‘Twas a stormy night in Foalcrest. Sheets of frigid rain battered all those brave or foolish enough to be caught roaming the streets. One of these unfortunate souls fought desperately against the bitter wind; a fearsome gust tore at her robes, and would have sent her cloth hat soaring into the darkness if her hoof had not been planting it quite so securely to her head.
Fortunately; the figure had reached her destination. A soft pink glow emanated from beneath the brim of the floppy hat, and an identical light surrounded the door in front of her. As it swung open, the mare was greeted with the welcoming sounds of the inn. A bright flash cast her shadow across the room followed by a resounding boom—prompting her to leap inside and hurriedly slam the door behind her.
Taking a moment to look around, she noted there were only two other ponies in the inn. The first was clearly the innkeeper, as he stood behind a bar and nodded to her when her gaze fell upon him. The other was a pegasus, whose stunning rainbow mane put her curled auburn locks to shame, sitting at a table near the roaring hearth. Eager to get as close to the cozy fire as possible, the gray unicorn took the seat across from her and smiled warmly.
“Greetings, I am Maredenkainen; a travelling mage who has come to Foalcrest seeking fortune and glory!” she said, “Who are you, good pegasus?”
The blue pegasus turned her attention from the fire to the new arrival. Sitting up straight, the unicorn’s eyes spied a pair of sheathed daggers strapped to her belt. The pegasus followed her stare and smirked, “Hello Maredenkainen- you’re not from around here, huh? I’m kind of well-known around these parts; the name’s Rainbow Slash—“
~~~
A hoof slammed into the table, the resounding thump and the rattling of dice brought silence to the small room.
“Come on, Scootaloo!” Applebloom glared across the small wooden table at her grinning friend.
“What? You said I couldn’t name my character Rainbow Dash,” she said. “This is totally different.”
“If yeh needed help comin’ up with a name for yer character yeh could have asked Harry, like ah did.”
“I didn’t need help! Rainbow Slash—“
“—Is just Rainbow Dash with a diff’rent last name!”
“Nuh-uh! Rainbow Slash is totally different. Her cutie mark is two wings with a dagger between them- that’s nothing like Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark.”
Applebloom looked desperately to the head of the table, where from behind a tall screen she could just spot the head of the most recent addition to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Harry Diestacks and his family had only moved to Ponyville a week ago, and being a blank-flank himself the Crusaders had naturally claimed him as their own. He had been excited to make friends so quickly, and eagerly joined in on the many misadventures to find their special talents.
It was after one of these failed attempts that Harry had begun telling new friends about a game he used to play with his brother: Mansions and Manticores—a roleplaying game set in Equestria’s earliest years. After several tales of brave knights slaying fearsome dragons and epic duels between master wizards, the girls had almost begged him to teach them. Harry had happily obliged. The met at the Crusader’s clubhouse, and with some slight adjustments it had become the perfect place to play.
“Tell Scootaloo she can’t name her character that!”
“Sorry Applebloom,” said the green earth pony with a shrug, brushing a wayward strand of blue hair back into his mane “if she wants to be Rainbow Slash, she can be Rainbow Slash.”
Scootaloo beamed at him as Applebloom harrumphed and slid back into her chair with her hooves crossed in front of her. “Fine, let’s get movin’. Where’s Sweetie? Her character ah mean.”
Suddenly three sets of eyes fell upon Sweetie Belle, who clutched her character sheet close to her chest with a sheepish expression on her face.
“Yeah! Tell us about her, what’s she like? You were making a fighter or something, right?” Scootaloo said.
“Well… I wanted to a brave hero, like from one of the stories Rarity would ready me. So I borrowed some stuff from one of my favorites.”
They stared at her expectantly, Sweetie sighed.
“My character’s name is Stalwart Bulwark. Sir Stalwart Bulwark.”
This was met by a chuckle from Scootaloo “A colt? Really? How come?”
“A stallion!” Sweetie squeaked vehemently. “And I don’t know- that’s just how I imagined him. Tall, strong, a pearly white coat and a majestic blond mane…”
Goofy grins spread across Sweetie and Apple Bloom’s faces while Harry tried hard to suppress a snicker. Scootaloo made a face of revulsion.
“Okay, he’s a stallion. Let’s play already, I want to fight some manticores!”
~~~
So it was that Sir Stalwart Bulwark, earth pony fighter; Rainbow Slash, pegasus thief; and Maredenkainen, unicorn wizard; sat together in the Wayward Griffon Inn of Foalcrest. Sir Bulwark and Maredenkainen eagerly shared illustrious tales of their youth, while Rainbow remained silent. Her two companions had just began to pester her for details when they were interrupted by the crashing sound of a door being flung open.
“Help!” cried the disheveled guard pony, his eyes fixing upon the small group, “Gargoyles- at the bell tower! Someone’s trapped inside!” he was as quickly as he had arrived; likely off looking for more reinforcements.
A grin shared between the adventurers was all they needed to confirm what happened next. Rainbow and Maredenkainen dashed eagerly from their seats, with Bulwark taking a moment to strap his large shield to a foreleg before galloping after them.
Despite the poor visibility caused by the still-raging storm, the heroes had little trouble finding their destination. The clock tower was the tallest building in Foalcrest and every flash of lightning silhouetted it menacingly on the skyline before it sunk back into the inky darkness. A small group of townsfolk gathered at its base, looking on in horror as two shadowy figures circled the tower above.
“Everyone stand back!” commanded Bulwark, and the frightened ponies were eager to obey, “We need to get them away from whoever is trapped in there!”
In a flash of color, Rainbow dashed towards the figures of the gargoyles above. She drew a dagger with her mouth and with a snap of her neck she sent the blade hurtling towards one of the creatures. The resounding clang of metal hitting rock was quickly followed by an unearthly roar that sent a chill through Rainbow’s spine. Suddenly the gargoyles had forgotten about their prey inside the tower and turned on their new quarry, and this time there were no walls between them.
Rainbow flew low towards her allies before whizzing off down a street. The first gargoyle was right on her tail, but the second lagged behind long enough to be caught by a dazzling pink projectile launched from Maredenkainen’s horn. The flash of light illuminated it long enough for the heroes to get a better view: it was pony shaped, with bat wings and the tail of a scorpion and made entirely of stone. And it was big.
Before the gargoyle could strike back with its massive tail, Bulwark threw himself between them. The attack bounced harmlessly off his raised shield, prompting another terrible cry of rage.
The gargoyle chasing Rainbow was similarly frustrated. The large creature may have had brute strength and momentum on its side, but it couldn’t match the pegasus in speed or agility. The pair tore down the streets of Foalcrest—zigzagging back and forth across the town. Rainbow took sharp corners and the gargoyle found itself being battered against walls and signposts as it tried in vain to pursue her, but she never allowed herself to get too far ahead of the monster, “Come on, guys,” she muttered as she flew, “I can’t keep this up all day!”
Back at the tower, Maredenkainen had exhausted her spells for the day and was limited to telekinetically throwing whatever she could find at the gargoyle who was still locked in combat with Bulwark. Neither of them looked to be in perfect health—Bulwark had received a shallow gash along his flank and the gargoyle was missing one of its bat-like wings—but there was still no clear winner.
Bulwark dodged beneath another of the creature’s wild thrusts and prepared for his counterattack.
~~~
“Alright, Sweetie, you’re up.”
“Okay, Sir Bulwark is going to turn and buck the gargoyle right in its head!”
There was a clatter of dice, then a piercing squeak that made Harry jump involuntarily.
“Twenty!”
~~~
The mighty kick from Bulwark connected solidly with the jaw of the gargoyle. There was a loud crack and suddenly the creature fell to the cobblestone below. Its head, however, sailed through the air—illuminated by a timely flash of lightning—bouncing several times before skidding to a stop before the Wayward Griffon Inn.
A moment later Rainbow shot back into view of the party, followed closely by the remaining enraged gargoyle. She nimbly sped through one of the tower’s windows and out the other side. Her tail attempted to follow, but realization came a moment too late that its large form would never fit. There was a moment of frenzied panic and a cry. The ponies below shielded their eyes as the poor creature splattered itself against the stone wall of the tower, raining rocky debris down upon them.
Rainbow landed with her friends and they shared a communal sigh of relief, when suddenly the air around theme exploded with the sound of stamping hooves and cheering. The townspeople flooded from their hiding places, ignoring the poor weather to congratulate the heroes.
During the impromptu celebration, the door of the bell tower opened and a wrinkled earth pony cautiously stepped out. “Thank you,” he said, any evidence of the tears that had marred his face quickly disappeared with the rain. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come along…”
“There’s no need to thank us, we’re happy to help,” said Bulwark humbly.
“But if you don’t mind, did you see where the gargoyles came from?” inquired Maredenkainen.
“Shoot- they used to be part of the tower! I was lookin’ out the window, thinkin’ to myself how glad I was to be inside on a night like this, when all the sudden I seen a flash of light! I’d have thought it was lightnin’, but I never seen no red lightning and I swear it was coming from the keep! Next thing I knew there was a horrible noise from the roof and those two nasty fellers were clawin’ at the windows tryin’ to get in!”
“The keep, huh? Well it looks like that’s where we’re headed next!” Rainbow flew into the air with a look of determination on her face—before being abruptly hauled to the ground by Bulwark.
“You might be ready to go, but Maredenkainen and I took quite the beating in that fight. I think it would be best if we waited until morning.”
Rainbow slumped.
“That’s probably for the best. Lord Fairblood doesn’t allow anyone into the keep at this time of night anyway,” The voice came from the innkeeper of the Wayward Griffon who had just broke through the crowd. “I’ll have rooms for all of you if you need them—free of charge of course!”
“That’s very kind of you sir, but why?” asked a puzzled Maredenkainen.
As a response the innkeeper cantered over to the old stallion and pulled him into a tight hug.
“I’m glad you’re okay, dad.”
~~~
“Aww!”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes at the reaction of the other fillies. “Come on girls, let’s get this sleeping thing over with so we can fight more monsters!”
“Alright, so we head back to—“
“Applebloom!”
Applebloom jumped from her chair and stuck her head out the window, “Yes?”
“It’s getting’ late, time for yer little friends to be headin’ on home!”
“But Applejaaaaack!”
“No 'buts', sugarcube, Ah ain’t heard nothin’ from their folks sayin’ they could stay late and you’ve got plenty of chores to do in the mornin’ “
“Okay,” Applebloom said glumly. She pulled her head back in and turned to her friends, “Looks like it’s time for us to call it a night.”
“Aww- but we didn’t even get to fight any manticores!” sulked Scootaloo.
Sweetie Belle gave her a reassuring pat on the back “Don’t worry Scoots, maybe we’ll fight one next time—“ she turned to Harry “—there will be a next time, right?”
Suddenly the three fillies’ eyes bore into Harry, and he shrunk beneath their gaze.
“A-as long as you girl want to play; we’ll just pick a day and time for a regular game. I mean—if that’s what you want.”
“Then it’s settled!” announced Scootaloo, not waiting for a response from the others. “Fridays, at the clubhouse, after dinner. Mansions and Manticores!”
The four young ponies cheered, only to be cut off by a shout from outside.
“Applebloom don’t make me get Granny Smith!”
“Ah’m comin’!”
Applebloom dashed out of the clubhouse, trailed by laughter from her friends. They quickly packed up their things and began the walk back to Ponyville. Their conversation was fraught with laughter and recounting the night’s events.
“Remember when Sir Bulwark bucked the head off that gargoyle?” Squeaked Sweetie excitedly, “That was awesome!”
