Mansion on Haunted Hill [Closed]

"Talking plants in the greenhouse, Greeaaat. Bet they where saying things along the line of "feeed me." Ale thought before nodding at the library idea. "Well why we still standing around? Lets go see what we can learn." Ale said as he recalled how to get to the stairs from here. Hopefully there would be another map on the second floor that would lead them to the library. "Stick together everypony...and griffin. Don't want to get separated by more magic."

Kestrel grunted, and began to follow. He would say nothing until the trip was through, or until something happened. And one would have a sure bet on Kestrel noticing something, his senses were still on high alert after the Greenhouse after all.

(Per 8, watching and listening, for anything to go wrong or anything to happen.)

Dash gritted his teeth at the mention of apparently talking, fighting plants in the greenhouse. He had seen the injury Kestrel had earlier, and he could only imagine if somepony less combat intuitive had wandered into the same situation. Not that it was like there was no possible way for anypony to defend themselves as well or run away. At least, that's what Dash thought.

He got back to his hooves and followed along as the rest of the group agreed that their current objective should be to go to the library and see if they could figure out what was going on. Not that Dash thought that magic books with spells powerful enough to perform the encounters his fellows and he complained about would be lying around in the library, it felt good enough to be switching into mission-mode rather than paranoid-superstitious-mode.

[All Guests on the 1st floor]

As memory served, the quickest route to the East Wing was through the Dining Room once again, avoiding the clearly dangerous Greenhouse and all the possible defenses in the Main Hall. Their objective clear to them, they proceeded towards the East Wing before the duo of Rad Boom and Deus Crux managed to reach and address them.

Their passage through the Dining Room went without incident. Deus and Rad had left the room ultimately vacant, although if they had spoken to them, Rad and Deus would have confirmed that Aquilinus had been in the room still enjoying his food when they had left not more than a minute or two ago. As the group reached the East Wing, another chill set into the air. The staircase that they found appeared to only go up one story, instead of going up all the way to the third floor, where the Library had been stated to be.

[Cuppa]

Sooth Sight smiled cheerfully as Cuppa said that she had not only found something that had interested her, but that she had managed to actually learn a spell from the book, "Ah, that's wonderful." Sooth Sight said, "I must say that I had been disappointed when I had met Bane Silver and all she really knew was how to levitate a weapon and twirl it in a deadly fashion. I heard somepony else in here. Was there?"

Ale led the group through the first floor of the mansion. The pony was going of what he could remember from the map but he had a good memory, after all he was always having to memorizes caravan routes and settlement layouts. When they reached the dinning room ale let out a soft curse at the absence of Aquilinus. "Damn it where did that zebra get to?" Finally they got to the stairs and the unicorn felt another draft. "Heh proper home maintenance." he said as he jabbed at trails with his elbow. Sadly the stairs only went up to the second story. "Looks like we need to find another way up on the second floor. Bet you a hundred caps it's on the other end of the mansion, and somethings going to get in the way." The unicorn guessed grimly. "Everypony stay frosty."

Having been silent most of the way, Kestrel made note of Aqui's apparent venturing. No doubt he'd wandered off to sedated his curiosity much like Kestrel himself had done short while earlier.

Hopefully that went better than it had for the griffon.

When arriving at the staircase Kestrel furrowed a brow. That...that was different, originally this staircase had gone up to the third floor, not the second, and while this house was quite impressive...but the griffon doubted that 'Silent, exchangeable staircases' was a common feature on such constructs.

"Library is on the third floor...and this was the staircase we took before." Kestrel corrected Ale, looking at the stairs suspiciously. How had this happened? Following the little bucks advice, Kestrel looked around for a map plaque.

Time to see if Ale was right about the location of the next Staircase up.

Cuppa nodded slightly. "Yeah, Flash is further in." She briefly explained as she looked around, partially wondering where Flash was. "An' ya can' expect everypony t' be good at magic from the very beginnin'. They gots t' learn it sometimes."

"But on th' bright side, ah can use the teleport spell now." She added with a wide smile.

"Shifting staircases is a bit much for a simple house's frame. I don't care how wealthy the prewar ancestors were, that kind of tech wizardy is the kind I'd expect to see in a ministry building." Trails checked the clip of his .45. "Something tells me Mr. Sight's family was a bit more involved in our nations government than he lead on. Which means we need to broaden the range of what we're expecting to every-fucking-thing."

[Ale, Dash, Trails and Kestrel]

Kestrel and the rest of the group approached the plaque with the map on it. On it they saw that The layout on the second floor was significantly different than it had been on the first floor. Even on the map, the level seemed to be effectively a maze of doors, rooms and hallways. However, the hallway they were didn't appear to have all that many doors or hallways leading off of it. Infact, there were no doors or hallways leading off of it. Even the staircase they had just left had vanished, all aside from a single door over at the far end of the hallway.

[Cuppa]

-Will post later-

Deciding that this was a situation where 'fuck it' was the only appropriate response Trails lit a smoke and watched the smoke curl away from his nostrils.

"So either: A. we're all in the midst of a collective magical psychosis, which would likely be broken by the fact we're aware of it, unless he's just that good, or B. we're in a fucking ministry building." The stallion sighed and shook his head. "We may just be out of our league here."

Ale stared at the plaque on the wall. "This is going to suck isn't it?" the unicorn asked nopony in particular. He turned and headed back to the stairs. "This is a bad idea i say we go...back...down..........fuck." The pony trailed off as he saw that the stairs where now gone. "Well shit. Looks our options are door or door." Ale said as he pointed to the lone doorway at the end of the hall. "This is totally a trap, um, Who wants to go first?" He asked as he took an involuntary step back

Dash instantly looked back, following everypony else's gaze back to the solid wall where there had previously been a staircase. Dash's eyes widened, he went over to the wall and put a hoof against it, his breath quickening, "No.." Dash breathed, "How could that've-. What the hay is going on here!?" He looked to the other three members of their group, "Th-that staircase had been there seconds ago and we were standing just by it! How could it just vanish!?" When it became clear that the door on the opposite side of the hallway was their only option, Dash shuffled backward a bit as well. Dash took a few deep breaths, "We-. We at least need a plan." he said, getting out his .45 again.

(4 AP, drawing .45 Pistol)

Kestrel, much akin to Trails, showed all the emotion of a lump of rock as he studied the scene unraveling before him. There was no doubt in his mind now that something was indeed toying with him and the others, and the illusion had long gone past anything he'd ever seen before.

Carefully his mind mulled over what to do, his eyes scanning over the plaque before him and committing it to memory. It was only then, after he was sure of his way, that he moved on.

"Plan's simple. Access, Adapt, and overcome." Kes said as he walked calmly past the others, and right up to the only door available; reaching up and placing his talons on the knob. Whatever it was doing all this, was going to keep doing it until they found it, and until then they were going to have to play its games.

With plan in mind, Kestrel gave the knob a twist then tried to open the door; making sure to keep his guard up just in case something was indeed waiting on the other side.

(Opening door, all AP dedicated to dodge if need be. Per 10 to check for anything weird about the next hall/room/discotek should nothing go wrong.)

[Cuppa]

Sooth Sight blinked in surprise at the skill Cuppa had revealed to have learned, "Teleportation, you say?" He said, impressed. "I suppose you just practiced it earlier, so I would not tax you to ask you to perform it again, but such a feat is quite an accomplishment." He looked at the book which Cuppa was holding.

"Ah, a book by Twilight Sparkle!" he said, "Her methods and spells were always some of the most difficult to master. Personally, I think she would have done better continuing her research on magic. You know, not for war efforts... Well, we would all have liked that, I suppose." He then sighed heavily, "Not much use in discussing that, I suppose."

[Kestrel, Dash, Trails and Ale]

Kestrel opened the door. Beyond was not some horrific beast from the astral realm. Nor even a horrific sight of all their friends, murdered. No, instead beyond the door was a pitch black scene, sort of like the one trails had encountered upon bucking down the door to get into the bathroom where it appeared Winter Bell had shut herself in. However, there was something approaching the door through the darkness. The sound of a chugging steam engine and the shine of a bright forward light denoted that the thing approaching them rapidly was infact a steam locomotive.

At first, Kestrel had been a bit confused at what he saw. Void's were not typically parts of your average home after all. His confusion was quickly replaced however by shock, and then panic as the light of a train lit up the hall and the roar of a steam engine filled the space beyond.

Had this been any other building, had the circumstances been any different, had Kestrel not just been subjugated to fighting overgrown weeds, he may have just stood his ground.

However, he had suffered this very criteria. He knew that no matter how powerful these 'illusions' were. They could, and would cause physical harm if given the chance. So, like any sane griffon would do in this situation, Kestrel took a breath, grabbed the door, slammed it shut, and did everything he could to otherwise get the FUCK out of the way while barking a quick order at the ponies behind him.

"MOVE! NOW!"

(Slamming the door and rushing back towards the others to get out of the way of the Cole-Train here.)

Ale had drawn his .45 in preparation for whatever might lay beyond the door. "A black nothingness, huh." The unicorn though. Then he heard a familiar sound. The sound of a train, much like the one at applelosa, was approaching. "No." Ale said in disbelief. Then he saw the headlight. "No that's not possible. That's just not fair!" Ale dashed to the right and pressed himself as flat against the wall as he could. If that train was real then all he could do was hope it wasn't wide enough to cut the pony in half.

(Trying my best to avoid the 10,000 tons of steel barreling towards me.)

Giving a brief nod, Cuppa sheepishly smiled. "Yeah, muh horn is a lil' achey from tryin' it. Th' biggest surprise is that ah got it first try." She explained, somewhat swelling with pride as she was complemented. Though during Sooth's small lament over the topic of Twilight Sparkle and the war.

"Ah kinda agree, if the ministries an' all o' that hadn't started, maybe there'd be a nicer world t' live in, eh? But also, if it weren't fer tha' none o' us would even be 'ere due t' th' circumstances which caused us." She said before giving a meagre shrug. "All we can do is make do wi' what we got an' try t' fix all o' this th' best we can. It may not even come t' bein' in our lifetimes, but ah'm sure Equestria will fix itself."

Trails was not too terribly shocked at the sight of the void, more disappointed than anything. After all, Soothe had already done this trick earlier on him, back when he discovered Bell was missing, this was just unimaginative. Then he saw the train, a little cartoony, but better. Unlike everypony else he didn't flip shit and run, though, this was just an illusion. A masterful example of illusion magic, sure, but no more real than a filly's imaginary friend.

Instead of running or diving for cover Trails just took a draw off his smoke and mumbled, "Six out of ten."

Dash, at first, didn't move a muscle at the sight of what was beyond the door. Not really due to bravery like Trails, but because he was actually so scared, his legs and wings had locked up, 'Buck me, buck everything!!! Why. Won't. I..." Dash at last overcame the initial shock and tore off upward. He flipped himself around and landed on the ceiling, the reversed flapping of his wings keeping him in his gravity-defying pose and position. Nonetheless, he braced himself, closing his eyes and crouching as 'lowly' as he could to the ceiling.

From what had happened to Kestrel, there was no reason to assume that anything they saw here that seemed supernatural couldn't hurt them. There was a chance, but Dash didn't want to take it.

[Ale, Trails, Dash and Kestrel]

Three of the four scattered to anywhere but the center of the hallway in which Happy Trails, Great Khan and Apostolov officer, stood. Steadfast and stoic. Ready to prove that the locomotive which could very well still be barreling toward the door was not real. At first, it seemed like Trails' gambit would pay off, as at first it didn't sound like the train was on its way anymore. Until the door blasted off its hinges.

In the rough shape of the cowcatcher on the front of the locomotive, the bottom of the door busted outward, the bottom hinge standing no chance. The top hinge failed without significant protest as well, causing the door to fly toward Trails bottom first, like a ramp. But the door fell flat against the floor mid-flight and instead of slamming into the Earth Pony, simply swiped his hooves out from under him. The part of the door which had been beaten outward also caught his stomach, though it failed to gore him, its kinetic energy successfully transferred and sent the normally earthbound pony into an airborne somersault. He landed on his stomach , facing the doorway, which no longer had the scene with the train in it, but instead to a normal hallway.

(Trails HP: 353/393)

[Cuppa]

Sooth Sight looked at Cuppa and smiled, "It is heartening to know that there are ponies like you beyond these walls." Sooth Sight said, "After watching all those ruffians like the Chosen, the slavers and the Steel Rangers assail eachother in such manners, I sometimes considered giving up hope. Perhaps some day soon Silver and I could visit Stableton, for a bit of a tour perhaps? I promise you that she'll behave herself if we do. Of course, I'm content going by myself as well."

Ale blinked a few times as his mind tried to process what he witnessed. He looked between the door on the far side of the hallway, then to the open doorway that now led to another hall, and finally to a rather displaced trails as he lay on the floor. "Did. Did that just happen?" The unicorn asked as he peeled away from the wall and trotted up to trails. " Eh Six out of ten for the somersault, but a two for the landing." He said smugly as he offered a hoof for the large earthpony to pull himself up with. "You okay?" He asked one trails was up on his hooves.

Kestrel had stopped about halfway down the hall and turned back after the initial door slam. It had set him up well for the show that followed, Trails coming to land a few feet in front of him.

So, these 'illusions' were real after all. Well...this was going to be intresting.

Leaving Ginger to help Trails up Kestrel moved back to the now open hallway he'd been hoping to go down before. Wary to continue the large griffon stared down its length and attempted to spot anything out of place.

Assuming nothing was, he'd move up, slowly, never once letting his guard fall.

"Come on, we need to keep moving."

(PER 10, checking the hall for anything suspicious. Keeping up my guard as I move."

"'S jus' how th' world is now. All it takes fer somepony to be up in arms 'bout summint is a bad word or a single missed thank you an' everypony is back t' shootin' one another." Cuppa rationalised, then giving a frown. "Ah'm simply lucky ah was brought up humbly by muh ma n' pa." She added as an afterthought. "If everypony were brought up better, the wasteland would be a lil' bit less wastey."

At Sooth's suggestion of a tour, Cuppa pondered for a moment before giving a slight nod. "Ah guess no pony would mind either case, but ah'd suggest askin' somepony who was part o' Stableton from th' start, they might know how th' rest o' th' folk'll react to yerself an' Silver bein' around. We dun often have fancy-dressed ponies around, ya see."

Dash heard the door be hit and he instantly closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He then opened them when it didn't sound at all like a train was now running down the hallway. He looked down to see that there wasn't much more than Trails now lying on the ground down on the floor. Dash flipped himself about again and descended to the floor, "Everypony alright?" Dash asked. He had been the only pony to flee upward.

He looked on into the now missing door, which opened onto a normal hallway rather than the train, "Thank Celestia that thing didn't actually come all the way through to, well... Reality, I guess." Dash said. He saw that Kestrel was encouraging that they keep moving. Dash had to agree and followed Kestrel back through the doorway into the next hall.

Trails was admittedly surprised by the door blowing off its hinges and flying towards him. He was more surprised when a small door was able to trip him up and drive itself into his gut with that much force. However, surprised and convinced are two very different things.

After pulling himself up the earth pony began thinking on how what just happened, well, happened. His mind came to two conclusions: explosives and magic. Both were well within the bounds of plausibility and so he was less concerned and more impressed. Though irritation was definitely there too.

"This unicorn's good, juggling powerful illusions and telekinesis without showing fatigue yet."