [13:37:36] <Mare-Do-Well> 10Cool bluish-white lights hum overhead.
  14. [13:37:42] <Mare-Do-Well> 10"Welcome Shatara, former Stable companion of Bonaparte."
  15. [13:37:47] <Mare-Do-Well> 10Shatara eeps in surprise.
  16. [13:37:57] <Mare-Do-Well> 10"Welcome, Golden_Dream. We remember you. From the lighthouse."
  17. [13:38:04] <Mare-Do-Well> 10"Welcome Lenore. Joy remembers you fondly."
  18. [13:38:10] <Mare-Do-Well> 10CopyCat blinks and stares off into the distance as she translates her own name.
  19. [13:38:16] <Mare-Do-Well> 10"Welcome, Mitzi. We assure you that, had your friends not acted in such haste, there would have been another option."
  20. [13:38:23] <Mare-Do-Well> 10"Welcome... all of you."
  21. [13:38:34] <Mare-Do-Well> 10Noble_Heart ruffles her feathers notably. This was... A troubling consideration. Ghosts and spirits were not things she had a great deal of experience with before coming to this place. And that limited experience seemed to be increasingly strained.
  22. [13:38:39] <Mare-Do-Well> 10Bookwright listens in growing wonder as CopyCat translates the welcome. "I would dearly like to interview whoever owns that voice. They seem to have first-hoof accounts of a lot of things, and I think they could fill in a lot of holes in the historical record."
  23. [13:38:45] <Mare-Do-Well> 10CopyCat seems just a little less enthusiastic about being here than she was a few moments ago. Just a scosh. "Th-this is nice, isn't it..." she repeats.
  24. [13:38:55] <Mare-Do-Well> 10"Bookwright. Historian. We speak of as we are bade to..." A pause. "The Mother of Balefire agrees. And acquiesces to your request for a private audience."
  25. [13:38:59] <Mare-Do-Well> 10...
  26. [13:39:23] <Mare-Do-Well> 10Fallout: Beyond Equestria, Session One Hundred and Fifty-Eight: Xero Hour (Part Twelve) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2aHcANs4GE
  27. [13:39:29] <Mare-Do-Well> 10--- Session Begins ---
  28. [13:39:31] * Goldy is... Very, very visibly shaking. It knew. It knew about the lighthouse. They're going to try again. They're trying again.
  29. [13:40:19] * Mitzi snorts. "Much bettur healed by friends den wierd voice dat know tu much."
  30. [13:41:01] * Get_Lost reaches mitzi and starts checking her wounds "please stand still while i fix te worst of it, and maybe there will be a treat for a young well behaved lady"
  31. [13:41:07] * CopyCat blinks. "The Mother of Balefire?" she mutters quietly. "That sounds painful."
  32. [13:41:54] * Mitzi blinks at Get_Lost, Bookwright spell having made the pain she should be in slip her mind.
  33. [13:44:09] * Get_Lost starts bandaging the big puppy and in the end mitzi evolves into... mummytzi! yay!
  34. [13:45:15] * Mitzi looks herself over, the magic laced bandages have a soothing cooling effect. There was no pain to relieve, but she had been feeling uncomfortably warm
  35. [13:46:00] * Get_Lost "who's a good puppy? you are!!" looks into her bags but finds no treat, so she gives mitzi a sparkle cola
  36. [13:47:54] * Get_Lost then turns her focus ion the ethereal voice "weird... looks like mind reading... do you ponies have something to craft tinfoil hats?"
  37. [13:48:39] * Mitzi takes it and stares at it for a moment
  38. [13:48:53] <Mare-Do-Well> 10With a hydrolic hiss, the multi-layered door of Vault LIV slides shut.
  39. [13:49:17] * Bookwright has no tinfoil, is unsure if he'd give any to Get_Lost even if he did. He is concerned which other things Get_Lost might get up to with a supply of tinfoil.
  40. [13:57:47] <Mare-Do-Well> 10After what seems like a long wait, the voice speaks again. "Feel free to move about and inspect the Vault. We are here to guide you. Do not be afraid. Fear is a chain that binds you to the earth. Enlightenment and freedom can only come through release."
  41. [13:59:05] * Get_Lost asks parlay cor a complete frequencies scan during their exploration
  42. [13:59:45] * CopyCat starts poking around the entrance room. Looking for things. Like if the Zebra kept clip boards everywhere like ponies did.
  43. [13:59:52] <Mare-Do-Well> 10According to Parlay, there are none. The voice is coming from a dead channel.
  44. [14:00:06] * Bookwright is super glad CopyCat is providing translations.
  45. [14:01:38] * Mitzi winced a bit and folds her ears. Hearing that voice talk, understood language or not, hurt her ears.
  46. [14:01:54] * CopyCat translates as she hears things! The weird part is that she translates without moving her lips. Okay maybe it wasn't that weird for CopyCat.
  47. [14:04:53] * Get_Lost nodnods and simply follows the others... no tinfoil was disappointing, but she had to roll with it
  48. [14:11:21] <Mare-Do-Well> 10CopyCat's poking around finds plenty, but none of it valuable. Supply boxes in this room have been long emptied of anything useful to daily life (or, at least, existence) in the Vault. What is left is undesired surplus, most of it military-issue. The most useful are the shirts, which although worn out by age, would still provide some warmth in cold weather
  49. [14:12:14] <Golden_Dream> 's circling, going around and around like chimes in a storm while she walked. "Shatara, gimme th' shotgun. I'll give you anything you want, but what happened at the lighthouse is not happening again." Her tone is shaky. She's never sounded this afraid before.
  50. [14:12:55] <Mare-Do-Well> 10Or could be piled together as pillows, or sewn as blankets, assuming you do not mind the pro-government slogans that patriotically emblazon each shirt.
  51. [14:13:32] * Bookwright "I elect we continue deeper inside. Instead of, er, standing around like we have been."
  52. [14:14:40] <Mare-Do-Well> 10CopyCat finds a collection of ink pens. All have dried out.
  53. [14:15:07] * CopyCat becomes a moving Pile of Shirts (tm) with a horn poking out the top.
  54. [14:15:38] * Shatara blinkblinks. "Er...what...?"
  55. [14:17:44] * Mitzi sticks close to Golden_Dream to help ease her agitation. Or try anyways
  56. [14:18:14] * Golden_Dream 's eyes go wide. "THAT shotgun. Th' special one what I don't wanna get int' detail about 'cause we most definitely are bein' watched."
  57. [14:22:53] <Mare-Do-Well> 10"You carry the weight of the Messores; it clings to you like a wet blanket. Does it not make you cold? Did the Messores send you?" The voice beckons. "Come into the womb of LIV, where it is warm."
  58. [14:24:00] * Get_Lost frowns "am i the only one not grasping what she is talking about?"
  59. [14:24:37] * Golden_Dream immediately responds with "First off, what are the Messores, second off, if you really wanna make me feel less creeped the fuck out, you'd stop with the uteral imagery!"
  60. [14:25:58] <CopyCat> "I agree!" says the CopyCat-shaped pile of shirts after translating.
  61. [14:26:58] * Bookwright advances slowly into the Vault, taking it all in.
  62. [14:34:31] <Mare-Do-Well> 10Vault LIV is unexpectedly clean and brightly lit, although age has done its work marring what was once coldly pristine. There are only occasional signs that the place has been lived in. No litter, but some of the garbage cans are stuffed to overflowing, the floors about their bases stained from decomposing rubbish.
  63. [14:35:34] * CopyCat starts to explore... left. The pile of shirts formally known as CopyCat goes left.
  64. [14:36:48] * Bookwright was planning to go right, but is cognizant of the effort required to redirect a CopyCat in motion. He retraces his steps and follows the laundry bulge down the left hallway.
  65. [14:37:41] * CopyCat may also be leaving a trail of dried-up pens behind her. One mare's trash was another mare's treasure.
  66. [14:37:55] <Mare-Do-Well> 10Vault LIV, or something within it, responds. With a loud CHUNK, the lights shut off abruptly, plunging the Vault into darkness.
  67. [14:38:57] * CopyCat eeps!
  68. [14:39:08] * Golden_Dream immediately goes for her flashlight. "LITE GRRR UFF."
  69. [14:39:37] * Mitzi blinks and tries to let her eyes adjust to the dark
  70. [14:39:51] * Bookwright is startled, and takes a moment to light his horn, bringing it up to full brightness slowly.
  71. [14:42:06] <Mare-Do-Well> 10A single light above the door buzzes to life, glowing with an infernal orange light. The light illuminates a spot on the opposite wall, save for a stark black shadow. A zebra, tall and gaunt and decayed, with ratty raven wings, a twisted horn, and a mane that flickers like fire. There is nothing between the light and the wall to cast it. to
  72. [14:42:29] <Mare-Do-Well> 10The orange light dies.
  73. [14:43:06] <Mare-Do-Well> 10With a soft whine, the lights of Vault LIV reassert themselves, like small creatures crawling out of hiding after the passing of a predator.
  74. [14:43:34] * Golden_Dream gulps. "Xero, I'm guessin'?"
  75. [14:43:47] * Mitzi snarls and raises her heckles
  76. [14:44:11] * CopyCat / laundry-pile turns its head this way and that. "D-did everyone else see that?" she stammers.
  77. [14:45:01] * Bookwright shivers involuntarily. "Y-yes. Um. Er. Vault.... voice-thingy? What just happened?"
  78. [14:46:23] <Mare-Do-Well> 10"A question was asked and answered."
  79. [14:50:09] * Get_Lost frowns "other ghosts?"
  80. [14:50:44] * CopyCat swallows. "D-did you see the orange light and the... figure in the darkness with a mane like fire, vault-voice lady?" The laundry moves in a head-tilty way. "Also what's your name? What would you like us to call you?"
  81. [14:53:47] * Golden_Dream shudders. "Th' Messores. That's what it was, a Messore." She trembled a little. "It was them. Them folk what th' Loonies are all about."
  82. [14:54:10] * Mitzi raises an eyebrow, "Wut's sore?"
  83. [14:54:13] * Golden_Dream holds herself for safety. "Them nightmare folk what..."
  84. [14:54:16] * Get_Lost "ooooh, okay.... have we seen them somewhere^?"
  85. [14:54:46] * Golden_Dream pauses. "I have, Get." She replied, meekly.
  86. [14:55:44] * Get_Lost "oh, okay... should i be happy about it?"
  87. [14:56:23] * Bookwright "It looked kinda like a reaper to me. Only... different, somehow."
  88. [14:59:20] <Mare-Do-Well> 10"We can free you from the Messores."
  89. [14:59:45] <Mitzi> found it
  90. [15:00:31] * Golden_Dream gives the walls a severe glare. "Th' fuck do y' mean?"
  91. [15:02:44] * Bookwright "Zebra necromancy maybe? If it is, then that's a metaphor for 'living forever'. Or something. Maybe I'm wrong."
  92. [15:04:20] <Mare-Do-Well> 10"What have they burdened you with?" the voice asks. "What chains have they forged to ground you?"
  93. [15:06:19] <Mare-Do-Well> 10The passage that CopyCat has started down is lined with oval windows looking into rooms with tables and chairs. One has books and journals scattered across it. A mug sits near one edge, its stains showing that zebra mugs lack the pristine longevity of those in Equestria.
  94. [15:07:24] * Bookwright lets out a little excited exclamation. "Ooh! Reading materials!"
  95. [15:07:29] <Mare-Do-Well> 10Another looks into a room with smaller tables arranged like personal desks, each with a single chair and a zebra-made terminal with wires running out of the backs towards a power outlet.
  96. [15:07:37] * Bookwright flips open a book. "...Oh, right. Can't read zebra. Dammit."
  97. [15:08:32] * CopyCat peers into the rooms, especially at the books on the table, trying to see if there was any particular theme in their titles or if they were just a fairly random assortment.
  98. [15:09:46] * CopyCat also glances back at Golden_Dream. "Goldy... what happened in the lighthouse?"
  99. [15:10:51] * Bookwright has the sudden urge to curl up next to a fire and have CopyCat read aloud to him like when he was very little.
  100. [15:11:48] * Golden_Dream gulps. "I... Look. I was at the lighthouse when I got t' lookin' fer th' herbs. I remember that I was just... There, one time. Carvin' m'self up like turducken and nopony was helpin' me and I couldn't tell anyone or get help because it had my voice."
  101. [15:12:54] * Shatara meeps...
  102. [15:15:09] <Golden_Dream> "I don't know what it was doin', but nothin' good. I tried t' get control back, but after that, I started losin' time. Th' last resort eyeball losin' was sorta my last bit of fight left, and even that was just kinda more spite than a plan."
  103. [15:17:16] * Golden_Dream gulps. "Whenever I'd wake up, I'd find myself there more often enough. Lookin' up at th' tower, doin' Celestia-knows-what. Actually, no. If Celestia knew, it wouldn't have happened."
  104. [15:18:06] * CopyCat leaves the books (for the moment) and strides over to give Golden_Dream a hug. It was like being embraced by an overly friendly laundry basket. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through that. Has it happened again? Since you left your home?"
  105. [15:19:44] * Golden_Dream shakes her head. "No. No, after losin' m' eye, th' thing just went away. I manage t' get control back and push it out. I don't know why. I don't even really know how t' describe what it felt, other than like you were poppin' a cyst on your soul. One of those big ones ghouls get."
  106. [15:21:20] * Golden_Dream gulps. "It's after that I started seein' spirits, remember? I think it was hopin' t' take over, so it got all unpacked, then I kicked it out and it left me it's eyes."
  107. [15:21:58] * Noble_Heart frowns. "Possession or some kind of mind control. Despicable acts done by those who lack the strength, or the purpose, to take more open action." She shook her head. "It is doubtless that the ones who own this place would desire something more from you than what they would offer. Such seems to be the nature of those who study necromancy. Even the Reapers, as relatively
  108. [15:21:58] * Noble_Heart peaceful as they might be."
  109. [15:23:58] <Mare-Do-Well> 10The first books that CopyCat looks over are logs of inventory, including surplus from the Central Valley Project. Another lists manufacture schedules. These schedules continue, albeit in a greatly diminished capacity, post relocation.
  110. [15:29:31] * Golden_Dream gulps. "I ain't run into any mystics out there I trust worth a darn. I don't know if I got anythin' wrong with me yet. I jus' know, I hate that lighthouse. It think it chose that place for a reason, and I never want to go back there again."
  111. [15:30:10] <Mare-Do-Well> 10Another set of books details shift schedules, with considerable changes as vault personnel are marked as deceased or post-life.
  112. [15:31:13] * Noble_Heart gently extends a wing around Golden Dream. "We have suffered the loss of self before as well. It is not something We would blame you for fearing or hating. And We are glad you are free now."
  113. [15:32:37] * CopyCat nods at Golden_Dream. "I'm glad it's gone then. The mark it left behind let you see Mare-Do-Well, too. Perhaps removing that Second Sight is what the voice was promising." She steps away, leaving Golden_Dream with Noble_Heart.
  114. [15:33:06] * Bookwright "Well? What do the books say?"
  115. [15:33:56] * CopyCat reads the book titles and some of the contents aloud for Bookwright. All they needed now was a fire and some hot cocoa and she could be reading bedtime stories.
  116. [15:34:55] <Mare-Do-Well> 10"You misunderstand. Here in Vault LIV, we do not threaten a loss of self. We offer a rarification of self."
  117. [15:34:58] * Bookwright frowns. "What do you suppose 'post-life' means?"
  118. [15:36:39] * Noble_Heart looks back towards Bookwright. "Ghosts. Or perhaps something similar. Necromancy is the magic of the dead. Have we not seen numerous examples of those who remain after they are gone?"
  119. [15:40:36] * Bookwright "Well, it still gives me the willikers. And the mysterious voice in the air still hasn't told us precisely what happened to the inhabitants."
  120. [15:40:52] * Golden_Dream raises an eyebrow. "A rarification- you mean t' make us int' spirits?"
  121. [15:41:47] <Mare-Do-Well> 10"You already are."
  122. [15:42:56] * Golden_Dream looks around. "Wait, what?"
  123. [15:43:17] * Golden_Dream bolts up in alarm. "Oh FUCK, are we dead?!"
  124. [15:44:06] * Noble_Heart snorts. "They mean to release us from our physical forms. To release our spirits from that which binds them, our bodies. To kill us, but to leave our spirits here, in this world." She frowns. "All living things are already spirits."
  125. [15:44:12] * CopyCat looks at herself through the eyes of her friends. "What? No! I'm not /actually a ghost. These are just shirts. It's like a nightmare night costume." She nods her head. Smart princuss is smart.
  126. [15:44:20] * Bookwright inspects himself. "I hope not. I was really enjoying the whole process of living. All that muscle and tissue and bone and associated metabolism, plus, who doesn't like respiration? Amiright?"
  127. [15:46:34] <Mare-Do-Well> 10"You are already beautiful, perfect souls. Unchanging. Unending. Eternal. Perfection trapped inside imperfect, rotting meat. Meat that is dying from the moment it is vomited forth from the womb."
  128. [15:47:12] * Golden_Dream does the look-around address. "What have I told ya'll about th' uteral metaphors?"
  129. [15:48:20] * Golden_Dream smacks her lips. "Startin' t' think ya'll got one a' them, uh. One of them Freund things. Everythin's a vagina or somethin'."
  130. [15:49:24] * Bookwright "I like a good metaphor as much as the next pony, but I could really do without the extremely graphic imagery."
  131. [15:50:05] * Bookwright idly wonders how Shatara feels to be once again trapped in a stable. Well, technically a vault, but... same diff.
  132. [15:50:49] * CopyCat har-umphs. "Well I happen to like my meat-flesh thank you very much!" She does a shirt-flinging twirl. "I think it's rather stylish~"
  133. [15:51:16] * Noble_Heart rolls her eyes and scowls. "We shall have no answers while we stay here. Let us continue." She moves to continue down the hall and check more rooms. "Their leader is the Mother of Balefire. Doubtless they arrange themselves as though an extended family. A loving, peaceful, wonderful embrace of death and eternity unchanging. But change is what makes us live. And We shall
  134. [15:51:17] * Noble_Heart not give Ourself over to such a meaningless thing as eternity without action or growth."
  135. [15:51:56] * Golden_Dream raises a hoof. "Speakin' of, ya'll know about Xero at all? Or th' whole memory wipe thing happenin' up top?"
  136. [15:55:10] * Mitzi nods approvingly at Noble_Heart, "Uh can't becum Alpha witut ur bodee."
  137. [15:55:58] <Mare-Do-Well> 10"She is here."
  138. [15:56:17] * CopyCat grabs a levitation-full of books (ones which seemed more interesting... or at least less filled with dull numbers) and then follows after Noble_Heart.
  139. [15:57:26] * Golden_Dream 's eyes go wide. "... Where."
  140. [15:59:38] * Bookwright "In the overmare's office, probably."
  141. [16:02:29] * Golden_Dream starts looking for the armory and the crew quarters first. And THEN SHE IS GOING TO DETONATE THAT BITCH INTO A MILLION PIECES AND THEN GO HOME TO CRY IN A PILLOW FOREVER.
  142. [16:09:04] <Mare-Do-Well> 10The corridor ends in a T-junction. The lettering on the walls, as interpreted by CopyCat, offer "Manufactory Level" in one direction, "Administration" and "Living Quarters" in another. Underneath the last, someone has left a notice reading, in Imperial zebra, "Meat Locker".
  143. [16:10:55] <CopyCat> "That's the spirit, Goldy!" the bouncing laundry-pile known as CopyCat cheers along with Golden_Dream's inner-thoughts.
  144. [16:11:29] * Shatara doesn't know whether to be horrified or hungry.
  145. [16:12:27] * Golden_Dream goes with "Living Quarters" first. If there's anyplace that would have a stockpile of food and goods...
  146. [16:15:28] <Mare-Do-Well> 10Before long, the hallway splits again. A stairwell leads up towards "Administration and Security", while a hallway continues on towards "Living Quarters" and "Supplies".
  147. [16:15:57] * Noble_Heart frowns at that last notice. Then snorts in a bit of a chuckle. "It seems that even these cultists have a sense of humor." She turned to follow Golden Dream down the corridor.
  148. [16:16:25] * CopyCat follows after Golden_Dream, shedding shirts as she goes. "Do you think the Quarters themselves are Living, perhaps?"
  149. [16:16:36] <Mare-Do-Well> 10Everything remains clean enough to seem unused. All the blue-tinted lights hum in unison like an alien choir. Not a single one flickers or is out.
  150. [16:17:07] * Golden_Dream goes for the security room first. Need more ammo before she can take on the return trip. "If they never had one, they never really lived."
  151. [16:26:59] <Mare-Do-Well> 10The trip up to the Administration level is unnaturally uneventful. Not a single living occupant is seen along the way.
  152. [16:27:36] * Mitzi wasn't expecting to find anyone alive. Keeps herself stooped and claws bared in case she discovered otherwise
  153. [16:28:59] * Golden_Dream looks around. "... Let's just, uh. Keep low." Yeah, that's a good idea. She sneaks about, looking for the security stash.
  154. [16:30:06] <Mare-Do-Well> 10Oval windows look into offices that appear to have been neatly vacated, as if during a fire drill. Terminals spill their glow onto worksheets that are slowly rotting away. A few planters sport the husks of long-dead plants. Automated sprayers still keep the lifeless dirt inside damp.
  155. [16:31:14] <Mare-Do-Well> 10One room, in stark contrast, is overgrown with ivy.
  156. [16:32:19] * CopyCat peers through the window at the ivy on the other side. "Ah," she comments. "This must be the living room."
  157. [16:33:05] * Noble_Heart looks up and around, ears flicking now and then. "Someone has put great effort into maintaining this place." She contemplates a bit more, then scowls darkly. "Or... Doing something else to it..."
  158. [16:34:31] <Mare-Do-Well> 10While the lack of living bodies may be unsurprising to any who have visited a doomed Stable, there is a stark difference in Vault LIV. There are no bodies here either. No skeletons. No smears of blood on the walls, or ruddy hoofprints. Vault LIV looks less like a haunted house than forgotten reality forelornly waiting for the new owners to move in.
  159. [16:36:20] * Golden_Dream keeps looking for the room what with the guns and ammo. Surely they had a room for their guns.
  160. [16:36:44] * Bookwright "Were there ever any zebras in this place? I'm starting to have my doubts. I mean, there were the journals... and these log sheets... but this place is impossibly clean. It's like everyone just stopped what they were doing and left."
  161. [16:37:25] <Mare-Do-Well> 10Ahead, the architecture changes ever so subtly. The windows become tinted, the glass crossed internally with wire mesh. And turret placements are visible on the ceiling.
  162. [16:38:54] <Mare-Do-Well> 10A heavy, tri-layered door slids shut as Golden_Dream approaches. "Our apologies, Ambassadors of Equestria. We cannot allow you to proceed into high security areas while armed with megaspell technology."
  163. [16:39:52] * Golden_Dream blinks. "But we don't...?" She blinks. "Wait, that thing's a megaspell? I thought it were jus' a big grenade!"
  164. [16:40:31] * Golden_Dream looks around. "... Well, y' mind if we get somethin' t' eat first, then?"
  165. [16:40:48] <Mare-Do-Well> 10A small door in the wall slides open, revealing a heavily-reinforced closet barely big enough for a pony. "Shatara, please deposit the megaspell device in the shielded safe before proceeding."
  166. [16:43:44] * Bookwright bites his lip. The prospect of giving up the megaspell device in the heart of let's face it, enemy territory, fills him with apprehension.
  167. [16:43:48] * Noble_Heart frowns, looking forward and contemplating what is going on here. "It is quite likely the original inhabitants did just that, Bookwright. This place was the target of the memory-erasing megaspell. Intended to prevent anyone here from continuing their work." She looks up at the turrets and contemplates what would be considered a 'high security area' to a group like this. "It
  168. [16:43:49] * Noble_Heart seems likely to Us that this place was abandoned, then repurposed by Xero as the Mother of Balefire."
  169. [16:44:56] * Shatara blinkblinks. "uh...do I get it back...?"
  170. [16:46:42] <Mare-Do-Well> 10"That would be up to you."
  171. [16:52:11] * Shatara digs through his pack and pulls out the cloudything, squeezing it a little. "This thing?"
  172. [16:52:45] <Mare-Do-Well> 10"Yes. Please deposit the megaspell framework into the shielded compartment."
  173. [16:58:29] * Noble_Heart looks down at it. "The remains of the Tabula Rasa, We would assume."
  174. [16:59:20] * Shatara looks between the cuddly little unassuming cloud and the rather untrustworthy looking compartment.
  175. [17:08:35] * Golden_Dream smacks her lips dryly. "... Hey, folks. I'll be right back. Gotta use th' lil' filly's room."
  176. [17:09:26] * Noble_Heart frowns at Golden Dream's claim. "We would suggest being careful. This place might be friendly for now, but We would not trust it."
  177. [17:12:17] * Bookwright "The word that comes to my mind is 'polite'. Politeness is free. A velvet sock over a steel horseshoe."
  178. [17:13:33] * Golden_Dream waves them off. "I'll be careful." Don't think about lighthouses don't think about- damnit now she's got the tremble again. "... Shatara, mind comin' with?"
  179. [17:13:48] * Golden_Dream coughs. "Not in th' restroom but, uh. Yeah."
  180. [17:14:52] * Shatara blinks a little. "...okay?"
  181. [17:32:17] <Mare-Do-Well> 10Golden_Dream leads Shatara to the nearest restroom. The room is a pure white, save for the blue lines between the tiles, and the slightly teal color of the faucets.
  182. [17:33:03] <Mare-Do-Well> 10The design however is starkly different, lacking the stalls that are familiar to ponies.
  183. [17:35:02] * Golden_Dream coughs, asks him to turn around. Does her business. Whispers some things to him and gives him a thing. Comes back.
  184. [17:35:23] <Mare-Do-Well> 10And like everything else, the room is disturbingly pristine.
  185. [17:36:00] * Shatara finds this rather awkward.
  186. [17:45:14] * Golden_Dream rejoins the others. "Right, um. Let's put the cloud in th' thing."
  187. [17:46:40] * Bookwright is very confused about what's going on, but trusts Golden_Dream's judgement.
  188. [17:47:31] * Noble_Heart blinks and frowns. "If you believe it is alright. We are still concerned, however."
  189. [17:48:30] * Shatara reluctantly puts the cloud in the thing.
  190. [17:50:02] <Mare-Do-Well> 10The shielded compartment door slides shut. "Thank you, Shatara." The doors to Security part, slipping into the walls, floor and ceiling.
  191. [17:50:31] <Mare-Do-Well> 10"Ambassadors from Equestria, you may proceed. Please continue to enjoy your tour of our facility."
  192. [17:51:58] * CopyCat sheds all the extra shirts she was wearing, becoming naked in the process. Well, except for the heavy crystal barding she was wearing. But undressing certainly happens... for certain definitions of the word.
  193. [17:52:51] * Shatara finds this also awkward.
  194. [17:52:56] * Mitzi grits her muzzle. While she didn't dislike being underground, this place was simply not dirty enough. It was unsettling.
  195. [17:53:23] * Bookwright hesitates at the threshold of the door for only a fraction of a second before stepping through. "Onward, into the breach..."
  196. [17:55:21] <Mare-Do-Well> 10Beyond, the group can see the ceiling turrets guarding doors with labels that CopyCat translates as "Security Office", "Armory", "Reclamation" and "Detention"
  197. [17:58:39] * CopyCat wiggles herself free of the final lingering piece of clothing and then steps through the door with Bookwright.
  198. [18:05:08] <Mare-Do-Well> 10"Welcome, Ambassadors." As the last of the group enters, the security doors slide shut behind them.
  199. [18:05:15] <Mare-Do-Well> 10--- End of Session ---
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