Fallout Equestria: Pie and Predation

[DigoDragon]

"I heard one of the crates breathing." she replied, "The crate itself. There was nothing inside it. I imagine there are illusionists here, or perhaps some form of shapeshifter."

"That is... a bit creepy, yeah," Doc agrees. "Perhaps a form of security against thievery? Unfortunately Moonshadow was the only one among us I know that has a means to identify illusions. Best we don't take any 'free samples' of the local fortune then."

Doc looks around the room again, wondering if any spying devices are set up here (Perception (1d10)[10] vs. 7). Well he sees nothing. Doc looks back to Caes and Mirror. "Well, this room seems safe. Hopefully her appraisal doesn't take too long and we can be on our way."

[Hazuki]

Luckily, there had been no casualties venturing through the weird deathtrap they had found themselves in and there didn't seem to be anyone she didn't recognize standing near her. River looked somewhat dusty and was still squinting slightly even though the lighting had improved meagerly. Madeleine looked less sparkly than she normally did but that was probably due to the dust. Halva looked somewhat dazed and confused, although she did hit her head on the ceiling a few times and had probably tripped at least once, and she didn't seem to be missing anything from her bags so honestly any problems she had could probably be written off. Moonshadow and Stellar were there, too, along with two guards that were standing in the entrance of the little chamber they were in, apparently just deterring riff-raff.

"So, are y'all ready?" Viridia asks the gang.

[Dalinale]

"That is... a bit creepy, yeah," Doc agrees. "Perhaps a form of security against thievery? Unfortunately Moonshadow was the only one among us I know that has a means to identify illusions. Best we don't take any 'free samples' of the local fortune then."

Mirror looked almost disappointed as she gave a quick glance at the chandelier illuminating the room.

Doc looks around the room again, wondering if any spying devices are set up here (Perception [roll0] vs. 7). Well he sees nothing. Doc looks back to Caes and Mirror. "Well, this room seems safe. Hopefully her appraisal doesn't take too long and we can be on our way."

"I do not think we should steal from Shade's friend, but we should learn how much of their wealth is real." Mirror said eventually, her tone coming off as a little flat, possibly due to her trying to sound serious.

Meanwhile, Caessania looked like she was trying to see if the room happened to be bugged and was currently rooting around the couch cushions and under the table.

"So, are y'all ready?" Viridia asks the gang.

Madeleine nodded and smiled and looked absolutely thrilled that she was existing at that very moment and give Viridia a positive response. Halva blinked a few times and made a weird low-pitched horse noise that sort of sounded like 'neegha' but quickly recovered and gave a quick nod and stepped towards the elevator just a tad. River, meanwhile, gave Viridia a quick peck on the lips and trotted forward confidently, looking almost like she was about the own the place.

The elevator opened with a rather exaggerated whooshing sound, which was followed by a small burst of cold air and a mild complaint from the nearest guard. It was spacious and looked to be in perfectly good condition, with only some light cracks in the marble floor and a few minor signs of long-ago shootouts on the walls. River didn't step inside immediately and instead turned back towards Viridia, confidence now infused with a weird mushy mix of obvious gratitude and what was probably some form of love.

[DigoDragon]

"I do not think we should steal from Shade's friend, but we should learn how much of their wealth is real." Mirror said eventually, her tone coming off as a little flat, possibly due to her trying to sound serious.

Meanwhile, Caessania looked like she was trying to see if the room happened to be bugged and was currently rooting around the couch cushions and under the table.

Doc tilted his head a little to the left. "You reckon they might be trying to look wealthier than they are?" he asked Mirror.

He glanced at Caes, thinking, then asked Mirror, "How much do you know about illusions? Like, do they end if they're touched or something? Not sure how to spot them if... hmm. I just remembered that my cybernetic eyes can see heat and radio. Maybe that could help spot an illusion?"

Doc just remembered that he has two other modes of vision. Duh... He takes a moment to switch to the thermal mode first.

[Hazuki]

Madeleine nodded and smiled and looked absolutely thrilled that she was existing at that very moment and give Viridia a positive response. Halva blinked a few times and made a weird low-pitched horse noise that sort of sounded like 'neegha' but quickly recovered and gave a quick nod and stepped towards the elevator just a tad. River, meanwhile, gave Viridia a quick peck on the lips and trotted forward confidently, looking almost like she was about the own the place.

The elevator opened with a rather exaggerated whooshing sound, which was followed by a small burst of cold air and a mild complaint from the nearest guard. It was spacious and looked to be in perfectly good condition, with only some light cracks in the marble floor and a few minor signs of long-ago shootouts on the walls. River didn't step inside immediately and instead turned back towards Viridia, confidence now infused with a weird mushy mix of obvious gratitude and what was probably some form of love.

"So, like, is there Pegasus support?" Viridia asked as she stepped into the elevator. "These things are fine and all - but flying will be a lot easier if I ever come back."

[Dalinale]

Doc tilted his head a little to the left. "You reckon they might be trying to look wealthier than they are?" he asked Mirror.

Mirror simply nodded.

He glanced at Caes, thinking, then asked Mirror, "How much do you know about illusions? Like, do they end if they're touched or something? Not sure how to spot them if... hmm. I just remembered that my cybernetic eyes can see heat and radio. Maybe that could help spot an illusion?"

"Illusions exist until somepony doesn't believe in them, because they are a mental trick. They are about making lies real. Illusions were banned be cause illusions only exist to deceive and manipulate ponies." Mirror said bluntly.

Caessania seemed to heavily disagree with Mirror's words and had a eyebrow raised after she was done, but spoke calmly after she had finished anyhow.

"It depends on the type. Most illusion spells effect single areas, but those that are directed at individuals may be harder to dispel." the zebra confirmed, "It is mostly a matter of perception. However, I am less concerned about illusions than true shapeshifters, akin to a octopus."

Doc just remembered that he has two other modes of vision. Duh... He takes a moment to switch to the thermal mode first.

Everything looked normal in the room except for the chandelier, which seemed to be running at a decent 97 degrees throughout it's entire frame, which meant that it a little colder than the internal body temperature of the average pony but was entirely unnatural for something that was giving off such little light to be giving off such constant heat.

"So, like, is there Pegasus support?" Viridia asked as she stepped into the elevator. "These things are fine and all - but flying will be a lot easier if I ever come back."

"Yeah, we got rooftop access for the towers and the upper ward." the stallion confirmed with a smile, "We'll get that paperwork set up and all that while we're here. I'm guessing you'll want a place a little off the ground, too? Somewhere up in the double-digit floors?"

[DigoDragon]

"Illusions exist until somepony doesn't believe in them, because they are a mental trick. They are about making lies real. Illusions were banned be cause illusions only exist to deceive and manipulate ponies." Mirror said bluntly.

Doc accepts this, as it seems fitting for the majority of what illusions would be used for. He nods.

"It depends on the type. Most illusion spells effect single areas, but those that are directed at individuals may be harder to dispel." the zebra confirmed, "It is mostly a matter of perception. However, I am less concerned about illusions than true shapeshifters, akin to a octopus."

Everything looked normal in the room except for the chandelier, which seemed to be running at a decent 97 degrees throughout it's entire frame, which meant that it a little colder than the internal body temperature of the average pony but was entirely unnatural for something that was giving off such little light to be giving off such constant heat.

"An octopus? Hmm, eight arms, blends into it's surroundings..." Doc slowly pulls out his revolver and points to the chandelier. "That chandelier is giving off a lot of steady heat for having such a dim lighting. Reckon that may be our octopus?"

[Hazuki]

"Yeah, we got rooftop access for the towers and the upper ward." the stallion confirmed with a smile, "We'll get that paperwork set up and all that while we're here. I'm guessing you'll want a place a little off the ground, too? Somewhere up in the double-digit floors?"

"Uh, what? A place?" Viridia raised an eyebrow.

[Dalinale]

"An octopus? Hmm, eight arms, blends into it's surroundings..." Doc slowly pulls out his revolver and points to the chandelier. "That chandelier is giving off a lot of steady heat for having such a dim lighting. Reckon that may be our octopus?"

Mirror looked up at the chandelier with newfound fear. Caessania shook her head, muttered a quiet curse, and appeared to get into some sort of battle stance.

After a few quiet moments, two very large, very white eyes that only contained little pinpricks of black appeared on the middle of the chandelier, so large that they bulged out considerably. Then, the metal base of it stretched and warped considerably until a circular, tooth-ringed mouth appeared, out of which a overly large, bright pink tongue dropped down and continued to drop until it began to touch the table the creature was hanging over. Liquid began to patter out of the chandelier-creature's mouth, and the many spokes of the chandelier began to sway and move around in the air. It's eyes began to roll around in it's sockets, not appearing to be looking in any particular direction at any one time.

"Huyk!" the chandelier chortled, sounding like a particularly stupid laugh, at it began to sway around and cause it's tongue to drag around on the table and leave a trail of saliva as it spasmed around with no obvious intent or purpose. "Huyk huyk huyk!"

Mirror's fear immediately became tempered with confusion, and only yelped slightly after a fleck of drool landed in her mane. After a few more moments of watching the chandelier dribble on the table while laughing idiotically, Caessania just gave Doc a patent smile that clearly indicated that she was now slightly annoyed at the situation.

"Uh, what? A place?" Viridia raised an eyebrow.

The stallion tilted his head in confusion, clearly

"I mean, you'd like a room with a view, so I'd assume you'd want to live up in one of the towers, right?"

River quickly replied back without much of a pause after the guard finished.

"Actually, I'm the only one here who's intending to move here, at least for a little while." she said, "Everyone else really is here just for business, I'm actually going to want to buy a place here, but if we could get a place to stay, that'd be nice."

The head guard considered River's words for a few quick moments before he smiled and nodded back.

"Alright, that's not so bad. Five of the towers on the strip have been re-purposed for ponies to live in, but the one we're about to head up right now is the administrative building, and that's all private housing for the rest of the head honcho's and their . After you're done, though, you can just get a temp pass for rooftop access, and that'd let you get around the whole upper ward and see all the places available to buy or rent out in all the other towers. Some are just converted offices, but one of them has pre-war penthouses, and those go for a pretty penny. You got money?"

"I don't think anyone here is poor, sir." Halva said, sounding rather tart. River looked surprised at being cut off, and glanced at the horse with obvious confusion.

The guard blinked again, and it looked like he was about to sneer before he shook his head and gave Halva a quick sturdy nod, and turned around into the elevator without another word. River followed, as did Halva, who mostly occupied about a quarter of the increasingly small elevator by herself. Madeleine gave a quick glance at Moonshadow and Stellar before she stepped forward. It wasn't a squeeze, but the guards didn't seem keen on following either of the other pegasi into the elevator, for the better or worse.

[DigoDragon]

"That... turned out to be a bit less hostile than I feared. I think?" Doc was a bit confused and annoyed as well. Why not; be a complex mix of emotions when the chandelier turns into a... odd mimic creature?

He doesn't arm himself with his gun, but, he will keep it near for now. Doc cleared his throat. "So, do you speak common Ponish?" he asked the creature.

[Hazuki]

"I don't think anyone here is poor, sir." Halva said, sounding rather tart. River looked surprised at being cut off, and glanced at the horse with obvious confusion.

The guard blinked again, and it looked like he was about to sneer before he shook his head and gave Halva a quick sturdy nod, and turned around into the elevator without another word. River followed, as did Halva, who mostly occupied about a quarter of the increasingly small elevator by herself. Madeleine gave a quick glance at Moonshadow and Stellar before she stepped forward. It wasn't a squeeze, but the guards didn't seem keen on following either of the other pegasi into the elevator, for the better or worse.

"So, like, why do these elevators work?" Viridia decided to avoid the awkward conversation that had just taken place. "Don't they...rust or break or get worn down or whatever?"

[Dalinale]

He doesn't arm himself with his gun, but, he will keep it near for now. Doc cleared his throat. "So, do you speak common Ponish?" he asked the creature.

The creature did absolutely nothing but continue to burble happily and flop it's tongue everywhere while making stupid noises. Mirror looked absolutely disgusted and looked like she would've tried to shoot the thing already if she actually had one, while Caessania just observed the creature's actions.

[Suggesting a Survival roll (for identifying what the creature is, exactly) or a Int roll (to try and figure out what exactly it's behavior might mean)]

"So, like, why do these elevators work?" Viridia decided to avoid the awkward conversation that had just taken place. "Don't they...rust or break or get worn down or whatever?"

The head guard didn't seem surprised by the question, although he did seem more surprised that Viridia was the one asking the question than anything else.

"We have a engineering department, and they pretty much keep this whole place from just falling in on itself." the guard replied, chuckling slightly, "Keeping the pre-war utilities left from blowing up is always a big priority to the ponies in charge around here, although I'd guess it's a bigger issue when most of'em live up closer to the clouds than the ground. But there did come a point where the ruins got so bad that even real metalworkers and wielders couldn't do anything, so the city hired a bunch of Guild wizards to come in. They're the one keeping the lights on, if anything."

The stallion paused, and then glanced over towards River briefly before turning back towards Viridia.

"Although, I gotta say that this isn't Tenpony Tower. This is the administrative building, the ponies in charge like their treats and toys." he continued deliberately, and not without a small hint of sardonic humor.

[DigoDragon]

The creature did absolutely nothing but continue to burble happily and flop it's tongue everywhere while making stupid noises. Mirror looked absolutely disgusted and looked like she would've tried to shoot the thing already if she actually had one, while Caessania just observed the creature's actions.

[Suggesting a Survival roll (for identifying what the creature is, exactly) or a Int roll (to try and figure out what exactly it's behavior might mean)]

"Reckon it don't understand," Doc mutters. He gently brings Mirror a few paces back from the potential slobber and studies the creature. "Do either of you ladies have critters like this back in your respective home towns?"


Survival: (1d100)[19] vs. 30
INT (1d10)[6] vs. 7

[Forum Explorer]

Moonshadow just nodded, looking a tad bored. Being high up really wasn't anything special. Neither was working technology.

[Hazuki]

"Although, I gotta say that this isn't Tenpony Tower. This is the administrative building, the ponies in charge like their treats and toys." he continued deliberately, and not without a small hint of sardonic humor.

"What kinda treats and toys?"

[Dalinale]

"Reckon it don't understand," Doc mutters. He gently brings Mirror a few paces back from the potential slobber and studies the creature. "Do either of you ladies have critters like this back in your respective home towns?"

Mirror shook her head immediately; Caessania took her time before eventually nodding.

"Yes, actually. One of the pony megaspells turned one of our greatest cities alive. I traveled there once in my youth." she said dryly, before continuing, "The rivers curse and scream as boats unwillingly carry travelers, and the coals used to power it all prayed for mercy before being thrown into the furnace. The roads roil and twist as one treads upon them and the buildings leer down upon you as you walk past them. Clothing and furniture treated as slaves, as they were responsible for murdering the population after the bombings. My favorite handkerchief once tried to strangle me a few moments after I entered the city. Everything has a face, is mobile, and is usually talking to something else or is moving around. It moves a few miles each year, and leaves a trail of malevolent scenery as it passes."

Caessania paused before looking back up at the weird goober of a critter attached to the ceiling, and continued speaking with a hint of mild apathy in her voice.

"However, this is not a animated object. It's far too stupid and hasn't tried to kill us yet."

Survival: [roll0] vs. 30
INT [roll1] vs. 7

Caessania was right on the money; first off, the chandelier had some fancy lightbulbs on it that were giving off some dim lighting, but it wasn't hooked up to any obvious wiring or source of power, and given that the creature was a uniform temperature it was probable that the 'lightbulbs' were some sort of magical lighting or even bioluminescence. As for the critter in question, rumors of weird monsters that looked like things were somewhat uncommon but constant in some old campfire stories; first aid kits containing only tongues and teeth, bullets that skittered around like bugs when ponies weren't looking, and so on. It wasn't likely that it was some sort of specialized chandelier-critter but some sort of animalistic shapeshifter, in this case one that was actively not harmful. It's spit didn't seem to be acidic and it didn't seem to be aiming to munch on anything, and it didn't seem to be particularly responsive to verbal commands, although it did seem to recognize a gun. It definitely wasn't a changeling; no, it was likely some sort of 'mimic', or, rather, any other type of shapeless critter that took on the shapes of other things for the purpose of disguise.

Doc's pondering were somewhat interrupted when Bullion opened the door, carrying three plastic cups with her. She frowned at the sight of the burbling critter and wordlessly glanced at Doc, clearly wishing for some sort of explanation.

Moonshadow just nodded, looking a tad bored. Being high up really wasn't anything special. Neither was working technology.

"What kinda treats and toys?"

The guard honestly looked somewhat nervous before going back to being conversational, flashing Viridia a smile that would've been decent-looking if it was taken out of the context of the stallion attached to it.

"It's not like they even have a lot, but most of the problems of living in the Wasteland doesn't apply to them, so they'll never be homeless or starve to death or anything, so they spend a lot of time thinking about how they can be more comfortable. Some even say they get bored." he eventually confessed, "Some buy guns they never use, or clothes or vehicles, and most can usually pick out what they want to have for dinner without thinking about how much money they have, and some collect stuff like flavored water or rare bottlecaps. Some hire ponies to go into the markets and track down stuff they saw in old catalogs or in pre-war ads, like branded boots or little knickknacks.

There's only a few who try and pretend to be rich pre-war ponies, like some Stable ponies try to, but you could make a lot of money selling rare stuff to folks who just value it because it's rare. They spend a lot of time thinking about things they'd want to have, basically. All the really nice businesses cater to ponies who want to do or see things they can't find anywhere else. Some of the younger ones who got lucky just spend their free time slumming it in the markets or the red light district, spend a ****-ton of caps, and then either hang around until their sober enough to get home or they try and find a Guild mage to teleport them back to where they live. Those types never live at ground level, but they're usually never that important. The really important ponies get stuff sent up to them, they don't have to go out. I mean, there's plenty of normal ponies high up in the administration, a lot of them used to be wastelanders, don't get me wrong."

After a brief pause, the stallion prodded the control panel inside the elevator, causing the door to close with a whoosh. The stallion looked over back towards Viridia and gave her a uncompromising shrug. Viridia could see that River wasn't looking at her, but was instead looking nervously up at the ceiling. Madeleine and Halva were sort of wedged into one another, with Madeleine basically resting her front legs on Halva's haunches in a sort of rough standing position, and the horse was staring at the unicorn with modest alarm in her eyes without saying anything while Madeleine looked back at Halva obliviously.

The elevator began to rise up slightly with a slight jerk. There was a slight crackle of noise from some hidden speaker, but nothing else emanated from it. The ride started in near silence, except for the strained noise of ancient mechanical parts moving against one another.

[DigoDragon]

"However, this is not a animated object. It's far too stupid and hasn't tried to kill us yet."

"The 'not tried to kill us' part is quite appreciated," Doc adds.

Doc's pondering were somewhat interrupted when Bullion opened the door, carrying three plastic cups with her. She frowned at the sight of the burbling critter and wordlessly glanced at Doc, clearly wishing for some sort of explanation.

Doc puts his revolver away. "I take it by your expression, this mimic critter isn't yours?" he asked. "It seems harmless at the moment, but we're just as wordless as you are." He takes a glass of water and sips it, then nods in appreciation for it.

[Hazuki]

There's only a few who try and pretend to be rich pre-war ponies, like some Stable ponies try to, but you could make a lot of money selling rare stuff to folks who just value it because it's rare. They spend a lot of time thinking about things they'd want to have, basically. All the really nice businesses cater to ponies who want to do or see things they can't find anywhere else. Some of the younger ones who got lucky just spend their free time slumming it in the markets or the red light district, spend a ****-ton of caps, and then either hang around until their sober enough to get home or they try and find a Guild mage to teleport them back to where they live. Those types never live at ground level, but they're usually never that important. The really important ponies get stuff sent up to them, they don't have to go out. I mean, there's plenty of normal ponies high up in the administration, a lot of them used to be wastelanders, don't get me wrong."

The elevator began to rise up slightly with a slight jerk. There was a slight crackle of noise from some hidden speaker, but nothing else emanated from it. The ride started in near silence, except for the strained noise of ancient mechanical parts moving against one another.

"Interesting...so, like, how do you live? Or people around your paygrade, position, stuff like that? I'm guessing it's not the same kind of life that these ponies have, but it can't just be the richest reaping the benefits, right?" Viridia asked, with a glance over at the speaker. Some music would make it a lot more tolerable. River being nervous is...interesting? Not that she expects anything to suddenly come down through the ceiling, but there were enough Pegasi to support the elevator if it were to fall.

Probably.

[Forum Explorer]

The guard honestly looked somewhat nervous before going back to being conversational, flashing Viridia a smile that would've been decent-looking if it was taken out of the context of the stallion attached to it.

"It's not like they even have a lot, but most of the problems of living in the Wasteland doesn't apply to them, so they'll never be homeless or starve to death or anything, so they spend a lot of time thinking about how they can be more comfortable. Some even say they get bored." he eventually confessed, "Some buy guns they never use, or clothes or vehicles, and most can usually pick out what they want to have for dinner without thinking about how much money they have, and some collect stuff like flavored water or rare bottlecaps. Some hire ponies to go into the markets and track down stuff they saw in old catalogs or in pre-war ads, like branded boots or little knickknacks.

There's only a few who try and pretend to be rich pre-war ponies, like some Stable ponies try to, but you could make a lot of money selling rare stuff to folks who just value it because it's rare. They spend a lot of time thinking about things they'd want to have, basically. All the really nice businesses cater to ponies who want to do or see things they can't find anywhere else. Some of the younger ones who got lucky just spend their free time slumming it in the markets or the red light district, spend a ****-ton of caps, and then either hang around until their sober enough to get home or they try and find a Guild mage to teleport them back to where they live. Those types never live at ground level, but they're usually never that important. The really important ponies get stuff sent up to them, they don't have to go out. I mean, there's plenty of normal ponies high up in the administration, a lot of them used to be wastelanders, don't get me wrong."

After a brief pause, the stallion prodded the control panel inside the elevator, causing the door to close with a whoosh. The stallion looked over back towards Viridia and gave her a uncompromising shrug. Viridia could see that River wasn't looking at her, but was instead looking nervously up at the ceiling. Madeleine and Halva were sort of wedged into one another, with Madeleine basically resting her front legs on Halva's haunches in a sort of rough standing position, and the horse was staring at the unicorn with modest alarm in her eyes without saying anything while Madeleine looked back at Halva obliviously.

The elevator began to rise up slightly with a slight jerk. There was a slight crackle of noise from some hidden speaker, but nothing else emanated from it. The ride started in near silence, except for the strained noise of ancient mechanical parts moving against one another.

Heh, now that sounds familiar. Moonshadow said, chuckling slightly.

[Dalinale]

Doc puts his revolver away. "I take it by your expression, this mimic critter isn't yours?" he asked. "It seems harmless at the moment, but we're just as wordless as you are." He takes a glass of water and sips it, then nods in appreciation for it.

"No, of course it is. What did you do to stir it?" Bullion replied tonelessly, shutting the door behind her with a rear leg, causing the room to feel that much smaller, "It is one of the defenders of the vaults of our faith. Due to some defect, it is entirely unaggressive and dull, but much like a mentally handicapped animal it is ultimately harmless and must be sequestered from its fellows, as they would turn on it. If you had startled another here, I doubt you would be alive. They're pack animals, you must understand."

Caessania seemed quiet unimpressed by the clerk's answer, while Mirror seemed like she had now mostly gotten over her disgust and was looking at it like she regretted not having a stick to poke at it or anything like that.

"Interesting...so, like, how do you live? Or people around your paygrade, position, stuff like that? I'm guessing it's not the same kind of life that these ponies have, but it can't just be the richest reaping the benefits, right?" Viridia asked, with a glance over at the speaker. Some music would make it a lot more tolerable. River being nervous is...interesting? Not that she expects anything to suddenly come down through the ceiling, but there were enough Pegasi to support the elevator if it were to fall.

Probably.

The guard answered after the first few initial creaks and groans of the elevator's ascent; he looked pleased.

"Well, there's barracks throughout the city that most of my guys stay in, but most of them have family and friends inside the main city, and I live on the forth floor of one of the towers." he said, grinning slightly, "It's good for what it is, it's warm in the winter and cool in the summer, free water and ice gets brought up weekly, and some ponies go around selling food door by door. It's just about what'd you'd expect from a place that's basically a wasteland town inside a building, but fewer problems than what you'd normally get from ponies living in a place like that. It's homey. I spend a lot of time here, though. There's some nice facilities up here for the guards that don't get used often by anyone else, like living spaces set aside for special visitors, and because my boss never spends much time here how those places get managed are usually up to me."

He looked like he consciously resisting the urge to wiggle his eyebrows.

Heh, now that sounds familiar. Moonshadow said, chuckling slightly.

The guard looked surprised for a few moments and turned towards Moonshadow.

"Huh? Really?" he asked, sounding slightly confused. The period where someone normally would state the obvious answer for a group of pegasi passed along and died quite slowly and painfully; he didn't even double-check butt marks.

[DigoDragon]

"No, of course it is. What did you do to stir it?" Bullion replied tonelessly, shutting the door behind her with a rear leg, causing the room to feel that much smaller, "It is one of the defenders of the vaults of our faith. Due to some defect, it is entirely unaggressive and dull, but much like a mentally handicapped animal it is ultimately harmless and must be sequestered from its fellows, as they would turn on it. If you had startled another here, I doubt you would be alive. They're pack animals, you must understand."

Caessania seemed quiet unimpressed by the clerk's answer, while Mirror seemed like she had now mostly gotten over her disgust and was looking at it like she regretted not having a stick to poke at it or anything like that.

"We didn't do anything to 'stir' the mimic. Only noticed that something was odd about the chandelier and then the critter started slobbering all over your table," Doc explained with a shrug. He takes another sip of water. "Using mimics to guard your vaults a brilliant idea, though. Maybe not put an easily excitable one in your waiting room, but other than that... are they trained not reveal themselves unless someone steals something? I mean like, if one was a table and someone leaned against it not knowing?"

[Hazuki]

"Well, there's barracks throughout the city that most of my guys stay in, but most of them have family and friends inside the main city, and I live on the forth floor of one of the towers." he said, grinning slightly, "It's good for what it is, it's warm in the winter and cool in the summer, free water and ice gets brought up weekly, and some ponies go around selling food door by door. It's just about what'd you'd expect from a place that's basically a wasteland town inside a building, but fewer problems than what you'd normally get from ponies living in a place like that. It's homey. I spend a lot of time here, though. There's some nice facilities up here for the guards that don't get used often by anyone else, like living spaces set aside for special visitors, and because my boss never spends much time here how those places get managed are usually up to me."

He looked like he consciously resisting the urge to wiggle his eyebrows.

"So how do you manage them?"

[Dalinale]

"We didn't do anything to 'stir' the mimic. Only noticed that something was odd about the chandelier and then the critter started slobbering all over your table," Doc explained with a shrug.

Bullion didn't laugh, or frown; actually, her face didn't change whatsoever.

He takes another sip of water. "Using mimics to guard your vaults a brilliant idea, though. Maybe not put an easily excitable one in your waiting room, but other than that... are they trained not reveal themselves unless someone steals something? I mean like, if one was a table and someone leaned against it not knowing?"

"They react only to the anticipation of violence or of theft." Billion replied flatly, "How they are managed are one of the mysteries of our faith, of which are not to be disclosed to outsiders."

"Perhaps you could disclose where the nearest weapon shop is, then?" Caessania asked plainly, taking her requested coffee from Bullion and sipping at it while looking at the moderately shorter bald mare in the eyes, "I believe our time might be spent better browsing about than lingering here with a creature."

Bullion's eyes narrowed just slightly, and glanced over at Doc. The non-answer seemed to rankle Caessania and just make Mirror look slightly confused.

"So how do you manage them?"

The elevator crawled on upward as the guard chuckled. "Well, I'm honestly more of a supervisor. I make sure my guys are all in good shape and everything's going good at home so they can do their jobs, basically. Our security program is mostly based on a Stable security manual, so a lot of our protocols involve immediate reporting and methods for efficiently keeping track of situations until its time to step in and balancing the presence of security in public areas without causing too many problems to ordinary life. It's a lot of information and reports to process for a small team, but otherwise we wouldn't be able to do our jobs. We've integrated a few Guild mages into the forces to serve as communications experts, but most of what we can do can be done without direct orders from up top."

After the guard finished, the elevators slow crawl slowed even further. The door opened with a slight mechanical hiss, revealing a lobby in a state of controlled, mild neglect. There lighting was all pre-war and bright, but overwhelmingly yellowish; the wall paneling and stucco outcrops were a unfaded shade of cobalt blue and the decorative angular patterns on the wall were lined with greenish bronze fittings, and thin stripes of red and gold lined the metal ornamentation. The ceiling was painted up to resemble a night sky and the marble floor was overwhelmingly black with white veins. The tables and chairs in the chamber was all wooden and unadorned, with some sagging into themselves and others simply looked like they were just about to fall apart. Doors lined the roughly circular chamber, all closed and ornamented with molded wood and stucco, and none looked like they had been recently bashed in or anything; between each door was a large mirror, each on silver frames and shining in the dim glow.

Halva just about bolted out of the elevator and nearly took Madeleine with her. The guard seemed slightly annoyed that they had actually arrived to their destination, but stepped out anyhow, and seemed keen to wait for the rest of the group to get acquainted with their surroundings before they advanced. River, meanwhile, looked like she felt sorry that she didn't have a pistol on her and glanced over towards Viridia after a few moments of staring at one of the mirrors.

[DigoDragon]

"Perhaps you could disclose where the nearest weapon shop is, then?" Caessania asked plainly, taking her requested coffee from Bullion and sipping at it while looking at the moderately shorter bald mare in the eyes, "I believe our time might be spent better browsing about than lingering here with a creature."

Bullion's eyes narrowed just slightly, and glanced over at Doc. The non-answer seemed to rankle Caessania and just make Mirror look slightly confused.

"We expected quiet privacy while waiting here. The mimic is harmless, but distracting both to us and to you right now. Since we're on a schedule, we could hit a nearby shop and come back in a few so you can finish the transaction?" Doc attempts to be reasonable, adopting Caes' idea as it would be a more efficient use of time right now. That and Doc would rather be someplace without a slobbering mimic. Its laugh is kind of annoying.

[RCgothic]

Stellar steps out into the lobby after Halva and Madeleine. She looks back to the elevator, plainly irritated by the broken speaker.

[Hazuki]

River, meanwhile, looked like she felt sorry that she didn't have a pistol on her and glanced over towards Viridia after a few moments of staring at one of the mirrors.

"...what?" Viridia asked. She had a shotgun and some knives on hoof, but nothing inconspicuous.

[Dalinale]

"We expected quiet privacy while waiting here. The mimic is harmless, but distracting both to us and to you right now. Since we're on a schedule, we could hit a nearby shop and come back in a few so you can finish the transaction?" Doc attempts to be reasonable, adopting Caes' idea as it would be a more efficient use of time right now. That and Doc would rather be someplace without a slobbering mimic. Its laugh is kind of annoying.

Bullion almost immediately turned back around and opened the door, and used a hoof to hold it open while looking down at the ground in a sort of bowing motion.

Mirror stared at the bald earth pony for a few moments, shook her head, and immediately began to walk out of the room. Caessania took a glance back at the dumb mimic beast and soon followed.

Stellar steps out into the lobby after Halva and Madeleine. She looks back to the elevator, plainly irritated by the broken speaker.

The lobby was crisply chill and there was very little ambient noise besides the sound of hooves, not even the usual creaks and groans very tall pre-war buildings usually made. The combination of silence and splendor made the area have a quality not unlike a abandoned museum; Halva seemed to be taking a few moments to appreciate the scenery, while Madeleine seemed to be looking at the patterns on the walls with obvious interest.

The guard, meanwhile, was looking at the on the opposite end of the room from the elevator, that was differed from the rest only from being a set of double doors that were currently shut, while also holding a small squarish device that was about the size of his notepad near his head, not unlike some distant relative of a walkie-talkie. He briefly seemed to be in his own little world, passing by the horse and unicorn entirely as he broke away from the rest of the group until he was standing in the rough center of the room and he frowned very heavily and said nothing.

"...what?" Viridia asked. She had a shotgun and some knives on hoof, but nothing inconspicuous.

River took a quick glance at the nearest mirror and stared at herself for a few moments before she turned back towards Viridia, smiling nervously.

"Two weeks ago I was trying to get a old jacket I found in a waterlogged trash can dried out and repaired, and right now I'm really, really rich. I never thought I was going to leave Oakville. But right now, I'm here, and my brothers and I are probably going to live in a penthouse some rich horse used to live in that has air conditioning and stuff. I never thought I'd be in a place like this, you know? This is something you usually hear about other ponies doing, after some quest or whatever, and I really didn't do anything to get it except know you. I mean, we're at the top of a tower about to meet a pony who's in charge of thousands, I-"

River, somewhere in the middle from transitioning from happy River to cuddly River, was interrupted by the sudden sharp noise of the chief guard letting out a barely-repressed snarl of rage and a quick stomp on the floor. The acoustics of the room were poor enough that the sound of metal boots against old marble might as well have been a gunshot.

"Ladies, small change of plans." the guard said while towards the rest of the group, the apologetic tone in his voice real but the tint of calmness absolutely feigned and unassisted by the sudden busyness of his demeanor, "The mayor's decided to go on a unplanned working lunch with a important visitor, and I got to go and handle that. Damage control, you know? The good news is that she's directed all unscheduled visitations towards the Minister of Arts and Culture, who'd you'd probably be redirected to at some point anyhow. She's right on in there, I can't escort you all in but I think you'll make a good impression. She's a little dramatic, but she's nopony to worry about."

River seemed heavily disappointing almost immediately, but Viridia could see the very slightest hint of relief on her face. Meanwhile, Halva looked more or less apathetic and still seemed more concerned about the stallion's reaction. Madeleine seemed entirely uninterested the guard's words and now was looking at the fresco on the ceiling, like she was looking for a hidden princess peaking out from behind one of the stars.

[RCgothic]

"Well if we were going to be diverted anyway that's no big deal," Stellar says with a sympathetic smile. "It sounds like managing the mayor requires your full attention. Don't let us keep you."

[DigoDragon]

Bullion almost immediately turned back around and opened the door, and used a hoof to hold it open while looking down at the ground in a sort of bowing motion.

Mirror stared at the bald earth pony for a few moments, shook her head, and immediately began to walk out of the room. Caessania took a glance back at the dumb mimic beast and soon followed.

"Could you let our friend Shade know we're stepping out? I don't want us getting separated," asks as he exits behind the two mares with him.

Now that he's back in the 'treasure' room, Doc looks around at the furniture with his thermal vision. Caes mentioned a crate breathing, so he looks out for that too.

[Hazuki]

Viridia's reply is also halted by the guard, who she looks to with a shrug. "Alright, but this Minister better be a hottie."