Mansion on Haunted Hill [Closed]

Rad looked as everyone has started going their separate ways. "I guess findin' our room for the night might be a good start, make sure it ain't already occupied by some ghosts or somethin' eh?" He said before looking at the map plaque, and heading off in the right direction. "Comin'?" He asked, looking back at Deus. Though from looking at the map he reckoned he might easily forget the way to his room, it wasn't that complex, but Rad had terrible memory.

"You don't!?" Dash growled, unconvinced, "I've talked to him about you twice, once in Grad and then just a few minutes ago!" His eyes zipped over to Trails. How in the-... Perhaps he had heard the gunshots from the next room over. Who wouldn't? But that didn't explain why Ale seemed to be acting like he had went to go get Trails for whatever reason. What could Trails have to do with this? If Ale wasn't likely to be a slaver, Trails was flat-out improbable. It all made no sense, irritating Dash even more, "Didn't you hear the two gunshots earlier!?" Dash said to Trails, "Ale decided to pull a heel face turn and tried to shoot me! He said he was working for the slavers who kidnapped my brother!"

Ale's ears shot up when dash accused him of being a slaver. "What!" he blurted out. "I never said that! I'd Shot a slaver long before i'd work with one." Ale was confused. "And how are you still alive, when I left this room you where hanging from the ceiling by a spear and now there's not even a trace of blood." The unicorn raised his voice. "Is this some kind of sick joke mittens?"

Deus found the pegasus' humor amusing, but made no sign of such. She still wasn't sure she trusted him, he was being too... sociable. Accepting. Ponies weren't like that unless they were leading you into a trap, or had a weapon ready to beat you with. She stared at him blankly, as usual. She hadn't been paying enough attention to know which way they should be heading, so she was going to wait here until he made a move or until daybreak. Having left her package at the table, she didn't even have a map.

[Kestrel]

Now that he had defeated the plant-creatures, the shadows stopped swimming and the general air in the room felt more natural. After placing the scythe and Weed-X back where he had found them, finding the East side of the Greenhouse seemed to come sooner than expected. The size of the Greenhouse now seemed appropriate rather than seeming very large.

In the mess of tangled branches that the two plant-creatures Kestrel had slain, he found nothing of note other than a dull, drained-looking dark red gemstone where each's head used to be.

---
[Cuppa]

As Cuppa turned to the next page in the spellbook by Twilight Sparkle and found something interesting. Although Twilight had gone on about the basics and principles of magic in the book. She hadn't yet gone into that much detail about how to actually perform some spells, until Cuppa turned to this particular page.

The self-mass medium range position translation spell...
More commonly known as, the Teleportation Spell.

The book explained in great detail how to perform the spell, and to cuppa's surprise, based on her own knowledge of her abilities. It looked like she would be able to handle performing it.

Cuppa was gradually finding her reading to be slightly grating on her patience, as whilst the spells were explained, they weren't explained in enough detail for an attempt to try and cast them.

And then she turned a page and saw something that both shocked and excited her. So much so that she let out the mother, sister, aunt and grand mother of all gasps upon her discovery falling from her seated position as she did so and flailing a little... Of all spells she could find to learn, it was a teleportation spell.

Recovering with enough time, Cuppa dragged herself up onto her hooves and looked at the page, reading it in detail before she so much as even attempted to cast it. Just to be safe she even put herself through all the steps as slowly as she could to ensure she got it all correct, even picking a safe, easily visible location so she could picture it right.

(Magic 66 - Attempting teleport spell to move to the other end of the book shelf.)

Trails' eyes followed the flow of the conversation getting more and more confused as it went on. These two ponies in his company we're both very convinced the other had done something they wouldn't do without the influence of Discord himself. With a sigh the stallion took a step into the room and gestured at Dash to lower his gun.

"Something's going on here, and trying to kill each other aint gonna help anything. Now judging on the fact that you aren't currently dead, and there's no blood in sight, Ale had a pretty vivid hallucination. I'm wagering that you had one of your own, tailored to incite a severe and violent emotional response. Now if the orchestration of these tricks had been a bit better with its timing one of you'd be dead." Trails paused to take the now chewed up cig out of his mouth and toss it aside.

"Seems to me we need to look at the facts we've been presented very carefully. Stableton is an infamous target for both raiders and slavers, being a goldmine of stabletech with very few capable ponies protecting it and all. The group brought here just so happens to consist of both the most combat experienced residents, past defenders, and otherwise necessary ponies for that town's survival. We were all stricken of our arms and armor by our host at our arrival, only to be later rearmed with 'special' .45's. Then we find out that one of our hosts is a 'former' raider. Now you may see these all as random and useless tidbits, but I see a large puzzle coming together." The stallion paused to let his point sink in, let the others catch up before he nailed it home.

"We've been brought here to be systematically eliminated by the trickery of a magically gifted raider so that Stableton's defenseless."

His job done Kestrel snagged both of the strange little gemstones he'd found in the remains of the strange plant like creatures.

He was no scholar, but the griffon was quite sure that mineral stones were not a typical part of a creatures anatomy. Especially when that stone looked...drained, as though it were some form of 'energy crystal', and located where the brain should have been.

Maybe he could find something on these little things if he went to the Library?

Slipping the stones into the pocket of his jacket Kestrel turned and began to move, passing by the plants in the recently refreshed air; sharp eyes looking around carefully as he moved to exit the place and move on into the main house beyond.

The recently cut flesh of his leg hissed a bit at him as he began to pass down the halls. "Hmm...might need to patch that". Looking around for another plaque, Kes located the rough approximation of his room. It wasn't far from here to there...yeah he could afford it.

Picking up the pace again Kestrel began padding silently down the halls towards his room. Hopefully he'd be able to get there without any trouble.

Just in case, Kestrel was keeping his eyes and ears open as he walked.

(Moving towards my room from east greenhouse, eyes and ears open as I go towards mah room.)

Dash's entire face turned red when Ale used the name he had said his mother had given him as a colt. As if shooting at him wasn't bad enough, now the pony had to go an embarrass him as well!? What the hay, world!? Just as Dash was about to be resolute to blow Ale's brains out, Trails began talking. The Pegasus buck's eyes flicking over to the earth pony as he explained how the situation seemed from his perspective. Dash had just enough patience left to consider Trails' explanation and to him he realized it made sense.

Dash took in a deep breath and slowly put away the pistol, "Alright. I'm... I'm sorry." Dash said, still feeling angry, but now more because he knew he had been somehow tricked. He took a few breaths as he forced himself to calm down, "So if Bane Silver is orchestrating this to make Stableton weak, it seems like a waste of effort. No Stable I've heard of came standard with 30 mils. According to Sooth Sight the Steel Rangers even tried breaking in here."

Ale let out a sigh when dash put his gun away. "Thank celestia that's over." Trails seemed to be onto something. "Maybe that bitch just gets off on toying with others I mean she is a raider after all." the unicorn thought aloud. He turned towards the door. "we should probably find the others and make sure their alright." The unicorn mentally recalled the map on the wall and where everypony said they where going. "I think rad and deus are just down the hall."

"Bane Silver isn't the one behind this if you ask me. No I bet it's Sooth Sight. While Stableton may not have 30 mil canons, it does have plenty of stabletech. A water talisman is worth it's weight in gold, a lot of ponies would sign over their souls for one." Trails paused to turn to Ale, nodding in agreement.

"We need to get everypony we can together, we need to find out where he's put our missing friends, and then...well I'm sure our host's will be more than happy to explain things when they've got a gun in their faces."

[Dash, Trails, Ale, Rad, Deus, Kestrel]

For now, it seemed as though reality had stabilized itself. As Kestrel entered the hall from the far end opposite the way the group had entered it the first time during the tour. The door was open to Dash and Ale's room and from within the griffon could hear the familiar voices of Dash, Ale and Trails in slightly raised, arguing tones. When he went closer, he caught onto the latest few sentences Trails said, about how he suspected that it might be Sooth Sight who was orchestrating the strange going-ons some of them had been experiencing so far.

On the opposite end of the hall, Deus Crux and Rad Boom walked in. It seemed as though whatever was causing this was leaving the two ponies alone. At least for the time being.

[Cuppa]

Cuppa's magic swirled around her in smooth arcs of arcane light, quickly but gradually surrounding her entire body, and in a burst of light, she vanished momentarily from the material plane. For a split second, Cuppa would see a scene akin to sci-fi movie. All tinted in the same color as her magic, was a scape of stars with dazzling splashes of color like nebulae and aurorae. However, Cuppa hardly had time to truly appreciate this look into magical subspace as she reappeared back in the mansion library exactly where she had intended.

(Magic Roll success)
(Perception roll success)

Catching the last of Trail's conversation Kestrel slowed in his passing, turning to come to the door. Had something happened hear too? If so, what?

Walking to the door Kestrel grunted to announce his presence before speaking up.

"Something happen here as well?" the griffon asked gruffly looking over everyone in the room.

Cuppa felt and observed the magic as she worked it, a wide smile creeping across her face before her world was tainted a red-ish brown for a spectacular moment. She was in awe of what she was managing to do in the first try, moreso as she appeared in her intended location and squealed with glee.

Doing spells right was something most unicorns appreciated.

"Yes yes yes yes! Ah got th' spell first try!" She happily cheered before trotting back to the desk and picking up the book with her magic. "Ah wanna keep you, in case ah can learn anythin' more." She most definitely seemed happy with her discovery at least. Now she couldn't wait to show the others what she'd learned. Though her horn was a little numb from trying such a spell. Floating the book next to her as she walked, Cuppa looked around for a moment. "Flash, ya still 'ere?"

"Ale saw Dash die, Dash says Ale confessed to being the slaver responsible for his brother's capture, and Bell's missing. Oh and I've discovered I need to cut back on drinking." Trails answered, turning to the big griffon as he spoke. "Obviously Dash isn't dead, and Ale being a slaver is about as likely as me being a non smoker, so this vivid hallucinations must have some source. Logic dictates it's Sooth Sight and his motivations are obvious from there on. I take it you had a little excitement too."

"Greenhouse needed a bit of weeding." Kestrel said holding up his leg for all to see. It'd stopped bleeding by now, but the wound was still there.

The griffon set his leg down soon enough and began to ponder over what had happened here. That was a rather elaborate description, a dual sided illusion...the griffon had never heard of such a elaborate spell or ruse before. At least not one with magical ties to it.

The Wastes was full of surprises though.

"Sounds like our host is just full of party tricks." Trails remarked at the wound. "First things first, we get back into one unit, we get our gear, we get out. Granted those big guns are going to make that last bit tricky, so we'll need to severe their power supply, which if I had to guess would be in the basement. Which means we get to do a little exploring. And if we just so happen to cross the music room on our way out and those Les Pauls get rescued, well that's just icing."

Kestrel grunted as he took in the information, the gears in his head turning slowly as he too attempted to come up with a plan. Trails had done has he was used to, making a military action. In a house like this though...well that might not have been best.

"A building like this? No doubt it has security designed to realize if we are behaving out of context. For all we know this the second we say the wrong thing those cannons would activate." Kestrel said with his usual cold calm.

"If anything we need to ask first, and strike later."

"I understand your concern," Trails conceded, "but we can't exactly go asking if he's trying to slowly kill us off one by one and expect a truthful answer. And doing as instructed seems to be leading us all to our mutual deaths. I'm open to suggestion, but whatever we do we need to act soon."

Ale listened to the earthpony and griffin discuss their course of action. For a moment he wondered what kes meant by "weeding" and what he could have encountered in the green house to call for such a pun. Still this was not the time to ponder. "I have to agree with trails here." the unicorn said. "If it is one of our host then we need to act now." He stopped and thought for a moment. "As much as I want to get shot glass back, I don't really want to tangle with those cannons. I don'y know if ya'll have noticed but there's plenty of wall art around that we could use as weapons." Ale announced as he remembered the tribal spears and golden service rifles he'd seen around the mansion. "Plus we still have the .45s he gave us...unless he loaded them with blanks." Ale pulled out the personalized pistol and checked it and it's ammo to ensure that it was indeed real

(PER-7 checking .45 to make sure it is working and loaded with real bullets.)

Dash sat on his rump and brought a hoof up to his mouth as he thought hard about what they were all saying now. That Sooth Sight was behind this made a little bit of sense, he guessed. But that hardly explained how the buck had been able to cast such powerful illusion spells. To effectively separate his and Ale's realities even though they were both standing within a few feet of eachother. It was a detail that Dash felt compelled to bring up, "If he's the one able to effectively isolate reality for Ale and I, and do something in the Greenhouse... How by the Goddesses did he do that? He would have needed to be at least a few dozen meters from here or the Greenhouse." Dash explained, "No unicorn on the planet can perform even telekinesis at that range. That I've seen anyway."

[Cuppa and Lightning]

Cuppa got no answer from the no-longer visible blue pegasus for a few moments, but then his slightly distant voice could be heard, "Yeah Cuppa. I just found a book I was interested in. There was a noise a few seconds ago, was that you? Are you alright?"

As Lightning answered, the door to the Library, Cuppa and Lightning had taken to get into the room in the first place, creaked open once again. Through it came Sooth Sight. Who sighed heavily. He looked around and spotted Cuppa over by one of the shelves and desks, levitating a book and looking pleased with herself, "Ah, hello Ms. Cuppa Beans." Sooth Sight said, trotting over to Cuppa, "I predicted some ponies would be interested in coming up here. Knowledge is a valuable resource, after all." He looked at the book Cuppa was levitating, "Did you find something that interested you?"

"I was fighting talking plants in the Greenhouse, not Ponies. The point stands however." Kestrel explained quickly. But the rest of Dash's point stood firm. An illusion spell, especially one as strong and complex as the one described, was well beyond the means of most mortals.

As was forming strange, annoyingly loud, plant demons.

"If we are going to move, so be it. Let's stop by the library first though, might be something on illusion spells there. If we can learn how they work, we can learn how they fail too."

"S'okay, Flash, tha' was me." Cuppa called back as she heard the door open, looking over to see Sooth Sight entering whilst greeting her.

"Evenin' Mr. Sooth Sight." She replied before nodding and giving a confirming "Mhm" in response to his inquiry into if she'd found anything. Then lifting the book up to show the cover, Cuppa smiled. "Ah found this amongst th' shelves an' thought it'd come in use. Then ah found a teleportation spell in it, there were instructions on how t' cast it an' everythin'. Ah got th' spell t' work jus' right too, now ah jus' wanna see if there's anythin' else ah can learn from th' book whilst ah'm 'ere."

"Something tells me Kes wasn't suffering from an illusion."Trails reasoned. "I've seen taint do some funny things to plant life, specially if you go near Maripony. Illusion magic is just one piece of this puzzle, but I agree that getting some more dirt about them would be handy."