Games we play

by NiGHTcapD

Rating: everyone
Tags: Princess Luna, Original Character, Adventure, Crossover, Human, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe
Length: 11339

When the Tantibus of one world escapes into the dreamscape of another, two teams of "travelers" team up to defeat it. Crossover between Ausbrony's "A Pony out of Place" and NiGHTcapD's "Rez: Eqstr[Tera]".

The Tantibus.
Almost no-one knows its true purpose.
To torment.
To hurt.
To remind.
So what happens when such a thing escapes its confines? When a creature born on pain and Nightmares escapes into the Dreamscape?
Simple really, you play a game.
Princess Luna, Twilight Sparkle and Flare Blitz enter the Dreamscape and find themselves playing the Tantibus’ game. And they’re not the only ones.
A group of humans that use the Dreamscape as a game are caught up as well. Rez and his friends are about to play a game like none other.
Because, this Nightmare knows how to fight back...

This story is a crossover between stories written by Ausbrony and NiGHTcapD. It is written by both writers in direct collaboration with each other.

Recommended prereadings:
Ausbrony's A Pony out of Place and Flames and Twilight, up to (and beyond) the latter's Games Ponies Play
NiGHTcapD's Rez: Eqstr[Tera] up to WH4

Published 2016-03-01 03:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2017-07-28 01:03:31 UTC

Chapter 1: Pressing Start

Flare Blitz stretched as the train pulled into Canterlot Central Station. Even now, he couldn’t believe how big the city had gotten. Since the last few attacks had destroyed a good portion of the mountainside city, Princesses Celestia and Luna had decided that some changes should be made as well, and so the entire city had gotten a refit.

Several new areas now existed, like Underside. It was a section below the city, mostly home to research laboratories and homes for ponies that wanted a big city life but still valued their privacy. There was a large agricultural area, the largest farm was run by one of Applejack’s cousins.

The castle itself looked the same though, something Flare was glad for.

“That place was confusing enough the first time,” he said aloud.

“Hmm? You say something?” Twilight asked. The mare walked a little ahead of him but turned one ear in his direction.

“Just commenting on the city is all,” Flare smiled and took a few long strides to catch up to her, nuzzling the back of her head. “So, what do you suppose Luna wants?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea,” the alicorn sighed. “Her letter was kind of vague, but she sounded urgent.”

“I really hope it’s just something simple, like she lost her hairbrush or something…” Flare was done with world-ending dramas at the moment. After everything that’s happened, he just wanted to rest and relax a little.

Too bad he wasn’t getting that rest. He just groaned and looked at the Lunar alicorn with an exasperated expression.

“Can you, repeat that Luna?”

“We ah, created a spell to punish Us for our crimes as Nightmare Moon? Or the part where it escaped into the Dreamscape?” At least she looked sorry about it, or so her kicked puppy expression claimed.

Dammit. It was impossible to stay mad at her when she did that. Stupid cute Luna.

“So, how do we fix this then?” Flare asked with another sigh. “Is this spell dangerous?”

“The Tantibus feeds of off dream energy,” Luna stated with a small nod. “I had no idea it could become so powerful though. If it were to acquire enough energy, I have no doubt it would be able to manifest in the waking world.”

“And I’m guessing that’s bad?” Flare sighed. There goes his peace and quiet.

“The Tantibus can alter dreams into nightmares,” Luna nodded. “If it got out into the waking world…”

“The nightmares would be real as well,” Twilight shuddered. She’d had… a few when Flare was in his coma. Very unpleasant ones. “Alright Luna. How do we find it?”

“I’ll set up a Dreamscape, and we can follow its trail from there,’ Luna nodded. “I’m sorry to have to drag you two into this. But you have a lot of experience because of our games…”

“Don’t worry Lulu,” Flare smiled and pat her shoulder. “Let’s do this.”

*ring ring*

“Rez, you may want to get that,” Luna says. She seems to be holding back a smirk.

I shrug. I certainly wasn’t expecting a call from any of my friends at this time of day...or night, for that matter. Luna had called me over for another gaming session, even though I thought Sig had one planned for this moment in time...and when I asked him about it, he said “just do it”. (Yes, he linked to that old memetic video. Shut up.) But the fact that no one else was there when I came into Luna’s game room (whatever other features the room possesses are irrelevant to my purposes), along with the fact that she knew about the call...and encouraged it...

She’s up to something.

“Sig, you’re contradicting yourself. This means you’re planning something.”

“Already have it planned.”

“It also involves Jolu and Vic.” Their names are listed as people on the call.

“Yeah...”

“And Luna.” I think for barely a moment, and before Sig can respond, I accuse: “You two are co-DMing tonight, aren’t you?”

Sig and Luna break down laughing simultaneously. This can only mean I’m right. “Dammit man, you’re killin’ me here! How can I keep a secret when you figure everything out so fast?”

“But yes, you’re right,” Luna says.

I never anticipated this kind of communication, but that’s what you get when your best friends are also hackers. “What led up to this?”

“Playing old games while half-asleep. Literally.”

“It’s a shame nopony has created computers yet. Your ‘video games’, even those of your past, are utterly astounding.”

“Which games?”

“Namco’s Tales series. After she saw me playing Tales of Destiny, and I told her that there was more than one game in the series, I showed her a ‘sizzle reel’ of pretty much every main game in the series.”

“Which one are we using?”

“Xillia,” Luna said, “for one reason alone: linking.”

“Neither of us are quite sure how she ended up in my head-”

“Sig, you’re such an insomniac...” Vic interrupted.

“...yeah, yeah, maybe that has something to do with it-but in any case, Luna pretty much fell in love with the game mechanics and wanted to try using it in one of her RPGs. She pretty much told me everything about her games of O&O after that point, and I gave the same courtesy with our D&D sessions, and then we got to planning.”

“And then this. Whatever the end result is.”

“Pretty much. And the ‘end result’ is us playing a realtime RPG with our characters, or new ones, with game mechanics from an old-and-awesome video game RPG in a dreamscape Luna is making while she and I watch the fireworks.”

“Right...” I turn my attention to Luna. “And we’ll be playing human characters this time, right?”

“Most certainly. Now, to begin, we’ll need you to fall asleep first...”

“On it.” For Luna’s gaming sessions, I have found it efficient to already have something set up to force me to sleep. In fact, I was already in my pajamas, now I just have to be in bed with the headphones playing music to a video that my optics are displaying. I can easily assume that the others have had their bits explained to them...something about comparing me to a router, something about magic.

I’ll see them there.

Flare lay in the bed in between Twilight and Luna.

This was… both something that felt amazing and highly awkward.

“I apologize for the close proximity,” Luna blushed as she shifted around a bit. “But pulling somepony into a shared Dreamscape is easier if we are close together.”

“Luna… you could do it while Flare and I were still in Ponyville,” Twilight deadpanned and Luna’s face reddened.

“And here we go,” the alicorn of the night said all to hastily as her horn flared with silver light. Luna’s room faded to darkness, and soon the three found themselves floating in a void, filled with aurora-like lights and twinkling stars.

“Luna… we are discussing this later,” Twilight sighed and looked around. “So where are we?”

“We are in the space between Dreamscapes,” Luna explained to her. “An open Void if you will.”

“Oohh~ I want to study this,” Twilight stared around with wide, excited eyes. Flare rolled his eyes and pulled his marefriend closer, kissing her cheek.

“I’m sure Luna’ll let you study this place later. But right now, we need to find this Tanta-thingie.”

“Tantibus,” Luna corrected him. “And yes, locating the dream it escaped to will be easy…” She lit up her horn and a tail of light appeared. “It leaves a rather unique magical signature. But as for the dream itself…”

“What about it?” Twilight asked.

“The Tantibus can control a dream. The longer it stays, the more powerful it becomes and the stronger its control also becomes,” Luna said with sigh. “I did not know it would become strong enough to actually leave a dream for another though.”

“Hey, it’s alright, everyone makes mistakes,” Flare smiled. “Besides, compared to Darkrai, this should be a cakewalk.”

“Agreed,” Twilight and Luna stated with a small nod.

“Well, down the glowy astral road then,” Flare nodded and the three begun their journey. Hopefully they could wrap this up quickly…

Within the dreamscape, I ‘woke up’ last, despite having fallen asleep first. I’m positive there are explanations for this, but right now I don't care about knowing why. For once in my life, I feel like actually being physically active, even as I know it's not actually physical. And right now, I don't care.

I stand up and get a good look at myself. Human, male, good. Basic-yet-intricate-looking robes, classy while still leaving plenty of room for athleticism, check. Staff of metal, made for hitting as much as for channeling magic, certainly feels about right for that. Big man in armor with a weapon that works as a shield, blue-skinned girl in robes that somehow evoke both white and black mages while moving at unexpected speeds, and they're both clashing in the plains?

Well, I guess I woke up a lot later than them than I thought. “Trying out the combat system without me, are you?”

“Ask her! She’s the one who demanded to spar with me,” Jolu, or whoever the character is that he’s playing, “Gk...didn't think you’d be a rushdowner...your Artes are all support!"

“My Artes are all for playing with everyone’s health, mine included,” Vic states. I don’t yet know her character’s name either. “You’ll notice I haven’t been using them?”

“As far as I’ve seen, medic classes often have lower attack, sometimes greater agility,” I note. “The speed here is probably to get from patient to patient-but she’s using it here offensively, to keep poking at you.”

“Well then tell her to stop!”

“Try hitting her yourself!”

“I can’t hit a girl!”

“Too bad! The girl is hitting you!”

“Try using an Arte.”

“She’ll stagger me when I try!”

“Normal attacks don’t stagger!”

“Do you really want me to test that?!?”

And then something weird happened. The world...glitched, for lack of any better terminology. The sky trembled and seemed to flicker between night and day, with landscapes shifting rapidly and an immense pressure bearing down on each of us. I think I may have seen Jolu standing the most upright in his armor, which was saying something due to the gravity.

And then as quickly as it started, it stopped. Aside from a message that faded from the quickly brightening sky.

‘THIS. WORLD. IS. MINE.’

...certainly not something to inspire confidence. “Guys...?” I offered.

“Yeah?”

“Our campaign has no sense of subtlety whatsoever.”

“...there isn’t a campaign.” Vic stated.

This confused me. “What?”

“Sig and Luna planned this as a prototype, a beta test. There isn’t supposed to be a mission. Just a combat test.”

“YO DMS!” Jolu yelled to the sky. “THIS ISN’T FUNNY ANYMORE. WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU UP TO OVER THERE?”

There was no response beyond the sky glitching again, and the message soon vanished.

Luna had led them through a door, one that opened up into an expansive grassy field. But the moment they stepped through, they changed. From their pony forms into the bipedal forms they often used for Luna’s games.

“What?” Flare looked down, stumbling as he went from four legs to two. “What happened?”

“It would seem that the Tantibus has already started exerting control upon this realm,” Luna said, now in her Athena form.

“Enough to change our forms?” Twilight asked, now Amethyst.

“So it would seem,” Athena nodded. The realm seemed… peaceful. No raging, out of control nightmares. Just the gentle sun and endless blue sky. “This is curious though. Perhaps… the Tantibus used up most of its energy getting here. If so, we may have a narrow window to defeat it before it can move again.”

“Well, no time like the present,” Flare smiled. Well, he guessed he was Aerin now. He looked around, wondering where they should actually start when out of thin air, several monsters appeared. They looked like small birds, but by the way they were glaring at them, before two of them dived at Twilight…

“Enemies,” Flare said as one dove at him. He drew his fist back as some words came to mind. “Blazing Knuckle!” he shouted as his fist ignited in crimson flame and he smashed the bird right in the face, the monster was utterly obliterated.

“Whoa!” Twilight gasped and looked at the mob. “Alright then.” She raised her hands as they glowed with arcane energies. “Lightning!”

Several bolts of electricity formed and rained down on the remaining birds with a small explosion. Twilight wore a smug grin as she dusted off her dress.

“Yes yes, all hail the mighty Twilight,” Flare chuckled. Luna on the other hand, frowned and looked in the distance.

“T’would seem we have drawn some attention,” she said and drew her spear. “Be on your guard…”

“...because we got company.”

I’d say that I saw them in the distance first, but that would be a lie. They were making a bit too much noise, and I got the others to stop worrying about the foreboding imagery for long enough to check it out.

Now, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone hacked into our chat session and learned about this whole deal, but only because I already know plenty of people capable of it. Infiltrating the dreamworld though? That takes other sorts, and these guys are quite possibly too old to get help from...never mind. Point is, I have no idea who these people are, but unless something’s going on that none of us are in on, odds are they’re NPCs.

A boss encounter early. Joy. Or maybe...

“Hey! Who are you and why are you here?”

The three turned as they saw another group approach.

“Odd, other inhabitants of a Dreamscape?” Luna peered at them. “They don’t appear to be Figments either. But actually consciousnesses like us.”

“Do you think the Tantibus brought them here?” Twilight asked her. “Does it have that power?”

“No, but by now I wouldn’t be surprised,” Luna said. Flare looked at the mares, before turning to the new group.

“Right, they uh… might be a while. The names… Aerin. Yeah. Let’s go with that.”

Aerin was a tall figure, muscular and had fiery reddish-orange hair. The other two, were a short girl with long purple hair and a taller woman, even more so than this ‘Aerin’. The girls hadn’t acknowledged our presence yet at all, but somehow they seemed familiar...

“Bit of a delay there,” Vic muttered, snapping me out of my distracted thoughts. “You’d think he’d know his own name.”

“Maybe the NPCs weren’t fully thought out, or are borrowing from other people’s dreams?” Vic and I glared at Jolu in response, and he shrugged. “Heck if I know how this dream stuff works. Sig’s the one with Luna right now, and they’re not talking right now.”

Then the Amazonian woman stared down at Jolu...and holy crap was she tall. Taller than most pro basketball players...maybe.

“You! What do you know of Dream Magicks!?”

Erm...not the response I anticipated. “You first. What the heck are you doing in our dreamscape?”

“Your Dreamscape?” She frowned and folded her arms.

“Lu… er, Athena?” The other girl spoke up. “Perhaps you’re being just a tad… intimidating?”

Aerin just rolled his eyes. “Sorry.”

Funny as the comedy routine may have been, I wasn’t getting answers, and Vic called them out on it. “Avoiding the question. What are you doing in this dreamscape?”

“Tis nothing of your concern—” Athena started but Amethyst raised a hand.

“We’re chasing down an enemy that escaped from our own Dreamscape. A powerful one created by our worlds greatest Dreamscape Weaver.”

Dreamscape Weaver...I’ve heard the term before, and it only really applies to one. But she’s the DM, but she’s arriving with uninvited help, but if she’s in both places at once then…

“...then you’re not from our dimension. I think I have this figured out to some degree.”

“Really? Explain it to me like I’m five, because I’m not getting any of this.” Gee, thanks Jolu. Way to...actually, he pretty much is the voice of the crowd right now. Nothing wrong with that.

“Gladly, but may as well introduce ourselves first. That’s Jolu, she’s Vic, and you can call me Rez. Now, how about your real names?”

“Figures,” Athena sighed. “These two are hopeless at live roleplaying.” ...well, mostly the fact that the names sound like character names and they’re definitely players...but that’s a part of it too, I guess.

“Hey!” Aerin and Amethyst said and folded their arms. Athena chuckled and held out her hand.

“I am Princess Luna, and these two are Twilight Sparkle and Flare Blitz. The latter being no stranger to other dimensions hmm?”

“I swear to Arceus Luna,” Flare started. “Can’t I just stay in Equestria for one freaking day? That’s all I ask.”

Vic stumbled. “Did he just say ‘Arceus’? Like the god of Pokémon Arceus?”

“...Yes. Yes he did,” I deadpanned. “Where other dimensions are concerned, you really shouldn’t be that surprised. I’m no stranger to alternative worlds myself...I could even list off my encounters in chronological order...besides the point though. What’s important is that us three are natively human, and that this dreamscape is being monitored by another Luna and another human, who goes by Sig. Make sense to you three so far?”

“To me, no,” Flare shrugged.

“So, there is a version of myself here as well?” the other Luna hummed and tapped her chin. “That could be why the Tantibus was drawn here.”

“Have you noticed anything weird in this Dreamscape?” Twilight asked. “You know, more so than usual?”

The three of us just looked at each other funny for a while. On an unspoken cue, we all turned to them and, in our most sarcastic voices possible, yelled “NAAAAW.”

“There was a huge burst of air pressure!”

“The sun and moon went all spazzy, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t just in the sky for a bit there!”

“Synesthesia is no excuse for the spinning of the color wheel like that!”

“The ground was all ‘ZIP ZOP ZOOBITY BOP’ and shifting like a 15 puzzle!”

“What’s a fifteen puzzle?” asked Twilight, curious.

That snapped us out of it. “...we’ll tell you later,” Vic offered.

“Are… they addled in the head?” Luna asked Flare.

“Humans usually are,” he replied. “Okay, so it’s a good chance that the Tantibus is here—”

“It is here, I can sense it,” Luna corrected.

“So, the Tantibus is here,” Flare reiterated.

“And it left a message: ‘This world is mine.’ All caps, period after every word. At least it got the spacing and kerning right.”

“Only you would worry about the kerning,” Jolu said. “And we ain’t addled, just a bit excitable.”

“Understatement.” I clarify. “When we get excited, we get HYPE! because that’s just our culture. We’re actually some of the smartest people around, or at least the best at what we do.”

“And what we do isn’t very-”

“No Jolu, this is not the time to reference comic books,” Vic said, facepalming as she did so. “Nice Wolverine voice though.”

Luna sat down and pondered. “Then, the Tantibus intends to use this world as a means to escape… and by now, it could probably affect all of reality.”

“That… sounds bad.” Flare paused and looked at her. “Are we talking Darkrai bad here?”

“Worse,” Luna replied.

“Crap,” Flare muttered. “Whelp, so let’s go punch it in the face and call it a day. I promised Dreamy we’d go out to see the new Daring Do movie soon.”

“Ooh, I’ve been looking forward to that one,” Twilight giggled.

“There’s going to be a Daring Do movie? Geez, the forums are gonna explode if I manage to get footage of that...”

“Rez, stop encouraging them.” Vic said, being the sensible one again. “Before we go any farther off-topic, something you three should know: This dreamscape was intended to be a proving grounds for RPG mechanics, the flavor of the day: Namco’s Tales of Xillia. Important notes are: Normal attacks and Artes, which serve as, well, normal attacks and varied spells, skills, and attacks. IIRC we’re not using TP or AC, so how much you can do is dependent only on how much your body can exert in one chain.”

Jolu picked it up from there. “Guarding, which decreases damage at the cost of not being able to move, except for me because of my innate.”

“And linking.” I clean it up. “Each party member in battle can link to another member, allowing them to attack more as a unit and otherwise be buffed.”

Vic: “Linked partners share innates, so if you’re linked to Jolu you can walk while you block.”

Jolu: “Linked partners can unleash Linked Artes, letting them do massive damage or other powerful effects.”

Me: “And then there’s skits, because why the heck not to have inane conversations while important story is going on.”

A rather large pause.

We could almost hear the crickets chirping as the other three stared at us with almost dumbfounded expressions.

“Did you… understand any of that?” Flare asked Twilight and Luna.

“Not a word,” Twilight nodded. What the heck was TP or AC? And skits? What? Was this some kind of play?

“We art confused as well,” Luna nodded. “Verily, they do seem to be quite addled. Let Us speak to your Luna. We shall get answers from her.”

“Good luck with that. She hasn’t spoken to us since we got here.”

“Better off trying to reach Sig anyways.”

“Besides, it’s not that confusing. It’s just game mechanics, it shouldn’t be too hard to-” A pause. “By any chance, do any of you know what video games are?” Nice job, Vic. I can’t believe I missed that. Do we actually have to explain that too? Because I certainly haven’t seen any over there.

Aerin raised a hand, as did Amethyst. But Athena looked rather confused.

“What in Equestria is a ‘video game’?” the tall woman asked, making air quote with her fingers.

“It’s a bit like the games we play,” Amethyst explained. “Though it uses a screen to display pictures and the like, rather than relying on the ponies imagination.”

“Sounds like a waste of time, not to mention a waste of imagination,” Athena huffed and folded her arms. She looked at the group of humans before them. “Now, it has been a somewhat confusing pleasure meeting you all. But we have an important mission to complete. Aerin, Amethyst. Let us depart at once.”

Amethyst looked at the tall woman walking off and sighed. “Oh dear. Well, it really was nice meeting you Mr. Rez.”

Aerin just nodded at them.

“I really don’t think that’s the best idea,” I then said. “Face it, you’re in our dreamscape right now. Your world maybe, but you’re playing by our rules. Rules that you can maybe adapt to, but probably not quickly enough to deal with this Tantibus. We know the game, we know the gameplay, you probably want us at your side.”

Athena paused. She didn’t want to drag civilians into this matter. But then, she’d already done so by bringing Twilight and Flare along. She turned back to the group and folded her arms. “Very well then. On the condition that when we face the Tantibus, I shall be the one to deal with it.”

“The moment things go south, we’re comin’ right in.” Jolu said that one. Vic and I nod our heads in agreement.

“Wonderful,” Athena sighed and waved a hand.

As the group started to head off in a direction Athena had picked. Amethyst moved up next to Rez and Aerin rolled his eyes. He knew what the newcomer was in for.

“Soooo,” Amethyst said with wide sparkling eyes. “Tell me all about the wonderful technology of your world!”

“Well, for starters, this is the second time—”

“Second time?” Amethyst blinked and tilted her head. “We’ve never met.”

Rez didn’t miss a beat correcting her. “Recall that we’re in a dreamscape with a Luna observing it and another Luna inside it. Simultaneously no I haven’t, and yes I have.”

“I am so confused,” Amethyst said.

“Try not to break my marefriend,” Aerin said from over his shoulder.

“The other one probably would be taking this better,” Rez noted. “In any case, my tech is probably lightyears more advanced than anything either of you have seen before. Not literally, of course, but you get the gist, I think. Have either of you knowledge of what a computer is?”

Aerin snorted, he highly doubted that his world was more advanced than his old home. “Yes, I know what a computer is, try being stored inside one.”

“And her?”

“I have the basic understandings of one,” Amethyst replied. “It’s a fairly new technology in Equestria. But I’ve been to two worlds where they are much more advanced.”

“Fair enough. Well, mine are pretty much still governed by Moore’s Law, which is the observation that the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years. Which puts me at a computing advantage because we’ve had them for so long...half a millennium at least. Out of all my world’s technologies, though, there are only a few that matter to me personally: computing, space travel, and bionics. The first because it’s pretty much my job, the third because I use them on a daily basis, and the second for multiple reasons, one of which circles back around to the first. Which do you want to hear about first?”

Amethyst looked like a kid on Christmas morning. This human was a wealth of information and while she loved Flare, he was useless when it came to technology and science. So naturally, she had one response.

“All of it!”

This… was going to be a looooong day.

Later…

Well, they seem nice.
So much knowledge! I want to pick his brain some more~
As long as they don’t get in the way. We’re here to stop the Tantibus, not play some game.
It wouldn’t hurt to have them along. They might be useful. Meat shields are always useful.
*smack* Flare! Don’t be mean!
Ow! alright, alright. Sorry. Just… a little confused by everything is all.
Fret not Flare Blitz. We shall overcome this trial and return home soon enough.
Speaking of home. Why did you insist on sleeping in your bed for this?
Is that a town up ahead? Let us tarry on longer!
H-Hey, Luna! Get back here!!

Author's Note

I realize that other games in the series have linking features, such as Zestiria. But to date, Xillia has a versatile linking system with its Artes and substitutions. Plus, despite never having played it myself, Xillia is the game I know best, due to watching a live co-op playthrough on Twitch.
-NiGHTcapD

It’s been a while since I wrote Flare and the gang. And this cross has been in the waiting list for a while as well. Well, onwards and upwards I guess. Let’s see where this crazytrain goes.
-Ausbrony

Chapter 2: Introduction/Tutorial

Twilight, Luna and Flare talked amongst themselves as they walked a little behind their new acquaintances.

“So, what should we do?” Twilight whispered. “I mean, we only just met them. And some of the things they’ve said are…”

“Human,” Flare replied. “My old home was populated by them. They’re… tricky. Some mean no harm whilst others…” he didn’t really want to dwell on the horrors humans were capable of. “I think we can trust them, just keep an eye open. Doesn’t hurt to be prepared.”

“I concur with Flare’s decision,” Luna nodded. “Also, what names should we go with?”

“I’d say just stick with our real ones from here on out,” Twilight nodded. “No sense in needlessly confusing ourselves. This task already has quite enough of that.”

“Yup,” Flare nodded and looked back at the group of humans just ahead of him. “Still, we’re stuck in these forms, so I hope if we get to some fighting, we can actually do as such without tripping over our own hooves… er, well feet in this case I guess.”

“Yes, but these people seem to know how to fight here already,” Luna pointed out. “Let us ask them for some assistance in the matter.”

“So basically, we need a tutorial level huh?” Twilight giggled. “Okay, so who should ask?”

Luna grinned and strode ahead. “Hark yon compatriots. Thy companions and Ourself would like a lesson in this world’s form of combat. Dost thou accept?”

“Whyyy is she using old-timey speech again?” Flare sighed and facepalmed.

“Because she likes doing it?” Rez asked.

“Because she knows it annoys you?” added Jolu.

“Because she wants to stay in character?” Vic mused.

“Ah, apologies,” Luna chuckled and rubbed her head. “It happens from time to time. A thousand years of habit is not easy to undo.” She turned back to the group before them.

“Now, before we begin," Vic said, "we haven't been entirely honest with you. Not in the sense that we've lied, but that we withheld information."

Rez interrupted her. "If this is about using character names, they said they’d rather go by their real ones. So probably us by the names we gave on first meeting."

"That’s part of it, but you just touched on the other part: we're hackers. We use computers. Those names are only our usernames." Vic riposted.

"Hacking? Computers? Usernames?” Twilight tilted her head.

Rez sighed a little. "Remember when I explained to you about computers and I had to go into anonymity in-depth?"

“A little,” the girl admitted. “It’s been a rather hectic day.”

"I can understand that,” Rez said. “But that doesn’t change the fact that we’re still not revealing our real names. Who knows? Maybe the Tantabus could somehow use that information against us."

"I realize this,” Vic interrupted this time, “but I feel it appropriate to let them know of this...intentional deception. In any case, since we don't know each others' real names either, we’ll just keep using our usernames for that. What we have to* tell you are our ingame names, our character names." *Connotation: "we have object" as opposed to "have to do"

"Go on," Luna waved a hand.

"My username is Vic, and I am an omniglot in spoken and computer languages. My character is named Gwen, and is a cleric of sorts who uses words to great effect."

"And the blue skin and weird dresscode?" Flare questioned with a raised eyebrow. He had a feeling asking about ‘computer languages’ would be a lengthy discussion.

"I think that’s part of the backstory, likely as a result of learning words that 'mankind was not meant to know'."

"Anyways, I am Rez, a superhacker. After the right "enablers" do their jobs, I can make the computers do the things. I was also first contact with my version of your world, and I'm blind...kinda. Long story. My character is Ravel, an elemental battle mage. I think backstory said I love cracking codes."

"You too? I'm pretty sure we all have that," Jolu mentioned.

"Well, let's hope it comes in handy. Your turn."

"Online, they call me Jolu. My forte is security; from hacking it to pieces to slapping it together. Game name is 'Kain', I think...and imma physical hybrid offender and defender with all the FGC references."

"FGC?" Twilight was always the one to count on for questioning everything.

"Fighting Game Community. It's about another type of video game, back in their prime they were some of the biggest events there ever were. They were pretty much treated like sports." Jolu informed her. "I've got a full kit of Artes that play homage to fighting games. Good thing, too - the RPG system emphasizes combat and combos."

"And what of your weapon? It's quite odd," Luna pointed out.

"Yeah, I get how you think that. At first look, it’s a pretty weird weapon. It's called a driver, and really, it's equal parts weapon and shield." Jolu said, showing off the odd implement.

"Okay, I think that's enough about us," Vic said. “Now, before we get into how fighting actually works any differently to whatever you may be used to, I have to ask: What roles are your game personas meant to fill?”

“I usually play Athena, a Celestial Valkyrie,” Luna explained as she gave her halberd a twirl. “My spear is of the holy element. I can fight with an array of physical blows and possess some minor healing arts.”

“Mine is Amethyst Star, an Archmage,” Twilight said and opened her palm, igniting a flame. “I can cast a variety of spells, both offensive and buff and debuff spells. No healing though.”

“And you?” Vic turned to Flare.

“Aerin Skyheart,” Flare explained and looked down at his armoured gauntlets. “I think I hit things really hard?”

“Always a boon. But if you can’t continue hitting really hard, it’s not that useful.” Vic chuckled. Seems they were stuck with something of a noob.

“The ‘Tales Of’ series of games runs on various forms of the Linear Motion Battle System, which contains real-time and RPG elements...you know, it’s probably better to show than to tell in this case.” Jolu said.

“Yeah. Tell you what, I was late to the party, and I have more EXP with actually doing combat in these dream worlds, despite that early spar of yours. I’ll demonstrate, you guys explain,” Rez said. “You three, feel free to learn by doing. There will not be a quiz, but more likely than not there will be several tests.”

“Tests!?” Twilight’s eyes widened and sparkled. “Oh, do you have reference materials? Maybe some kind of manual or a study guide?”

The corners of Rez’s lips fell. “Tests of physical ability. We’ll all be tested to see whether we can deliver when the going gets tough.” He turned to his friends. “I recognize exactly what I was playing off of when I said what I said. Was I totally asking for it there?”

“Hey, your Twilight caught onto your use of language remarkably fast,” Vic said. “I’m just going to blame this on lack of previous contact and ask that we get on with it.”

“Don’t we need something to practice on?” Flare pointed out as his marefriend folded her arms and pouted.

The girl’s mouth curved into a sly smile. “Lucky the DM somehow thought of that. Ahem...Summon: Sandobaggu!” A white stitched-together punching bag with black eyes popped into existence soon after she spoke.

Flare, Twilight and Luna just stared blankly at the odd… thing.

“…moving right along. What first? Standard normals?” Rez asked

“Standard normals.” Jolu nodded in agreement.

“Normal attacks. Got it.” Rez - no, Ravel - took a stance with his staff, facing the sandbag and preparing to attack.

“The Xillia version of the Linear Motion Battle System involves normal attacks and Artes. In the original games, Artes are governed by a limited amount of TP, or Technique Points. Think of it like limited mana. While I don’t think Artes are as limited in here, it’s still a good idea not to completely rely on them.” Vic explained helpfully

“Enter normals. Normal attacks are pretty much anything you can do that simply involves striking with your weapon,” Jolu continued the tutorial, as Ravel began striking the bag with his staff. “You can launch the foe, advance on them, knock them down or knock them back, or just beat on their sorry butts. You hit once, the opponent staggers, and they can’t do anything back to you until they recover. Hit them again before they recover, and they stagger again, but more importantly you’ve got a combo going.”

“Comboing the enemy keeps them from responding, but more importantly it increased dealt damage in the original games. All enemies had weaknesses and resistances to various elements; there are 9 in the game, including three physical ones. Hitting with a weakness multiplies the damage dealt to that enemy, but only for as long as the combo continues.” Vic concluded.

“And when does a combo end?” Flare asked, scratching his chin.

“When they recover,” stated Rez as he stopped attacking. The sandbag stood back up on its own. “One alone can only combo for so long. They get tired, drop the combo by not attacking in the short length of time it takes for the other guy to stand back up. The combo goes for as long as you, as a team, can keep it up.”

“Why do you keep mentioning the ‘original game’?” Twilight asked curiously.

“As we’ve mentioned before, this game was meant to be played with an RPG system that took much from the game we’re describing.” Vic smiled. Seems someone was catching on fast at least.

“But given that the Tantabus is now in control of this dream, of this game, the rules may have changed. But this dream was created before it showed up here; and as you’ve already experienced, a lot of the rules are consistent with our descriptions. Don’t try and tell me that wasn’t a fight you were in before we saw you.” Rez said, looking at the trio.

“You heard that?” Luna blinked.

“Hard not to,” Vic smiled.

“In any case, all this means that despite any changes Tanty can make or has already made, the rules are going to be mostly the same. Even the best romhacker can’t modify the engine without years of research. No way our dreamhacker will be able to do it in one night.” Jolu piped up.

“There’s a human saying, something about not invoking Murphy’s Law,” Flare sighed and shook his head. “Look, can we just find the Tantabus, beat it and go home? We hardly have time for games.”

“That’s just the thing,” Luna sighed and sat down. “There’s… something I haven’t explained about the Tantabus yet.”

This got attention from all present. “What’s there not to get?” Vic asked. “Are you thinking it’s unbeatable? Or that we have more or less time than we think we do?”

Rez crossed his arms. “If our logic is flawed, then let us know now.”

Luna sighed and her posture became less stiffened. “The Tantabus has the ability to adapt a Dreamscape. It was… designed as a punishment. It’s sole purpose is to cause pain. Anguish and despair.”

“Luna!” Twilight gasped and walked up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Why… would you make something like that?”

“T’was a…” Luna faltered. “We had no idea this could happen. The Tantabus was supposed to remain in Our dreams, so We would never forget…”

“Doesn’t matter,” Flare said and smacked his palm with his fist. “We’ll talk about that later Lulu. Right now? We have some ass to kick.”

Twilight sighed, but nodded her head. “You’re right. The longer we leave this, the worse it will get.” Then she looked back at Luna. “How… bad can it get?”

“We have no idea,” Luna admitted. “The Tantabus, I never knew it could invade and take over another Dreamscape. Much less one from another dimension. It it’s already this powerful, it may very well be unbeatable… and if it amasses enough power…”

Twilight motioned for her to go on.

“It… could materialize in the waking world… and assimilate that too.”

Out of their focus, Rez put a hand to his mouth as if it were his chin. Flare and Twilight remained quiet for a moment, but it was the female that answered first.

“Whywould you make something like that!?” she yelled. “I mean, no offense Luna, are you trying to destroy the multiverse?”

“It… that wasn’t the reason,” Luna snapped back. “Mine reasons are mine and you are in no position to argue! Or does a certain ‘Want it Need it’ ring thine bells?”

“Oh we are NOT getting into that!” Twilight shouted back.

“Come on Luna, Twi,” Flare stepped between them. “Look, everypony makes mistakes. What matters as that we help them in solving those mistakes hm?” He looked at Luna. “I’ll admit this is kinda bad. But honestly, Darkrai was still a bigger one. Let’s find the Tantabus. Punch it in the face and go home. Easy.”

“It’s not that simple!” Twilight spouted, before Flare smiled and booped her nose.

“Isn’t it? I mean, we pretty much solved our last few problems with gratuitous violence.”

“I…” Dammit, she had no solid counter for that. Why the hell did he have to be right?

While the three of them continued to bicker about past and present failures, the other three had their own conversation.

“Do we really want to do this?” Vic groaned.

“Well, we’re kind of stuck here if we don’t. I think.” Jolu nodded.

“You think?” Vic quirked an eyebrow

“Hey, it’s hard to tell what’s what right now. Ponies with actual magic, some of them on the level of demigods, along with us in our friend’s head; an… ancient? I think?… evil force taking it over; and the whole thing was originally planned to be an RPG setup, so we were already anticipating some degree of craziness but this is ridiculous so forgive me if I can’t be one hundred percent sure about anything or two.” Jolu shrugged as he finished speaking his thoughts.

Vic sighed, before noticing how intently their other friend was watching the other conversation.“Rez, what’s on your—”

“Ravel.” Rez simply replied.

Vic sighed. “I thought we already—” Weren’t they using usernames, not avatar ones?

“I know we went over this. But as I recall, this is my Dreamscape we’re in right now, and it’s my Dreamscape that this artificial creature of darkness plans to utterly rape. If you want out, fine. I don’t blame you. No offense, but you guys have always been better at enabling those like me than hacking, and all these magic shenanigans must be pretty new to you too.” Ravel put a hand to his head, shaking it slightly, trying to get some order to his chaotic thoughts. “But if I bow out now, there’s a good chance I won’t wake the same way again.” His voice dropped to a low mutter, “…haven’t heard of anything like this since middle school...”

Clearly his tone wasn’t quiet enough. “Middle school? What the heck are you on about?” Jolu piped up, inserting himself into the conversation.

“Not important to you. Yet. What happened back then...it’s a small part of what I am today. What is important is that if Ravel does not complete his mission, Rez won’t be able to do what we need him to do.”

“So you’re basically saying you won’t back out?” Vic asked.

“I’m saying I can’t afford to.” Ravel paused for a moment. He heard something, some movement not too far off. Best investigate before telling the rest of them “But I will bow out of the group for a minute. If it’s as bad as Luna says, we can’t waste a moment; I need to take a minute to catch up with a childhood ‘friend’.”

Twilight noticed Rez leave his little trio of friends, ducking into the thick treeline not to far away. Wonder where he was going? Turning back to Flare and Luna, she felt her anger and indignation fade a little. Kinda hard to be mad at Luna, even as a human, those sad puppy eyes were devastatingly effective.

“Right. Well, reasons aside, we still need to find the Tantabus.”

“We will be able to sense it the closer we are,” Luna nodded. “However, I do not know if I can wrest control back without access to my Alicorn magicks.”

“Yeah, I’d much rather be in my normal form too,” Flare sighed and looked at his hands. Nothing quite beat a good Fire Blast or Solar Beam over a pair of weak human hands. “So, are we gonna keep our new friends there around?”

“They still know this world better than us,” Twilight said. “All this talk about hacking and whatnot is something I still don’t get. But clearly this isn’t their first rodeo.”

“Man… wish I had some of the others here,” Flare said with a sigh. “Dash or Sapphira would be a welcome asset.”

“Yes, well ‘tis just us,” Luna nodded. “And we shall be victorious. Now, let us go join our newest companions.”

“Yeah,” Twilight nodded and turned around. Seems that Rez was still off somewhere. Just what the heck was he even doing?

I don’t have to see around me to find whom I seek, but it does help keep me from bumping into things. I locate them in a small clearing, where a tree perhaps used to be.

“I’d asks what's shaking, but I already know that the response is going to be why you’re here.”

“How perceptive.”

Pleasantries over. Business time. “You heard all of that, right?”

“Every last word. This other world, it also has dreamers and energies?”

“Potentially. I wouldn’t recommend it. On either version, actually. Maybe just to gather excess there, but only attempt intrusion on earth...but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.”

“Indeed. Why is it that you came when I called, ‘Raf’? Did you merely miss me, just wanted to chat?”

I shuddered briefly, before knitting my brow. “One. Be very, very careful about how you throw that name part around. Just because you never needed anonymity before doesn’t mean I won’t find some creative way to make it bite you and yours if you ruin it for me.”

The figure in front of me rolled its eyes behind its mask. “You must know how close to the sun you’re flying, then.” My response was merely a shrug.

“Hey, DM picked the name, not me. Two. I’m pretty sure neither your master nor your brother has ever micromanaged someone into their maturity like myself, but I’m old enough to at least try and fend for myself, so I try and keep tabs on you keeping tabs on me. Three, yes, I always like a friendly chat; which brings up the question of why you called me.”

“Please get to the point.”

“Four.” My face became dead serious. “I’d often be hard-pressed to consider you an ally, and I’m back-and-forth on whether I consider you a friend. But there is no doubt in my mind that I consider you, moreso than the rest of your master’s army combined, an influence. You showed me coherency in vision, when the dreams I made on my own couldn’t even supply fear. You made me work against what many consider the good guys, which I now do on my own volition. And five: it’s because I know you and your allies so well that I can safely say I support the devils I know.” When it doesn’t respond, I continue. “Tell your master and his army not to let the Tantabus take one step out of this constructed dreamscape. I’d rather it not come to it, for my friends more than myself, but if worse comes to worst I give you permission to terraform this place into the stuff of nightmares, so long as it’s clear that you are in control and the Tantabus is trapped.”

The entity gave an evil grin. “If you wish to ally with us again, perhaps you should speak to the Wise Man himself? He may listen to me about a mutual threat, but you clearly understand this better than I.” I smiled warmly in response.

“If it’s all right with him, I’d like to talk to the hand. I have a party to get back to, and given the circumstance, I’d rather they not get too worried. People do rash things when they’re worried...”

“So,” Flare said as he approached the duo that remained behind. “Where’s your friend gone?”

Vic shrugged. “He said he was catching up with an old friend. Forum posts suggest something he’s seen in his dreams before?” Luna put a hand to her chin, as Flare shrugged it off.

“Well regardless,” the man shrugged. “I was thinking on this ‘Linear Combat’ thingie you brought up. I mean, does it really matter? Can’t I just punch something unconscious? Seriously. Find face, insert hoof… er, fist. Seems simple enough to me.”

“Well yes, you could,” said Jolu, “but there are better ways to do it. Things don’t always die in one hit, and even when they do you have to be smart about it. Like she already told you, hitting really hard is good, but if you can’t constantly hit really hard, you’re not going to be much of a help.”

“And since the best way to learn is usually by doing, I challenge you to a 2 versus 3 with us giving advice throughout,” Vic proclaimed. “With our knowledge against your numbers, it should be about even. Do you accept?”

“You… wish to fight us?” Luna repeated.

“Finally, somepony’s speaking my language,” Flare smacked his palm with a fist. “A little sparring match sounds good. No crying when we win though hm?”

“This… sounds like a terrible idea,” Twilight sighed. “Very well then.”

“Alright.” Vic immediately dashed in toward Flare, who tried to punch her face when she got close, but met her arms crossed in front of her face. “Part 1: Defense! Hold your guard up to minimize damage...” Luna swung her spear, but other than minor grunting, it did little. “...from all angles.” Vic turned around to swipe at Luna as Jolu closed the distance on Twilight, who blocked the strikes with spear and magical bolts from Twilight’s staff respectively. Vic continued slashing with clawed hands, even ending up on the other side of her target by the end of her chain, with Luna looking no worse for wear.

Flare just stared gobsmacked. “That goes against what I know on so many levels.” How did this even work? How could somepony guard their front, and take no damage from a behind strike?

“Get used to it.” Jolu said, as Vic had to take a moment to breathe after her combo. Luna was not quick enough to punish the overextension, and as she swung vertically, Vic sidestepped, seemingly disappearing for a moment before showing up behind Luna and giving her a flick in the small of her back.

“Anyone can sidestep to evade with good timing, but only the fastest feet can Snap Pivot to right behind an opponent,” she said, slowly backing away from Luna before turning around with only a hint of warning to take a swing at Flare, who blocked; then another, blocked; then another…

Snap Pivot. And to the side, not the back, which let him chop at the back of her knees, causing her to crumple.

“Like this?” the man smirked as he stood over her.

“Heey, lookit you learning fast,” Vic smiled as he helped her up, only to receive a brutal uppercut that knocked him onto his butt. “But next time be more careful of counterattacks, ‘handsome’.”

“Noted,” Flare rubbed his chin as Twilight continued to fire a barrage of spell bolts, before she raised her staff.

“Fireball!” the girl shouted as two flaming sphere lanced out, homing in on Jolu and exploding.

“And she jumps way ahead and demonstrates an Arte,” Vic sighed and shook her head. “Fine. Part 2: Offense. Remember normals? Those are any attack that isn’t an arte, and their power comes in their utility. In the original games, Artes are limited but rechargable, and using normal attacks recharges them.”

“Experience tells me that Artes are the ones that leave you just a bit more winded,” Flare mentioned.

“Experience...is that so?” Vic smirked. “Show me.”

“With pleasure.” Flare cracked his knuckles. He dashed forward as his fist ignited with flames. “Fire Punch!” he yelled as he threw it at the woman. She blocked, of course, but he followed up with some more normal punches. She deflected these too, but wasn’t prepared for the Fire Punch he ended his chain with, decking her in the face.

She sprawled back, landing hard as Flare lowered his hands and ran to her, kneeling down next to her. “Arceus! Are you okay Miss Vic? I'm so so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you so hard.”

That pause got him hit in the face, before she got up on her own. “No, you did. I hope you hit even harder when we’re up against something tougher. I think it’s time to end the crash course though, we have one more thing to go through…”

Jolu interrupted her, “…maybe after the three of them show off some more Artes. Just to be sure.”

“This is a lot to take in,” Twilight said as she clutched her staff against her chest. “Will we really have to fight so often? To necessitate such hasty training.”

“Perhaps,” Luna nodded as she twirled and shouldered her spear. She’d used a human form in the Dreamscape in the past, often in Flare’s dreams, so moving around wasn’t an issue. “Our new acquaintances said this was some kind of game, not unlike the one we play. Fighting will likely be often. But fear not Friend Twilight, our opponents are not real, take no heart to dispatching them.” Mumbles of “yeah” and “pretty much” were heard in response, as the usually-human companions brought up their guards to be struck.

“Easy for you to say,” the Twilight mumbled as she looked into the book she was carrying. There seemed to be a list of spells, but she had no idea how to use them. Hazarding a guess, she raised a hand and called out one the names. “Wind Lance!”

An emerald blade of wind ripped through the air, aimed directly at her sparring partner. The shieldbearer raised his weapon to block, finding footholds in the dirt, and took the hit but it was clear he felt the force behind it. He grinned. “That’s a good one! How about the rest of you?”

“Interesting, the spells seem to be voice activated,” Twilight murmured as she flipped through her book. She raised a hand and… “Meteor Swarm!”

Was she utterly mental!?

Yet… nothing happened.

“Hmm, okay, perhaps not all of them,” Twilight muttered.

“That Arte is Mystic,” Vic stated, clearly having been a bit nervous upon hearing the dangerous words. “You can’t just cast them whenever.”

“Mystic?” Twilight blinked.

“What’s that?” Flare asked. This was getting more confusing by the second.

“Basically the really good stuff. It’s…” Jolu looked down, not sure what to say, but he soon figured it out and continued. “We’ll get to it when we get to it, but if you can think of your Mystic’s name, don’t forget it.”

“I miss just being able to set things on fire and be done with it,” Flare sighed and looked at his human form. “From Ponyta, to Pony… to Human. I swear I’ve taken more forms than a bloody Changeling,”

“Well, it’s only for a little while,” Twilight giggled and kissed his cheek. “Besides, I think you’re rather handsome in this form too.”

Flare just blushed and looked away. “Hey,” Jolu spoke up. “Don’t sell yourself short. Punching things with a flaming fist is awesome. But I wonder, is that all you can do?”

“Who knows,” Flare shrugged and shook his head. “Well, as long as we can defeat the… what was it again?”

“Tantabus,” Luna said, still looking guilty. She turned to their new friends and looked at them. “And, are you all sure you wish to assist in this endeavour? It could be quite dangero—.”

“We are not leaving Rez out to dry.”

Vic did not look pleased at the near-constant second-guessing by her new companion. Confirmation bias, perhaps, but didn’t make it any less annoying when it did happen, and she wished it would stop.

“...since you seem so eager to do this yourself, or keep me and mine ‘safe’ from it, I’ll t-l-d-r that this is my friend’s sanity - and my world - on the line here. Instead, show us what you can do and prove you have a handle on the way this world works.”

Luna rushed forwards, bringing her spear to bear on the woman as it glowed brightly. “Light Spear Tornado!” she called out, swinging the spear up and around her, light trailing from the attack.

The pale blue woman caught the light to her palms, flipping her back and landing her on her feet. She lunged towards Luna, a clawed hand for the face - and stopping just short. “There we go. Now we only have one important thing left on the immediate agenda.”

“And that would be?” Luna asked in a curt tone as she sheathed her spear.

Vic only smirked, walking back towards her friend and partner in crime. “The description is that the action, the skill, lets you sense your companion’s intent, allowing you to coordinate your thoughts. For example, combination attacks.”

“In the original game, this was accomplished through devices known as Lilium Orbs,” Jolu continued, “but we get a tinge more freedom to do it here.”

“Focus your consciousness towards your partner...” Vic walked behind the bigger man, obscuring herself from the others.

“If you do it right, you’ll find yourselves...” Jolu snapped in attention in an almost-unnoticeable manner, walking opposite the direction Vic continued in, until they were side by side.

“Linked.” The two spoke as one. Their breathing matched, and they both looked with an equivalent intent at their companions.

“Linked?” Twilight blinked. What in Equestria did they mean by that?

Then they both stepped forwards, left foot, almost menacingly as the started to speak in unison.

“Now for this,” “we don’t care whether or not you learn to Link immediately.” “All the better if you can,” “but more pertinent that you experience it,” “and understand exactly how powerful this is.”
A step with both of their right feet.

“You take one thing away from this,” “it’s how useful linked combat is.” “Class is in session -”

“And you’re gonna get schooled,” Flare said, gritting his teeth.

“Took the words right out of our mouths.” The duo charged at the trio.

Flare raised his fists as Twilight readied her staff. Luna drew her spear and narrowed her eyes. “Bring it on,” the former alicorn said as she dashed ahead to meet them. Flare joined her as Twilight stood back, a magic circle under her feet as she started to cast a spell.

Jolu dashed ahead of Vic, shield of the driver front and center as Vic held backwards and remained a few meters behind her partner. “Rushdown Charge!”

“Blazing Knuckle!” Flare yelled as he slammed his fist into the shield, whereas Luna ran past the pair and swung around, trapping the pair between them as she thrust out with her spear at Vic, who narrowly avoided the brunt just as Jolu shoved Flare to the ground. He turned quickly and charged at Luna with the shield, and at an unspoken moment Vic rolled to the side and let the spearbearer get slammed into without her.

Luna skidded back and wiped her mouth. “Our skills in this world are new,” she said and smiled. “But we three have seen a lot, and our teamwork is up to par.”

Twilight slammed her book shut and aimed at them. “Spread!”

A geyser of water shot up from directly beneath Jolu and Vic, the pressurized water spreading out quickly. The two took the hit, but without a word tumbled in the same direction. When the spell ended, the two helped each other back on their feet, standing as one for a moment before rushing forward again.

“Move!” Vic declared, holding out a palm towards Flare and causing a giant, golden hand to move towards him, dragging ground along with the bottom of the palm. So Flare did as Flare does… and met the hand head on.

“Rapid Blazing Knuckle!” he yelled as he started to deliver a barrage of attacks, intent on shattering the spell with brute force alone.

The hand did not give, and he lost balance and tumbled along the ground when it reached him, though it was a bit less painful than he anticipated.

The linked pair made their way towards Twilight, the woman realising that backup was too far away to intercept in time. She placed her book away and drew her staff, taking a lower stance. “Alright, let’s do this then!” She gave her staff a wave as spheres of light shot from the tip, streaking towards the advancing pair.

“Stand Firm!” Jolu made a barrier a centimeter loose around himself, ceasing all motion until the shots paused, at which point he immediately began running forwards again, making the barrier dissipate where he left it. Twilight began to block in the new way she had learned, but found it very hard to hold when the big man announced “Feint!” and flicked the bottom of his driver upwards towards her arms. Then a second time, before she could recover; then a third time casing her to lose it and stumble.

But when Vic didn’t follow up like she expected, and Jolu suddenly gained a look of fear and turned around, Twilight saw that help was finally here.

“Don’t you dare hurt my Twilight!” Flare roared as his fists ignited and he slammed the ground. “Eruption!”

The cracks of flame raced across the earth and once they reached the linked pair, the very ground exploded from under them in a massive fireball.

“Asclepius,” Vic uttered as she grabbed her partner’s hand as he stretched his out to meet her, and for a moment the two knew only fire and the healing warmth of each other’s hand.

The eruption subsided, but the duo were not as worse for wear as they could have been, and now they were both looking at the hotheaded colt.

“You might want to put up your guard,” the two said in perfect sync with each other...before stumbling and realizing they weren’t still in a position to strike back.

“Urgh,” Flare groaned as he fell back, utterly wiped.

“What… was that?” Twilight blinked. “And how are you two still even standing?”

“Asclepius provides healing over time, and I lose half the health I give,” Vic replied, followed up once again by her partner. “And Linking can cause damage taken to be split...as well as healing.” “A bit of a tweak and both of us gain more than we lose...” - as the two both suddenly took a knee - “...from the Arte, anyways. Ow.”

For the next few hours (or so it felt), Luna, Twilight and Flare were run through combat basics over and over until it started to become almost routine for them. They practiced Linking but… that was a technique they’d not been able to get a firm hand on just yet.

None the less, the sun was starting to set by the time they were done, Luna looking up at the darkening sky. “Hmm, perhaps it shall be wise for us to set up camp for the eve.”

Jolu immediately caught a flaw. “Uh...no supplies?”

“How about a settlement?”

Five heads turned, and of them two faces lit up. “Rez!”

“Through those trees, thataway. It’s…” His face screwed up in minor thought. “There’s a bunch of dream creatures there, they look a bit funky but they can keep quiet but they don’t mean us any harm. There’s a small inn too, which they told me I helped dream up…” Rez shrugged in an exaggerated way. “Though I’m more confused about why we need sleep and shelter within a dream in the first place.” He looked at Luna, as if expecting an answer.

“Your mind is still active,” Luna explained. “If we are to remain in a Dreamscape for long periods of time, we must rest, or it will get more difficult to discern what is dream… and what is reality. You may exit thinking you are your character, rather than you.”

“Then should I expect no dreams in our dreams?”

“You mean no Inception,” Vic said, causing Jolu to snigger and Rez to stare in annoyance.

“Yes,” Luna nodded seriously, not getting the joke and reference. “Tis a most real threat, and one you should all have been well aware of. Did your Luna never explain this to you?”

“She did not expect us to be in here for much longer than we already have been,” Vic counter-argued.

“Hmm, I suppose,” Luna sighed. “I shall do what I can from in here. But in any of you start to experience symptoms, then it would be best for you to leave… at least for a night or two before returning.” She looked at Flare and Twilight. “That goes for you as well. Especially you Flare… with your condition—”

“It’s not a problem,” Flare said sharply and cut her off. He sighed and shook his head. “Sorry Lulu. You’re my best friend, there’s no way I’m not gonna see this through with you.”

“Very well,” Luna sighed, there was no arguing with the stubborn fool when he was like this. She turned to their new acquaintances. “Seems we shall be imposing on you a little while longer.”

“We should continue this conversation later,” Twilight said. “I don’t wish to find out if the monsters in the realm get stronger at night.”

“That… is an excellent point Friend Twilight,” Luna nodded. “To town then!”

Rez took point, seeing as how he knew where the settlement was. Flare however hung back. A good many thought ran through his mind… These humans at the top of the list. As a Pokémon, he had something of a natural distrust towards their kind. They seemed okay… well, mostly. Jolu was friendly enough, Vic seemed to have a hair trigger and Rez was… cagey. He didn’t seem to be showing all his cards. Like, where he’d been for the last few hours.

“We’ll defeat the Tantabus and go home… easy as that,” he murmured to himself. Shouldn’t be a problem.

As long as things went smoothly for them…

Earlier...

...
...
...that attempt at linking our Artes failed spectacularly.
Oh come on you guys, it wasn't that bad.
Yes. It was.
Like a literal trainwreck.
Don't remind me...
Remind you of what?
I had a car crash just last week.
*Aerin/Flare and Vic both wince*
Car? What's a car?
Think carriages, except they pull themselves. Never quite figured out how that worked.
Think trains, with their engines. But they don't have tracks.
And there can be a ton of them on the roads at a time...not to mention weather conditions. It's cold where I'm at, and the roads were slippery.
Roads? Tons of them? Why doesn't everyone just use trains, or fly?
...
...
...let's not get into this sort of debate.
Agreed.
*Aerin, Vic, and Jolu all move to leave together*
Oh come on you guys! Tell meeeeeee!

Author's Note

As a hacker with the primary experience of bringing out information, such as exposing lies for instance, Rez must know the ins and outs of a good lie; more more importantly, be able to keep his own secrets. Potentially to his grave. A group certainly helps with this.
Of course, he isn't the only one keeping secrets; and any good Tales party must be good enough at peeling away at each other. They'll probably figure it out sooner to later.
-NiGHTcapD

Woo, so we finally see some combat. And it was fun. I can’t wait to get to the bigger artes~ On a side note, I’d like to apologize for the MASSIVE delay in the chapter. Between lack of motivation and my life being set to maximum suck… Yeah, It’s completely my fault. I’ll try not to drop the ball again.
-Ausbrony

I only wish we didn't have to cut off the scene before Linked Artes. -NiGHTcapD