The Monolith [Closed]

The Monolith. That name was well known amongst scavengers and traders, the rumours of a large tower in the wastes, nopony knows what it was before the war. And nopony knows what's inside, but the rumours that come from such a place are horrifying. Any scavenger will warn somepony travelling in it's direction to stay clear, for hell itself lurks within it's walls. Rumours spread of the dead walking the halls, of spirits haunting the building, whispers in the dark, and most of all. A opening to the pits of hell itself in the buildings basement.

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This was the large building that Rad was now sat outside with Bake, she had agreed to come along with him and so Rad had stopped in Stableton on his way so the two could head there together. Rad had of course given directions to anypony that needed them, provided they didn't already know where the place was. He had told them when he was going to be there, so he figured they should turn up soon.

While he waited Rad took a look at the building, it was huge! Like something from the Manehattan ruins but more... Intact... It barely looked as though it had been through Armageddon. The windows were all shattered, and some of the building was crumbled at the edges. None of it had collapsed though, all 40 floors were still intact, or at least it looked that way from the outside. That alone unnerved Rad a little, it just seemed strange for the place to be so undamaged.

A few makeshift warning signs were in the ground near the entrance, telling ponies to keep out, along with some bones belonging to long dead ponies, and a griffon too. The sign above the entrance itself had been changed. Where it had originally said 'Morning Horizons Cosmetics.' It now simply said 'Hell.' The only reason Rad could tell what it said before was due to the faded outlines of the old letters, most of which were on the floor, some had been used in making the new name, the two 'L's simply being the original r's turned upside down.

Rad sat with Bake while they waited, content to idly stare at the building until the silence just got too much. "So... What do ya think we'll find in there? Must be a lot if noponies bin able to loot the place yet... Maybe lots'a caps, or guns, or... Uhh... Food!" Rad of course had no idea what the word 'cosmetics' actually meant, and as such was left to wild speculation of what the place contained. "I wonder why it's called The Monolith? Seems like a weird name for a tower."

Cuppa had been swiftly confronted by Rad, seemingly in a hurry to ask a question. He wanted to explore this Monolith place, she'd only really heard about it being a spooky place and that people didn't really come back. But she'd been in worse, she was sure. So she'd agreed to go along, but had to go and get ready first.

And so she followed the directions Rad gave her to The Monolith, and whilst a few she'd interpreted wrong, causing her to get lost once or twice, she arrived in due course. And she saw both Rad and Bake there once she did arrive.

She'd arrived in time to hear Rad's question as to why it was called The Monolith. So she piped up. "Well ah would guess it's cause o' one o' the definitions o' th' word monolith. Which ah could guess would be the definition sayin' how it's massive, uniform an' unmovable. And ya gotta admit, th' buildin' fits th' bill pretty accurately. Cause it ain't one giant, solid block o' stone ya could use fer sculptin'"

"Anywho, ah managed t' find this place, though ah got lost a couple o' times... But that ain't a problem, ah found muh way in the end." She followed up cheerfully as she then looked up at the Monolith and it's rather apt title of "Hell".

Then she spotted the "Cosmetics" word that was now lacking in actual letters and was but an outline. "Cosmetics? Ain't those like... make up an' such?"

Collateral met Rad at Stableton earlier, interested upon hearing about such a place. He was there on time, as usual, flying in and slowing down to land in front of the two. Looking up at the building, he read the name the building sported. 'Hell'. The building itself didn't look bad, but it was still hard for him to take in so big it was. Based on the rumors he had heard, it sounded pretty accurate, a place full of spooks and ghosts, how nopony comes back out alive. Of course, he didn't believe a bit of it, but he knew this place was one to tread lightly in.

Walking up and stopping by the two, he tilted his head slightly, giving them both an informal salute, his standard way of greeting others. He tugged on the sling of his small rifle, hoping he could get it replaced soon, and patted himself down. Everything seemed in order.

Bakewell shifted her hooves nervously as she stared towards the Monolith. The mare was very much not happy to be present, and though she was trying her best to hide it her body language completely oozed nervousness from the very seams. Her insides felt as though they were so knotted that, were something to suddenly and without warning painfully disembowel her, the entrails would look very much like a filly scout’s practice rope.

It wasn’t that Bakewell was completely spineless. The earth pony had faced a lot of things ever since leaving her stable. She had fought, she had killed, she had broken down repeatedly. Those who had known the mare long enough would realize that had she stood in this exact spot a year ago, Bake wouldn’t be even half as upset as she currently was. Because a year ago she had thought that ghosts weren’t real. A year ago she had thought that walking dead and vengeful spirits and doorways to hell were all stories parents told their foals for a quick scare.

But now she knew a place where such things were real. Where there really were monsters that slunk around and went bump in the night. There really were undead horrors that sat for hundreds of years, impaled and waiting for an innocent victim to get close. Not ghouls. Ghouls had been a shock, but they were different. They were just unfortunate victims that radiation chose to spare. The non-feral ones were even pretty easy to get along with. Sometimes.

The mare hadn’t yet found another place akin to the supernatural horrors of the town, but was constantly terrified that she would.

So why was she here at all? The cook had found herself asking the same question amid silent reassurances to herself that everything would be fine. She was here because of Rad. What if this place really was haunted, and Rad stumbled in without knowing the slightest thing about how to handle such things? She would never be able to forgive herself if a friend died because she had been too big of a coward to come alongside him. She had already directly killed one friend. She didn’t want to live with indirectly destroying another.

When Rad brought up conversation, Bakewell didn’t immediately answer. She was too distracted by the approaching Cuppa Beans. What- Who- Why? Why would Cee come? How was the unicorn so brave? Flashbacks of the brown mare being cleaved almost in two momentarily filled Bake’s vision. The beverage bringer unable to do anything but scream as a giant monstrous mockery of a pony stood above her, a blade larger than he stained red in his jaws.

Well. Now she had two reasons to go into hell. Bakewell had never really thought that there would be a possibility of being able to literally and truthfully say “I went to hell and back for my friends.”

“Um. Cosmetics. I think maybe that’s like… you know…” The mare muttered before moving her hoof to her face and moving it around in vague demonstration of rubbing something into it before realizing what she was doing and lowering her hoof again. “Um. Sorry. I guess I don’t really know either.”

And then there was a new pony. Bakewell tried to put on her best smell despite the fear pressing against her chest as the pony- a pegasus buck- landed and gave a small waved back when he saluted to the group.

Strangely enough, the largest first impression was the way she really hated the color of his coat and mane.

Kira really had no idea about all the rumours that did surround this place that she had just newly got word about when Rad found her back in Stableton, the town that she called home but still hurt her so much even if she avoided to show it by acting the roll of the town drunk, and the grey pegasai told her about the rumours that she had somehow not been able to hear or just simply ignored and that he was going to explore that place she actually offered to help him.

She could not really remember when the two of them meet but it was sometime ago and since then they had somehow from occasions work or travelled together for different reasons that was entirely their, but she had learned to trust him and would actually consider calling him her friend but maybe that was going to far. Still she wanted to call him that as she felt like that was something that she was lacking out here in the wasteland, just like back in the stable the gryphoness really had not any friends and if she had friends they were not close to her in anyway and she barely saw them. This was something that effected her more that she wanted to let on and tried to think about as much as she really should do.

Kira arrived a but later and noticed the group of poines that had gathered on what she guessed was Rads request, this was something that she understood a pre war building was still that and there was never any telling what was inside these buildings and this building did look really imposing. She reminded her self of the rumours that she had just newly got new of about this building and thought back to when she was in a suppressive hunted graveyard and it only ended up being some crazy ghouls with advanced tech and some creativity. Still she did not take things lightly as the gryphoness had seen things since then that she could not really explain that the wasteland that thrown at her and some of it did really scare her even if she kept telling her self that there was something behind it all it did not really help her mood.

Kira looked between the ponies after she had spotted Rad and arrived to the scene just barely missing something that was being said that she could not really get the context of. Most of these ponies did she know for earlier which did managed to calm her down some but also worry her if the thing she had heard was true, not that she was really afraid of things a head but she was more afraid of what she would do with ponies she knew was good ponies if thing would go really bad.

Being a bit of a scavenger himself, Crackle had also heard rumors about hell; of the supposed horrors and possible treasures inside. At first, he had dismissed then as just another wasteland hoax, perhaps a falsehood spread by an unscrupulous scavenger to deter someone from finding his hidden stash at best. However, after some investigation and a quick fly-over, he started to lend some credibility to the stories. There was obviously something that was keeping those curious enough to venture inside from reporting back, but he doubted it was a literal portal to hell. Probably just some sort of weird mutant, or maybe an automated security system.

He had been idly speculating about what he might find inside the ominous structure on his last trip to Stableton to sell the odds and ends he had accumulated when he had happened to (literally) run into Rad Boom. Upon discovering that the not-too-bright pegasus was going to attempt an expedition, Crackle decided to at least show up at the meeting point to see who else turned up. He wasn't about to venture inside by himself and become one of the many who never came back, but with a well-equipped team they could probably handle some exploration.

Gliding on the thermals high above the wasteland, his keen eyes picked out the group gathering below. He banked and tilted down, gradually picking up speed as he descended in a wide spiral, eventually swooping down and flaring his wings, his back paws touching down first and then dropping onto his talons in and admittedly somewhat flashy landing beside Collat. He nodded to the serious pegasus, recalling his ghoul-slaying skills, then to Rad before examining the rest of the group, neither of which he had seen before. The earth pony mare, armed with a set of electric hooves, looked to be a bit on edge. She seemed competent, though, if in need of a bit more exercise. When he looked to the Gryphoness, however, he felt a brief inexplicable flicker of both recognition and aggression. He furrowed his brow for a moment, wondering if he had ever seen her before, but all the came to mind was a hazy flicker of.. blue? He shook his head, clearing his thoughts and taking his eyes off the unfamiliar gryphoness to look over at the building. "...The sign is a nice touch. I wonder who went through all the trouble of putting it up... Probably just some greedy wastelander trying to scare everyone else off so he can loot the place himself."

Snapping the clip back into place, Mona would finish checking their 10mm as they trotted towards the Monolith. She was familiar with the location, and the many stories about it, and after seeing a few of the oddities of the wastes herself, they were enough that she never would want to explore the place. it would be far too dangerous and risky without a very skilled expedition.

Fortunately, Mona was familiar with several of the ponies who were signed up, knowing Rad and Cuppa from an earlier scavenging venture, and being Co-workers with Bakewell in the mercenary group they, Zestari, and Ashen had formed. She couldn't think of better ponies to attempt the impossible with.

As she neared the Monolith, she saw nearly the entire group had arrived ahead of her, and appeared to be talking, one of the topics being...Cosmetics? Mona was familiar with those, makeup, mane and coat shampoo, skincare, lipstick, and other useless junk that was worthless to most...but however, were in high demand in places such as her old home of Tenpony Tower. What was with this odd conversation choice?

"Might I ask why the topic of cosmetic items? I do believe that last I checked that this was the monolith and not Tenpony."

She would state, her words a clear attempt at a joke...that sadly sort of fell flat due to her monotone vocals.

Unlike Bake, Rad was completely unaware of Cuppa approaching, the pegasus paying far to much attention to the building. So as Cuppa spoke Rad jumped in shock, completely unexpecting of the sudden voice... Even though he knew Cuppa was coming. She at least explained what a monolith was, and cosmetics. "Well if there's that sorta stuff in there it could be valuable to somepony." Next to arrive was a pegasus that Rad had met in Stableton and who had agreed to come with him. He was also the only one of the expected group Rad had never met before, so as far as Rad knew that meant he'd have a new friend! The other pegasus didn't say anything however, just gave a salute that Rad returned with a smile.

Next he saw Kira turn up, Rad had worked with the griffoness before, and remembered when she had nearly hugged him to death at Nightmare Night too. He had been happy when she had agree'd to come along, Rad liked working with others he knew. Then next came the other griffon, Crackle. He laughed a little at his flashy landing next to Collat. "Showoff..." He remembered Crackle from the job with the crazy Steel Ranger pony, it was that job that had left Rad's wing slightly damaged, preventing him from flying for too long at a time. And last to arrive was Mona, the unicorn who had helped him out with some slavers, and a very stubborn ghoul. Rad heard her question, not recognizing the joke at all. He pointed a hoof the the faded remains of the old sign "This place used to have somethin' to do with cosmetics."

Now that it seemed everypony had arrived Rad stepped in front of the group, facing them with the tower to his back. "Well we're all here! All of ya know what the rumours are like of this place. So it should be a fun adventure to see what's really in here eh? I guess this is ya chance to change ya mind and leave, but otherwise lets get goin' and head on in!" Any of those paying attention to the building behind Rad as he spoke would notice that doors seemed to open of their own accord, as if the building itself was beckoning them inside. Any with sharp enough hearing (PER 7) Could swear they heard some faint whispers come from the doorway at the time. Any thoughts that such a thing was just the wind would be put down by the realisation that there is no wind blowing around the building. It was all very... Still.

Tipping his head back to Crackle, Coll's thoughts went back to the assignment he was hired to not too long prior. He, Crackle, and a small group of other were tasked with exterminating a pack of feral ghouls near Stableton. He could clearly see that the griffon still had the grenade rifle and the bandolier, a trade he had made with him for a bipod. To tell the truth, if Collat didn't know Crackle, he probably would've asked for a couple of caps AND the bipod for the grenade rifle and it's accessory, but Crackle was cool, and he asked for nothing more. Maybe if they saw eachother more in the future, they could become great comrades.

Collat (PER 9) could clearly hear those whispers coming from the depths of the building, leaning to the side to get a view through the door. No wind... What the hell is that? Maybe the rumors are true... He shook his head to stay focused, as the whispers alone wouldn't be enough to get him to believe everything, much less back out of the opportunity to check the place out.

Bakewell gave a smile as a third familiar face, Mona, joined the group. Talking to Mona could be a bit awkward due to the mare’s constant tone of voice, Bakewell let out a dry chuckle at the joke that she just barely caught. “Hey, Mona!”

And then Rad was off. Bakewell looked up at the building one last time, fighting the urge to turn and leave, to go back home to Stableton and hope that Rad, Cee, and now Mona Tones, came home safely.

Bakewell quickly redirected her stare to her hooves and kept them cemented there as she forced herself to follow a few steps behind Rad when he moved.

Crackle watched the doors swing open with a raised eyebrow. "Well, at least I don't have to pick the locks now..." He wasn't unsettled by the doors opening, as he had seen weirder things in his many years in the wasteland. The whispers [PER 9], however, sent a bit of a shiver down his spine, causing the tip of his tail to twitch. He did his best to push it off as something harmless, but it still unsettled him a touch. He unslung the grenade rifle from around his shoulders, popping open the breech and checking the load. Satisfied, he flipped it closed with a flick of his wrist and flapped into the air in pursuit of Rad. He hovered only a few feet above the barren wasteland dirt as he caught up to and kept pace with the pegasus, taking a look up at the building to see if there was anything else amiss.

Kira looked to Rad and then up to the imposing building behind him just as the pegasus started to move of to the building and what ever was suppose to be inside it. With the gryphoness following soon after she noticed how the doors of the building slowly opened them selves for them long before they even got close to the building, at first she did not really pay this any mind as it was just probably an coincidence something like the wind or some wildlife making the door open as they got closer. The gryphoness felt a chill run down her spine as she heard [PER 8] faint whispers coming from the door. Still she tried to pay all of this no mind as she kept walking after the rest and into the unknown.

Mona would look at the sign, her joke suddenly paving a slight path to potential opportunity in her mind.

"Interesting. If we should come across a large amount of such items, it might be worth looting them along with anything else. If Tenpony has not changed since my days there, then I imagine quite a few of the wealthier ponies there would be willing to pay well for them."

Once that was said, she would follow after Rad, stepping up beside Bakewell as she moved with the group.

Cuppa gave Bakewell a reassuring nudge, or at least attempted to until the doors opened up, her ears perking up as she heard something... (Perception 7) Hearing the whispers, yet not knowing if anypony else did, Cuppa's brain immediately interpreted them as something completely different due to a past experience, instead of hearing them as whispers, she was hearing them as pained, faded screams... Like the ponies trapped in all that barbed wire.

And thoughts of those lead to remembering... That monster.

The brown mare's legs locked for a minute, physically unable to move from where she was stood, her legs shaking noticeably.

Ah'm a tough pony now.. That don't scare me no more... Right? If he showed up now ah'd just take 'im out wi' muh shotgun, right? She thought to herself, though now she thought she could understand why Bakewell seemed so worried.

Rad finished his little speech, noticing that some of the group seemed to be looking behind him. The pegasus turned around himself to see what they were looking at, seeing the open doors. "That's... Weird... Those were closed right? When we got here?" He looked at the doors for a while, as if expecting them to close again. Meanwhile, as Crackle looked up at the building he would spot a small shape stood on the very top of the place, due to it being 40 floors up he was unable to discern exactly what it was, the the fact that it turned and walked out of sight confirmed it was indeed a living thing.

By the time the figure was gone Rad had decided the doors were planning on staying open, so he shrugged and trotted into the building. "Maybe it was just a motion detector or somethin'? Anyway let's get inside eh?" As Rad drew nearer to the doors the whispers seemed to stop for those that were hearing them, and once again the area fell deathly silent. As Rad entered the building, presumably followed by the others. He came upon a corridor with another set of doors at the other end, these were also closed. Nothing seemed amiss with the corridor itself, it looked like any other corridor in a desolate building, and as such Rad just trotted down it casually, wanting to to get to the door on the other side.

Following after Rad more cautiously, Crackle looked back over his shoulder at the rest of the party. "We're not alone. There's someone on the roof. This place is probably a trap, so keep your guard up." He wasn't too surprised by what he had seen; he had expected this place to be inhabited. He guessed it was a lookout for whatever ponies were occupying the building, probably either scavengers or bandits. Of course, there was also the possibility of an oh-so-rare peaceful community that just wanted to be left alone and had started the rumors to keep uninvited guests away.

Crackle entertained that thought until he reached the now-open doors, then dismissed it with a snort. Yeah, sure, he thought. They're peaceful, and I'm a flying donkey. He kept his grenade rifle at the ready as he paused briefly at the door. Assessing the situation before going in any further, he took a look for any dangers such as mines, turrets, enemies lying in wait, or anything else [PER 9] that might jump out at the pegasus trotting foolishly ahead.

Bakewell continued walking forward with Mona and Rad for a few moments until she realized something wrong. A look over her shoulder confirmed that they were quickly losing a member.

“Uh. I’ll be right behind you, Rad. Don’t touch anything.” She whispered before turning right around and trotting back to Cuppa. She didn’t want to be separated from the group, in fact the thought terrified her. But so did leaving her friend out here alone where any threat, ghost or not, could easily snatch her.

“Second thoughts, Cee?” She asked quietly, putting a leg gently across the brown mare’s back and attempting to block the unicorn from any judgemental eyes the party might have. They wouldn’t understand. They hadn’t been through what Cuppa had.

“I think I know what you’re thinking. I-it’s okay if you don’t want to do this. You don’t need to prove anything.” She continued, her voice lowering to a small whisper. “To be honest, I’m terrified as well. Just the thought of those… and the… and you…” The mare stuttered, unable to put the intentions into words, but she was pretty sure their meaning would get across anyway. “I want to go home. I want to get as far from here as possible and we haven’t even entered the building yet. But seeing what we’ve seen… I can’t risk the stories not being rumors, I can’t let Rad and Mona walk into another Silent alone, what if they don’t come out? It’s okay if you want to leave, In fact, A bit of me w-wants you to. You’ll be safer, you won’t have to worry…”

But the team was getting further away, if Bakewell let herself get separated she risked searching the area to find them alone. She really didn’t want that. The mare gave her country accented friend a quick hug before turning back to the building. “I’ve got to go. If you come with me I’ll do my best to keep you safe. T-though I made that same promise to Ember, and we both know how that ended up…” She said, letting a faint trace of a shaky smile before turning back towards the building at a full gallop, hopefully reaching the others before they got too far.

Cuppa saw the others simply heading towards the open door, the screams had faded, but Cuppa was still stuck for now... What if it was in there and it's giant blade was hungry for the mare's blood once more?

Bake was definitely trying to help her move, yet despite her admittance of being so terrified, the mare was able to move, unlike Cuppa herself. "Ah know ah dun need t' prove anythin'..." She had responded quietly. But they need sompony to fix 'em up, so ah can't let 'em down. She then thought to herself.

It was reassuring that Bake had come back to try and help, but Cuppa was still greatly regretting the decision to come along. Even if she'd encountered non-pony monstrosities and all sorts of other things, it didn't mean she wanted to encounter them again. Once was by far enough for some things.

Ah have t' go in, nopony else will be able t' patch up their wounds. An' if he's in there, then we're gon' need somepony to fix the others. She continued to rationalise in her head. By this time, Bake was saying she'd keep her safe if she came along.

"Yer far too kind..." She muttered after Bake started off towards the group, breaking into a fast walk to catch up as she managed to start moving. She was going to go in and come out braver even if it hurt her in ways she couldn't imagine.

"Sorry, ponies.. Ah got a lil'.... Distracted, thought ah heard summint. A few lil' noises ain't gonna scare me off, no way..." But a giant pony-thing wi' a huge knife would, surely. She instinctively thought after speaking, hesitating again and almost tripping over her own feet. She would conquer the issue if she had to, but she just didn't want to see that pony here right now, she'd be running for the hills if that were the case.

As she followed the others in, she was listening for his tell-tale heavy hoofsteps and the grinding of his knife on the floor.

Kira looked up at the huge monolith of a building as she heard Crackle point out that he saw someone up above the group, she sharpened her eyes to try to spot whatever the other gryphon saw somewhere above the building. But she did no see anything of what he said he saw so she just shrugged it off as she walked into the ominous opening that the doors left and the corridor that was behind.

"Hey Rad slow down." She said as the gryphoness started to walk faster after the pegasus as he wandered forward with no care towards the door. "I know Crackle say he saw something even if I did not see anything but could you at least take it somewhat easy you never know what is around her."

Collat hovered directly behind Crackle, flying backwards with his rifle raised to cover the rear. Unsure whether whoever was on the roof was friendly or not, he kept his senses sharpened and the safety off.
"It's alright Cuppa. You heard em, keep it tight, stay focused, stay alive." To tell the truth, he was getting nervous himself, something felt.... off, like something bad was going to happen. All the more reason to remain prepared.

When Bakewell ran back to check up on Cuppa, Mona would stop for a moment, waiting for the Earth Pony to catch back up. It hadn't escaped her notice how jumpy and worried Bakewell was being, and she doubted it was nessecarily just because of the rumours about this place.

Once her and Cuppa caught back up, Mona would start trotting along again, before turning her head to look at Bakewell.

"You seem nervous. Is everything alright?"

Rad heard Kira, and slowed down a bit. "I guess, though it's just a corridor, we probably need to be a little careful on the other side of this door though." He said as he approached the door, waiting for everypony to catch up before he cautiously opened it, peeking through the crack between the doors. Though Rad's eyes just went wide at what he saw, letting go of the door as it swung open to reveal a pristine reception area, completely untouched by the bombs, or the 200 years of degradation. Anypony would think the place simply didn't get blown up.

Rad trotted slowly into the room, looking around dumbstruck. "How..." The pegasus's thoughts were interrupted as a unicorn mare suddenly popped her head up from behind the receptionists desk across the room from the door the group had entered. She looked at the group from behind a pair of reading glasses. "Oh! Sorry can I help you? I was looking for a pencil I dropped and didn't realise you had come in. Do you have an appointment to see somepony?" The mare was well spoken, and she simply looked at the group as she waited for their answer.

Rad simply stared back at the unicorn, not sure if this was some trick, or perhaps the mare was just mad... Regardless he didn't really know what to say, his mind was still in awe at the pristine condition of the place, he had only seen things like this in pre-war photos and posters.

“I am, a b-bit.” Bakewell replied honestly as she slowed down to a trot next to Mona. “I’ve had bad experiences with supernatural stuff. You… wouldn’t believe me if I told you. I’ll be fine as long as we all stick close togeeethhhwooaah.” She said, words dissipating on her tongue as she took notice of the room they had just entered. It was like something she’d never before seen. Not even the Stables were similar, the design was completely different. How had this survived?

“it’s… it’s so clean.” The mare murmured breathlessly as her eyes shot from one corner of the room to another. She almost hated to lay a hoof on the floor.

“So pretty...”

Entering through the door like the others, Cuppa froze to a halt upon discovering that the interior was perfectly clean and tidy. It wasn't so bad, see? Nothing big and nasty, nothing wielding all sorts of ungodly weapons intended to slice her in two, nothing of the sort.

Stepping further in as she looked around, Cuppa would give a confused look before trying to spot anything with her peripherals that they could use as a story, perhaps a list of guests who had made appointments.

At least there wasn't anything scary in here yet, she was glad it was only disconcerting compared to horrifying.

(Perception 7, trying to sneak a peek at any sort of guest list to use as the entire party's cover story for being here.)

Collat was startled by the mare's voice and whipped around to see a perfectly pristine, intact room. It was so.... shiny. He hadn't seen anything like it since he left topside. Not taking any chances, he aimed his rifle at her and let the others do the talking for now.

He was less relieved to find it was just a mare than he was confused about it, and wondering how the hell this place looked so well-kept.