Equestria Route Zero

Act 2, Scene IV: Museum of Dwellings

Act Two, Scene Four – Museum of Dwellings

The heavy rain had soon turned into a thunderstorm. Despite the building being in various stages of construction, only a small portion of the rain ever fell in. In the main room sat a front desk, but there was nothing distinguishable about it. Looking around, the foyer itself had nothing else in it. Looking past into the main room behind, the desk, I could see a series of structures that resembled houses.

Tape one, Raindrops daughter, you may begin.

“I heard the men talking when they first came in, but they didn't see me. He had his umbrella open inside.”

What were talking about it?

“The guy said his leg was hurting him. They were looking for Doctor Whooves, but he was already gone. But they didn't know so they kept looking around.”

I did my best in getting up from my crouching position. Winona was always good in staying where she was told to. Even though she followed us through the rain, I wasn't gonna send her outside anytime soon. At least if she stuck with us in this large building, she wouldn't panic. But then again, she hasn't panicked before when left on her own.

Tape two, Raindrops, you may begin.

“Oh yeah, he was talking to his dog. Guy was a weirdo.”

Doesn't seem that weird.

“You didn't see the guy. Tall, kinda stooped over, limping bad. Looked like an old drunk if you ask me. I bet they were both drunks; breaking in here looking for a place to sleep it off. I just feel bad for the old dog, getting dragged all over by a couple of drunks. Old dog like that should be sleeping on a porch somewhere. But that's loyalty for you. Well, they didn't stay long anyway.”

Moving further into the large building, the noise of the storm continued to pound away at the structure, with the occasional swathe of water finding its way in through cracks & open gaps in the roof. Looking around, people stood far & near, neither friendly or imposing, watching us closely. Some soon returned to their lives & continued on as if we weren't there anymore.

Tape ten, Dusty Hooves, you may begin.

“I just assumed they were from the power company. You know how they're always coming by unannounced & messing with this or that. I just shut myself up in my room to wait it out. No sense getting involved.”

They definitely weren't from the power company.

“Well I wouldn't complain if they were, really, with that storm going on. I know they have to do their business. Doesn't affect me. I've got my generator, but you know some of these folks around here: unprepared. Totally unprepared.”

We entered the main room of the museum, perhaps the only room. Judging from the inside, the room was about the same size as the building. All around, more people stood staring or simply ignored us. A collection of buildings stood around the edges, all different shapes & different purposes. Closest to us was a wooden cabin with two floors & outside stood a little girl, staring at us & holding a small teddy bear in her hand.

Tape fourteen, you may begin. Please, tell us what the people wanted.

“I was playing in that empty cabin, & they came by. They asked about Doctor Whooves. I know where he went, but I didn't tell them.”

Where did Doctor Whooves go?

“It's a secret. Misty told me, & I can't tell anyone else.”

Who is Misty?

“She's my age. She doesn't really live here. She's just passing through with her brother. First they're going to help us, but I can't say anymore than that. We have a lot of secrets. The other man asked me about my parents & I told them they were upstairs in the greenhouse. Do you want to hear a weird story?”

Of course I do.

“The blonde man asked me about the cabin. He said it looked like another house he knew, & he wanted to know where it came from. I told him nobody lived there, so he went inside. He took a long time exploring. When he came back out he told me all about it.”

Where was the other house he knew?

“I don't remember. He seemed sad.”

Was it the house he grew up in?

“Yeah, I remember: he lived there when he was my age. He was happy then, but now he's sad. He went upstairs & he also looked around the other rooms.”

What did he do upstairs?

“He looked in some boxes. He looked out the window. He could see the museum better than when he was downstairs – he could tell how it was all put together. & the cabin, too, he could see the shape of it better from up there. Now, the part that is weird. He said he went into the basement.”

That cabin doesn't have a basement.

“He said he found a stairway in the closet. Then he found a rope leading down a long pit, & he climbed down. It was so long, his arms got very tired, & he fell in the dark. He hurt his other leg, & he couldn't walk at all. So he crawled until he found a river. The water swept him around until he didn't know where he was, & he finally fell asleep in the water. He woke up on the floor of the cabin. He came back outside, & we said goodbye. & I didn't talk to them anymore.”

After some persuasion from Shining Armor, we left the cabin. I was so sure that cabin was an exact duplicate of the house I grew up in. He explained in the time that I had been searching the cabin, he had found a trailer nearby filled with papers & folders that contained lists of addresses & who had lived here. Opening the door to the trailer, we continued our search through writing.

Tape fifteen, you may begin. What were they doing in the trailer?

“I guess they must have gone through some folders here. It was in some disarray & a few folders were pulled our & left on the table. I mean it wasn't too bad; I only notice because Shine is such a stickler. She's real organised, I mean.”

What folders were they looking at?

“Yeah, uh... mostly stuff about the building site, I guess. They had a list of original residences before we levelled the neighbourhood. I'd guess they were looking for one of the residents. They pulled out a list of the folks who didn't take the offer, folks who moved elsewhere, but they filed that back – out of order – so I guess they didn't find what they were looking for there.”

Well, thank you for the information.

“Hey, uh, while I have you here... work's kind of slowed down, & it seems like – I know you folks know what you're doing, but it seems like the residents are just kind of... settling in?”

That's the idea.

“Yeah, I get that. Just – how about that roof, huh? You just write us a cheque & we'll finish it right up! I know you've got this museum thing going on, but you don't want to be slumlords, now...”

“Well that was a waste of time...” Shining Armor spoke for both of us as we left the trailer. Our search in the trailer had come up fruitless & we were still nowhere nearer to finding the doctor.

“Best continue asking these people then, right?” I asked.

Shining nodded his head, sighing as we moved to the next group of housing structures, a selection of camping places.

Tape eighteen, did they come by your residence?

“Yeah, they came by & knocked on the window, & we had a bit of a talk through the glass. I would've come out, but, you know: shady characters.”

They seemed suspicious?

“I already told you: weirdos. Walking around door-to-door asking about Doctor Whooves? This late at night? I told them what I know, but... in this weather?”

What do you know about Doctor Whooves?

“I told them: he moved in here with the rest of us when you folks bought up the neighbourhood, & then one day his house was gone. That's all I know about that. I don't want to talk about that anymore.”

OK, thank you for your information.

“I'm not saying that the people we've met before this weren't weird, but some of these people go off the scale.”

We moved from house to house, speaking to many a people, either telling us to move onto a different house or that they didn't know where Doctor Whooves was. Shining Armor's statement was just helping in driving the nail into the coffin. Having checked an entire side of the museum, our trail was drying up, & fast.

“We can't give up yet, we still have a few people left to ask. Someone has to know about him.” I said. & we continued, the storm also continuing.

Tape twenty one, please tell us what you know, Ms Bell.

“Do you know, at first I thought it might be Flash walking up to visit? I'd heard him working on his boat just a bit earlier, before the storm started. But then I saw the stranger's limping gait, & the younger guy with him, & I knew it couldn't be. I invited them in for a glass of bourbon, which they politely declined, so I just talked to them on the porch for a bit.”

What was the older guy like?

“He was in a bad way. He seemed confused. He was asking about the Equestrian Games... I thought he might be joking – after all, it's not the season. It made his friend uncomfortable, & he changed the subject. He asked about my house. Do you know, I don't believe either of them had ever set foot on a houseboat before? I don't know that the older man had ever seen an ocean, in fact. It has always been my fondest dream to retire on a houseboat. That's why I accepted your offer & moved in here. It isn't perfect, but what home ever is? I only wish the house would sway a bit – I find that it settles my nerves. Well, if we have another storm like that last one...”

After a few more conversations, we got word of more housing structures up on the roof, as the museum apparently had an outdoors exhibit. Where else would you put an outdoor exhibit, other than the roof? Following the directions given to us by an elderly gentlemen, a small lift at the back of the room took us up to the roof.

On arrival & exit, the storm continued to pound away at the surrounding area, the occasional flash of lightning making it hard to see at times with how bright it was. Looking around, more housing structures could be seen, larger than what there was downstairs & impressive at times. In one corner stood a greenhouse, & next to that, a yacht. On that, a man was working to keep his sails under control in the fierce winds of the storm.

Tape twenty nine, you were up on the roof when you saw them, Flash?

“Difficult to see or even hear, storm like that. But I was awake & alert, trying to sort out my rigging & that. I was looking at the week's forecast earlier, & I figured it's even out eventually.”

Did you talk to them?

“Yes, we had a short conversation. The younger man heard my radio crackling from the cabin & asked about it. The older guy was a bit disorientated.”

What did he want to know about your radio?

He thought he recognised the model, just from the noise it was making! I didn't even know the model myself. He told me many old radios from the period had badly designed circuits that caused a kind of resonant feedback in certain spots on the dial. Easy to pick it out, if you have the ear for it. Smart man, & I always love to chat with an artisan. Well, then they had to leave. Looking for a doctor, I think – the other guy was having a bad time. It was a short conversation.”

At the time, I thought it was just a trick of the lightning. Every time we moved from building to building up on that roof, I always saw something in the storm, in the distance, flying at great speeds around the top of the museum, & carrying large objects. It was huge, certainly not a bird I was accustomed to but – could you call it a bird?

“I saw you folks drive up! I like your truck! What kind of truck is it?”

Turning around, a young girl stood on top of a small metallic box, an innocent little grin on her face, & yet curious at the same time.

“I – it – it doesn't belong to me, I – I just drive it.” My leg wasn't doing too good, & I don't think I was at the time.

She jumped in jubilation. “Yeah, I knew you were a driver! What's the biggest haul you ever did?”

“I moved a pool table once, in that same truck.” I thought I'd play along, humour the girl.

“Me & my brother move whole houses, every night! That's a lot bigger than a pool table!” She jumped down from her box now & ran up to us, darting about to get a better look at us.

“Who is your brother?” I asked.

“Julian's my brother. He's a lot bigger & stronger than me, & he has more feathers than me, but he's still my brother.” Both Shining Armor & myself took a quick glance at one another, making sure we were on the same page.

“Wh-where are your parents?” Shining asked.

“Well, I don't know where they are. Me & Julian were looking for them for a while, but... Well, now we have a job to do: got to move these houses.” She looked a bit sad that we had mentioned her parents & had stopped moving about for a bit. I crouched down to her level, eye-to-eye.

“Do you know where Doctor Whooves is?” Her face pretty much exploded into a mess of colourful emotions at mention of his name & she was bouncing about again.

“Yessir! He's out in the forest. Me & Julian took him there a few nights back. He lives there all the time now. This museum is an OK place to live in the daytime, but it's no good at night. Folks just can't sleep in a place like this; or even when they do it gives them nightmares. So we take them back in the morning.”

I collapsed from my kneeling position into a sitting one. “I'm getting pretty tired myself.”

Shining Armor was quick to get me back on my feet, using his entire body weight to help support me. “He hurt his leg. We're looking for Doctor Whooves to help him out. Can you tell us how to get there?”

“You have to follow the Green River way out east, & then hop over the large lake! The roads don't go there but me & Julian can take you. We were just about to go anyway. I've just got to call him over.”

She ran over to her metal box & shouted out a string of bizarre noises.

Kuk-kuk-kuk! Kuk-hyyyy-aaaaa!

Seconds passed. Soon, a large bird came swooping in from the storm clouds, a flash lightning following its appearance from the cloud cover. Even in my drowsed state, I knew from first sight what it was. With the body of a lion, & the wings & head of an eagle, it could only be one thing – a griffon! It swooped as we stayed in awe at its magnificent size. It dived towards us, opening its claws, its sharp talons on display. A deadly screech followed soon afterwards, loud enough to cover the shouts of the storm. The last thing I felt was the cold floor of the museum roof before passing out completely.

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