Stellar and Quartz: Ghost Town Showdown

After a far from restful night, Stellar forced herself awake and invigorated herself with a piping hot shower. As she toweled off, someone started knocking; She lightly parted the door to see a close up of Arcus’ face.

“Ms. Flare?” His eye peered through the crack.

“Oh, hey.” She opened the door fully. “Come on in, not like you haven’t seen all of me anyway.” She laughed.

“Are you okay?” He immediately asked. “I heard about what happened last night.”

“God, this place has the fastest grapevine I’ve ever seen,” She shook her head but saw the genuine concern in his eyes. “I’m fine, don’t worry. I got spooked, but I’m not letting it stop me.”

“Are you still going into the mine?” He asked further.

“Yep, team should be here soon.” She started pulling an appropriate outfit from the dresser.

“Do… you want me to come with you?” He offered.

Stellar tossed her clothes on the bed with a light laugh; she went to him and patted his chest. “I’ll be fine, you big softy.” She smiled up at him. “Hatch and Earnhardt are coming along too, so we’re all set on bodyguards. We should be wrapped up by the afternoon.”

“Alright,” He nodded in acceptance. “Well, good luck in there.”

Stellar wanted to say more but stopped herself, he left the lodge and she returned her mind’s focus to the matter at hand. The survey team arrived within the hour; a three creature team consisting of two stallions and a female kirin. Stellar and Cloudy met them at the city hall where they were checking in with Ridgeway.

“Ah, here they are now,” Ridgeway gestured to them as they walked in the door. “Ms. Flare, Ms. Quartz, this is Maccabee, Diamond Drive and Meadow Haze.”

“I believe we spoke on the phone?” Maccabee approached with his hand extended.

“Yes,” Stellar confirmed. “Nice to meet you all.”

“Um, if I may ask,” Meadow spoke up. “Ridgeway informed us about some kind of… mystery creature?”

Stellar put her fist on her hip and breathed a laugh. “Yeah, there is… something out in the desert that really has it out for some of the creatures around here, myself included. I know that sounds nuts, but i saw it last night; it doesn’t seem to come out during the day but I’d like to get this show on the road as quick as possible just to be safe.”

“Well, can’t argue with that logic.” Diamond chuckled. “We work in mines, many of which are said to be haunted; we’ve… seen some things that we can’t exactly explain either.”

“Let’s get moving then,” Maccabbe glanced back at Ridgeway. “We’ll return here when we’re finsihed and let you know how it went.”

“Please be careful,” Ridgeway asked. “Aside from our mystery beast, that mine is dangerous enough on its own.”

“We will.” Meadow nodded.

The five of them stepped back outside, the teams' all terrain jeep waiting for them. Parked next to it was a pickup with Hatch at the wheel and Earnhardt in the bed.

“Hey, we’re ready when you are,” Hatch waved. “Hop in, Cloudy.” He offered.

“Go ahead,” Stellar nudged her towards the truck. “Four is enough for the jeep anyway.”

“Very well,” Cloudy stepped around the truck as Earnhardt reached down to pop the door for her. “Thank you.” She tipped her head as she climbed in. Stellar got in the backseat of the jeep with Diamond and the they started out for the mine; Hatch pulled ahead and led them towards the site which even he had not visited since the accident. The entrance to the mine was seated snugly in the old stone at the base of an elevated plateau about fourteen miles from the town. Once parked, the team packed up and removed several pieces of equipment from the back.

“So, how does this work exactly?” Stellar asked as everyone assembled.

“Well, we have a few different tools at our disposal,” Maccabee began. “Meadow uses a drone that is encased in a flexible plastic cage coated in sensor nodes, it purposefully bumps into the walls and, with assistance from a thermal camera, creates a map that constructs itself on her laptop.”

“My, how intriguing.” Cloudy noted.

“I call her, Tatia,” Meadow proudly informed. “Tactile and thermal imaging assistant.”

Maccabee pointed over at Diamond who was donning his own gear. “Diamond here uses seismic imaging tech to see if there are still any deposits located in the rock.”

“How does that work?” Earnhardt asked, the idea utterly foreign to him.

“He uses a powerful drill to bore a hole in a surface,” Maccabee explained. “Then he inserts an emitter that sends out powerful sound waves into the rock; these waves can travel up to one thousand feet and they can map out an area's composition.”

“Like echolocation.” Stellar concluded.

“Exactly,” Diamond confirmed. “Every metal and mineral has a different density; by looking at the results from a sweep I can see what kind of deposits, if any, are still there.”

“Heh,” Hatch chuckled. “We’re practically cave creatures given the toys you guys have.”

“All this stuff is cutting edge,” Meadow noted. “Even we have to beg for it.”

“Come on, let’s get inside and see what’s what.” Maccabee took point and led them into the mine. As they progressed, Hatch and Earnhardt described the immediate tunnels based on their own history with them. Walking around the rotted remains of centuries old equipment through the musty passages, they soon reached the farthest limits that any modern creature had dared to travel. At this point, the survey team took over as Meadow sent her drone into the deeper reaches to begin mapping the areas beyond. Working for nearly two hours, they managed to push another half mile down into the mine to get better readings and samples. Surprisingly, much of the framework that upheld the tunnels was intact, something that Maccabee attributed to the extraordinarily dry conditions which prevented moisture from rotting the wood. After another two hours, they finally reached a point where the tunnels had begun to waver in stability and it was decided to halt there; Diamond took his final readings and they started their return trip. The unease of being so deep in so old a mine began to alleviate as the light from the entrance started to appear. That unease returned however as a voice, all to familiar to Stellar, stopped them in their tracks.

“Outsiders.” The voice echoed down the tunnel at them.

“No… not here.” Stellar felt a panic in her chest.

“What was that?” Maccabee asked.

“Move, now!” Stellar ordered.

“You go no further.” The voice countered; a heavy shock rocked the mine and the light from the entrance faded as the mouth collapsed.

“What… what just happened!?” Meadow asked in shock.

Turning on their flashlights again, they hurried towards the former entrance to find it blocked with rock. “Shit, we’re trapped.” Earnhardt laid his hand against the giant pile of stone.

“That voice,” Cloudy looked to Stellar. “Was that what you heard last night?”

“Yes, that was the same voice.” She confirmed. “Son of a bitch, it’s never made an appearance during the day before.”

“There really is a monster?” Meadow’s eyes widened.

“More of a ghost than a monster,” Hatch clarified as he punched the rock. “Damn it, what do we do now?”

“Cell signals won’t penetrate the mountain,” Diamond noted. “We can’t call for help.”

“You guys didn’t happen to bring dynamite along with all those gadgets, did you?” Stellar asked.

“Sorry, not standard procedure.” Maccabee sighed in thought.

“There might still be some down here.” Hatch tapped his beak.

“You think so?” Stellar looked back into the darkness of the mine.

“Some of the side tunnels were for storing equipment,” He explained. “Let me borrow a flashlight and I’ll see what I can find.”

“You realize that even if you do find any, an explosion could only make this even worse.” Diamond chimed in.

“Any better ideas?” Hatch asked back.

“See what you can find,” Cloudy stepped in. “No sense in arguing about something we are not sure about.”

“Right,” Hatch smiled at her, taking Meadow’s light and heading back into the mine.

“Do we have any other options?” Diamond asked.

“It’s possible we can find another exit,” Meadow offered. “I can use Tatia to scout out some of the off shoot passages.”

“We might not have that kind of time,” Maccabee noted. “This mine is old and predates proper air flow management, with seven of us down here we’ll use up the oxygen faster than whatever adits that might be left can replenish.”

“It could take hours before we’re gone long enough for Ridgeway to start getting worried.” Stellar sighed.

“Dynamite may be our best bet,” Earnhardt admitted. “Hopefully Hatch finds something we can work with.” The group moved back into the mine a ways in search of Hatch, when the griffon finally returned he admitted he had gathered nothing but some shovels and pick axes. Deciding they might be able to, at least, force open an airway in the rubble, they returned to the mouth of the mine.

“Hey, you hear that?” Meadow cupped her ear. “What is that?”

“What?” Maccabee tried to listen.

“It sounds like.. a blowtorch.” She went to the pile of rocks and held her ear against it. “What in the world is that.”

Stellar joined her and detected the sound, it was quickly followed by the sound of intense scraping. “Hello!?” She called into the rock.

The sounds stopped and a faint voice responded. “Ms. Flare!”

“Arcus!? Is that you!?” Stellar held her ear to the rock.

“I’ll get you out, Ms. Flare. Just hold on!” He yelled back, the sounds resuming.

“Arcus…” Earnhardt went to her side. “He must be using his fire to weaken the rock.”

“Who is Arcus?” Maccabee asked.

“A dragon, he’s from town,” Stellar answered. “I told him we’d be back by afternoon, he must have come looking for us.”

Earnhardt looked down at his hands and snorted hard. Pulling his shirt off, he ripped it into strips and wrapped them around his knuckles. Hatch noticed his work and looked him over. “What are you doing?”

“Helping the kid out,” He answered as he went back to the rock. “Move back.”

“What’s he doing?” Diamond inquired, getting his answer as Earnhardt slapped himself in the head several times to psych himself up before beginning to punch the rock.

“Gotcha.” Hatch took up a pick axe and started in next to him. For nearly twenty minutes, Stellar and the others watched as they poured themselves into attacking the blockade, they could see the area they were striking begin to glow red from Arcus’ fire and finally a hole opened up. Spurred on by the success, Earnhardt began forcing the rock outward until a big enough hole for them to escape was available. They hurried out into the darkening sky, Stellar saw Arcus on his knees and immediately ran to him.

“Kid!” She could see that he was breathing heavily and his claws were bloody from desperately swiping at the rock. “Oh shit…”

“Ms… Flare…” He weakly smiled at her. “Are you… okay?”

“To hell with me,” She held his head. “What about you?”

“He’s burned through everything in his gas bladder,” Earnhardt observed. “That was some work, Arcus.”

“You’re in no better shape,” Cloudy held his hands and looked over his bloodied knuckles. “You need care as well.”

“I’ll be alright till we get back.” He promised. “Looks like he brought his boss’ truck, get him in the back and Hatch can drive him to town.

“I’ll drive Hatch’s truck then.” Stellar offered. “You guys take your jeep.”

“Alright.” Maccabee nodded.

The caravan headed back into town; Hatch immediately took Arcus and Earnhardt to the town doctor while Stellar, Cloudy and the survey team went to tell Ridgeway what happened. Shaken but relieved, Ridgeway listened to their tale and promised to let everyone know that the daytime was no longer completely safe either. After the nearly hour long recap, the survey team returned to a lodge to go over their data while Stellar and Cloudy went to check on the others. Leaving Cloudy to look in on Earnhardt, Stellar went into the other room in the office where Arcus sat; his claws were bandaged but otherwise he seemed back to normal.

“There’s my hero,” Stellar smiled. “How’re the claws?”

“My top scales were shredded,” He looked down at the bandages. “The doctor scrubbed them off so the under layer could harden; they’ll be fine… just sore.” He quickly looked back to her. “What happened?”

“My stalker showed up again,” She sat in the chair opposite the bed. “Somehow it caused the mouth of the tunnel to cave in; we were looking for a way out when you showed up.”

“After I heard about last night I was worried something like that might happen; when you guys didn’t come back by the later afternoon, I got scared and went to check on you.”

“Normally that kind of hovering would annoy me,” Stellar admitted as she stood. “But I’m glad you’re such a worry wart.” Ignoring her attempts to ignore her feelings about him, she gently took his head and kissed him. “Thanks.”

“No problem, Ms. Flare.”

Stellar laughed and shook her head. “Look, you’ve saved my ass and pumped about a gallon of cum in me, I think that means you’re on a first name basis with me now.” She patted his cheek.

“Right… Stellar.” He smiled brightly.

With such a long day behind them, Stellar took Cloudy back to the bar for a drink; the two mares sat at the end of the line with a scotch before Stellar and a ginger ale before Cloudy.

“This is officially the craziest fucking job I’ve ever been on,” Stellar took a long drink. “Picked a hell of a one for your first trip back out into the world.”

“This is certainly more… exciting than I would have imagined.” Cloudy admitted. "Are all your jobs this intense?"

Stellar chuckled with a shake of her head. "Not exactly; but go big or go home, right?” She aimed her glass at Cloudy. “Beats sitting in that empty house.”

“In some ways.”

Stellar finished her drink and immediately called for another. “The team will have their results tomorrow; after that we can get a straight answer from Wheeler and be one step closer to wrapping this up.” She sighed. “Gotta admit though, this place is kind of growing on me.”

“It does have a charm that is mostly lost in the world,” Cloudy concurred. “And the creatures here have been quite hospitable.”

“Yeah,” Stellar's mind returned to Arcus. “Listen, I need to run something by you.”

“Yes?”

“That dragon, I’ve kind of…. been fucking him.”

“Oh,” Cloudy raised her brow. “I see, that explains his dedication to you.”

“That’s not the weird part,” Stellar shook her head. “I’ve been with plenty of guys and I have a system; but… Arcus is pretty different and it’s making me break my own rules about this sort of thing.”

“How so?”

“I keep thinking about him for one, I like being around him.”

Cloudy looked at her in confusion. “That is… a bad thing?”

“I know, right?” Stellar finished off her second drink. “Sex is an itch I need scratched every now and again; if I meet a guy I’m okay with I get in, get out and move on. But I’ve been with Arcus twice now and I still want him.” A look of disbelief filled her eyes. “It isn’t just the sex either, even though I swear the kid has a PHD in my body… I mean fuck…” She got herself back on track. “But when I’m around him I just feel… better, that’s weird right?”

“It sounds as though you feel more for him than just a physical attraction.”

“I can’t do that.” Stellar refuted as she ordered a third drink.

“Why?”

“Well for one, I did the math on his backstory and he’s only twenty three,” Stellar laughed. “He’s a year older than Sunburst; i mean, this is the kind of shit that only happens in porn; he might as well be my pool boy or something.” She happily accepted her next glass from Stormy. “My life is full right now, I don’t have time for a boyfriend; I like my life the way it is.”

Cloudy sighed. “Do you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Stellar eyed her.

“It just seems that your job is everything to you; while that is admirable from a standpoint of workmanship, you openly admit you don’t have time for anything else. Are you honestly happy about that?”

“I’m happy enough,” Stellar waved off the idea. “As much as I have time for anyhow.”

“You said that Arcus makes you feel better, if you were honestly happy you wouldn’t need to feel better.” Cloudy pointed out.

“Hey, you’re supposed to be agreeing with me.” Stellar pointed at her.

“Friends don’t just agree with you, they help give you perspective that you may lack.” Cloudy quoted. “If Arcus brings you so many pleasant feelings, then you shouldn’t just dismiss them.”

"I guess." Stellar mumbled into her drink. “What about you then? Now that you’re out and about again are you ready to start moving on?”

“My situation is different,” Cloudy noted. “Losing Igneous was more than just losing a husband, I lost a part of myself that now resides alongside him in the afterlife.”

“Look, you have a point about me; my way of thinking probably isn’t… healthy; but in my opinion, neither is yours.” She took down half her glass. “I don’t know what it’s like to lose someone that you were with for so long, but I do know that jut because his life is over doesn’t mean yours is. You need to put yourself back out there, get back in the game and get some action.”

Cloudy shook her head. “That's the difference between you a I, Stellar,” She looked her hard in the eye. “To me, intimacy is not a game.”

Stellar dipped her head and sat her glass down. “Meaning?”

“I don’t judge others for they way they live their lives; but jumping from bed to bed seeking nothing but gratification is not an idea I find appealing, I was raised to value and respect that act.”

“So what? I wasn’t raised right?” Stellar narrowed her eyes. “Sounds like judgement to me."

Cloudy sighed. "I didn't..."

"You may not mean it, but you always sound like you’re looking down on the rest of us for not living a little house on the prairie life like you do.” Stellar turned on the stool to face her. “Velvet and the others never know how to approach you, but I’m not intimidated by you; like i said before, I had hoped bringing you with me would get you out of that shell you’ve seemingly decided to die in." She looked at Cloudy with equally hard but honest eyes. "I don’t want to see that, you’re not out just yet but you will be if you don’t get over the fact that Igneous is dead and gone.” Her face shot to the side as Cloudy’s palm met it, the bar around them quieted at the scene.

“I know today has been long and you may mean well in what you say, but I will not sit here and let you trivialize his death.” Cloudy said stoutly.

“I’m not trying to trivialize it,” Stellar rubbed her cheek as she stood. “I can’t drag you back out into life; you really want to just shrivel up and die then fine, unlike the others I can at least say I tried.” She reached in her pocket and pulled out some cash, slapping it on the bar and heading for the door.

Hatch came hurrying over and looked between the two as Stellar left. “Hey, what happened? You okay?” He asked.

“No,” Cloudy looked down at her palm. “I am not.” She asked to be left alone and sat at the bar for almost half an hour in deep thought; she finally stood and quietly left, finding Stellar sitting on the hitching post and staring up into the night sky. She went to her side and looked up with her. “I am sorry I did that, Stellar; I had no right.”

“It’s fine,” Stellar laughed. “Nice to finally get some emotion out of you.”

“I just… miss him, so much.” Cloudy felt herself tear. “I do not know what to do without him with me.”

“I know that, Cloudy; but honestly, I just don’t get why you’re so sad?” She confessed.

"How can you say such a thing?" Cloudy glanced at her in disbelief.

“You got to marry the stallion you loved." Stellar began. "You had four amazing girls and spent thirty four years together in the same home.” Stellar looked back at her. “The stallion of my dreams ran out on me the minute he found out I was pregnant; I raised Sunburst on my own while finishing college and holding down a full time job which turned into a career.” She held her arms up in frustration. “I would have killed to have been as lucky as you, most of the world would; you have nothing to be sad about.”

Cloudy wiped her eye with a light smile. “I've never looked at it in such a way.”

“Perspective, remember?” She smiled.

“Indeed.” Cloudy nodded.

“I’m not saying it isn’t sad that he’s gone; but do you really think he’s looking down from wherever you believe you wind up and is happy seeing you just sitting alone and miserable? You’ve got good years left in you, do you really just want to spend them isolated and alone?”

“I… no,” Cloudy lowered her head.

“I get that you feel you have to be loyal to the love of your life; but that part of your life is over now. Igneous is gone and your daughters are all grown up and on their own; the rest of your life is yours now, to spend however you want. That’s your reward for being an awesome wife and mother for so long.”

Cloudy considered her words carefully. “I am not sure I would know where to begin.”

“Just have fun, do shit you’ve never done before,” She thumbed back towards the bar. “The griffon that’s been trying to get into your girdle since you met might be a good place to start.”

Cloudy eyes widened in shock at the suggestion. “I… couldn’t do such a thing.”

“Why not?” Stellar looked around. “Who’s going to stop you?” She shrugged. “Besides, he’s a pretty good guy; worst case scenario is he’s shit in bed.” Stellar reached over and laid her hand on hers. “All I’m saying is that there’s still experiences and fun to be had; and you’ve earned them.”

Cloudy smiled and nodded. “Thank you, Stellar.”

“You’re just lucky I’m stubborn enough to be your friend,” Stellar reminded. “It’s like pulling teeth with you sometimes.”

“That is something I appreciate greatly.” Cloudy finally laughed openly as she looked back up into the sky just in time to see a shooting star streak across the heavens, something she internally interpreted as Igneous agreeing.