Wanderlust: Beyond the Looking Glass

It was nowhere, really.

Which is good, you suppose, considering what the ponies are getting up to here. "Here" being a dusty little valley in an abandoned corner of the map that no one's heard of and no one's been to, because there's really nothing there... Or is there?

Looking down at the top of the ridge, you can just make out a sort of metal shed nestled into a crack in the rocky cliff side. Clearly this must be the place you've been directed to; it's not like there's anything else down here. Making your way down, you knock on a small door, where upon an even smaller latch slides away to reveal a pair of glaring eyes.

"Code in?"

OOC - IMPORTANT:

<I am Firebird the Phoenix, using my collar to speak though your mind! I have business at this location.> Firebird "said" clearly. She was hovering in front of the slot, attempting to peek through. But they did not open the door.

<Open! I wish to conduct my buisness!> she repeated, more forcefully. After a moment waiting, she spat a few sparks at the door, only for the slot to quickly closed.

Now she was getting worried. If she couldn't enter, how else could she become herself once more? Or even understand why she was the way she was? The ponies said they had no way of-

Wait. The ponies said.

<Wait! i was informed to tell you of Fish-Swords before entering! Is that correct?>

Firebird sighed. Things outside the forest were so much more complicated. But Firebird knew that when she left.

Eaglesong shook her head as she looked down at the tiny outpost. The innate sense of melodrama that developed in her line of work made this moment feel far more impressive than it actually was. She knew exactly how such an important meeting could take place in such a tiny, ramshackle space, and more or less knew exactly what awaited her downstairs. And yet, she couldn't help feeling excited, simple because she was on the edge of nowhere. It was quite a nice place. She took one long look at the clouds--who knows when she was going to see them again--and knocks on the door.
"Code in?"
"Listlessly Hyperinflating Individuality." She lists off, enjoying the cadence of the words a little and shifting on her hooves at the awkward pause that inevitably follows.

As Indigo stands at the door, with Sam on his shoulder, he makes a big show of thinking about what his  Code in was.  
He paces, taps his paw against his head, and even looks in all of his pockets including his hat for notes.
All while Sam looks at him,with an annoyed expression on her face.
"what? I'm trying to remember my code."   he says in a childish tone.
Sam hardens her stare
"fine.. he turns to the door."Sad violin."
Indigo then looks at Sam,who now has a relieved expression, "buzzkill"

Spoiler:

I got a good look at the shed as I scrambled over the top of the ridge and almost dismissed it as my destination. In fact I would have had it not been the first sign of civilisation I had seen for the two, dry, dusty, hours spent searching for it...well that and the fact that I was curious. I, a big city Private-Detective, had been invited this little arid corner of bucking nowhere for a project...of some description by a gentlecolt who's name I hadn't heard before yet still seemed familiar to me. Even if the invitation itself didn't go anywhere I may be able to ask a few questions and clear that up.
As I approached the building, pointedly ignoring the rather easy looking path snaking down the cliff, I was painfully aware how ridiculous I looked. I was covered in dust and sweat had caked it into uneven splotches on my coat and clothes, except my Hypercoat which I was carrying to prevent it getting any sweat stains since it didn't fit into my saddlebags. I was dressed for rainy days and stormy nights not a damn desert which may have made bang...knock slightly harder than I intended.
One of these days I'm going to buy an actual set of saddlebags.
"Code in?"
I needed to give a code? The midday sun had steadily eroded my patience over the course of my search and if I hadn't suspected that trying would have broken my legs I would have applied my Gatecrashers to the door. Even so I grumbled inelegantly and more stress than I normally allowed entered my voice.
"Code? I was invited to assist with the...give me a moment."
I searched the pockets of my Hypercoat for the piece of office notepaper, well notepaper anyway, I had jotted something down on when I received the invitation though I may have had the paper upside down when I fished it out.
"Azile? I was invited by a Mr. Maverick if it helps."

They stand in front of the door. Before the "accident", they wouldn't have been able to see through the eye slot, but their new frames afforded them some extra height. "As the mirror cracks..." "So does the body fracture..." They speak the shared codeword solemnly, and as the door swings open, Gallows adds, "That's offensive, you know." They push forward through the door, eyes forward, intent. They don't need to look around to gauge their surroundings, they're used to that, so instead they move ahead to their destination- whomever was kind enough to pull them back through that mirror, and send such a nicely written invitation.

Everybody

A pair of guards lead you more or less silently down a series of shafts and tunnels in typical security fashion, although they seem to relax as you enter what appears to be the main facility. Beings of all kinds rush here and there running errands, erecting structures, making spot repairs, or generally being useful. The center of the place has been dominated by an enormous pit, the bottom of which is getting filled with machinery before your eyes.

"Welcome to Site-28," the guard announces with a sweeping gesture. "This way..."

---

Eaglesong, Crash Mat, Hallows and Gallows

You are lead further into the bowels of Site-28 to a quieter, more secluded area, ending in a hallway with a door on the end and a line of chairs against the wall.

"The Site Director will be with you in a moment. If he's not, just pound on the door, he's a bit absent minded sometimes," the guard explains as he turns and leaves...

((RP for a bit. As indicated by the guard, pound on the door when you're done. Or not. Order of posting is order of arrival.))

---

Indigo, Sam, and Firebird

The guard takes the two of you to what seems to be a conference room of sorts; a wide, white walled thing with a great many chairs of various shapes and sizes, clearly meant for the many different races represented here. A projector has been set up in the back, and a bench with coffee and muffins along one side, but the room is otherwise featureless.

"This is where the general briefing will be held. It may be a while, sorry; we can't have you just wandering around right now, but if you need something there'll be someone outside," the guard says apologetically as he leaves...

As I shrugged back into my coat, which I wasn't doing to hide the stains it was just colder inside the building, I considered what to do, if I did alert the Site Director I could get some answers quickly but on the other hoof...
Glancing at the door I had come in I dismissed the notion that entered my head, the guards were probably waiting outside the door and it was doubtful they would accept me searching for a bathroom.
I settled for leaning against the wall, half inside a shadow, and started searching my pockets for a toothpick to chew on while I waited.

Subject Added to Notebook:

As she was lead through Site 28, EagleSong looked around wildly, eyes wide. She wasn't particularly overwhelmed by the facility (Though she did want to fly into the pit, just to see who was responsible for stopping her), she was just horribly unsubtle about looking for details. As she reaches a corner, she stops quietly. It sounded like...someone was talking at the end of the hall? Except there was no sound. She was certain someone was speaking aloud, but she couldn't hear anything. With a shrug, she rounds the corner, and finds exactly one pony, a brown earth pony in a voluminous trench coat. Who had been talking? She quietly sat down in the next chair in the line, figuring she was next in line after this over-clothed pony.

Firebird Flew into the room, a bit on edge. She still wasn't used to being in enclosed spaces where she couldn't see the sky, or fly freely. And pony structures were rarely comfortable for birds. Luckily, there was a perch in the room for her to rest on.

The twins, lumber around the corner towards the door, one after the other due to their size. They barely regard the two ponies already waiting, but both sniff them out as they get nearer, getting a good scent off of them. "Is he here?" Gallows asks, regarding the door.

Eaglesong tenses as the hulking dogs round the corner. They looked impressively intimidating, and the sniffing didn't help matters. It just seemed so...unnatural. "From the sound of it, yes." She says quietly. She realizes suddenly that they're probably here for the same reason she is, and by extension, so was the pony  to her left. While he looks normal, he could easily be just as bizarre as the...dogs? wolves? It was tough to say. "Am I right to say that we're all here for the same reason?" She says, cautiously looking away from the dogs to look the earth pony in the eye.

"Might be. We're here for answers." "And assistance." "And free food." "Why would there be free food?" "You told me there would be free food." "Should I list the reasons why that's the dumbest thing you've ever said?" "You should list the free food." Gallows glares at her brother, one eye a single glowing red gem.

---

I'm not actually sure if we even all do know why we're here. Also, this just reminded me of a character point for the Twins from the other game, and I'm disappointed I didn't get to do anything with them.

The First thing indigo noticed was the colour of the room, thinking out loud  "This could use a nice shade of blue... Maybe pink."   the second thing he noticed was the chairs, without even considering the consequences, he immediately started to get to work ... of turning every chair backwards;
whilst doing so, he saw the other phoenix  "Sam, why don't you mingle, and make a friend"  
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Sam glided towards Firebird and spoke* to her "Hi , my name is Sam, whats yours?"

*what ever critter speak is called here

Firebird was so startled by Sam's... well, presence, she nearly fell off the perch. But she managed to catch herself, and instead began hovering in place
<"You-you are a phoenix. I- I've never met another phoenix before. ">Firebird both said, and unintentionally, broadcast to the room in telepathy.

Sam replyed "yeah i get that sort of thing alot, Us Phoenix's are rare to see."    
"To tell the truth your the first one I have seen in a while. well, besides the one i see in the weird window things."

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at this point Indigo pipes up to say "It's called a mirror, Sam." as he  starts a new row of chairs
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sam shakes her head "don't mind him, he is an idiot ,an idiot who only understands a select few words" she looks at indigo at the last part
he looks back with a grin, causing Sam to lightly chuckle

As I put a toothpick into my mouth I noticed a pegasus mare with large...wings round the corner, I considered how to ask where Artesian Maverick could be found.
When a pair of jackals lumbered up.
I'd heard of jackals, read about them in the paper and so on, but I doubted there were any quite like this. For starters they looked like they had been dead for an hour and somepony had decided to rebuild them like in that robocolt book and then they had been dead some more, they were emaciated but the way they stared... I will admit I was shaken by their appearance, though I hid it, Jackals were rare and some would consider them special. Even though I didn't yet know them personally seeing them like that it...
It was wrong.
Still I had an image to maintain, the pegasus had asked a question, the jackals had answered but I still felt I needed to chime in. I pulled myself together, met the pegasi's gaze, and put on a hard-boiled tone of voice.
"Guess not. and you are?"
Then I remembered something I should have done first.
"I'm a private detective by the way, the name's Crash-mat."

Subjects added to notebook:

"I have never seen a phoenix before. There were none in the forest where I lived. That is why the other animals in the forest named me Firebird. Where are you from? Are other Phoenixes there?" Even if she wasn't a natural phoenix, Firebird still felt a kinship with them. Besides, it was possible the reason she was a phoenix was tied to where phoenix's came from. "Tell me what you know!"

ooc:

Eaglesong twitches a little. There it was again! The soundless voice.

She raises an eyebrow at Crash-mat's profession. The jackals were clearly in the supernatural business--when you looked like that, there wasn't much else in the world that would hire you--but a private investigator? What would he have to do with a dangerous artifact? He was probably lying, to avoid drawing attention to himself. It was not a bad policy. "I'm Eaglesong, medic and flight specialist. I suppose that there's an easy way to see if we're supposed to be here all at once." She stands up and politely but loudly knocks on the door.

Sam though for a couple of second's "sorry to disappoint, but i don't know much about phoenix's myself; Only what indigo knows, seeing how he hatched and raised me."    
"As for where, all indigo knows is 'it being warm' he's bad with directions you see."
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Indigo,at this point had finished with the chairs, and started to make himself a coffee, piped u at this
"in my defence, the map maker was scary."

"We used to Hunt ghosts." "Now we are ghosts." "With big half-metal necro-bodies." "Beats being completely dead, though." The twins both stand towards the opposite wall and watch the door.

Firebird couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed. She settled back on the perch, making sure that Sam had a place if she chose to sit as well. "You were raised by him?" Firebird asked, more calmly, nodding towards the Diamond Dog.

Sam  nods her head "Yeah, He found me after something involving poachers happened, he was only able to save my egg... " Sam shakes her head to clear the thoughts.
"But enough about me , tell me about yourself"
Sam kindly siting on the perch offered to her.
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indigo started pouring way too much sugar into his coffee, after that he sat on one of thebackwords chairs to relax,sipping his sugar coffee.

Firebird shifted slightly. Speaking with a real phoenix, Firebird felt like a cheap imitation. But Firebird didn't want to spill her entire life story right now, especially since she didn't actually know anything. "I am from a forest. I had never left until I met an explorer who wanted to study a phoenix. She introduced me to the ponies who told me about this place, and gave me my collar <My collar allows me to speak telepathically with others.>" The last part was said to Indigo as well.

sam looked impressed at such technology"how interesting, I've never saw anything like this before"
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Indigo responds to Firebird "neat, anyone*want a muffin?"
All ready finished his sugar coffee, he headed to the table again'looking for blueberry.



*yeah , yeah everypony blah ,blah blah