Séance and Mane six play D&D: Thieves of Night

Séance hummed happily after spending yesterday with the lovely madam Rarity and hearing of her friends and her actual adventures.  His teal living room was decorated with his assortment of interests, several photos hung of his family, friends and him doing a mixture of activities.  The Eastern wall displayed his many achievements, a mixture of martial arts, soccer, football, singing, gaming and dancing trophies and ribbons decorated a stand as well as momentous of his past.  The tiled floor was decorated with chairs, rugs and books, a table standing in the center.  On the North-west wall sat his entertainment stand that blared an electronic melody that subconsciously made the stallion’s head bob and weave as the tempo and tones changed.  The table was nearly covered by books, papers and dice, but still held some form of order.

As the tan earth pony finished the last of his notes, a quick rapping resonated from his front door.  With a grown smile on his face, the stallion lowered the volume on his entertainment stand and began his walk to see who had come to visit.  When he opened his door, he was greeted with not just the beautiful Rarity, but five other mares; one of them was Princess Twilight Sparkle!

Séance’s eyes quickly shot open after seeing her.  His mind raced with a barrage of things to do, but he simply did what he was taught to do when you see royalty; bow and show respect.  With a quick motion, the stallion’s upper body fell in a routine bow as he spoke with an overwhelming sense of respect.  “I am honored that you would come and visit me, Princess Twilight Sparkle.  What can I, Séance Blitz, do for your majesty?”

Twilight chuckled lightly at his reaction to seeing her.  “Please rise Séance, Rarity told me about the day you two spent and about the game you were hoping others would be interested in.  I’ve always found fantasy books to be interesting so I thought I’d give it a try.”

The stallion slowly rose as he was asked and nodded to her.  Though he thought it would be rude he asked “If it’s alright with you, Princess Twilight Sparkle, may I call you Twilight for simplicity’s sake?”  The princess smiled lightly as she nodded to Séance.  “I am in your home, Séance Blitz.  I have no problem with what you call me.”  So I can call you sweet cheeks, he thought for a moment, but kept it inside his head; respect above all else.”

Séance glanced across the six mares standing before him and remembered he had met two of them previously, the sky blue mare laughing at his reaction to Twilight.  “Long time no see, Séance.  I didn’t know you lived in Canterlot.”  He simply smiled at her as he replied to her “I like the busy life style, what can I say Rainbow?”

“Well, shoot partner.”  The orange mare added with a raised eyebrow.  “For once I’m comin to you, feels kinda weird ta me.”  With a reassuring smile, Séance nodded to the farmer pony as he said “Please don’t, Miss.  Applejack, I am happy you came to my home.”

Without letting his guests wait any longer, Séance took a step to the side and said with a warm smile.  “Please, come inside and make yourselves at home.  Welcome to my humble home.”  With that, the six mares walked inside and quickly began scanning the interior.  He didn’t mind, however.  He was always happy to have guests in his home, beat spending the days alone with nothing to do but work on notes.

Rarity stayed with Séance, however, as she decided to introduce two mares he didn’t recognize.  “Séance, allow me to introduce two wonderful friends of mine; Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.”  The stallion’s steel-blue eyes met the large, happy and over energized blue eyes of a pink earth pony.  Her mane and tail as fluffy as a cloud and three balloons sat on her plot.  The mare quickly stepped forward, waving quickly as she said in a hyper voice “Hi, I’mPinkiePieandIlovelovelovepartiesandfunandmakingfriends.  EveryponyinponyvilleismyfriendandafterhearinghowyouandRaritymetandhowyoutwohadsuchasuperduperawesomedayIwantedtomeettheponyandbefriendswithyousoIcouldhavemorefriends!”  Séance simply blinked at the overly excited mare and nodded to her in a mixture of confusion and fear.  “Can you do me a favor, Pinkie?  Breath.”  The pink mare giggled at the stallions request and inhaled deeply before hopping off in his living room.

“She has a lot of energy, doesn’t she?”  Séance asked with a raised eyebrow looking towards Pinkie Pie.  “Yes, but she’s just really excited to meet you dear.  I kept you in high regards.”  He smiled at Rarity as he nodded; it appears he has a reputation.  The shy little yellow mare was the next one to meet his gaze, their eyes locking for a moment before she looked away.  He saw that the young mare was incredibly shy, and actually surprised she had the courage to come to his house.  He walked up to her and attempted to be as nice as he could to her as he spoke in a gentle voice.  “And you must be Fluttershy, I’ve heard of your deeds and how you care for so many animals.  Thank you for spending your time with them, I worked with animals in the past and I had a hard time doing it.”

The shy mare looked up to him as she gave him a small smile.  “O-Oh, it’s nothing really.  You just need to be nice and ask them kindly.”  Séance straightened his form out as he chuckled.  “It’s that simple?  Guess I was overthinking it.”  After attempting to lighten her mood with a simple joke, he extended his hoof to her, giving Fluttershy a warming smile.  “Come on, let’s join the others.”  It appeared his winning charisma got through to the shy mare as she took his hoof and followed him and Rarity to the living room where the others had already ventured to.

“Well I’ll be, partner.”  Applejack exclaimed looking at his awards.  “You sure are talented to have so many awards in different situations.”  Séance smiled at her as he walked over to his trophy case, looking up at it.  “I’m not really talented, I just train a lot and give everything I do all I got.”  Rainbow Dash was the next to speak; looking through all the photos he had hanging on the walls.  “Wow, you’ve been everywhere!  And look, this one has you and me at the Iron Pony Competition a few years ago!”  The stallion laughed as he began walking over to his seat.  “I have to thank all my friends for bringing me along in all those situations.”

Before he sat down, Séance quickly realized he had been rude.  “My apologize everypony.  Is there anything you all would like; Drink, Snack, anything?”  Pinkie was the first one to announce her need.  “I’d like a cup of chocolate milk and some double chocolate chip cookies!”  The stallion couldn’t help but laugh as he shook his head.  “I’m not sure I have double chocolate chip cookies, Pinkie.  But I’ll see if I can’t whip something up to satisfy your sweet tooth.”

After gathering all their refreshments and snacks, the group of ponies conversed for around half an hour.  After a few moments after conversing, however, Séance spoke up.  “Now, to be honest I’m surprised so many of you are interested.  Can I answer any questions before I get started with showing how to make a character?”  Twilight quickly raised a hoof to grab the Dungeon Master’s attention.  “I’ve read some of the Player’s handbook and they show these human-like creatures.  Are these the type of characters we’ll be playing?”  The stallion nodded his head as he said with a soft smile.  “Yes, there are six species to choose from; Human, Elf, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Gnome, and Halflings.  Each of these species have their own special talents and gifts.”

Rainbow Dash was the next to grab the stallion’s attention, grinning as she spoke rather loudly.  “Are we going to be going on adventures like Daring Doo?”  Séance smiled as he nodded to her.  "We will be, and some that would make even Daring Doo second guess.  I have most of our first adventure ready and we’ll be starting off small.  But after we get our hooves wet, we’ll get started on the real work.  And trust me, Rainbow; there will be plenty of action.”  The sky blue mare pumped her hoof in the air as she exclaimed her joy.

Seeing as no other pony had questions, Séance gave a big grin and began handing out character sheets.  “Alright, I want you all to come up with a character concept; what do you want to play?  After I hear your concepts, I can help you choose which class would be best for you.”  Twilight raised her hoof again, causing Séance to chuckle.  “I want to be like Star Swirl the Bearded!”  Taking a few moments to think, the stallion nodded as he shrugged.  “Then the class Wizard would be the best for you; not only are they the best spell casters in the game, but they also get a familiar and are pretty good at making magical items.”  The princess raised an eyebrow as she asked “Familiar?”  “A companion, a creature that you share a special connection with and can actually communicate telepathically and have them cast spells.”  She quickly revealed her fascination as she nodded.  “I definitely want to play one of them!”

“I want to play somepony like Daring Doo!”  Rainbow Dash exclaimed.  The tan stallion chuckled lightly as he said “I like your passion, Rainbow.  But I don’t advise making a character exactly like a pony that already exists.  Don’t restrict yourself to be like them, be who you want to play.  However, I see Daring Doo starting out as ether a Ranger or a Fighter.  For you, Fighter; they are the front line warriors and are one of the toughest classes in the game.  Not only that, but with their massive amount of feats they obtain and their proficiency with almost every weapon and armor in the rules, there is almost nothing they can’t physically do.”

The mare quickly nodded before Pinkie grabbed his attention, flailing her hooves in the air.  “What class loves fun as much as I do?”  Séance quickly nodded as he rested his chin on his hoof.  “That would be the bard; seekers of adventure and all around entertainers.  They are also very good because with their inspire courage ability, they can lead their friends to do incredible things.”  She quickly giggled as she nodded her approval.

“Fluttershy, I don’t normally do this, but I suggest the Druid for you.”  The shy pink manned mare looked over to Séance with an interested look as he explained “Druids are the protector of the wild and all who inhabit it.  They start out with an animal companion and a special talent to communicate with animals.”  She quickly gave the stallion a soft smile as she nodded and said quietly.  “I’d really like that, if it’s not too much trouble.”  The Dungeon Master quickly shook his head.  “I’d love for you to play one for one main reason; so far, we have no healers.  The wizard and bard can cast healing spells, but that’s only a certain number of times a day.  Don’t get me started on how useful it is to have somepony who can tell which plants or what water is safe.”

With a small smile and a bright blush on her face, Fluttershy nodded weakly before Applejack spoke.  “I want to be a real cowgirl, like me.”  Séance raised an eyebrow to her request, opening one of his books and looking through the classes as he asked, not really looking for confirmation “Cowgirl?  Which class would be best for that?”  After reading over a class, he quickly exclaimed “Take care of animals!”  And looked to her with a big smile.  “We’ll have two characters who can lead us through the wild if you choose this class; the Ranger.”  He fixed his position in the chair as he explained “The Ranger is normally a hunter and lives in the wild.  But there are always acceptations and being a farmer is one of them.  You won’t live in the wild, but with the Wild Empathy ability they get, you’ll be able to do the same thing as Fluttershy’s character; converse with animals and be able to understand their thoughts.  But instead of being the passive one, you’ll get the favored enemy ability, which at your choice you can select a type of monster and get bonuses when interacting with them.”

“That sounds like the kind of character for me partner.”  Séance gave a sigh of relief, knowing Applejack was happy with her character class.  He’d have to look through his books to see where she would progress from there, but for now she had her class.  The stallion leaned back in his chair and looked at the last pony that had yet to speak.  “Any ideas yet, Rarity?”  The white mare put her hoof to her chin as she continued to think.  “There are so many choices, I’m afraid for once I can’t think of a reference I’d like to use.”

With a slow nod, the stallion thought for a moment before speaking.  “After speaking with you the other day, Rarity, I got a good idea of your likes and I think I know a class you’d enjoy; the Rough.”  The look on her face appeared as though he had struck a grievous wound to her pride.  Before she could speak her displeasure, however, Séance explained “I’m not saying you have the personality of a thief, but you are indeed an expert and lover of fine art.  I suggested the Rough class because that’s what I’d like to see people play more; actual Experts.  The trap finding ability is rather helpful to the party. Besides…”  He narrowed his eyes as he looked to her, grinning mischievously “Why not try being the bad mare?  It could be fun and it’d be just between us.”

Rarity gave him a stern look for a moment, but then began to think.  A rough mind not be as bad as she first thought, especially how Séance explained it.  Being the bad mare in the group too?  That would certainly be a nice twist and she could try it.  Explore different personalities that are just waiting to show themselves, as he had said when he first explained gaming.  She gave the stallion a rather sinister grin as she said “Alright, darling.  I’ll play the Rough.”

Now that everypony had their character concept, Séance fixed his hat and began leading his new gamers through how to make their characters.  After over an hour of rolling, referencing and explaining; the group had finally been completed, and with relative quickness since they had chosen to use the equipment packages in the books.

“What character are you going to use, Séance?”  Twilight asked after finally completing the characters.  The stallion smiled as he arranged some of the papers on his side and glancing at the clock.  “I’m playing the class Knight; this will give you guys a second heavy hitter besides Rainbow Dash, as well as a few of their own personal perks.”  His eyes grew wide as he saw that only a short amount of time had passed since their arrival.  “Wow, if you all have the time, we could get the beginning out of the way.”  The group glanced at the clock and saw that they had only been hanging around for around two hours.  “I don’t have to check on Angel till two more hours.”  Fluttershy said with a soft smile.  Séance glanced around at the group and smiled when it appeared none of them really needed to be anywhere.

With a soft smile, the stallion glanced around and chuckled.  “Well, this is rare; normally I only have time to work on the characters than everypony has to leave.”  All the mares giggled at the tan pony’s shocked expression.  After shaking out of his momentarily pleased thoughts, he looked around and refilled everypony with refreshments, food and waited for them to use the restroom if they needed to.

Once everypony was satisfied, Séance closed his eyes and took a deep breath, running through his head the multiple scenarios that could happen and bring everypony together so they could begin adventuring.  His mind processed the variables and ways he could do the introduction and eliminated the thoughts that would cause more confusion than help.  They were all new gamers and it was up to him to leave a good impression on them.  Suddenly, a thought clicked and he couldn’t help but smile as he looked at everypony.  So simple, yet it was perfect.

“Are we all ready?”  He asked, looking to each pony and wanting a confirmative nod.  After seeing Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow, Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity nod to him, he cracked his neck and opened a book, casting the dice.  Though it was pointless since he knew the upcoming scene, it was more to get him in the mental mood.  The director had his actors and it was finally the moment he had waited for; to weave a glories and beautiful epic that they would all remember for ages.  Now begun their adventure into the world of Dungeons and Dragons…